By the time Prohibition shuttered Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in 1909, Charles Nelson was out-producing several competitors annually with numbers consisting of 380,000 cases versus others at only 23,000 cases. The distillery was reaching markets across America and as far flung as the Philippines, Moscow, and Paris.
The distillery has been revived by brothers Charlie and Andy Nelson, fifth-generation grandsons of Tennessee’s original whiskey magnate, Nelson’s original Tennessee whiskey, First 108, is created in Nashville according to the original family recipe.
It has wheat in its mash bill rather than rye, the traditional composition of Tennessee Whiskey. It’s called “First 108” because it’s been 108 years since Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey was last distilled.
The limited-edition 30-gallon barrel release of 2,000 cases of 375ml bottles will be available exclusively at the Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in downtown Nashville. Presented in two expressions, the green-label ‘Classic’ is a 90-proof blend; and the gold-label Single Barrel will be released at true ‘Cask Strength’. Once these 108 barrels are gone, they are gone.
Going forward, all Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey will come of age in standard-size 53-gallon barrels, making Nelson’s First 108, this tantalizing preview of its more mature sibling, a prized top-shelf collector’s item. The 53-gallon barrel release of Nelson’s Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey will take place in 2019, having been aged to a minimum of four-year perfection.