Almost a year after announcing he had a new tasting room in the works, Carey Bringle is finally about ready to invite the public in to sample several expressions of his award-winning Peg Leg Porker Spirits. The building at 2700 Eugenia Ave. in Berry Hill has undergone a complete transformation, with updated loading docks to receive barrels and ship bottles, blending and bottling lines, an upstairs office and most importantly, a nicely appointed tasting room with retail space for selling spirits and souvenirs.
Talking to the local pitmaster about his new tasting room
After the July 6 opening, the tasting room will be open Friday through Sunday. Like everywhere in Berry Hill, there’s not a ton of parking, but you should definitely consider a ride share whenever you go out whiskey tasting anyway. In addition to a bar where guests can order neat pours of cocktails made with Peg Leg products, the room is dominated by a gorgeous tasting table where trained whiskeyteers will take patrons through guided tastings. Snacks will be available at the bar, and tours may be offered whenever possible. To be honest, the tasting room is the real highlight anyway, unless you like the sight of tanks, bottling lines and stacks of future cardboard cases.
In addition to the usual line of Peg Leg products — including the white-label Peg Leg Porker Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey that won Bourbon of the Year from the prestigious Tasting Alliance for category wins in three major competitions in San Francisco, New York and Singapore — visitors will have the opportunity to taste older expressions of Bringle’s whiskeys. You can expect whiskeys aged more in the eight- to 12-year range, along with special single-barrel and cask-strength options that may be available only in the tasting room. Bringle also hinted at an impending release of a double-oaked Canadian rye whiskey that will be old enough to drive a car!
With new brands coming out weekly as investors buy up small lots of barrels for vanity projects and celebrities slap their names on labels, Bringle has been very thoughtful about how he sources his whiskey. “Provenance matters,” he explains. “Some people have been laying down inferior barrels, but I have laid down thousands of barrels over the past four years from a consistent source using the same mash bill.” This is important to his growth strategy going forward, as he intends to expand distribution into Florida and Texas in the next year.
Planned hours of operation will be from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., so if you’re looking for an entertaining weekend activity, plan a trip to Eugenia Avenue sometime soon!
