B.R. Distilling Company

Memphis has given the world a great deal of music and surprisingly little whiskey, a gap B.R. Distilling Company set out to close. The company holds the oldest distillery license in the city, and it built its Blue Note Bourbon brand on a simple premise: source well-made Kentucky distillate, then let the thick river humidity of the Mississippi Delta finish the job. The result is a portfolio that has quietly stacked up national awards while staying rooted in the blues culture its labels celebrate.

History & Heritage

B.R. Distilling Company, short for Big River Distilling Company, traces its federal distillery license (DSP TN 21021) to 2014, the oldest in Memphis. The modern company took shape when McCauley Williams, a former mergers-and-acquisitions attorney, left law practice to rebuild a struggling craft distillery in a reclaimed North Memphis warehouse, working alongside co-founder Alexander Folk. The pair debuted Blue Note Bourbon in July 2018, a small-batch release named for the bent, expressive notes at the heart of Memphis blues, with Riverset Rye to follow. Today the operation occupies roughly 110,000 square feet of production and warehouse space at 802 Royal Avenue, just north of downtown where the Mississippi and Wolf Rivers meet. In September 2025 the company promoted Chris Crosbie, a sixteen-year Diageo veteran, to chief executive officer as distribution reached about 25 states.

The Whiskey

B.R. Distilling is candid about its model: it is a blender and maturation house rather than a grain-to-glass distillery. As of July 2026, its whiskey is distilled under a production agreement with Green River Distilling Company in Owensboro, Kentucky, with the flagship bourbon built on a 70 percent corn, 21 percent rye, 9 percent malted barley mash bill. Barrels spend at least a year and a day in Kentucky, then move to Memphis, where high humidity and steady Delta heat push the spirit deeper into the oak. The flagship Blue Note Juke Joint Straight Bourbon Whiskey Unfiltered Small Batch earned Platinum honors at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, a distinction reserved for spirits that take Double Gold three years running. The portfolio keeps growing: in April 2026 the company introduced Blue Note Small Batch Wheated Bourbon Blend, a limited unfiltered release bottled at 101 proof from a 70 percent corn, 21 percent wheat, 9 percent malted barley mash bill. The Sentinel Room's Reserve Whiskey Library holds fourteen B.R. Distilling expressions, including Blue Note Crossroads Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Blue Note Rye Whiskey, the annual Blue Note Special Reserve Cask Finished Series, and the limited Blue Note Honey Bourbon Cask and Blue Note Honey Rye Cask finishes.

Why It Matters

Plenty of non-distiller producers buy Kentucky whiskey and slap a story on it. B.R. Distilling earns its place by doing the unglamorous work that actually changes the liquid: committing to a consistent contract mash bill, then aging the barrels in a genuinely different climate. Memphis maturation is the company's argument, and side-by-side pours of Blue Note Crossroads Straight Bourbon Whiskey against a standard Kentucky bourbon of similar age make the case audibly. For those who appreciate good whiskey, the fourteen expressions in the Reserve Whiskey Library offer a rare chance to taste how geography, not just recipe, shapes American whiskey.

Visiting the Distillery

The company welcomes visitors at its Royal Avenue facility in Memphis, which includes a tasting room. Tours are available by advance booking, and the on-site bottle shop is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central.