History
-Received Federal DSP on August 22, 2014. -Received Illinois Craft Distiller License on November 13, 2014. -Attempted to cook our first mash on December 15, 2014. (come visit us to hear the stories) -Successfully cooked our first Mash on December 16, 2014. -Attempted to distill our first mash on December 19, 2014. -Successfully distilled our first mash on December 20, 2014. -Filled our first bottles on February 3rd, 2015. -Shipped our first bottles of whiskey on February 9th, 2015 -Filled our first bourbon barrel on Feb 11th, 2015. -The first store to carry our whiskey sold out within 5 hours of putting it on the shelf on February 14th. -Conducted our first in-store tasting on Feb 28th, 2015 - where the store manager, a 30+ year veteran in alcohol sales - said it was the most successful tasting of his career. Every day: Grow the best grains. Mash, ferment and distill with consistency, quality and customer in mind. Raising Spirits - One Seed at a Time.
Specialties
We believe that great whiskey isn't made. It's Grown. At Whiskey Acres, we go well beyond small batch distilling. As farmers, we start by researching the best corn, wheat and rye varieties for making premium whiskey and plant them in our fields carefully chosen for their unique soils and optimal growing conditions. After sustainably raising them all season we harvest our grains at their peak maturity and flavor, saving only the best for our own use. Finally we carefully distill that grain, one batch at a time, right here on our farm 60 miles west of Chicago, in order to create artisan spirits that are more than handcrafted. They are Farmcrafted. We are the first Estate Distillery in Illinois and one of the few in the United States. Even our pure, limestone filtered water comes from directly beneath the DeKalb County land our family has farmed for generations. Raising premium grains is our way of life and turning them into premium spirits is our passion. All of our whiskeys are proudly grown from Seed to Spirit.