No stopping whiskey fungus
Neighbors near Jack Daniel’s distillery in Tenn. complain of sooty crust on everything
The ethanol-fueled fungus known as whiskey fungus has thrived for centuries around distilleries and bakeries. It’s been the source of complaints from residents who live near Kentucky bourbon distilleries, Canadian whisky makers and Caribbean rum manufacturers.
Now it is driving a wedge between some residents of Lincoln County, Tennessee, and Jack Daniel’s, the famed distillery founded in 1866 in neighboring Moore County.
For months, some residents have complained that a sooty, dark crust has blanketed homes, cars, road signs, bird feeders, patio furniture and trees as the fungus has spread uncontrollably, fed by alcohol vapors wafting from charred oak barrels of aging Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
Jack Daniel’s has built six warehouses, known as barrelhouses, to age whiskey in rural Lincoln County, which is home to about 35,000 residents, and is building a seventh on a property that has room to house one more, a company spokesman said.
The distillery has asked the county to rezone a second property where it could build six additional barrelhouses.
A company representative, Donna Willis, told county officials in November that 14 barrelhouses would generate $1 million in annual property tax revenue for the county.
But not all residents are happy about the expansion.
Christi Long, who owns a local mansion built in 1900 that she operates as a venue for weddings and other events, sued the county in January, contending that barrelhouses near her property lacked the proper permits.
A judge ruled recently that one barrelhouse under construction had not been properly approved and that its building permit would have to be rescinded until Jack Daniel’s obtains the necessary permits.
Long and her husband, Patrick Long, said whiskey fungus had already inundated the property, darkening the copper roof and exterior walls, creeping over the rock garden and metal gate, and encrusting the branches of magnolia trees.
The Longs said they use a high-pressure hose to wash the property every three months with Clorox bleach and water, but the fungus always returns.
Christi Long said she wants Jack Daniel’s to install air filters in the barrelhouses, one of which sits about 250 yards from her property.
Melvin Keebler, general manager of the Jack Daniel Distillery, said the company “complies with all local, state, and federal regulations regarding the design, construction and permitting of our barrelhouses.”
At a county commission meeting in November, Donna Willis, director of technical services, maintenance and barrel distribution at Jack Daniel’s, said studies have shown that the fungus is not hazardous to human health and does not damage property.
“Could it be a nuisance?” Willis said. “Yeah, sure. And it can easily be remedied by having it washed off.”
She said the company would not agree, however, to power-wash homes, saying Jack Daniel’s could be held liable for any damage.
Willis also said air filters could hurt the flavor that Jack Daniel’s whiskey acquires during the aging process. Distillers refer poetically to the liquor that evaporates during that process as “the angel’s share.”
James Scott, a professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto who has studied the fungus since 2001, said it can destroy property and cling to almost any surface. A puff of alcohol, he said, makes it remarkably resistant to temperature changes, allowing it to withstand hot summers in Tennessee.
“The fungus is pretty destructive, and the only way to stop it is to turn off its alcohol supply,” Scott wrote in an email. “I’ve seen trees choked to death by it. It is a small mercy that it does not also appear to have a negative impact on human health.”