With the closing of the deal, Shortbarrel has acquired the rights to the Old Fourth brand, existing product inventory and 1,000 barrels of aged whiskey. The value of the acquisition was not disclosed.
Shortbarrel co-founder, Clinton Dugan, said: “Old Fourth, its products and the people involved are too important to the city and community not to continue the brand. Our goal is to honour what Old Fourth has built and work with the team to make the products even better and more widely available.”
All of Shortbarrel’s bourbons and rye whiskies are non chill-filtered, with most at 47% abv or higher, with the company currently having eight whiskey expressions in the marketplace.
When it opened in 2014, Old Fourth Distillery was Atlanta's first new legal distillery since 1906. Old Fourth’s current product lineup includes vodka; a Southern Dry gin; Lawn Dart, a ginger lemon liqueur; and a Bottled in Bond 100 Proof (50% abv) Bourbon, as these products will continue to be made by Shortbarrel under the Old Fourth Distillery brand name.
The original Old Fourth Distillery was shuttered by its previous owners in December last year with the lease for the space not renewed. Operations will be relocated from the Old Fourth neighbourhood to Norcross, Georgia in April this year.
The new facility will include distilling, ageing, blending, single barrel selections, packaging and back-office operations, as well as a small tasting room for consumers that will open this summer for both Shortbarrel and Old Fourth.
Shortbarrel currently sources whiskey barrels from distilleries outside of Georgia and will soon begin contract distilling bourbon and rye in Atlanta at the Distillery of Modern Art, making the Old Fourth branded whiskeys 100% Atlanta-crafted.
The company has also secured large distillery contracts outside of Atlanta for its namesake brand with contract distilling beginning this year in Garrard County, Kentucky.
