Pennington Distilling

What Pennington Distilling does

Pennington Distilling Co. is an independent, founder-owned craft distillery established in 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, producing small-batch premium spirits across multiple categories. The company operates a grain-to-bottle production model on a single 20,000+ sq ft site equipped with a 550-gallon Vendome copper pot still, a 32-foot Vendome column still, a dedicated bottling line, and a certified on-site lab staffed by a chemist. Its owned brand portfolio includes Davidson Reserve Tennessee whiskeys (Rye, Four-Grain, Genesis, Tennessee Whiskey), Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream (a category-creating American cream liqueur), and Walton's Finest Vodka (red winter wheat, 80 proof); the Pickers Vodka brand was divested to Big Machine Distillery in December 2024. The business generates revenue through four streams: wholesale spirits distribution, on-premise bottle and gift shop sales at the Nashville distillery, paid tour and tasting experiences (including a premium $200 Blend Your Own Bottle offering), contract manufacturing and private labeling services for third-party brands and celebrities, and branded merchandise e-commerce.

The company serves two primary customer sets: premium craft spirits consumers purchasing through DTC, wholesale, and branded merchandise channels, and B2B clients (companies, emerging brands, celebrities) seeking licensed production capacity and formulation expertise. Go-to-market combines direct-to-consumer (e-commerce, on-site bottle shop, tours, tasting events such as Barrels of Laughs and Writers in the Rye) with wholesale distribution through retail partners, supplemented by private labeling contracts. Pricing is unit-based across all streams, with tour pricing standardized at $10-$20 for standard experiences and $200 for the premium blending experience, plus flat-rate merchandise shipping.

The company is privately held with no institutional investment, no disclosed funding rounds, and no parent company; ownership rests entirely with co-founders Jeff and Jenny Pennington, lifelong Nashville residents. Headcount is in the 11-50 range with active hiring underway for production, sales, and public-facing roles. No AI/ML capabilities, software platform, or external API surface is disclosed; the competitive profile is built on physical production assets, category-creating brand IP (Whisper Creek), and Nashville heritage positioning rather than technology differentiation.

Name

Pennington Distilling

Legal name

Pennington Distilling Co.

Website

https://penningtondistillingco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Pennington Distilling Co. is a privately held, founder-owned Nashville craft distillery producing small-batch premium whiskey, vodka, and cream liqueurs through a grain-to-bottle facility, serving both retail spirits consumers and B2B clients via private labeling.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Distilled Spirits

NAICS

Distilleries (312140), Distilleries (31214), Wine and Distilled Alcoholic Beverage Merchant Wholesalers (42482), Beverage Manufacturing (3121)

SIC

Beverages (2080), Wholesale-Beer, Wine & Distilled Alcoholic Beverages (5180)

akta.pro primary industry

Distilled Spirits Production & Distilling (AFAFAAAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Distilleries (Tasting Rooms) (THAFALAG), Spirits Distillery Tours & Tastings (Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Vodka) (THAJAGAF), Alcoholic Beverage Blending, Bottling & Private Label (Non-Distilling) (AFAFAAAH), Ready-to-Drink (RTD) Alcoholic Beverage Production (Canned Cocktails, Hard Seltzer) (AFAFAAAE)

Keywords

• Craft whiskey distillery
• Premium vodka production
• Cream liqueur manufacturing
• Private label spirits
• Distillery tours tastings

Headquarters

HQ city

Nashville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Spirits Product Sales: Sale of owned spirits brands including Davidson Reserve whiskeys, Pickers Vodka, Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream, and Walton's Vodka through retail and distribution channels.
2. Distillery Tours and Experiences: Revenue from tour and tasting experiences ($20 tour and tasting, $10 tour or tasting) and premium Blend Your Own Bottle experience ($200 per person).
3. Private Labeling Services: Contract manufacturing and private labeling services for companies, celebrities and brands to create specialty spirits. Services include product formulation, distilling, blending, bottling, marketing, and distribution.
4. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded merchandise including apparel, barware, and home goods through e-commerce.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pennington Distilling Co. is a Nashville, Tennessee-based grain-to-bottle craft distillery that produces premium small-batch spirits, including a lineup of Davidson Reserve whiskeys, Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream and Spiked Coffee, and Walton's Finest Vodka. In addition to its own brands, the distillery offers full-service private label and contract bottling for other beverage brands and celebrities, and operates a public bottle shop, e-commerce storefront, tours, tastings, and a custom "Blend Your Own Bottle" experience.

