EP257: The Team Behind Old Dominick Distillery and One Mother’s Escape From A Sudanese Death Sentence to America

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Brought to you by Coca-Cola, proud sponsor of the My Coutura Podcast Network. Hispanic heritage is magic. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories. And we tell stories about everything here on this show, from the arts to sports and from business to history and everything in between, including your stories.

Send them to OurAmericanStories.com. They're some of our favorites. And we especially love bringing you stories about family businesses. And today we bring you one with a long history that begins with a fruit cart in 1859. Here is Alex Castle, the master distiller at Old Dominic Distillery, to tell us the history of this Memphis family business. So one of the best things to me about working for Old Dominic and Deacon Alley and Company is the history of it. That history dates back to 1866. And it is very tangible history. That whole family held on to so many documents and ledger books and letters.

I don't know what they were thinking when they held on to it all, but I know we're very happy that it's there now. The family history isn't just some story that's been passed down by word of mouth. It is a history that is very, very real and that we can show to everyone just how authentic that story is.

And to be able to be a part of such an authentic story and hopefully be a part of its history eventually is just, it's very rewarding. So our founder, Domenico Canale, was an Italian immigrant. And he came over to the States in 1859, landed in New Orleans, and decided to take a riverboat up to Memphis. He already had family here. His uncle had a business already. He decided to work for his uncle.

That building is literally about a hundred yards from the current distillery. Worked for him for a couple of years and decided to start his own company in 1866, at which time he founded Deacon Alley and Company. Started off as a modest little fruit cart, and he would just go up and down what is now Front Street selling fruit. Over the years, that grew, became a much bigger distribution company. Started distributing beer because he had refrigerated trucks, and decided in the midst of all of that to found Old Dominic Whiskey. He did not distill his own product, but he did buy H product barrels from other states. So we have records of barrels from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and he would bring them down on the railroads and blend them here under the label of Old Dominic. It was actually one of the biggest whiskey brands in the southern region during that time. And of course prohibition hit, and so Old Dominic Whiskey had to stop being produced.

Fortunately, the other parts of the company continued on. So the fruit distribution, the beer distribution, all of that continued on through prohibition. And sadly, Dominico did not see the repeal of prohibition.

He actually died just a few days before it was repealed. The Econylian company continued on, just without the whiskey. Bring it up to, I guess it was the late 90s, they actually sold off the food distribution, but still maintained the beer distribution that they had. And so they were the Anheuser-Busch distributor in Memphis. And then in 2010, I believe it was, they actually sold that off as well. And so they kind of had lost all of their Memphis foothold.

They had other prices, other investments, just nothing actually in Memphis. And so in 2013, when they found a bottle of Dominic Toddy, basically they found this bottle full, still wax sealed. And they decided to crack it open. I believe one of them actually tasted the liquid, but had that liquid analyzed. They sent it to California to see if we could figure out what actually was in that product. Because with all of the documents that the family held onto, they never held onto the recipe for this product.

Go figure. And so with the help of a lab out in California, they learned the different components that were present in that bottle. Couldn't figure out the exact ratios or anything like that.

So no specific recipe. But they were able to figure out what was in it. And then from there, we essentially reverse engineered it. And so today's president, Chris Canale Jr., wanted to see the company get back to Memphis. Wanted more than just their headquarters to be here. He decided, this seems like a cool idea. And someone said, well, why don't you sell the brand?

He said no. This is how we get back to Memphis. And so he and his cousin, Alex Canale, decided to open up what is now Old Dominic Distillery. That construction project officially started in 2015. And that was the same year that they decided to bring on a head distiller. And I was lucky enough to get a message on LinkedIn.

I had nothing better to do. I said, sure, I'll come down for an interview. And ended up deciding to move to Memphis that same year. And so about a year of construction, and we were actually ready to produce the first whiskey. Not just out of Old Dominic, but the first whiskey produced in Memphis ever.

