Carlene Holder and her father, Carlos Lovell, are the founders of Ivy Mountain Distillery in Mt. Airy. In their brand new facility in Habersham County in the far northeast corner of the state, they produce Lovell Bros. Georgia Sour Mash and Georgia Sour Mash Whiskey, and a range of occasional seasonal products such as apple or peach brandy.
The joint business venture began in November 2010 when the then 82-year-old Lovell turned to his daughter and said, “Carlene, I’m going to start making liquor again.”
For Holder, this came completely out of the blue. Her response was, “‘Daddy, you can’t do that!” but then he told her he wanted her to get the licenses so he could make liquor legally.
The Lovell family has been making whiskey for 150 years and Carlos Lovell began making liquor in his teens. “Daddy learned everything from Grandpa Lovell. The recipe we use now is my grandfather’s. There is not a day when my daddy and I talk that he doesn’t refer to his father. He grew up in a family with 10 kids. He quit school in the ninth grade. He may not be book smart, but he’s got so much common sense and I respect that now more than ever.”
From the 1940s to the 1960s, Carlos Lovell ran a whiskey business, along with a range of other businesses like trading cattle and buying land.
“As a child, as a teenager, I was aware that my dad was making whiskey, but it was never discussed in my home. He had other businesses, and he treated the whiskey business as just another business. The first still I ever saw is the one we have now.”
Lovell’s decision to start making whiskey again began a permitting process that took 11 months and required the acquisition of land and construction of new buildings. Eight months after all the permits were the place, the first bottles of clear Georgia Sour Mash made their way to market.
The distillery uses about 800 pounds of grain each day it’s in production – a mixture of rye, wheat, barley and local corn. Mike Yearwood, the distillery’s general manager, explains that the corn is ground and then mixed with water from Clarkesville’s Annandale Springs where Lovell owns property. “The water is crucial to the taste,” he says.
The corn is allowed to sprout, then dried and ground into corn malt. That’s combined with rye and wheat malt and sits to ferment. “We add rye and wheat because as Carlos says, ‘The rye makes it stronger and the wheat makes it smoother’,” says Yearwood.
Seven days later, the yeast has finished its work and the mixture moves to the still where over the course of an hour and a half it turns into a high proof version of Georgia Sour Mash. Mixing it with more Annandale spring water brings the proof down to 95. That 800 pounds of grain has turned into about 150 gallons of liquor.
Some goes immediately to be bottled as Georgia Sour Mash while the remainder goes into barrels. There are 1,000 barrels in the aging room, some liquor resting in barrels purchased from Jack Daniels’ and destined to become whiskey, and some in new barrels destined to become the distillery’s first bourbon after aging for at least three years.
Adding bourbon to their line of products required patience. The rise of local distilleries across the country has created a shortage of new barrels. “We had to wait for months and keep the liquor in stainless steel holding tanks. That bothered daddy. He felt time was wasting!” said Holder.
As whiskey ages, it develops darker, richer and more intense flavors. Aged whiskey costs more because of the time it sits in the barrel, and the evaporation that happens which is called the ‘angel’s share.’ The oldest whiskey at the distillery right now has been aging for three years. The family is setting aside barrels and in ten years hope to have a premium small batch reserve whiskey available.
In the meantime, the bourbon is expected to be available by the end of this year. And the next project? Rye whiskey.
Growing up, there was little whiskey in the Lovell household. Holder remembers her mother aging fruitcakes by wrapping them in whiskey-soaked cheesecloth, but that was the extent of the whiskey use in their home.
Holder now cooks with whiskey occasionally, substituting it for vanilla in her favorite Exquisite Pie.
Neither she nor her dad are big liquor drinkers, but the end of the day might find them sipping on a little
bit of whiskey and a little bit of Diet Coke and talking over the family business.
“It’s such a joy to be in a business relationship for my dad. It’s been very fulfilling for me. We learned that we can work together and that’s been important,” said Holder.
Topper: Whiskey is certainly made for sipping and we offer a cocktail that enhances the flavor of whiskey with sweet, tart and spicy flavors and a little char in the garnish. But whiskey is also well suited for flavoring sweet treats such as the cake and pie recipes here.
The “Take it Easy”
JCT Kitchen’s Beverage Manager, Eduardo Guzman, crafted this drink as a feature for the restaurant’s summer cocktail menu.
