John Lunn

John Lunn was born on December 20, 1969, in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to his parents, Harry Lunn and Evaline Kincaid Lunn. John attended Spring Hill High School and went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree in chemical engineering from Vanderbilt University. 

John was a proud Tennessee native, and he got his start at George Dickel in 2004. He made Dickel whiskeys for 11 years there and served as the Master Distiller at Cascade Hollow Distillery in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He primarily worked on the range of George Dickel Tennessee Whiskies, including the "No. 8 Classic," "No. 12 Signature," and he started both the "Barrel Select" expression and “Hand Selected Barrel”program, all these products were known for utilizing virgin lambs wool blankets in conjunction with a unique charcoal filtering process that was characteristic to Tennessee whiskey production. During his tenure, Lunn saw the spirits giant Diageo show the first sparks of interest in Dickel since acquiring the brand from United Distillers. He remarked that it had been sad to watch the UK-based conglomerate ignore its Tennessee property, leaving it to whither on the vine, particularly during a bourbon boom. During that same time, John collaborated with veteran distillers in Virginia to re-launch the restoration of George Washington’s Distillery at Mount Vernon.

Lunn officially departed Dickel on Friday, the 13th, 2015, and moved to Avery Trail Distillery, owned by J & M Concepts of Newport, in the hills of northeastern Tennessee. At Avery Trail, Lunn was responsible for the historic Popcorn Sutton brand, though this was ultimately short-lived as Sazerac purchased the distillery, but not the Popcorn Sutton brand, in late 2016.

In 2017, Lunn became employed by the Sazerac Company, and he was given free rein over the company’s Tennessee whiskey production. Lunn worked with distiller Allisa Henley, who had previously worked alongside him at Dickel and Avery Trail, to create a new Tennessee whiskey mashbill for Sazerac. A distillery located in Smyrna, Tennessee was named in honor of John and Allisa’s work together renaming the Popcorn Sutton Distillery the A&J Bond Distillery after the tight bond that John and Allisa had while working together. Lunn was the Plant Manager for the A&J Bond Distillery (Sazerac Tennessee) in Smyrna, Tennessee at the time of his death. The yet-to-be-released and named A&J Bond brand required Lunn to modify the distillery to begin utilizing the Lincoln County process. The A&J Bond Whiskeys have been maturing since 2017. Sazerac has been preparing for the release of the first of these whiskeys, a Tennessee whiskey, with high quality and high-aged liquid (8 and 9 years old) in late Summer 2026. The plan is to release older Tennessee Whiskeys, and introduce additional expressions and limited experimental releases designed to explore new possibilities in Tennessee whiskey while maintaining the traditional methods.

John loved collecting farm toys from years past and had achieved quite an assortment.  He also had a love for older model Jeeps.  A deeply religious man, John faithfully attended Sunday worship. He had been baptized as a young adult and served as a church elder for 18 years, as well as a Sunday School Superintendent. His brother, Tom Lunn, was his best friend.  John loved his niece and two nephews, Lindze, Gabe, and Duanne. Despite his busy schedule, he always managed to spend time every month with his longtime friends, Brian and Elizabeth Noakes, for dinner on their farm in Pulaski, Tennessee.

John’s life partner was Mary McClelland of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He dearly loved all his co-workers at Sazerac Company, and especially his longtime work partner, Allisa Henley.

John Lunn passed away unexpectedly at his residence in Manchester, Tennessee, on March 30, 2023, at the age of 53.

Contributed by Col. CRaig Duncan, Columbia, Tennessee