Extol June-July 2019 | Page 18

EXPERIENCE Spirits of French Lick COURTESY INFORMATION | PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN WATSON Gamblers and gangsters, artists and architects, frontiersmen and businessmen, heroes of sport and especially the wayward backwoods distillers that kept the social castes, well, sociable, these ethereal inhabitants of French Lick’s past were truly a restless bunch. The legends alone would be enough to guarantee a place in any history book, but the final paragraphs have yet to be written for this rediscovered bastion of Americana. Spirits of French Lick is leading the way for Indiana distillers by bringing the artisan distilling 16 EXTOL : JUNE/JULY 2019 industry and its inseparable history back to the Southern region of Indiana. The goal is to represent both the quality and the history of Hoosier distillation, presenting an untold and ever-unfolding story about the nature of distillation in the state while exemplifying and expanding upon what that industry has evolved into. Spirits of French Lick is precise in the way they represent who they are and what they produce, playing the part of both distiller and historian. This approach gives a very unique place in the industry, not just in terms of the story of Spirits of French Lick, but also the methodologies of double pot still distillation, retention and concentration of flavors. They rely on both time-tested practices and new innovations in our distilling program. Through these processes, they craft a spirit that has defined character, equally driven by grain, barrel, yeast and experience and following Spirits of French Lick’s only rule: “Respect the Grain.”