Meet the Makers

Spirits · Memphis, Tennessee

Old Dominick Distillery

A Memphis family whiskey brand revived after nearly a century of silence.

Founded
1866
Founded by
Domenico Canale; revived by Chris Canale and Alex Canale
Based in
Memphis, Tennessee

Making it since

1866

Their story

Domenico Canale left Genoa, Italy, in 1859 and settled in Memphis, where he started out selling produce. In 1866 he founded D. Canale & Co., which bottled bourbons and a house liqueur under the Old Dominick name and grew into one of the South's major spirits brands.

Prohibition ended the whiskey business, and the family moved into food and later beer distribution. More than 90 years on, Domenico's great-great-grandson Chris Canale and his cousin Alex Canale brought the name back.

Their distillery opened in 2017 in a restored 19th-century building on Front Street in downtown Memphis, a few blocks from the Mississippi River and Beale Street.

How it's made

Old Dominick mills, distills, ages and bottles on site, with a small rickhouse in the building. Its Tennessee whiskey is charcoal mellowed, while its bourbon is not, and the lineup also includes Memphis Vodka and Toddy, a revived family liqueur recipe.

The brand is 150 years old, but it's been dead for almost 100. The trick is how do you make that new again?
Alex Canale, vice president of business development, to High Ground News (2016)

Why we carry them

We like Old Dominick for its Memphis story as much as what is in the glass. Their Tennessee whiskey and bourbon make an easy side-by-side tasting of the two styles.

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