Big Escambia Spirits LLC bottles 1st batch of bourbon

After three years, the wait is over.

Big Escambia Spirits LLC bottled its first craft and Alabama made bourbon on Sept. 9 at its manufacturing plant just outside of Atmore.

Seth Dettling, owner of BES, said it hasn’t hit him that the bourbon he’s worked so hard on is finally in the bottle.

“We’re just so busy,” Dettling said. “There are many things you have to do; you have to get right. I don’t think it’s possible to appreciate it right this minute because we’re still executing the bottling.

“The bottling has to be a certain way, and the paper work,” he said. “Today (Saturday) was intended to be a celebration and we certainly want it to be a celebration. It’s probably a little harder for me to enjoy it than some of the guys.”

A team of about seven family members partook in the bottling process. A station was set up in the plant where the bourbon is distilled.

An air compressor blows out any particulates stuck inside, the label is put on the bottle, a filler fills the bottle with bourbon and then it receives a wax seal.

Dettling said the label on the bottle has some imagery that’s intended to be a metaphor.

“It’s a person ride a horse in battle, but instead of having a weapon, they have a stock of wheat,” he said. “That really just symbolizes what it is we’re trying to do. We’re battling the big manufacturers and the fake craft guys that don’t make good booze, and pretend to make it. It really just communicates what is happening and what we’re facing and trying to do. We’re doing battle.”

The label is a dark green with gold lettering that has the “Dettling” brand name, along with the year 1867 inlaid above the person riding the horse. Near the bottom, the label says, “Field to bottle bourbon made in small batches using exceptional ingredients.”

Every bottle will now go to Montgomery to the Alabama Beverage Control board, where it will stay until it’s shipped out to ABC liquor stores, Dettling said.

Dettilng said it’s normal for the ABC board to select high-bourbon seller stores and those that are in proximity to the distiller.

Dettling said he has some input on where and when the bottles will arrive on the shelves, but to expect them to show up in stores in October.

Before the bourbon hits shelves, the very first bottle of Dettling’s bourbon will be sold at an auction, which begins tomorrow in Birmingham for a charity called Pro Hops Vino!, a charity of the Alabama State Bar. The conclusion of the auction will be in conjunction with a launch party set for the bourbon at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear. The launch party requires no tickets and admission is free.