I’m not sure what I expected when I arrived at J.K. Wiliams but whatever it was, it wasn’t what I experienced. Recently, Andy Faris purchased the name. equipment, and inventory of the J.K. Williams distilling company which had closed several years ago. He’s currently in the process of moving the operation to a new location on the northwest side of Peoria, IL. When I arrived the building was basically empty with two small stills and a small inventory of 23-gallon barrels. However, they had built out the tasting room and were open for tastings. I spoke extensively with Andy and his master distiller, Jeff Murphy. They have big plans to expand the operation beginning almost immediately with a new 1,000 gallon still that is on order.
Until they get production running and can age their own product, they are selling the bourbon and rye produced by the previous owners. I don’t know why the previous owners went out of business but I can say it wasn’t because they didn’t make a good product. After tasting both their bourbon and rye all I could say was, “That’s a damn fine product!”. Andy indicated that, because of the negotiations involved in the sale, the product was aged an extra two years (it’s labeled as 4 years old). The extra ageing helped bring out the flavor of the product.
In addition to their bourbon and rye, they plan on introducing a Bridge Series American Wheat Whiskey at 94 proof. This will be primarily a sourced product blended with some of their current inventory. The intention is to be able to keep sales going until their products are aged and ready for the market.
To say that Andy and Jeff have their work cut out for them is an understatement of epic proportions. Still, if they can duplicate the product they inherited when they purchased the company, they’ll have a winner on their hands.
Their distribution is currently limited because of their low stock. A few stores in Illinois sell their product and it’s also available at the distillery. If you happen to be in the Peoria area you should pick up a bottle of the current Gold Zephyr as it is quite extraordinary.
The Bourbon:
Name: Gold Zephyr
Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 10% Wheat, 10% Barley
About the Grain: All corn sourced from Illinois
Mash: Sweet
Proof: 90
Age: 4 Years
Barrel: 23 and 30gal, #3 char
Filtering: None (Screened Only)