There were no distilleries here even before Prohibition. So December of 2016 was kind of a big year for Old Dominic and for Memphis. And then flash forward a couple months, May of 2017, and we were actually finished with all of construction and open to the public for our first tours at the beginning of May. And since then, we have added multiple products. We now have two vodkas. We have our Memphis toddy. We have a gin that's about to come out. And we also have our Huelling Station bourbon. And even the Huelling Station line, we're about to release even more products under it.

So it's been a very, very busy two, two and a half years. And again, you're listening to Alex Castle. And she's the head distiller at Old Dominic Distillery. What a thing to do and what a way to honor a family heritage. And what a way to honor a city. And when we come back, we'll hear more of this remarkable story from head distiller Alex Castle.

The story of Old Dominic Distillery, a local story, Oxford, where we broadcast is a mere hour's drive south from the great city of Memphis. The story continues here on Our American Story. Folks, if you love the great American stories we tell and love America like we do, we're asking you to become a part of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that America is a good and great country, please make a donation. A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to OurAmericanStories.com now and go to the donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.

That's OurAmericanStories.com. And we're back with the story of Old Dominic Distillery in Memphis, Tennessee, and its master distiller, Alex Castle. Alex was the first female master distiller in the state of Tennessee at the first whiskey distillery in Memphis.

Here's Alex to tell us her story. So I am originally from Kentucky. I grew up in a small town called Burlington.

It's about 12 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was definitely a type A. So when I got to high school, fell in love with maths and sciences and knew I wanted to do something with them. And I was talking to my mom, trying to figure out, you know, what could I do with my life?

Because at 15, you need to know what you're going to do with the rest of your life. And she had been reading some articles and came across chemical engineering. I was like, that sounds perfect, but I can't teach. So what do you do with that? And my mom, who doesn't drink, said you can make beer and be a brewmaster or you can be a master distiller and make bourbon. I said, that's perfect.

That's exactly what I want to do. Truthfully, I have no idea why it sounded interesting, because I was one of those people in high school who did not drink. And like I said, my mom didn't drink. We didn't have bourbon in the house.

Up to that point, my only experience with bourbon was my parents taking me to Maker's Mark when I was about five or six years old. And I hated it. Absolutely hated it.

I remember my dad sticking his finger in the fur minter and eating it. And I thought I was going to throw up. It just was so gross to me.

I didn't like the smell of that room. And then I can't remember if it was the start of the tour or the end of the tour, but they were handing out fudge. I'm a kid. I absolutely want some fudge. No one told me it was bourbon fudge. That does not taste like fudge.

It was horrible. So that being my only experience with bourbon, I really have no idea why I ended up in this industry. But when I was 15 or 16, that just it sounded so perfect. And being from Kentucky, you know, it was a part of my heritage, even if we weren't involved in it. And so I went to the University of Kentucky to study chemical engineering and was fortunate enough to get a co-op while I was in school with a small company, not so small now, but small company in Lexington called Altec. And at the time, they did animal nutrition supplements and had a brewery.

And I thought that's perfect because I thought I wanted to do beer. Well, while I was there, they sneakily added two pot stills into the brewery and had no one to run them or clean them for that matter. And so my boss sent me and one other person from the engineering office to clean them because they'd come all the way from Scotland. So they had a lot of dirt on them from the travel. And shortly after that is when he asked me if I wanted to observe a distillation.

So not just polish the stills, but you can actually help run them. And instead of observing, I actually got to run the distillation that day. My boss forgot that he had to take his kids to the dentist that day. And so I show up and he says that and I think, oh, man, now I have to go to the office.

This is going to be boring. And instead in about five minutes ran me through the entire process and said, if you have to just shut it down, I'll be back later and then left. And so I ran the stills that day. Did not have to shut them down, thankfully. And I guess because I managed to do that that first day, I was cheap labor.

