On a recent trip to Myrtle Beach, we met Jason Queen. He was working to promote his bourbon in South Carolina. Jason shared a bit of history with us and a whiskey too. That chance meeting and conversation inspired this latest episode of the Bourbon Lens Podcast. Jason, a serial entrepreneur and conservationist, had previously purchased Cook’s Mill in North Carolina. It is an old grist mill that he aims to restore to its former, thriving state. That goal set him on a path of creating a whiskey focused on paying homage to North Carolina’s past. Sit back and buckle in for the latest episode of the Bourbon Lens.
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About Jason Queen & Cook’s Mill Whiskey
Cook’s Mill Whiskey owner and founder Jason Queen is also the owner and broker at Monarch Realty in Raleigh, NC. Given his profession, Jason has an inherent interest in historic preservation, which he shares with his wife, Jeanne. For their 10th anniversary, Jason purchased Cook’s Mill, an abandoned grist mill. It acted as a community gathering place particularly during the Regulator Movement in the 1770s. He bought it from Preservation North Carolina so they could restore and preserve it together. While assessing the disrepair of the mill, they found sacks of heirloom grain. The Agriculture Department of NC State inspected these grains. From there, the idea to reintroduce these heirloom grains to farmlands through whiskey production was born to celebrate the rural heritage of the mill and North Carolina.
The Story Behind Cook’s Mill Whiskey
Cook’s Mill Whiskey originated after founder Jason Queen, who is also the owner and broker at Monarch Realty in Raleigh, NC, purchased an abandoned 1700s grist mill from Preservation North Carolina, which is located halfway between where he and his wife grew up, as a 10-year anniversary gift for his wife. Both having an inherent interest in historic preservation, the idea was to restore and preserve the piece of history together. Inspired by other craft brands and his background in restaurants and hospitality, Queen decided to create a bourbon whiskey made from corn grown, harvested, distilled and bottled in the state – with a portion of the proceeds going back to the cost of restoring the mill.
The brand is named for that pre-Revolutionary Alamance County grist mill, which is one of only two remaining grist mills of the original 41 in Mebane County. Inspired by the proud tradition of farming and distillation in North Carolina, Cook’s Mill officially released in October 20202 after years of being kept a secret. A straight bourbon whiskey aged in new white-oak charred barrels, Cook’s Mill’s first iteration blends supreme flavor as a 3-year-old bourbon made with NC native corn and a dose of history.
Across the state, the team farmed many non-GMO heirloom corns. These corns are native to NC. Their goal was to yield ideal bourbon whiskey flavor profiles. To do so, Queen and his team partnered with experts at NC State who have dedicated their careers to native NC heirloom corns. The team isolated seven heirloom corns. These were housed in a university vault in small amounts. They offered them to Queen and his team to grow.
“These are real true heirloom seeds, original genetic varieties of these corns, that we have unique ownership of,” says Queen, “and there are only like a handful of some of these corns. They’ve never been commoditized—you can’t get them out of a catalog.” In fact, he explains, they were probably used by the pre-Prohibition NC moonshiners and distillers—and allowed to go out of production because of the dense GMO corns that are so much easier to grow.
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- 304: Fawn Weaver on Her New Book, Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey, and Honoring Nathan Green
- 303: A Deep Dive with Ross Cornelissen, Master Distiller of 1792 Bourbon
- 302: Sitting Down with Dierks Bentley and His New ROW 94 Whiskey
- 301: Restoration and History with Cook’s Mill Whiskey Founder Jason Queen
- 300: Celebrating a New Milestone with Birthday Bourbon at Old Forester
