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Craft Distillery Is Floating Whiskey Down Mississippi River (Nope, It Isn't Jefferson's)

Cane Land Distilling out of Louisiana is currently in the middle of floating its new Tennessee whiskey down the Mississippi River from Kentucky to Louisiana. Why? Because it can.
  • Nino Kilgore-Marchetti, founder of The Whiskey Wash, is an award-winning whiskey journalist, expert, and judge
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Cane Land Distilling out of Louisiana has decided to do something rather novel in that it will be floating new whiskey it plans to sell on a body of water from one point to another. Wait, this isn’t novel – Jefferson’s already did this both on a river and an ocean or two. Anyhow, what’s being dubbed OMFV (Original Mississippi Floated Whisky) at least has a rather interesting story to it.
Cane Lane, which is owned by Alma Plantation & Sugar Mill, partnered with O.Z. Tyler Distillery to bring a sourced 5-year-old bourbon mash bill whiskey out of Tennessee to market. Rather then truck it down from Tennessee to Louisiana, those behind the distillery decided to throw the barrels on a barge, which at this point is slowly making its way down the Mississippi River after having departed Owensboro, Kentucky a few days ago. Owensboro is where O.Z. is located, and where the barrels were previously harbored before departing for points south.
Cane Land Distilling
Cane Lane’s whiskey ready for its barge trip. (image via Cane Lane)

Plans call for this whiskey to float for over 600 miles during the next 10 to 14 days , depending upon weather, down the Mississippi before they reach their final destination. Once they arrive in New Orleans, the whiskey will be finished in ex-French cognac barrels at Cane Land before being made available to consumers for sale in the late spring of this year.

“Many distilleries outsource their spirits and create wild tales of their origins,” said Cane Lane founder Walter Tharp in a prepared statement. “We wanted to be completely transparent while paying tribute to the historic path in which spirits were once transported as far back as the 1800’s.”

“OMFW is already a premium, aged whisky from a Bourbon Mash Bill in recharged barrels for 5 years,” added Cane Lane head distiller Jonny Ver Planck. “The spirit should gain additional character from the rocking motion of the river on its journey south. That, combined with our touch of blending it in cognac vats, will produce an exceptional Whisky.”

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti

Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder of The Whiskey Wash, an award-winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y globally. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert, and judge, he has written extensively about the subject, been interviewed in various media outlets, and provided tasting input on many whiskeys at competitions.

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