They didn't have to hire anyone else. So they just let me do it from that point on. So I filled over the first hundred barrels, I believe it was, of Pierce Lions Reserve. And from that day on, that was all I wanted to do.

I just wanted to make whiskey. And so I set off on that path and have been fortunate enough to know people in the industry and get my foot in the door and have stayed in it ever since. So after college, I have I did one year making laundry detergent because the industry, while it was growing, everyone was still so new. Nobody was making money, which meant they couldn't hire anybody.

So no one was hiring at the time. But fortunately, one of the guys I used to work with at Altec remembered that I wanted to be in the industry and so connected me with his friend who was a recruiter and was hiring for Wahl Turkey. And so I managed to get on as a distillery production supervisor at Wahl Turkey about a year after I graduated college and worked there for four years, started off as the number two supervisor.

In about a month, that supervisor got shifted to a different department. So I very quickly became the number one supervisor. And so for four years, I was overseeing all of production at Wahl Turkey responsible for third shift and first shift. So the hours for that were spectacular.

I woke up at 2am every day. So definitely cut my teeth in a really good way up there. And then it was randomly the beginning of 2015 that I got that message on LinkedIn asking if I knew anyone who would be interested in a startup distillery in Memphis. And I took about two days to think about it and sent my resume in. And my first trip to Memphis was for the interview. And I fell in love with the place. I fell in love with the city immediately. But also fell in love with the company.

Everyone I met during that weekend was absolutely fantastic. And then they actually brought me into the distillery, which at the time was a completely empty building. The stairs were absolutely terrifying.

But I went up them in heels. But seeing the space and seeing how much work was to be done, I could see the challenge that it was. And at the time I didn't know I wanted that kind of challenge. But seeing it, having it put right in front of me, I realized that's exactly what I needed. And so it just, the whole concept of really doing start to finish with this company and with this brand was so thrilling.

Creating a new brand and product is incredibly stressful. But it was exhilarating. So just the distillery itself, because we do consider the physical space a product for us, I actually got to sit in on interior design meetings. So I got to help pick tile for the bathrooms and light fixtures. And I was amazed at how much I enjoyed that. And then with the products themselves, of course, had to develop the liquid, which was super fun.

My nerdy side came out. But I also got to have input on the bottles themselves, the shapes, the labels, how they looked, everything. I got input on all of it. Where I came from, I had no say in any of that.

I would never have say in any of that. And so to be able to put my stamp on every aspect of the product and the brand, it was incredibly rewarding. So yeah, I'm fortunate to have owners who really do trust their employees, put faith in their employees.

If they hired you to do something, they're going to do everything they can to make sure they let you do that job. And on a personal level, it's great. I actually do get along with them. We're friends.

We've gone on trips together. And over the years, I think I've proven myself to them to where they've let me take more and more control and oversee the day-to-day operations of the distillery. Don't let anyone tell you you can't do it. Women engineers aren't really a thing or weren't a thing when I entered college. And female distillers weren't a thing at the time either. So there were a lot of people who were saying that maybe go somewhere else, maybe do something else.

And I ignored all of them and just pushed through. And now you see female distillers everywhere. You see women opening their own distilleries.

It is fantastic. I mean, seeing women in the industry goes right along with just how much the industry has grown and changed in recent years. It used to be super labor-intensive and rolling around a 500-pound barrel.

Not the easiest thing. Most women probably don't really want to do that. But so many things are now automated that that labor aspect really isn't there. Yes, the working conditions can be very interesting.

You're standing in 150-degree temperatures on a regular basis. Women can put up with that just as well as men can. But women actually have better tastes, better sense of taste and better sense of smell. So if anything, we're actually more qualified to be doing this. And so I love going to conferences every year, and there are more and more women each year. And it is fantastic to not be the only one at the table anymore.

So to see everyone embracing this change in the industry, it's the best time to be a part of it. And great job by Robbie on that piece, finding it and producing the piece. And a special thanks to Alex Castle.

