Farm bourbon.
Since 1946, the Henry family has raised heritage red corn, rye and wheat just north of Madison. Joe Henry, 63, has spent his entire life farming the land, and he’s never wanted to do anything else. Still, a trip to Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail got him thinking.
Not only did his family already grow all the ingredients for bourbon, but he also had space and two sons — Joe, 24, and Jack, 19 — looking to be a part of the family farm. His wife, Liz, went along with the plan and J. Henry & Sons Bourbon was born. They distilled their first batch in 2009.
The old farmhouse has been converted to a tasting room, and Joe’s childhood bedroom is now an office. Tours and tastings are offered year-round at the Henry family farm, 7794 Patton Road, Dane. Currently, their bourbons are available only in Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota. This month the family debuts Bellefontaine Reserve, one of four bourbons aged on the farm. The bourbons are available in local liquor stores and on the website.
The farm is Henry Farms, and we grow about 2,000 acres (of crops). The interstate cuts right through our farm. We’re about 20 miles north of Madison. Look for the Dane/DeForest sign.
Becoming a distiller
We’ve always been farming and in the seed business, specifically seed corn. I have always had an interest in spirits and bourbon. We were in Kentucky for a meeting and did the Bourbon Trail. It isn’t like I didn’t know about it, but I realized that everything that goes into bourbon we produced on the farm.
It’s not an original idea, but you go back to the original farmers in this country… a lot of them had stills. That was a value added to their corn and grains.
Bourbon basics
Our bourbon is a four-grain bourbon: corn, wheat, rye and barley malt. I kind of like a wheated bourbon. We put rye because it adds a spicy, peppery note. It makes a nice combination.
Patience and planning
We grow all the grains here on the farm, then we have a distiller who does our distillation. We ship him our grains, then we pick it up and do the aging on the farm. We actually sat on product for five years (aging) before we sold a thing. Had I built a distillery, we would have had to pay for it. We decided to create a great product, then worry about the hardware later. The rick house, where the barrels are aged, we converted that building.
Small-batch start
Small batch for us compared to what majors call a small batch is very different. For us that is 8 to 10 barrels. Everything we sell has been aged at least five years on the farm in new charred oak barrels.
Roots with reach
We have one more product that we’re introducing this month at the Distill America conference in Madison. Bellefontaine Reserve uses about 10 of our bourbon barrels, we’re finishing it in French cognac barrels for 8 months. That’s bottled and ready to go.
It is actually named after my father’s home farm just outside of Belleville, Wis. It is a French word that means Beautiful Fountain, and French settlers that ended up in that area. That’s our roots.
What goes into one bottle
There’s nothing about bourbon that is fast. We age it for five years. We did our first barreling in December 2009. We’re setting aside barrels for 7 and 10 years now, and we’re going to come out with a 7-year-old bourbon by the end of this year.
Drink of choice
I love bourbon just with a big chunk of ice, that’s it.
Looking back
If I would have done anything different, I would have had more guts. I would’ve produced more and put away more (barrels) to age.
Risk and reward
Look at what people in farming do. They take a seed and put it in the ground and it is always surprising the damn thing actually grows and you make a living off it. Your whole livelihood depends on whether it rains or how hot or cold it gets. On the outside, it all probably looks pretty insane.
Need to know
A spirit that has been aged is not a shot. It is something you sip and enjoy over time. It changes as you’re drinking it, whether you have it on the rocks or drink it neat. Our tagline is you drink better, not more. Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email nstohs@journalsentinel.com.