The Monthly Mash: October 2020

Jessica Lemmon is an owner and distiller for Edinboro, Pennsylvania-based Cart/Horse Distilling, which she founded in 2016 with her husband John Fetzner. Lemmon was recently elected to ACSA’s Board of Directors, so we checked in with her to discuss upcoming initiatives for ACSA and her distillery.

ACSA: As a newly elected board member, what are your top priorities for the coming year?

Jessica Lemmon: Given the current state of affairs, I think keeping up with the federal excise tax (FET) reduction and any possible funding for COVID relief is extremely important this year. I was extremely impressed how the ACSA board rallied when it came to the hand sanitizer situation and shutdowns, and keeping everyone legal and educated in swiftly changing environments. Between fire drills, my focus is also on the Safety Committee and getting involved in crafting information for both large and small distillers when it comes to best practices for their facilities.

Distilling is in your blood, right? Tell us about your family’s distilling roots.

Nothing like starting with the punchline! It’s true, alcohol is in my blood. When we first came to the idea of starting a distillery, it was inspired by the way so many of the big brands in Kentucky evolved from family farms. In my family the history always revolved around our farm, as it’s been passed down for over a century now. Each generation made their mark on it in a different way. What we didn’t know was that wasn’t the only family business back in the day! When my husband and I decided to float our grand idea of an estate distillery to my parents, there was a big pause. “Well … I suppose we should tell you …” Turns out my other great-grandfather was a Prohibition-era moonshiner, best known for selling his high quality applejack to the revenuers when they came up to go fishing on the lake. When my parents inherited his house, they found the pot and hat stashed in different parts of the basement, original creosote from wood firing it and all. He would make cider at his mill in the “gully” and stash the bottles down in the creek until the drop was made … allegedly! He probably never imagined that his great-granddaughter would strike out to start the first LEGAL distillery in the county!

Tell us a little more about Cart/Horse. How did the name come about, and what are a few general things you want people to know about the distillery?

Cart/Horse came to be out of the desire to control our own destiny and be our own bosses while reviving the century farm. We both have diverse skill sets that wrap in wonderfully in all aspects of the craft. Our shop is a true mom-and-pop business at this point. My husband likes to joke that we make progress through “brute strength and ignorance.” In the early days, that wasn’t too far from the truth. We bootstrapped our facility and built out equipment as we went, with a lot of upcycling, creative problem solving and sweat equity. Since we were unable to do the full-fledged estate distillery, we instead partnered with the local farmers—many of which have done business with my family for generations. The majority of our grain comes right off of the local fields and directly to our distillery. Specialty items such as malt still come from our immediate region inside Pennsylvania. Everything we produce is made in our facility from start to finish in small batches, hand-bottled, labeled and direct distributed.

What are your best-selling spirits and/or the ones you’re most passionate about? Any new releases on the horizon?

It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for botanical blends. I have the most fun concocting herbal creations, both new- and old-style. Our best-selling spirit to date is our Root Digger, a traditional style root beer liqueur. Before distilling was even an idea, we would go out in the early spring and dig the roots for our favorite ‘spring tonic.’ As the distillery evolved, I adapted the recipe and brought it in as a feature—soon people were lovingly threatening to steal it right off of the bar. That’s when it became pretty clear that we should put it into real production. Since then, we’ve racked up a couple of awards for our effort and now we get to hear stories about how it’s become part of our customers’ family traditions. We will soon be releasing a new whole spice endeavor—maple spiced rum, with maple from a local farm right around the corner from us. Originally it was slated for a 2020 spring release, but better late than never!

You’re also a registered architect. How does that background benefit you as a distiller? And are you still actively working on other non-distillery projects?

Architecture is a great gateway to being a jack of all trades. On the business side, I was able to do our own design and modifications as we needed them. It gives me a good basis for Life Safety and building codes, along with process flow layouts. The blend of art and science exists strongly in both architecture and distilling, and I love having a foot in both worlds. I’m a creator at heart and I love making things with my hands, but I also love solving complex problems. (Within reason!) I’ve always got something brewing when it comes to projects, literally and figuratively.

Any additional advice or words of wisdom for your peers in the distilling community as we continue to navigate life during the pandemic?

Be pushy but patient as things evolve. Learning how to look after ourselves and each other is a huge lesson to take away from this pandemic. Many of us have had to navigate situations we’ve never dreamed of, and we’ve come out wiser and stronger from it. Changing business strategies on the fly, learning how to work or educate from home when life demands it, managing new rules and regulations for months on end has many of us showing more perseverance than we even realize. To quote Red Green, “Remember, I’m pulling for you. We’re all in this together.”