in the heart of the city of Memphis, Tennessee, there exists a distillery with a very storied history involving creation, death and ultimately, rebirth. It’s called Old Dominick, and today it produces a fine assortment of Tennessee spirits under the direction of Master Distiller Alex Castle.

An American Tale: A Brief History of Old Dominick

Domenico Canale

The Old Dominick tale actually starts of in Italy, where a sixteen-year-old named Domenico Canale departs for a new life in America in the year of 1859. Upon arrival in New Orleans (bourbon, anyone?), he travels up the mighty Mississippi river to finally settle in Memphis where he begins work under the tutelage of his uncle running a fruit cart up and down the streets of Memphis. In 1866, Canale establishes D. Canale & Co., a food wholesaler that also boasts a whiskey sold in ceramic jars and bottles that he names ‘Old Dominick’. Building on the success of his whiskey, Canale later adds a ‘Dominick Toddy’: a bourbon-based cordial with fruity overtones that is very well received by the public. The whiskey business carries on steadily for years, up until the year 1919 when at the age of 75 and just 3 days before the ratification of prohibition, Dominco Canale passes away.

Following his death and now being under prohibition, all whiskey production is quickly laid to rest, as Canale’s eldest son John expands the food and product operations to ultimately grow into one of the largest grocery distributors in the region. Years later after prohibition is finally repealed in 1933, the company wins regional distribution rights for Anheuser-Busch beer as a result of their superior refrigerated warehouses. The business continues to grow, prosper and diversify for many decades until its food services wing is sold in 1999 and its beverages wing is ultimately sold off in 2010.

Fast forward to 2016.

Following the discovery of an unopened, truly vintage original bottle of Dominick Toddy from the late 1800’s, great grandsons Chris and Alex Canale make the decision to build a state of the art distillery to reinstate the storied spirit brand started by their great grandfather Domenico in the downtown of Memphis. The new building is created under the vision of Master Distiller Alex Castle, and the distillery creates the very first batch of Tennessee whiskey distilled in Memphis since prohibition.

The rest is history.

A Sip of Pure Memphis

The vibrant rooftop above the distillery

Today, Old Dominick produces a growing series of spirits (or ‘formulas’ as Master Distiller Alex castle refers to many of them) that range from a Southern American Gin to Bourbon to the Dominick Toddy, which revitalizes the original family recipe. The distillery is host to ongoing distillery tours, a bustling rooftop patio, as well as a series of popular monthly events that incorporate food, cocktails, and spirits into the vibrant local Memphis music scene. As for Castle, she (yes, she) is a chemical engineer by trade and brings a unique scientific approach to her creations.

Born in Kentucky and having previously worked for Wild Turkey, Castle is a female master-distiller within an industry that has been dominated by men since long before the age of Domenico Canale. Today she is amongst a growing population of women who are finding themselves successfully taking on such distillery and brewery roles previously held by men – and thriving at it to boot.

Castle loves her job and loves the city of Memphis she now calls home.

Recently, we caught up with Alex and were able to ask her some questions surrounding her position as Master Distiller at Old Dominick, as well as her love of Memphis and distilling:

Master Distiller Alex Castle loves her Memphis town

TGF: What brought a Kentucky-born woman to Memphis and how did you end up at Old Dominick?

Alex: It was all Old Dominick. I was contacted, via LinkedIn, by a consultant who was working on the project at the time. He asked me if I knew of anyone who might be interested in being the distiller for a brand new distillery in Memphis. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking to leave Wild Turkey at the time but, at the same time, I was completely intrigued. My interview was my first ever visit to Memphis and I fell in love with the city and the Old Dominick team immediately. And the rest is history.

TGF: How does your background in chemical engineering lend itself to being a master distiller?

Alex: Distillation columns, pumps, pipes…that’s exactly what you study and work with when studying chemical engineering. So I use a lot of that education when we selecting and installing the equipment and piping.

TGF: Amongst your many creations, is there a special one in particular that you consider ‘your baby’?

Alex: This really depends on the day!! I am really proud of our Memphis Vodka…I was tasked with creating it when I had never made a single drop of vodka in the past. So that was a real challenge for me. But honestly, it’s our gins that I’m most proud of. I spent a solid year working on multiple recipes, finally getting it down to two. It was such a fun project – the gin category is wide open as far as flavors go – and it really allowed me to express myself in ways the other spirits can’t. Ask me again in a few years and I’m sure my answer will be a brown spirit instead.

TGF: Are there any future whiskey creations that are currently maturing in the aging process as we speak?

Alex: I have three different whiskies that are aging at the moment. There’s a traditional Tennessee Whiskey (75% corn, 13% rye), a high-rye bourbon (44% rye) and a wheat whiskey (83% wheat). I really like the idea of appealing to just about any type of whiskey drinker, and hopefully even entice non-whiskey drinkers to try something in the category. I’ve also played around with barrel-rested gins, using ex-bourbon barrels, and those have turned out quite nicely so far.

TGF: What cocktail involving an Old Dominick spirit is a ‘must try’?

Alex: Anything with our Honeybell Citrus Vodka! It is such a refreshing flavor, and it plays well in just about anything. I’ve used it in margaritas, Cosmos, mimosas…it is just really versatile. And it makes a great vodka-soda.

Old Dominick is located at 305 South Front Street in Memphis, Tennessee. If you’re thinking of visiting the facility for a tour and a curated tasting, make certain to also to visit Gus’s Would famous Fried Chicken – conveniently located right across the street. 

-Kurt Bradley