Distiller
Magazine
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Still Growth in the Land of Beer
“Scratch a San Diego distiller,” goes one bit of local lore, “and you’ll find a brewer.” There’s a grain of truth in that. More than a few area distillers have backgrounds in home or commercial brewing, but that little bon mot is far from a universal truth. Like distillers across U.S., those in and around America’s finest city have backgrounds ranging from computer tech to engineering. One family’s distilling lineage, though, goes back to 1731.
Bill Tiller began bottling his own corn whiskey in January 2015. “Our first legal bottles, anyway,” he clarifies. Tiller traces his family to 18th century Cork, Ireland, and maintains that distilling spirits is a craft that has been taught from father to son in his family since then. “It probably goes back farther, but you can never quite be sure with the Irish.” This much is certain: Without prodding from his son (also named Bill), the North County distiller probably never would have begun a commercial facility. After suggesting that they open a distillery together, Bill Jr. spent a year researching options and regulations, then submitted a business plan to his father.
The family pulled together and launched Kalifornia Distilleries in the Temecula Valley, an area about 70 miles north of downtown San Diego, known more for its wineries than distilleries. The Tillers are working to change that. Using a 350-gallon still for stripping runs and a smaller spirit still, they make vodka, bourbon, unaged corn whiskey and flavored “moonshines.” Bill Sr. is quick to explain that those last few aren’t really moonshine. “We never called it that growing up; it was just liquor, but moonshine is a word people recognize.” The apple pie- and peach pie-flavored cordials are made with spices, local organic fruits, and Tiller’s own corn whiskey. While label approval took several rounds of submissions for those bottles, local demand for vodka and corn whiskey took off so much that keeping up with demand has been a challenge. “They blew up faster than we could ever imagine.” Bloody Marys and a Temecula Margarita, both made with their corn whiskey, are popular around town and help drive sales.
“I’m blessed,” Tiller explains. “I get to make liquor with my family. That’s what we do.” Visitors can sample the Tillers’ spirits and tour the distillery, but the man with 300 years of whiskey in his veins suggests that visitors call ahead. “Otherwise, they might show up and we’ll be elbow-deep in corn!”
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