March 20, 2017

Meet Justin Manglitz of ASW Distillery in Midtown

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Manglitz.

Justin, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Founders Jim Chasteen and Charlie Thompson found we shared a common love for whiskey while at The University of Georgia.

From Scotch and Irish whiskey, to bourbon and rye, we spent a great deal of time enjoying the company of friends while searching for clarity in aqua vitae. These experiences led us to what seemed the only logical next step – creating our own whiskey.

From these modest beginnings, we created a recipe in 2010 for a smooth-drinking and versatile whiskey that we came to call American Spirit Whiskey.

We might have stopped here had we not – somewhat by chance – met Justin Manglitz, a University of Georgia graduate himself and a masterful, self-taught brewer. Around 1990, Justin’s parents had moved from Haralson County to Athens, Georgia, eventually settling on land adjacent to Jim’s parents. In high school, Justin’s older sister became friends with Jim.

As Jim graduated and went on to an illustrious whiskey-sipping career at the University of Georgia, Justin – still in short pants – took a keen interest in the art and science behind booze – an interest attributable to the aforementioned Buck Wingo. Justin began crafting booze during time off from his college days at UGA. After he graduated, he opened his own homebrewing store in Athens called Blockader Homebrew Supply – not exactly a cash cow, but a great way to source half-price grains for perfecting his booze-producing passion.

Soon, we launched American Spirit Whiskey and began the hunt for a place to open a distillery in the heart of our new hometown, Atlanta. But we still needed someone to head our production – someone with years of experience using grains to make exquisite tipples. Jim’s sister suggested Justin, whose dream for years had been to graduate from homebrewing to craft distilling. Strangely enough, although Justin and Jim had grown up exploring the same thistle-littered fields, attended the same high school, and shared a common love for whiskey, the introduction by Jim’s sister was the first time we’d ever met.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Numerous challenges have presented themselves along the way:

–Finding a great location that would serve all of our needs, including space, existing water lines, parking accessibility, structural integrity, an accessible neighborhood and central location

–Navigating regulatory environment applicable to opening a whiskey distillery

–Generating enough cash flow in the short-term while the vast majority of your money is tied in up whiskey stocks aging with grace

–Getting the word out in a city full of exciting and entertaining activities

ASW Distillery – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We craft whiskey on traditional, Scottish-style double copper pot stills. We’re currently known for Atlanta’s first rye since Prohibition, Resurgens Rye, an all-Georgia apple brandy, Armour & Oak, and finishing a high-wheat foraged bourbon on Georgia oak heartwood staves that we harvested and seasoned ourselves.

We’re one of just a handful of distilleries in the world to combine a traditional Scottish-style system of twin copper pot stills with the Appalachian innovation of grain-in distillation, crafting verifiably small-batch whiskey of flavor & finesse. Mashing, fermentation, distillation, everything is done by hand with no computer-automation.

Not to mention, every piece of equipment in our distillery is American-made, except for our bottle-filling machine, which, due to its small size, is made by an Italian company that caters to the thousands of small farm wineries in Italy.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Helping put Atlanta on the map when it comes to craft distilling.

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