Louisville-based Sazerac enters Tennessee whiskey market with AJ Bond

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Sazerac will soon have its first Tennessee whiskey brand on the market.

According to our partners at Louisville Business First, the Louisville-based company announced its flagship brand called AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey.

The whiskey will be produced at Sazerac's Tennessee distillery in La Vergne, located southeast of downtown Nashville.

AJ Bond takes it name from the distillers behind the project — "A" for master distiller Allisa Henley and "J" for the late John Lunn, who worked closely with Henley for more than a decade.

"AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey is deeply personal," Henley said in a statement to LBF. "John and I built this together over years of shared experience, and this whiskey carries forward his legacy. It’s a reflection of the respect we have for the process, the people who taught us and the bond we will forever share."

The launch comes less than three months after Sazerac unveiled the location of its Tennessee distillery.

AJ Bond is bottled at 95 proof and uses a single mashbill and dual-distillation process featuring both pot and column stills.

The whiskey also undergoes charcoal mellowing, a traditional Tennessee whiskey process in which the distillate is filtered through sugar maple charcoal before entering the barrel.

The suggested retail price for the whiskey is $39. It will be released in Tennessee later this month, with national distribution planned for late 2026.

Sazerac is the parent company of Buffalo Trace bourbon, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and BuzzBallz ready-to-drink cocktails. It is co-headquartered in Louisville and New Orleans.