01/01/2024

Introduction

A born and bred Kentuckian, a whiskey maker at heart and previously a chef by profession, Dave Carpenter brings his all to make some of the finest whiskies at Jeptha Creed. A women-owned family distillery, they grow their distinctive corn on-site and use it in their mash bill to impart a unique flavor to their whiskies.

1) Who is Dave Carpenter? How did you end up in the spirits industry and work your way up to becoming a Master Distiller?

To clarify, my current title is Distillery Manager for Jeptha Creed. I began my career working as a chef for a decade, training my palate as well as getting a boots-on-the-ground experience in the Food & Beverage industry. Eventually, being an 8th-generation Kentuckian that enjoyed his history, I came across my family's sour mash bourbon recipe in the Kentucky Historical Archives and that spurred me to try my hand at the bourbon industry. Starting at the ground floor, I was eventually able to work my way up through production at one of the largest bourbon producers in the state and I talked to every old-timer I could to learn more about whiskey. This led me to Jeptha Creed where I could take all of that accumulated knowledge and put it into practice.

2) How do you bring your experience as a chef into distilling?

As a chef, I’m able to bring my experience with time and temperature control, flavor pairings, and recipe development to bear when curating new products and refining existing ones. Learning about yeast, starch hydrolysis, and the effect of layers of flavor on the palate, are all things I learned in culinary school at Sullivan University in Louisville, and through my time in the kitchen.

3) Tell us more about the proud women owners and mother-daughter duo Joyce and Autumn Nethery.

My love of Kentucky and history are matched in Joyce and Autumn, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone prouder of the spirits they are making and how it ties into their family history. They are always hands-on when it comes to production, whether it be stepping in to help bottle or rolling barrels when we get a big delivery. Ultimately, putting their stamp on every product before it leaves the door and ends up in your glass is their creed.

4) As part of Jeptha Creed’s ground-to-glass philosophy, do you use your own proprietary yeast strains?

We do not use our own proprietary yeast strains, but we do have our carefully selected yeast strains produced for us by another company right here in Kentucky.

5) Do you still source NGS? If so, what factors do you look at when sourcing it?

We have never sourced any spirits for our Jeptha Creed products. We have produced all of our spirits with heirloom corn varietals that we’ve grown on our family farms.

6) Tell us more about the Bloody Butcher Corn used to create your spirits.

Our Bloody Butcher Corn is a heritage grain that tends to lend a nutty, earthy, flavor profile to our whiskey. Due to stalk height and wildlife grazing it provides a lower yield and less whiskey per acre than its hybridized cousins, but we feel it is worth the extra cost and effort.

7) What types of barrels are generally used for aging Jeptha Creed’s bourbons?

We use 53-gallon white oak char #3 barrels, produced for us by Kelvin Cooperage in Louisville, just 30 minutes from the distillery.

8) Take us through your process of blending.

With each of our recipes, we will sample and taste every barrel as we create a batch. Then we will sort each barrel into different flavor profiles and then begin blending in stages to create a cohesive final blend. This will take multiple intermediate blends to see what is missing, but we won't release a new batch until we are satisfied with the result.

9) What steps do you take to become more sustainable?

By using our own corn grown on-site, we are able to cut down on fossil fuel use that would otherwise be used to ship corn in from elsewhere. We also use a closed-loop chiller system so that we can use and reuse our chiller water and not have to continually use water from an outside source.

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10) Are there any new elements/styles/etc that you hope to incorporate into your craft in the future?

I look forward to seeing how American Single Malt and Gin grow in this country as we continue to find our own identity in those spaces.

11) What does a day in life look like for you?

Really, no two days are the same at Jeptha. One day I may be working on recipe development and improving the efficiency of our fermentations, the next I might be building the budget and quoting a new grain auger. I will never be bored.

12) What is the one product at Jeptha Creed you are more partial to and why?

Well, my preferences are often shifting depending on what I am working on at the time, and it is kind of like asking which is your favorite child, but currently, my favorite pour is going to be our Jeptha Creed Red, White, and Blue Straight Bourbon. The main reason it is going to be Red, White, and Blue is that it features the unique qualities of three different heirloom corns from our farm (Bloody Butcher, Hickory King, and Bruce's Blue). Also, a percentage of the proceeds from that bottle go towards supporting our armed services veterans and thanking them for their service.

13) What makes you feel connected to Jeptha Creed/ Shelbyville/Kentucky?

With my family's Kentucky roots going back to the early settlements in this land (Carpenter's Station near Hustonville in 1779), I feel like I can't help but be tied to this land. And Jeptha Creed is another family endeavor with history in the area but striving to break new ground in the Kentucky bourbon industry. History in the making you might say.

14) You serve as a faculty member at Moonshine University, what does that involve?

At Moonshine University, I have the honor of helping to educate incoming entrepreneurs who are looking to start their distillery and get their start in the industry. I get to work with them on what it's really like to run a distillery day in and day out and help them troubleshoot any questions they may be having about the industry.

15) What’s been your career highlight during your time in the industry?

My career highlight has been guest lecturing at the University of Kentucky for the James B. Beam Institute, and getting to speak with UK students who are looking at Kentucky bourbon as a career. This is a program that didn't exist while I was in the UK, and I get great joy from being able to pass on hard-won knowledge and insight to the next generation that will be joining the great Kentucky industry.

16) What else has been going on at the distillery that you can tell us about?

We are constantly working on experiments and upcoming projects, but I am excited about our continued growth in new markets and the new customers we get to interact with. This keeps me on my toes in ensuring we continue to put out the highest quality whiskey in enough supply to share with our newfound Jeptha Creed family.

17) What is your favorite music and what drink goes with it?

My favorite music would be Bluegrass, which just so happens to go great with a Kentucky Mule of Jeptha Creed 4 Grain Bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and ginger beer to top up as you sit back and wait on the barrels to do their thing.

In conversation with Malvika Patel, Editor and VP​​​​​​, Beverage Trade Network