This is America! Jack Daniels turns Whiskey into hand sanitizers

This is America! Jack Daniels turns Whiskey into hand sanitizers
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This is America!  We are supposed to be a first-world country, but are we really?  Dr. Coleen Smith, an emergency room physician in New York, told CNN today, “I don’t have the support that I need and even just the materials that I need physically to take care of my patients, and it’s America and we’re supposed to be a first-world country.”

America may no longer be a first-world country when it comes to our collapsing health system unable to handle the magnitude of an emergency the world is going through right now. US President Trump wants to make America great again. The reality is Americans are dying in New York – and they don’t need to die.

Ventilators are not available, no hand sanitizer can be found, protective clothes for first responders is almost out,  and the Land of the Free is unable to effectively respond. People in Manhattan die, and a refrigerated truck is parked in a back alley of a New York hospital to collect their dead bodies. This is shameful – and this cannot be America as we know and respect it.

The State of Tennessee, famous for country music and whiskey, now has 955 cases of coronavirus and is foregoing the whiskey to produce hand sanitizer.

Proud Americans like Kim Mitchell, Director of Tourism for the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority , took the initiative and brought distillers together to make a difference. Instead of promoting tourism, he is saving lives.

What is needed more than tourists and whiskey are hand sanitizers, and Kris Tatum, Old Forge Distillery, Pigeon Forge (Owner & President, Tennessee Distillers Guild); Keener Shanton, Old Forge Distillery, Pigeon Forge (Head Distiller);  Alex Castle, Old Dominick Distillery, Memphis (Head Distiller); and Greg Eidam, Sugarlands Distilling, Gatlinburg (Head Distiller) among others are standing up, and they are doing something.

“We saw a need in our communities, and we are on a mission to make a difference,” said Kris Tatum, president of Tennessee Distillers Guild. “It’s a great feeling when competitors collectively decide to put profits aside and jointly decide to support the communities which have made us successful in the first place.”

Sanitizing products will be delivered to large transportation companies, municipalities and health care businesses across the state.

“We’re trying to help government entities including fire departments, police stations, physician offices and other businesses that are the heartbeat of our state and still on the front lines serving the public and keeping the economy going,” said Greg Eidam, head distiller at Sugarlands Distilling Company in Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Tennessee distilleries have taken a hard hit as a result of the sudden coronavirus-induced downturn. Distilleries have suspended tours, canceled large events, and ceased production in order to minimize the risk to employees and guests and further spread of the virus throughout the state.

“The irony here is that during Prohibition, many distilleries became medical dispensaries in times of sickness,” noted Keener Stanton, head distiller at Old Forge Distilling Company in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. “I think we’re heeding the call of our ancestors and doing what those who came before us would’ve been proud to see us do.”

They joined eTurboNews Publisher Juergen Steinmetz and Safertourism President Dr. Peter Tarlow in a conversation, in which they explained how whiskey can be turned into desperately-needed hand sanitizers. Hand sanitizers are urgently needed to protect first responders and everyone else in Tennessee and beyond in the age of COVID-19.

How whiskey is no longer flowing but is saving lives in the form of hand sanitizers is discussed in this conversation. (YOUTUBE bel0w)

Tennessee whiskey is straight whiskey produced in the U.S. state of Tennessee. Although it has been legally defined as a bourbon whiskey in some international trade agreements, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to their products as “bourbon” and do not label them as such on any of their bottles or advertising materials. All current Tennessee whiskey producers are required by Tennessee law to produce their whiskeys in Tennessee and – with the sole exception of Benjamin Prichard’s – to use a filtering step known as the Lincoln County Process prior to aging the whiskey. Beyond the perceived marketing value of the distinction, Tennessee whiskey and bourbon have almost identical requirements, and most Tennessee whiskeys meet the criteria for bourbon.

Tennessee whiskey is one of the top ten exports of Tennessee

On behalf of all Americans, thank you Kim Mitchell, Director of Tourism for the Smoky Mountain Tourism Development Authority; Kris Tatum, Old Forge Distillery, Pigeon Forge (Owner & President, Tennessee Distillers Guild); Keener Shanton, Old Forge Distillery, Pigeon Forge (Head Distiller); Alex Castle, Old Dominick Distillery, Memphis (Head Distiller); and Greg Eidam, Sugarlands Distilling, Gatlinburg (Head Distiller) – you are making us proud – and you’re making a difference.

The Tennessee Distillers Guild is a membership organization that consists of 32 Tennessee distilleries and associate members. The mission of the Tennessee Distillers Guild is to responsibly promote and advocate for the distilling industry in Tennessee through the collective voice of its members. In June 2017, the Tennessee Distillers Guild launched the Tennessee Whiskey Trail, a 26-stop tour of Tennessee distilleries across the state. For more information about the Tennessee Distillers Guild, visit www.tndistillersguild.org.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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