High Wire Distilling Co.
“Distillation is the ultimate form of preservation.”
For Scott and Ann Marshall at High Wire Distilling Co. in South Carolina, every harvest tells a story. It’s their job to distill that story in each bottle they produce — from grain to glass.
Scott and Ann consider themselves radically traditional, focused on an agricultural approach to distilling. They are outsiders to the legacies of Kentucky and Tennessee, which has allowed them to look beyond to the history of maize itself. If corn makes up 75% of bourbon, why aren’t we taking a more serious look at smart, thoughtful growing practices and heirloom varietals? To them, the work starts when the seed of corn is planted, and each year brings a unique flavor profile to the finished product.
1504 collaborated with High Wire to raise awareness for this holistic approach, beginning with “A Spirit of Revival,” a story exploring the people and relationships that have crafted the award-winning Jimmy Red bourbon. It features farmers from St. Matthews, South Carolina, and renowned researcher Glenn Roberts from Anson Mills.
FEATURED work
“A Spirit of Revival”
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At one time, there were only two known ears of Jimmy Red Corn remaining. Today, High Wire Distilling Co. grows hundreds of acres of the heirloom corn every year in pursuit of flavor, preservation, and community.
“Ancient maizes like Jimmy Red reflect, like wine, the season and the land. How many whiskeys out there are single origin and place-based like that?” — Glenn Roberts, Anson Mills
High Wire depends on deep partnerships with a small collective of farmers like Brad Stowe in St. Matthews, South Carolina.
Memory, distilled. Once in the bottle, whisky can maintain its sense of flavor and seasonality for over 300 years, telling the story of each rainfall and sunny day.
In conversation
As a community of farmers, researchers, and whiskey makers, we are really seeing the value in working hard to be sure these grains endure. That they’re passed on to the next generation. That we’re able to take this moment and this time and place and literally distill them, translated through us, in one sip.
— Ann Marshall, High Wire Distilling Co.