Guzman offers these directions for making flamed orange peel for garnish: “To flame orange peel, cut a round “coin” of orange peel. A thicker piece of peel is easier to squeeze over a lit match. Light a match and hold the lit match several inches above the cocktail. Hold the orange peel colored side down, about two inches above the lit match and wave the peel slowly over the match for a couple of seconds. Twist and squeeze the peel over the lit match. Be patient. The first few times you do this, it might not work very well, but keep practicing, be sure to use fresh oranges and you will do it in no time.”
1.5 oz. Lovell Bros. Georgia sour mash whiskey
.75 oz. lemon juice
.75 oz. maple syrup
.25 oz. St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram or Bitter Truth Pimento Dram
Flamed orange peel, for garnish
In a shaker, combine whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup and allspice or pimento dram. Shake well and pour into a footed glass. Garnish with flamed orange peel. Serves: 1
Per serving: 185 calories (percent of calories from fat, 1), trace protein, 19 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, trace fat (no saturated fat), no cholesterol, 3 milligrams sodium.
Carlene Holder’s Exquisite Pie
Holder says, “The golden raisins make a wonderful change from the regular dark ones. This pie is simple but always delicious! Why use vanilla flavoring when whiskey tastes better?”
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup golden raisins
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Lovell Bros. Georgia Sour Mash Whiskey
1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream sugar and butter until well mixed. Add eggs and continue beating. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in pecans and raisins. Then stir in whiskey. Pour mixture into pie shell and bake 45 minutes or just until a toothpick inserted in the center of the pie comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving. Serves: 8
Per serving: 474 calories (percent of calories from fat, 52), 5 grams protein, 54 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 29 grams fat (10 grams saturated), 84 milligrams cholesterol, 159 milligrams sodium.
Barbara Lockwood’s Black Walnut Cake
Lockwood is a Lovell family friend and lives in Clarkesville. The original recipe came from her friend and co-worker of years ago, Sandra Pinion of Cornelia.
Black walnuts can be tough to come by, but are worth it for this delicious cake. Lockwood might not approve, but you can’t find black walnuts, you can use regular walnuts instead.
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Dash salt
5 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups chopped black walnuts, divided
1 lightly packed cup sweetened coconut (or a 3-ounce can sweetened coconut)
2 tablespoons Lovell Bros. Georgia Sour Mash Whiskey
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Cream Cheese Icing (see recipe)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 3 8-inch cake pans. Line the bottom of the pans with rounds of parchment paper and lightly grease again.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream sugar, butter, shortening and salt. Add egg yolks one at a time.
In a measuring cup, combine buttermilk and baking soda. Add to creamed mixture alternately with flour. Remove bowl from mixer. Stir in 1 1/2 cups walnuts, coconut and whiskey.
In a medium bowl, beat remaining egg whites with cream of tartar until it makes stiff peaks. Fold into cake batter. Divide batter between prepared cake pans and bake 30 minutes or until cake layers just begin to shrink from the sides of the cake pans. Remove from oven and cool cake layers on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove cake layers from pans and rest on racks until cool.
When ready to ice cake, make cream cheese icing. Ice cake and garnish with remaining 1 cup chopped black walnuts. Serves: 16
Per serving, with Cream Cheese Icing: 829 calories (percent of calories from fat, 51), 11 grams protein, 93 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 48 grams fat (22 grams saturated), 142 milligrams cholesterol, 207 milligrams sodium.
Per serving, without Cream Cheese Icing: 487 calories (percent of calories from fat, 59), 9 grams protein, 42 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 32 grams fat (12 grams saturated), 98 milligrams cholesterol, 147 milligrams sodium.
Cream Cheese Icing
11 ounces cream cheese (one 8-ounce package and one 3-ounce package)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
6 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Lovell Bros. Georgia Sour Mash Whiskey, or to taste
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine cream cheese and butter and beat until well mixed. Add sugar and whiskey and beat until smooth. Add more sugar if needed to make the desired consistency. Makes: 6 cups
Per 1/4-cup serving: 228 calories (percent of calories from fat, 40), 1 gram protein, 34 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 10 grams fat (6 grams saturated), 30 milligrams cholesterol, 40 milligrams sodium.
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