That was her voice. The City of Memphis, Old Dominic Distillery. Their story, Alex Castle's story, here on Our American Story. And we continue with Our American Stories. Our next story comes to us from a mother of two living in Virginia. But it begins far from there.

Let's take a listen. I am Maryam Ibrahim. I was born on November 3, 1987, in a refugee camp in the city of Katarev from Sudan. My mother flee war from Ethiopia when she's 10 years old with her sister. They lost all their families and they are the only survived member of the family. And they settled in a refugee's camp.

When my mom was 16, she met with my father and they got married. My father originally from Darfur. The background of the story is that he killed a man from a different tribe. But the man is an honor killing because the man is in a relationship with my aunt, my father's younger sister.

So my father find out about them they meet and know each other. So he gets so angry and he went on and killed a man. And when he came to this faraway area just to hide because the other family are seeking revenge.

So that's why he met with my mom. Later after my youngest sister was born, the situation get really very bad. I remember lots of the fight where she'd been beaten and when we came, my father and I went in the middle to stop the fighting.

We're beaten also. So he left and they got divorced. We decided to move from the refugee's camp. I always have many question about my father's family. When we moved to that place, she had to change our last name and everything because I didn't know this until later on the time that I always question her like, why you don't want us to know my daddy's family? Why you don't want us to be connected to them?

So she ran there actually for our protection. So we moved to that city and it's actually a lot of Muslims groups in that area. So I have my youngest brother, his name is Hassan and the younger sister. So my brother was totally different than my mom and I because he's extreme Muslim. And then when we moved to the big city, he really fell to the trap of the imams. My mom was really upset for him. Like if she ever tried like to stop him or do she get immediate, get killed. So she tried her best to convince him.

I did try my best, but he didn't help. So in Sudan and many Muslim countries, all students, no matter what's your religion, you have to pass those four subjects, Arabic, English, math, and Islamic study. Islamic study include study Aghida, Quran, and Sunnah. Quran, you study Quran, full Quran, okay? You memorize the scripture. Sunnah about the life of Muhammad and then Aghida about the life of the Sahaba and how we supposed to do married in business. And they have a structure for everything you do, even the way like use the bathroom, marriage, the way you communicate with unbeliever, the way you do a war, the way you do business with bank account, managing money, everything.

So we have to do that. Like I have all the knowledge about Quran. And then in that situation, I was targeted by my teachers because we are Christian and I'm sitting next to Muslim student and you hear the teacher, you know, say it louder and you have to repeat after her the verses that are saying how to treat the unbeliever and how God will punish them and how bad they are, you know, how they go to hell. And it was like, I don't want to repeat after her. So they start like talking to me.

No, you have to follow this. You have to say this because Allah said and Muhammad said, and I just don't want it. Like I don't want it. The same time when I come home, I tell my mom that, Oh no, don't do that. They're going to kill you. That's what my mom will say. And I'm like, I have seen these people always respond to the aggressive behavior of imams and Muslims and leaders. They respond from the religious minority is that we got to do what they want to be in peace. Like that isn't be just weakness.

And I always argue with them. So close to my graduation, I lost my sister first. And then a few months later, my mom passed away. She worked, she had a restaurant on the highway between the city of Galabat border and Gdari. And one of the things she does, she helped.

There's a lot of human traffic and smuggling in that area. And one of the things my mom did is when those smuggler bring in those girls, she questioned them. She sees them like nine, 10 years old. So she, when she questioned them, she offered them help if you needed help. So, and she went on a report that, but the corrupt officers went on and told the smuggler, this woman, you have to be careful about this one because she started talking to the girls. You guys bring in girls and boys. So I get, you know, she was not, there was an accident as I was told it was.

Yeah. So now here, my mom died and spend a lot of time with the nuns. I get to know my, my sister-in-law. She's in a wheelchair and my priest would like you, Mary, I'm the only person I would trust. So that's how we became friends.

