We had the good fortune of connecting with Jeff Irons and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jeff, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I became interested in distilling after I had made beer and wine. Making spirits seemed to be the next step up in the alcohol business. I started at home, and found that during my trial and error distilling period that many of my volunteer “tasters” enjoyed my bourbon product – some of my other products were not so successful.

Since it is illegal to distill without a license, I decided that I would take the next steps to start a legal distillery in Alabama – since I was the 7th distiller to apply for a license – after all, with a government contract and top secret clearance, it was smarter to start a legal distilling business and fail than it would be to get arrested for illegal distilling.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?

I started a marketing and business development company after getting fired from my last aerospace company as head of their business development organization. This company allowed me to work in a variety of business arrangements with many excellent people. It also helped me build the confidence to start an entire different business with my distillery.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

I would start at Lowe Mill – where my distillery is located – and show the over 150 artists and studios and varieties of artists and food venues that we have at Lowe Mill. I would also tour Stovehouse and Lincoln Mill – both similar to Lowe Mill as revitalized facilities for creative folks.

I would tour our Research Park to show all of the local aerospace and defense, and our new Hudson Alpha biotech facility. Hudson Alpha is due to the vision of Jim Hudson – who was our original biotech pioneer. He also purchased Lowe Mill and turned that over to his son, Jimmy, to run and allow me to start my distillery business there.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Paul Tomaszewski, founder of MB Roland Distillery in Pembroke, KY was my instructor and mentor to help me get started. I took his distilling class twice (it was that good), and continued to be available to assist me with the licensing process with the Federal Government.

Website: Www.ironsone.com

Facebook: Irons Distillery

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