Nashville's Corsair Artisan Distillery

Corsair Artisan Distillery was founded in Bowling Green KY in 2008 but moved to Nashville in 2010 to become the first craft distillery in the Athens of the South since prohibition. They now have two locations in Nashville, their headquarters distillery and one in the former home of Yazoo Brewery located in the Marathon Motorworks Village. The village once housed the Marathon Motor Works (1910-1914) which was the first factory to totally manufacture automobiles in the southern United States.  It now houses a thriving community of artisans along with a fabulous walking tour of the former plant.  And for more history, the Corsair Artisan Marathon location is home to a circa 1920 240-gallon pot still which survived the move from Bowling Green as well as prohibition. 

Corsair is extremely innovative and appears to be leading the industry in a couple styles as described below. The Marathon Brewstillery also contains a brewpub pouring many local beers and ciders as well as cocktails based on their spirits. Way more affordable and intriguing than heading to Broadway.

Corsair American Gin (92 proof, $29.99)
This gin is produced in small batches using a vapor basket system where the botanicals are extracted instead of cooked as in the more traditional boiling/maceration process.  The result is a very citrus-forward gin popular in the American style with noticeable cucumbers and mint. The juniper is apparent but sometimes I feel the pendulum is swinging too far from the London Dry style. 

Corsair Barreled Gin (88 proof, $39.99)
The distillery ages their American Gin in used spiced rum barrels with the intention of imparting "vanilla, fall spice notes, and wood to the finished product". Instead, I think the wood-induced characters overwhelm the gin and impart too much wood into the final product. 

Corsair Spiced Rum (85 proof, $29.99)
The rum is produced from molasses and then aged in small  (15 and 30 gallons) new American Oak casks.  This is a solid rum with plenty of vanilla and baking spices that carry throughout.

Corsair Dark Rye (85 proof, $41.99)
The grain bill consists of 61% Malted rye, 4% malted chocolate rye, and 35% malted barley. The use of malted barley over corn makes this both a rye whiskey and a malt whiskey but also tones down the spicy rye notes and adds smoother mocha sweetness.

Corsair Triple Smoke Small Batch American Malt Whiskey (85 proof, $49.99)
The distillery uses three individually smoked malts (cherrywood from Wisconsin, beechwood from Germany, and peat from Scotland) to craft this malt whiskey. This is such a unique spirit -- both peated and smoked with the smoke holding court. Since I purchased this bottle, I've had more opportunities to sample it than the other spirits and each time the profile changes slightly. Sometimes mesquite dominates, other times butterscotch and peat. Truly worth visiting just to pick up this smoked gem.