The US university has formed an industry-university partnership to advance aspects such as sustainable agriculture in the whiskey distilling industry.
Could making whisky from heritage grains of yesteryear result in interesting flavours? And might it be possible to create single-estate whisky where all the grains — barley, rye and wheat — are all grown in the same area?
These are some of the questions that the University of Kentucky — based in a US state renowned for its bourbon industry — is partnering with whisky producers to discover. The university, which already produces research through its James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits, recently launched the university-industry partnership Estate Whiskey Alliance to better support research and innovation in the whisky industry.
Agriculture research is a core part of the Estate Whiskey Alliance’s activities. Many whisky producing regions are keen to grow more of the grains that go into product, so that they are less dependent on sourcing from other countries.
“We hear from our partners that there is a strong desire to grow certain grain varietals in a region where those grains don’t typically grow or don’t produce the yields that are necessary,” Landon Borders, director of the Estate Whiskey Alliance, told the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast. Kentucky’s strengths, for example, are in growing corn and wheat, while it has historically grown little barley. Scotland, famous for its Scotch whisky, has been struggling to grow more of its own grains after the war in Ukraine drastically reduced crop imports.
Some industry players are also interested in reintroducing heritage grains, figuring out ways to bring back varieties that may have been grown in any given region long ago and that could produce interesting flavour profiles.
There is also a challenge around distillate waste, Borders says. “A lot of times, those go to farms and it’s used to feed livestock. But there’s more distillate waste now than there was,” he says, making the sustainable repurposing of that waste critical.
Another technology challenge that Borders expects the alliance to tackle is a shortage of white oak trees in the US, which are used extensively in whiskey ageing.
And while the focus, for now, is on whiskey, Borders thinks the approach could be replicated elsewhere. “I do feel like we are creating a model here that could apply to other spirits and, quite frankly, other kinds of food or beverage products if the need arises. I think it’s becoming aware to us that this is sort of a unique model,” he says.
Tapping industry partners
The Estate Whiskey Alliance’s founding industry members, announced in September, include Kentucky-based Heaven Hill Distillery, Maker’s Mark, Peterson Farms, Thousand Acres Distilling Company and Western Kentucky Distilling Company, as well as New York-based Hillrock Estate Distillery and Saskatchewan, Canada-based Black Fox Farm and Distillery.
Since then, the national trade association Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Kentucky-based Jeptha Creed and ZAK Cooperage, Nevada-based Minden Mill Distilling, and Illinois-based Whiskey Acres Distilling Company have also become members.
The initiative emerged from an industry challenge to define the category of estate whiskey. The terms is largely undefined yet there is an influx of interest by consumers in this category, says Borders.
The definition the Estate Whiskey Alliance landed on is that “all production processes, including the milling and cooking, the fermentation, the distillation, the barrelling, the ageing and bottling all occur on the estate distillery,” says Borders. It also requires that “at least two-thirds of all the mash bill grains are grown on the estate or estate-controlled land.”
“Now that may sound obvious, but it’s becoming increasingly uncommon for products to all be produced on an estate,” he says.
The immediate benefit for consumers will be a certification programme run by the the alliance to build consumer trust (individual products will be certified, rather than a whole brand). Borders stresses the need to work with industry to develop this certification process: “If you create a standard or impose some requirements through a certification programme that’s not integrated already with day-to-day activities, then it won’t be followed. And therefore, that company or that product will not be compliant, which defeats the purpose.”
The certification process will leverage the licensing and trademark expertise of UK Innovate, the commercialisation arm of the University of Kentucky.
The Estate Whiskey Alliance has global ambitions
Alexa Narel, operations manager of the alliance, says the group wants to strengthen ties outside of the US. She considers Canada, the EU, the UK and Japan as target international markets.
It is also important to the group that the alliance “touches on aspects of research, education, transfer and economic development” and, Narel adds, that means a diverse membership: “We invite farmers, we invite distilleries, anyone in the supply chain, or adjacent.”
Narel and Borders are also keen to work with other academic institutions and say they have been surprised by the number of institutions with relevant research. One such surprise, says Borders, was the South Puget Sound Community College, a small institution in Washington that has a craft brewing and distilling programme.
Members pay a fee to the Estate Whiskey Alliance. The money is used to cover the group’s immediate costs, including setting up and running the certification programme, but the majority of the cash will be used to create research solicitations or educational programmes, with the members taking an active role in shaping both aspects.
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.