And then I get to know her brother. I get married to him. So after I have my oldest, my first child, when I, my husband left, he used in, he live in the United States.

So come on, go to Sudan. So after our marriage, he, he came to United States and I was, he left me pregnant with our first child. So I started my own business that my mom left a farming land and she left the house and she left some saving for me. So I used that and I started business. I sold her restaurant. I did very well on that. And then out of the sudden I, my husband also went back to Sudan at that time.

My son was, um, crawling. And then I started receiving this phone call about family members that are looking for me. And then become from them to police. See the phone call, I have to go to the police station question, this is your family and they want you back. And I'm like, that's why my mom always not wanted me to connect with you guys. So, and I find out they know where I live and everything. Like, why don't you guys come and lock my door, my door, because we know you're living a wrong life.

So what do you mean? Because we know you go to church and you're married to Christian. And I'm holding my son. I told the officer, I have a family of my own.

Now, why are they? That's not family. It's family don't bring their daughter to the police station. So he said, nope, this is their family. And they wanted you to back. And they are right.

The officer said they are right because if you're their daughter, your father is a Muslim. You're not supposed to be living this life. So you break too many laws. I said, really? I'm like, who did I kill? Who did I hurt? So I'm like building a businesses that providing jobs for many people, including even like refugees people in that area.

So like, no, you are committing adultery. And you've been listening to Miriam Ibrahim share her story of life in Sudan before he came to America to live in Virginia. When we come back, more of this remarkable story here on Our American Stories. And we continue with Our American Stories and with Miriam Ibrahim's story. And so many millions of Americans end up at our shores, suffering from some type of persecution, religious or otherwise.

Let's pick up where we last left off with Miriam and her story. So in September 2013, go in back to court every day, just question who you are. They said their name, Muslim name. And I say my Christian name. And I say I'm Christian. They said she's Muslim. So the judge wanted me just to say, accept what they said. And, you know, I said, OK, you're Muslim. Go to your family. I said, what's what's going to happen to my children, my child?

At the time, I didn't know I was pregnant. So my child, we have to go see the orphan because he's a little child. And then you're going to get flogged with lashes and go to your family. And on Christmas Eve of 2013, I was sent to jail because I responded like, you know, you can't respond as a girl, as a woman. You don't dare to open to look at the judge's face or talk to him. You can't do that.

So you just be bowing your head down and covering your face, your hair and just quiet, not even breathing. So I'm before I go to jail, I have to go through to do a medical test and then including pregnancy. And I really wasn't prepared to have a second child at that time. Martin is young, but this trial started happening and I don't think it was a good time.

I mean, but gods have a different world. They said, you're pregnant. I'm like, well, I'm going to jail, getting a news that I'm pregnant. I supposed to be really happy. I was happy, but like, what how? I mean, just, you know, I'm very confused and I'm very upset. I'm freaked out. So I was sent there and these other women, when I walk in all this face bruises and so sad and horrible situation. I'm holding my son.

So somehow Martin was long day. He just fell asleep and I just closed my eyes and said, let me pray. So out of the sudden I hear this deep voice, you are not alone. And I opened my eyes and I'm like, what did you say? Who you are?

Where are you? I'm like, so the other women in the cell start laughing and they call the office to say I'm crazy. They put chance on my feet, chance because my crime is in adultery and apostasy now. And it's supposed to receive death sentence for apostasy and a hundred lashes for adultery.

But it didn't read the sentence. Give me three days, the judge. So I remember on the track back from court to prison, I was praying and I was like, okay, God, three days. And it just like, Oh, Jonah was in the well for three days. Jesus was in the tomb for three days. This have to be miracles that I really, you really have for me.

And I'm just waiting for that miracle. We're back again to the end of the trial. I walk in, I was put up in the cage and there's like 50 officer around the cage, big like it.