Product overview

Pennington Distilling Co. is an independent Nashville-based distillery established in 2011 producing small-batch premium spirits. The company operates a grain-to-bottle craft distillery with four main spirit brands: Pickers Vodka (a Nashville homage with multiple flavors and canned cocktails), Davidson Reserve (aged Tennessee whiskeys including Rye, Four-Grain, and Genesis expressions), Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream (the first American cream liqueur in Original, Mocha, and seasonal flavors), and Walton's Finest Vodka (made from Tennessee red winter wheat). Beyond its own brands, the company offers private labeling services for third-party spirits brands, and operates a distillery experience business including tours, tastings, blend-your-own-bottle experiences, and hosted events like comedy nights and whiskey release parties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Davidson Reserve: Tennessee whiskey brand producing Rye, Four-Grain, Genesis, and Tennessee Whiskey expressions.
• Pickers Vodka
• Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream
• Walton's Finest Vodka

Products and services

• Davidson Reserve Whiskey Small-batch premium Tennessee whiskey lineup (Rye, Four-Grain, Genesis, Tennessee Whiskey) produced grain-to-bottle at the Nashville distillery for retail and on-premise sale.
• Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream Whiskey-based cream liqueur made with real Tennessee cream and the distillery's own whiskey, sold at retail and on-premise.
• Walton's Finest Vodka Small-batch vodka distilled at Pennington Distilling Co., distributed through its bottle shop, wholesale accounts, and e-commerce.
• Whisper Creek Spiked Coffee Ready-to-drink alcoholic coffee drink made with the distillery's whiskey, marketed as a convenient at-home alternative to traditional cream liqueurs.
• Private Label & Contract Bottling Services End-to-end contract manufacturing service in which Pennington Distilling produces, blends, bottles, and labels spirits for other beverage brands and celebrity clients using its equipment and certified lab.
• Distillery Tours & Tastings Guided tours of the Pennington Distillery facility in Nashville combined with structured tastings of its whiskey, vodka, and cream liqueur products, sold to individual visitors and groups.
• Davidson Reserve Blend Your Own Bottle Experience Premium hands-on experience led by the distillery's blender in which guests sample and combine their own personalized whiskey blend, which is bottled, labeled, and sold to take home.

Quantifiable outcome

• Category creation with Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream pioneering the American Cream Liqueur category.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Big Machine DistillerymajorOthers · 16 December 2024Big Machine Distillery acquired the Pickers Vodka brand from Pennington Distilling Co. in December 2024. This represents a brand sale rather than a partnership, as Pennington sold the brand to Big Machine who plans growth initiatives for Pickers Vodka.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Jack Daniel's: The world's best-selling Tennessee whiskey, produced by Brown-Forman in Lynchburg, TN. Sets the price, quality, and brand benchmark for the Tennessee whiskey category in which Pennington's Davidson Reserve competes.
• Ole Smoky Distillery: Tennessee-based distillery and the largest moonshine brand in the US, with multiple distillery/tasting locations across Tennessee. Broader incumbent operating at much greater scale in flavored spirits and tasting rooms, but overlapping in Tennessee craft-spirits tourism.
• George Dickel: Iconic Tennessee whiskey brand produced at Cascade Hollow Distilling Co., a Diageo-owned facility. Broader incumbent competing for Tennessee whiskey shelf space and on-premise placements against Pennington's Davidson Reserve.

Emerging players

• Wilderness Trail Distillery: Kentucky-based craft distillery producing bourbon and rye with contract distillation services for other brands. Comparable as a craft distillery offering both own-brand spirits and private label/contract manufacturing services.

Direct peers

• Corsair Distillery: Nashville-based craft distillery producing whiskey, vodka, gin, and specialty spirits with multiple locations and experimental product lines. Directly comparable as an independent, multi-category Tennessee craft distillery serving similar on-premise and DTC channels.
• Big Machine Distillery: Nashville-based distillery and the acquirer of Pennington's Pickers Vodka brand in December 2024. Operates a downtown Nashville distillery with tours and tastings, making it a directly comparable Nashville craft distillery and now a steward of a former Pennington brand.
• Nelson's Green Brier Distillery: Nashville craft distillery reviving the historic Nelson's Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey brand, with a tasting room and tours. Direct competitor in the Nashville craft Tennessee whiskey and distillery-experience segment.
• Chattanooga Whiskey: Tennessee craft distillery producing whiskey with a downtown Chattanooga experimental distillery and tours. Comparable independent Tennessee craft whiskey brand with an experiential tasting room model.
• Sugarlands Distilling Company: Gatlinburg, Tennessee craft distillery known for moonshine, cream liqueurs (including an American cream style product), and a strong tasting room/distillery experience business. Directly comparable as a Tennessee craft distillery in cream liqueurs, flavored spirits, and tourism-driven retail.
• Nearest Green Distillery: Tennessee whiskey producer in Shelbyville, TN with a strong tourism/experience business and premium whiskey positioning. Comparable as a Tennessee craft whiskey brand competing for similar on-premise and DTC craft whiskey consumers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/penningtondistillingco
• Xx.com/PDC_Nashville
• Facebookfacebook.com/penningtondistillingco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pennington-distilling-co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pennington Distilling