Ghost Coast Distillery’s selection of spirits is as diverse as Savannah itself.

Ghost Coast’s Bourbon fits right in with Savannah’s historic Old Town, filled with antebellum buildings and museums. The streets are populated with horse-drawn carriages driven through oaks dripping with Spanish moss. Their Daisy Maze is a key component of spirit-laced slushies. You might enjoy one as part of Savannah’s vibrant nightlife or a day out enjoying its sun-drenched coastline. And no ghost walk or a tour of the iconic Bonaventure Cemetery would be complete without slipping into Ghost Coast Cocktail room. Order the Last Words cocktail made with their iconic Burl Gin.

A Little History

Ghost Coast Distillery has opened up another chapter in Savannah’s storied history. That’s because it is the first distillery in the city since the signing of the 18th Amendment. Even though Prohibition ended in 1933, laws for distillers lagged. It wasn’t until 2017 that Georgia truly embraced the craft distilling movement.

Ghost Coast is the brainchild of friends Chris Sywassink and Rob Ingersoll, who drew up their business plan on a napkin. The distillery fulfilled two desires. One was to build a business with friends. The other was to create something uniquely American.

Their head distiller, Ken Klehm, called himself a “maker of spirits.” He spent a few decades tending bar, in addition to his studies in chemistry, art, and eventually booze. Although he prefers his booze straight, many of Ghost Coast’s spirits are excellent cocktail fodder.

The Distillery

All spirits are distilled, barreled, and bottled in-house.

Their barrel room is not temperature controlled. This facilitates the movement of their aged spirits back and forth through the char layer. As temperatures increase, the pores of the oak staves expand, allowing the whiskey to soak into the barrel past the char layer to the uncharred oak. Cooling temperatures pull it back out.

This push-pull is similar to how Madeira is aged, except Ghost Coast doesn’t need to leave their barrels out in the sun for decades. These rapid changes in temperature and humidity ultimately speed up the aging of the bourbon. They also reuse their bourbon barrels to age their rum and agave spirits.

They distill their bourbon, and other high-run spirits, in the 500-gallon handcrafted copper hybrid still. The still took 22 months to build!

The Spirits - Bourbon to Burl Gin to Daisy Maze

Their first four bourbon releases were very different. This culminated in the creation of their Master Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Ghost Coast’s basic mash bill comprises corn, malted barley, and oats; after that, either wheat or rye is added to the mash. The wheat adds a smooth texture to its mash, and the rye brings the spice. The use of oats in the mash bills is what Ghost Coast calls a “Savannah twist.” They state that “oats offer as much of a feeling as a flavor, bringing that comfort food, warm and cozy feeling more and more with each sip.”

In 2019 Ghost Coast released four different Straight Bourbons. Each one represented one of their four unique mash bills. Their first was a traditional rye bourbon with a twist. Rather than using whiskey yeast, Ken decided to use Saison yeast. This yeast is traditionally used for Belgian-style beer. Saison has never been used before for whiskey fermentation. So, we asked Master Distiller Ken Klehm why they’d opted for a sweet mash rather than sour.

It’s All About the Water

It’s all about water chemistry. Ken did start with sour mashes. But he found the combination of Savannah water’s low pH with sour mash was problematic. As he told us, “The point of a sour mash is to acidify the water (lower the pH) so that the yeast are happier, as they like a mildly acidic environment.  Kentucky limestone water has a high pH. So adding some acidic stillage from the previous distillation into the mash works, if that is the water one is using.” Lowering the acidity of Savannah water, though, would make the yeast unhappy. Treating the water was an option, but Ken steered away from adding chemicals to manage the pH of the mash.

Saison fit the bill, working well with Savannah’s naturally acidic water and temperature changes. According to the tasting notes on their First Release Straight Bourbon Whiskey, it also added spice and dried fruit to the flavor profile. (Check out our article here for more on how mash bills affect bourbon flavor.)

Master Straight Bourbon Whiskey

Their Master Straight Bourbon Whiskey is blended from these original four releases in 2019. By integrating multiple unique straight bourbons, they were able to play with the flavors.

“Multiple mashbills allow us to combine the spiciness of rye, and sweetness from the corn with the smoothness of wheat, bringing you an approachable bourbon with plenty of complexity and backbone. The oats work seamlessly with the other grains to create an easy-drinking bourbon that’s still bursting with flavors of warm caramel, walnut, and dried apricot.” Ghost Coast describes their blend as “a ‘cozy’ bourbon to be enjoyed in any weather, mood, or for any occasion. It’s the everyday whiskey made for beginners and bourbon enthusiasts alike.“ ~ Kelcie Beausir, Ghost Coast

Burl Gin

We asked Ken about the inspiration behind Burl Gin, named after Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives. (He was immortalized as the Sam the Snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. But he was also known for his dramatic turns in such iconic films as East of Eden, Our Man in Havana, and Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.)

"Burl is the Gin that I wanted to drink for years but couldn't find (although I am thrilled that others like it too). In my bartending days, I fell in love with the flavor combination of lavender, cardamom, and lemon. Those, along with the traditional gin ingredients of juniper and coriander, are the major flavors in Burl.  Angelica, orris root and elderflower are part of the supporting cast, and add some earthy and warmer notes."

Daisy Maze

Sometimes the path a spirit takes is unplanned. Daisy Maze was first concocted for several Ghost Coast accounts specializing in festive frozen drinks.

“It is the ideal spirit for a cool, blended creation in the hot Savannah summers.”

When the Pandemic hit, customers shifted to using Daisy Maze as a disinfectant. And some breweries even began using it to clean their production facilities! They love to say, “Daisy Maze is a blank canvas for whatever infusion, tincture, liqueur, cocktail, bitters, slushy, or whatever you want to responsibly make. We make it for you.”

Final Notes

If you are in the Savannah, drop by Ghost Coast for a taste of their uncanny spirits and otherworldly cocktails. Neither are to be missed.

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Cheers!