Editorial: Tennessee Hills Distillery is building a legacy

There are times when you just know "you're seeing something that's starting, that's really just the impetus of something that's going to be huge," state Sen. Jon Lundberg told a crowd of folks last week in Bristol."Folks, look around. And if you don't feel it, you still know it. Something huge is happening, and it's starting right here."Sen. Lundberg is spot-on. He was among those at the groundbreaking of a $21.3 million investment by a company that in short order has made its mark. When you see how far it has come there's little doubt it has miles of potential. At the same time it will extend and expand Tennessee's image.The state is famous for its whiskey, among its top 10 exports, and a relatively new player in that business that has its roots here, Tennessee Hills Distillery, is building a foundation for continued success at Bristol."We've got NASCAR, we've got the Birthplace of Country Music and now we've got The Hill," said Scott Andrew, business partner to Tennessee Hill's founder, Stephen Callahan. "It's going to be the starting point going east to west through Tennessee. The trailhead of Tennessee Whiskey is going to be right here on this hill. We're going to do this whole region and state proud with it."In 2016, Callahan, a third- generation distiller, and wife Jessica, opened the Tennessee Hills Distillery in Jonesborough. After acquiring the historic Salt House, they got to work. With help from family they did everything necessary to open the business, from renovating the building, to obtaining permits and even making the stills.Even if it meant sleeping on the floor and eating ramen noodles, their website states, they refused to give up on their passion. No matter the obstacle, the Callahans kept taking steps forward.A short six years later and after an earlier expansion into Johnson City, the Callahans and Andrew are building a manufacturing site and museum on the first Tennessee hill off Interstate 81 across from The Pinnacle on Highway 11-W in Sullivan County. It will create 45 new jobs."Tennessee Hills is already a big lifestyle brand in this region," Andrew said. "It's not going to be just statewide. It's going to be national. One of our goals is to make all Tennesseans proud of the craft and this industry and what it does."Tennessee Hills specializes in quality liquor, from straight bourbon and rye whiskeys to specialty rum and corn whiskey, to vodka and gin, with various unique flavors of those brands.Callahan first discovered his love for distilling in his hometown of Jonesborough, where his father taught 11-year-old Callahan the art of distilling, just as his father did, Andrew told the crowd at the groundbreaking.Callahan later majored in chemistry at Emory & Henry College, where he also played football — and, Andrew added, secretly made corn whiskey in his dorm.After working at Eastman following college, Callahan ventured out on his own to create his own business and transform the historic Salt House in Jonesborough into the first Tennessee Hills site.Now, his third site will become operational in Bristol by next year.Make no mistake, the company isn't about putting a hillbilly- type concoction into a glass jar for tourism's sake. Tennessee Hills plans to keep its products centered on Callahan's craft and the region's distillation history."We're not going to lean on any gimmicks," Callahan said. "We aren't going to have celebrities selling our products. I want to build a company that represents Tennessee and that goes back from the people from Ireland and Scotland, the very rugged people who came over here and carved out a livelihood, fought Indians, survived the elements and brought their moonshine stills. I want to build a company that is truly representative of where we came from — the rugged people that we are. I want to make a product that everybody could be proud of for hundreds of years."He is off to an incredible start. Congratulations, and welcome to Sullivan County.