Allisa Henley and the late John Lunn built more than a distillery in Tennessee. They built a legacy. Now, as Sazerac releases AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey, the story behind the whiskey feels as meaningful as the liquid itself.
AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey is no longer something coming soon. Today, AJ Bond steps into the spotlight, but this whiskey has been a long time coming. It carries the weight of years, the hands of people who built it piece by piece, and the kind of history that cannot be manufactured in a boardroom. The distillery name honors the bond between Allisa Henley and the late John Lunn, whose partnership helped shape Sazerac’s Tennessee whiskey ambitions from the beginning.
For those who have followed this story up close, this release carries a heavy tenderness with it. For me, there have been visits in Newport and La Vergne, afternoons spent around the distillery, and memories of being there when the still was delivered and installed. There was laughter, work, and the quiet pride that comes from watching something meaningful take shape over time. There was also loss: John’s passing in 2023 left a hole that cannot be filled, and this release arrives with the bittersweet reality that he is not here to see it reach the public.
A legacy built in Tennessee
Sazerac entered Tennessee whiskey in 2016 with the acquisition of the Popcorn Sutton distillery facility, keeping the production team led by Henley and Lunn and continuing to invest in the operation over time. The distillery later moved to La Vergne in 2019, where the whiskey that will become AJ Bond has been aging ever since. The project is not a fast introduction or a shortcut to category entry. It is the result of nearly a decade of patient work.
That patience is part of what makes the launch so powerful. AJ Bond is not simply a new label; it is the public face of years of distilling, experimenting, aging, and refining. The whiskey was developed by Henley and Lunn together, built from a shared vision of what true Tennessee whiskey could be, and carried forward through years of work, change, and loss. The name itself honors that partnership, which makes the release feel less like a launch and more like an acknowledgment.
Inside the May 18 tasting
The most revealing preview of the whiskey came on May 18, during an intimate media tasting in Nashville. A small group of local media gathered in the private upstairs space at Friends in Low Places on Broadway, where the evening began with a welcome cocktail and conversation with Allisa in the venue’s moody, dark bar area. The setting carried its own kind of Nashville energy: polished, lively, and full of familiar faces.
From there, the group moved into Trisha’s Studio Kitchen, modeled on the Concord House where she films her television show. Two component whiskeys were poured and discussed in detail- the column-distilled whiskey and the pot-distilled whiskey, giving the group a closer look at how the final blend comes together. Allisa walked through the technical side of the whiskey with the same ease and authority that have long made her a respected voice in American whiskey. It was the sort of tasting that reminded everyone in the room that whiskey is not only about flavor, but about process, memory, and the people who can explain both without losing the heart of the story.
After the technical tasting, the atmosphere shifted again. Guests were ushered into another room lined with photographs of Allisa and John, where a three-course dinner was served. Each course came with a cocktail, and the final AJ Bond Tennessee Whiskey was poured at the end of the meal. We also tasted the whiskey both before and after the charcoal mellowing process, which made the transformation even more striking. As a most pleasant surprise, we were offered a sneak peek of a yet-to-be-released rye, suggesting that AJ Bond is only beginning its story.
What Allisa said about the whiskey
Allisa described the whiskey as having heat, but not the aggressive kind. In her words, it leans toward baking spice heat, with dark fruit on the front palate and a finish she especially loves for its sweetness and honeyed linger. She said the whiskey includes liquid as old as eight and a half to nine years, with the column-distilled whiskey around six years old and the pot-distilled whiskey much older. That balance gives the whiskey both maturity and a playfulness, another reflection of the bond Allisa and John built together.
She also made clear that the decision not to use an age statement was intentional. The goal was never to reduce the whiskey to a number, but to find the right balance among the components and let the final flavor lead the way. For Allisa, the ideal sweet spot sits somewhere around eight to nine years, depending on how the whiskey comes together.
The whiskey was also designed with versatility in mind. Allisa said she and John wanted a bottle that could be enjoyed neat, on ice, or in a cocktail without losing its whiskey character. At 95 proof, AJ Bond has enough structure to hold up in a mixed drink while still remaining approachable. That matters because it reflects the way they actually wanted people to drink it, not just the way they wanted to describe it.
Rooted in Tennessee
What gives AJ Bond a deeper sense of place is the way it was made. The whiskey uses locally sourced corn from Batey Farms in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and it is aged in Tennessee oak. That matters because it ties the whiskey not just to Tennessee in name, but to Tennessee in material and method.
Allisa has also emphasized that she and John wanted the process to remain hands-on and authentic. They did not want to strip out the human element in favor of pure automation. For them, making whiskey was about doing the work, being present, and staying close to the process from start to finish. That philosophy is part of what makes the brand feel honest rather than overbuilt.
Their working bond
One of the most meaningful parts of the May 18th conversation was the way Allisa described how she and John built their skills together. The quote that stands out most is this: “It wasn’t so much a mentor-mentee relationship. It was just us getting out there and learning it together as time went on.” That line says almost everything about their partnership in one sentence.
It is a beautiful way to understand how AJ Bond came to be. This was not a story of one person teaching the other from above. It was a story of two people figuring it out side by side, each bringing different strengths to the table, and each trusting the other enough to keep learning in real time. Allisa has said John’s chemistry vocabulary was more technical than hers, while her own language leaned more practical and production-focused. Together, they made a full picture.
That shared approach is part of why this release feels so personal. It was built by people who were not performing expertise. They were earning it, day by day, tank by tank, still by still. And that makes the final product feel like more than a whiskey. It feels like proof of partnership.
Why this release matters
There are plenty of whiskey launches every year, but not many feel this layered. AJ Bond has the technical depth, the category significance, and the institutional backing of a major spirits company. It also has something harder to manufacture: a story of real partnership, real loss, and real pride.
That is why this launch resonates so strongly. For Allisa, today is a milestone. For John’s memory, it is a tribute. It carries the memory of the work they did together, the whiskey they shaped together, and the life they built around the craft. For anyone who knew them, or even just watched them work, AJ Bond is more than a debut. It is a legacy finally making its way into the glass.
Looking ahead
Today Sazerac launches AJ Bond as its first Tennessee whiskey in Tennessee only at a suggested retail price of $39.99 for 750ml. Additional U.S. distribution is expected later in 2026. Future expressions and limited experimental releases are planned as the distillery continues to build its presence in the category. That makes this first release both a beginning and a marker of what is still to come.
For now, though, the moment belongs to the whiskey already in the bottle, the people who built it, and the relationship that gave it its name. Allisa Henley and John Lunn made something lasting. Today, the world gets to taste it.
Looking forward to the opening of the future Mboro event center.
Fascinating! Thank you.