Neat or mixed in a drink? Award

While technically new to our state, Axe and the Oak Distillery has been in operation in Colorado Springs, Colorado, since 2013. That was the year that Jason Jackson and his best friends Casey Ross and Eric Baldini turned their hobby of making brown liquor into an award-winning career.

Current products include a 92-proof bourbon whiskey (the distillery's flagship offering), a rye whiskey, a citrus-infused gin, and a cask-strength bourbon. And for those that want some hitch in their giddy-up, there's a 100-proof moonshine product as well. Axe and the Oak has won at least a dozen local and international awards for their spirits over the past several years.

Now the team is busy converting an old laundry facility at the former Fort Chaffee near Fort Smith into a 49,000-square-foot production distillery.

Fort Chaffee was established in 1941 as a U.S. Army base and training camp. It is perhaps most famous for hosting a young Army G.I. named Elvis Presley in 1958. In 1980, Chaffee housed thousands of refugees from Cuba. Several escaped the resettlement camp and marched down Highway 22 towards Barling, and many more rioted on the base. The incident played a role in then-Governor Bill Clinton's failed re-election bid later that year.

In 1995 the U.S. government decided to close Fort Chaffee. A portion was leased to the Arkansas National Guard for training, with the remaining 7,000 acres being designated for community development. Chaffee Crossing emerged as a place for local businesses to put down roots. It's currently home to Fort Smith Brewing Co. Monte Cervino Beverage Co. — a winery, cidery, and coffee roaster — will soon move its headquarters there from Colorado Springs.

The old laundry facility destined to become the new home of Axe and the Oak is a stunning sight to behold, even before the start of renovation. The space is expansive, with a forest of columns holding up the exposed beams of the ceiling. Natural light pours in from multiple rows of skylights that run the length of the building. According to co-owner Casey Ross, renovation will be light-handed on the main production floor, with most of the transformation taking place in the adjacent tasting room.

The Chaffee location will be the second for Axe and the Oak, with the original site in Colorado Springs remaining in operation. Distribution has grown to more than 9,000 cases annually, with the company's product reaching consumers in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas. Fans of American spirits can also find limited supplies in Germany. A growing footprint necessitates more space.

So, why expand production to Arkansas?

"Colorado Springs is wonderful, and we love our home state," said Ross. "We’re keeping our operations there. But it was really tricky finding a building in Colorado. I can't tell you how many we looked at over the last eight years, and they all fell flat in the end."

Eric Baldini, who serves as the distillery's chief financial officer, has a brother who lives in Bentonville, which put the northwest corner of the state on the team's radar.

"The area really aligned with what we had going on out in Colorado," said Ross. "We’re all big outdoorsmen and big mountain bikers. We started doing a lot of stuff in the community once we started distributing here a couple years ago. A lot of people in Bentonville and Fayetteville think we’re a local distillery because we are always doing things there. We just did the Bentonville Whiskey Festival in April."

Brian Sorensen

When word of the Chaffee property reached the team, they decided to check it out. "I flew out from Colorado to take a look," said Ross. "And I thought, ‘Wow! This is awesome!’"

The building has great bones and plenty of character as it stands today. Two sets of distilling equipment have been procured and are awaiting installation. One can produce 400 gallons of spirits, and the other will yield 300 gallons. All of the equipment, including fermenters and a gigantic boiler, was purchased secondhand. "I’m addicted to auctions," said Ross.

There are plans for a walk-through museum of distilling history and the story of Axe and the Oak on the production floor, as well as a place for visitors to lounge and sip their beverage of choice. The tasting room will be staffed with bartenders who take a mixologist approach to drink-making.

"They know each of our products inside and out," said Ross. "There will be a full menu of drinks, but our signature drink is a tobacco old-fashioned, made with house-made tobacco bitters. We’ll also have tasting flights where people can taste everything neat."

Brian Sorensen

Behind the building sit two acres, where Ross said they will install four RV pads for people to hook up for overnight stays. A pump track for kids and a stage for live music will further enhance the distillery's status as a destination for experience seekers.

Ross said he has met some of the state's current distillers — including those from Rock Town Distillery in Little Rock and Delta Dirt Distillery in Helena. "Everyone has been fantastic towards us," he said. "We are truly loving Arkansas so far."

The distillers aren't planning on managing the new facility via commute, either. Ross said he just closed on a home in Fort Smith, and Jackson will be living in Northwest Arkansas as well.

There's still a lot of work to do before opening. Construction permits are nearly in hand, which means the transformation of the former laundry depot will soon begin. A team of what is initially expected to be 10-15 employees will be recruited, hired and trained later this year. Arkansas Wine & Spirits will be the exclusive Arkansas distributor for Axe and the Oak, Ross said.

The founders of Axe and the Oak have a track record of success and are looking forward to the day when they can bring their award-winning production capabilities to Chaffee Crossing. Come early 2024 the decision for fans of their spirits will be — will they have theirs neat, or mixed in a drink?

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