John Emerald Purveyor’s Series Double Wood Rye Whiskey

A fresh Rye Whiskey aged with pecan wood chips for a spicy praline flavor profile.

John Sharp and his son Jimmy ran a business in Montgomery, Alabama. But that business required a lot of travel. When Jimmy’s daughter Lily was born in 2014, they knew they had to start something different. They founded the John Emerald Distilling Company — the first legal distillery in Alabama since Prohibition — in the tiny town of Opelika and named it after John’s father. They make a Rum, Gin, Vodka, Whiskey, and their signature Alabama Single Malt Whiskey.

Most of the time, when you hear “double wood” you think of two barrels. But John Emerald has a bit of a different take on it for their Purveyor’s Series. In the case of John Emerald Purveyor’s Series Double Wood Rye, it means aging in new American oak as you would expect, but the barrel has been filled with charred pecan wood chips. The combination of wood influences pops out a New Orleans style praline flavor to the Spirit.