Spirited Virginia Q2 2020 - 20

rainwater barrels. B A C A R D Í chops
up retired rum barrels for mulch.

Maintain eco-friendly
business operations and
visitor facilities.

Minimize and manage waste

Liquor production begins with
ingredients such as barley, rye,
corn, wheat, sugarcane, grapes
and agave-solids that become
waste after distillation (dubbed
spent grain, draff, stillage,
vinaza, vinasses, etc.).
Distilleries large and small often
provide this waste to farmers. T H E
V I R G I N I A D I S T I L L E R Y C O M P A N Y , for
example, provides its spent grain
to nearby Early Dawn Dairy.
C A T O C T I N C R E E K D I S T I L L I N G gives
spent rye mash to local farms and
recycles waste alcohol into fuelgrade ethanol for blending into
gasoline. "This means that nothing
in our production process ends
up in landfill," says Harris. "We're
really proud of that!"
Tequila production results in
vast amounts of agave pulp and
oily, harmful distillation waste.
To combat the harm, the A L T O S
T E Q U I L A distillery in Jalisco, as
one example, composts its agave
residues to fertilize sugarcane
fields (also eliminating use of
chemical fertilizers) and gives

20 VIRGINIA ABC | ABC.VIRGINIA.GOV

leftover compost to the local town.
There are still other creative
distillation-waste angels.
A B S O L U T provides its stillage
and about half of the mash water
to nearly 300,000 pigs and cows,
then the animals' waste is used to
fertilize local wheat.
T H E M A C A L L A N sends its draff
and pot ale to a nearby biomass
plant.
B O M B A Y S A P P H I R E burns its used
gin botanicals in a biomass boiler
that provides heat and hot water
for other distillery buildings. In
addition, the resulting ash is used
as fertilizer at nearby farms.
H E N N E S S Y treats distillation
residue through methanization,
depolluting the waste and
producing biogas, which in turn
generates green energy.
Aging liquors use an astounding
number of wood barrels, too.
Although bourbon must rest in
new barrels, other spirits can be
aged in used barrels. And when
barrels are all used up, many
distilleries find ways to reuse
them, as in planters, furniture and

SQUARE ONE ORGANIC SPIRITS

uses soy inks for labels and
chlorine-free shipping containers.
O C E A N O R G A N I C V O D K A uses allnatural cleaning products.

Partner with others to
spread an Earth-friendly
message.

Remember how essential water
is to distilleries? M A K E R ' S M A R K
teamed up with United By Blue
to remove 75,000 pounds of trash
from oceans and waterways.
"Water is at the heart of
everything we do at Maker's Mark,
because without it, there is no
Maker's Mark Bourbon," says chief
distillery officer Rob Samuels.
K E T E L O N E V O D K A hosts

COURTESY OF MAKER'S MARK

Maker's Mark partner, United by Blue

The new B U L L E I T D I S T I L L I N G C O .
visitor center in Lawrenceburg,
Kentucky offers a cocktail bar
with experienced bartenders and
multisensory whiskey tastings-
but it also highlights sustainable
practices, including eliminating
single-use plastics, maintaining
an organic garden for cocktail
ingredients, and powering visitor
buses with propane.
And there are still other ecofriendly undertakings.
Visitors that bicycle to the
C O P P E R & K I N G S brandy distillery
in Kentucky get a 50% discount on
the tour.
D E E P E D D Y recycles all cardboard
and plastic that comes into the
plant.
B A C A R D Í sources cardboard
made from sustainable forests,
operates a pollinator garden,
recycles and re-uses concrete from
demolitions.
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Spirited Virginia Q2 2020

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