And there's pension there. The imam came in and then the judge came in. He asked me to stand up and he was very angry.

The judge was very angry. So he asked me again, I'm going to ask one more time, are you Muslim or Christian? And he would say my Islamic name, Abraar. And I said, I am a Christian and I was always Christian and I always be. So because a lot of people really can see in their eyes, they wanted me to, they wanted me to say what he said really, because death, you're going to die. But they don't see what I see. Like they don't see what I see. Like I see fear onto his eyes, but that's what they know me. That's what they know my heart.

And I do, I do that moment really felt so so bad for him to be in that position. And I just remembering that the word Jesus had said on the cross that when he was crucified, father forgive them for they did not know what they are doing. So I received my sentence that day, but the end of his word, because you are pregnant, and that was my miracle, because you are pregnant, you're given two years. You give birth and as a child, I give birth two years and as a child. And then after the child turned two years, they took him to the orphan and they held my execution. So my church is involved. That's how the Vatican get involved.

And then my husband is a US citizen, my children are US citizens. The first thing we start asking before we get sent to jail, we knock the embassy's door and we ask for help. It just happened that they was called into the office and I was told to bring all my items, my stuff. I wasn't even given a chance to say bye to the other inmates and the ladies I know. So I left prison. From prison, I was asked to go find a safe place because my house is no longer safe place.

And US embassy is almost like outside Khartoum city. So we stayed at the embassy for a month and then that night, just we've been called, I left Sudan to Italy. I said, they asked where I want to stay in Italy and I really wanted to come to the state because that's what I feel.

It's my children where they belong to. So yeah, I was told to escape Sudan before during my trial and everything. And I said, no, I'm not going to do that. Like I'm not, you know, going to do that. That's why I was called crazy. I was called stupid.

I'm not smart. I don't know how to, you know, to play well, but it just wasn't easy for me because my faith and my beliefs is not like a jacket or a mask I would wear when I'm safe and then take off. It's the way I would live my life. The way I made a decision that knowing my relationship with God is, is not involve anyone else.

It's between me and him. This is the thing that my mom would tell me. She's telling me, she's telling me like, don't let anyone to put fear into your heart because if it does happen, that's how, that's how you control you. I'm, you know, but fear and come control with fear, come control. So, and, and, and God said, don't fear. And I know he, I wasn't afraid of the threat of the enemies of their, no matter how they try to think themselves are big and strong, but I see them weak. I see them terrorists. I see them, they use terror, they use fear, but I don't comply with that because none of, not my life or my future, anything that is not in their hands in God's hand. So yeah, I'm here today.

I'm in the United States. My children, Martin is nine months, nine years old, from nine months old in prison to nine years old. Now my daughter is seven. They love Jesus. They, they go to Catholic school.

They serve Martin as an altar server at the church. Maya want to do music when she get her first communion. She's going to get her first communion on May. So she want to do music ministry and she love to sing. She do a ballet.

She do Martin do basketball. They do karate, they're Cub Scout. We, I volunteer a lot on the community with the women's shelter.

So they help me with stuff like that. There's a lot of good stuff. And a terrific job on the production and storytelling by Greg and a special thanks to Miriam Ibrahim for sharing her story, her family story. The book is shackled one woman's dramatic triumph over persecution, gender abuse, and a death sentence. And you can get it at your local bookstores or wherever you buy your books. What a trial scene this is.

It's better than anything in the movies that I've seen. And I'm almost visualizing what this was like for her to sit there and have to answer. Are you a Muslim or a Christian in America? We don't do that. George Washington wrote a letter to a synagogue in Rhode Island assuring them religious bigotry would not be sanctioned in this country. And he wrote these words for happily the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry, no sanction to persecution, no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions, their effectual support. And those words are true. It's why Miriam brought her family to the United States, a story of religious persecution. And in the end, the story of courage and triumph. Miriam Ibrahim's story here on Our American Stories.