Jen Todd

jtodd1@tennessean.com

The whiskey at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is now flowing — for the first time since 1909.

After eight years of planning, the relaunched distillery began producing whiskey Monday in its Marathon Village facility, reviving a 19th-century family business.

“Our Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey will be our signature brand,” said Charlie Nelson, who owns the distillery with his brother, Andy. The Nelsons are the great-great-great-grandsons of original distillery owner Charles Nelson.

“This is his main recipe, and there are no other Tennessee whiskeys that use wheat that I know of,” Nelson said.

In October, the Nelsons expect to open their doors to the public for tours of the facility and tastings of its un-aged whiskey.

Guests will also be able to see the still, lovingly named “Miss Louisa” after Charles Nelson’s wife, who ran the business after his death in 1891.

“It was pretty amazing that not only was this a woman running a business pre-1900, but a woman running a business in the South, running a distillery in a male-dominated industry,” Nelson said. “And not just any distillery, but by far the largest in Tennessee and one of the largest in the country.”

The original distillery was in Greenbrier, but Nelson bottled and sold the whiskey at his wholesale grocery in Nashville, in the building that now houses McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon on Second Avenue North.

“By 1885, he was selling 380,000 gallons per year” to people all over the world, Charlie Nelson said.

For over two years now, the two Nelson brothers have had their Belle Meade Bourbon, a local favorite, produced at MGP Ingredients’ Lawrenceburg, Indiana, distillery — just as the original Belle Meade Bourbon was made in conjunction with Sperry, Wade & Co. in the late 1800s.

Now that they’ve reopened the family distillery, the Nelsons are focusing on the Tennessee whiskey. But they expect to produce the bourbon at the distillery as well, along with other original recipes.

The distillery is located in Marathon Village, near the Clinton Street and 16th Avenue North intersection. You can find more information at www.greenbrierdistillery.com.

Reach Jen Todd at 615-313-2760 or on Twitter @jentoddwrites.