For Eric Church, music is all about discovery—listening to different artists, uncovering new songs, and rediscovering classics. But when the 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year, four-time CMA Award winner, and 10-time GRAMMY nominee set his sights on crafting a spirits brand, he soon learned the two industries had plenty in common. 

“With songwriting, the whole process is so fascinating,” Church tells Bourbon+. “You can get up in the morning and have nothing, get a spark of inspiration, and then by that night, you can have a product the whole world ends up falling in love with.” 

Spirits, Church adds, are the same thing. It’s an open palette, you can play with different ingredients, combinations, and processes, and the end result can be a unique blend of flavors sure to be a hitmaker in no time. 

Creativity in a Cup

Church has always been a fan of food, wine, and good whiskey, particularly drawn to the ways nature impacts the end result—like how the same grapes from the same region can become a drastically different wine when varying techniques are applied.

“The thing that has always intrigued me about bourbon, about whiskey, is that you can take the same grain build, the same mash build, the same wood, and depending on the process, you can get a totally different product,” Church says. “Music is kind of the same thing. You can go into the studio with the same band, and depending on the process, you can get a totally different product with the same people, with the same makeup.” 

This sparked a wave of spirit-soaked creativity in the same way songwriting did. Having spent much of his life living on a tour bus and playing on stages throughout his 27-year career, he wanted his whiskey brand to embody the same fearlessness and restlessness he himself harnessed—a gypsy spirit. 

While on a golf trip with investor Raj Alva, the idea for a whiskey brand began to take shape. The pair started conceptualizing, meeting with distillers, and searching for a partner with the same creative restlessness. Church soon met master blender Ari Sussman, and after one conversation, Church said he felt like a kindred spirit. 

“It didn’t take me long at all to find a kindred spirit,” Church laughs. “I could tell Ari also had a lot of restlessness in him. We hit it off, and then we started getting more serious about it.

Sussman was an instructor of fermentation and distillation at Michigan State University and is considered a top grain expert in the industry. He, too, was fascinated with the creative process behind whiskey making, down to where the ingredients were coming out of the ground. When Sussman joined the team, attention turned to creating the perfect blend. 

“The blending process is a creative process; it’s an iterative process. In some ways, it’s like composing a song,” Sussman adds. “You’re looking for the right tones; you’re looking for whiskeys that work well together, that harmonize well with one another. Some whiskeys provide a rich, robust mouthfeel and finish, and others provide more ethereal aromatics. Oftentimes, those whiskeys can be put together, and the resulting spirit has the best aspects of both. You can find these synergies, these harmonies, and it just rings like a bell.” 

Debuting Whiskey JYPSI Collections

Whiskey JYPSI launched its first blend in 2023 and has since grown into a family of spirits. Just as music preferences may change from day to day, be it an energetic anthem or a slow ballad, the wants of whiskey drinkers may also vary. 

“We’ve created a family of spirits with three different product lines: the Legacy, the Explorer, and the soon-to-be-released Tribute,” Sussman says. “Each one of these product lines under the Whiskey JYPSI umbrella is looking at quality and innovation in its own way.” 

The Explorer series is on shelves at a lower price point than others in the collection. It begins with fully mature, six-plus-year-old bourbon, which is then finished in high-quality wood sourced from around the world. The first is an American oak from Appalachia, chosen for its mix of sweetness, richness, depth, and viscosity. The second is a French oak from the Forest of Tronçais, which has been used by the winemakers of Bordeaux for centuries and offers accentuated notes of spice and leather. 

While the selection of both woods was essential in crafting the flavor in the final product, there’s a musical tie for each as well: The Tronçais region is known for musical traditions blending melodies and poetries, which would eventually migrate to the Appalachian Mountains. The mountains now hold their own musical influence, housing the birthplace of country music and amplifying genres like bluegrass, blues, and gospel over the years. 

“The Explorer series is about restlessness, travel, and exploration,” Sussman shares.

The inaugural release in the Explorer series blends two six-year-old bourbons, a sweet low rye from Kentucky and a spicy high rye from Indiana. The resulting mash bill is 66 percent corn, 30 percent rye, and 4 percent malted barley, which is reduced to 103 proof before entering the oak barrels. If you’ve ever wondered what’s in Church’s cup on stage, it’s Explorer (mixed with a splash of Diet Coke).

The Legacy line, which Church saves for post-show celebrations, is focused on whiskey blending and how sourcing the best ingredients from the most reputable distilleries all over the world can result in harmonious flavors when paired together. 

“Rather than use those spirits as an end themselves, let’s bottle those spirits and see how they play with each other in unique ways,” Sussman adds.

Using cross-category blending to reconstruct the mash bill allows the team to select whiskeys from around the world at the perfect ages and flavor profiles to create a powerful final product. 

The first release, Legacy Batch 001, was known as The Journey (because it had certainly been one, the brand says). The sold-out batch blends three aged whiskeys: the bulk being bourbon from Indiana aged seven and eight years with a rich, sweet corn character; plus a 20-year-old rye distilled in Alberta, Canada, with a butterscotch, spicy flavor; and finally, a touch of a four-year aged malted barley from Indiana that brings a nutty malt component.

The Alchemist is Whiskey JYPSI’s second release in the Legacy series, bringing together another trio of bold flavors into a harmonious blend. The batch is predominantly an 11-year-aged Tennessee whiskey paired with an 18-plus-year-aged Canadian Rye and a 10-year-aged Indian single malt. The finished product is a 114.3-proof high-rye that’s proven tough to keep in stock. 

A third collection is on its way, emphasizing Church and Sussman’s shared passion: agriculture. The soon-to-be-released Tribute collection is anticipated to feature full-flavored whiskey grains grown “the right way,” Sussman says. 

Church thinks about each Whiskey JPYSI release as a song and the full collection as a cohesive album. “You can take a song off any album and play me the song, but I don’t get it like I do when I hear it in the context of the album,” Church says. “It’s going to become more evident and more clear when you look at it under the overall umbrella. We’re trying to build an album one song at a time.”

Nashville’s Broadway Goes to Church

Whiskey JYPSI isn’t Church’s only project outside of music these days. He debuted his own honky tonk bar on Nashville’s Lower Broadway in spring 2024. Chief’s is equal parts bar, restaurant, and live music venue sprawling across six differing levels. Its moniker is both a nod to Church’s own nickname and also honors his grandfather, who was Chief of Police in Granite Falls, North Carolina. 

The venue houses multiple stages for live music in addition to a private, ticketed music venue, a recording studio, and a rooftop level overlooking Nashville’s downtown. The onsite venue emulates a church, nodding to his name, complete with pew seating from the 1890s, a stage built with wood from a still on Church’s own land, and 20 stained glass windows depicting his biggest influences. In addition, James Beard Award Winning Pitmaster Rodney Scott opened up a barbeque joint onsite. 

Embodying the JYPSI Spirit

While Church has certainly earned his celebrity status through his decorated career, he’s committed to deviating his projects from other celebrity-backed endeavors. Chief’s aims to up the ante on Broadway’s entertainment (Church himself has announced a 19-show residency there), and each Whiskey JYPSI release showcases impressive craftsmanship and attention to detail.

“My whole purpose of this was to be the anti-celebrity brand,” Church adds. “We actually put the focus on regular people in their everyday lives who embody the JYPSI spirit.” 

That free-spirited energy comes through in many of Church’s songs, which also have the power to place you straight into a memory. He remembers growing up in his hometown (“Give Me Back My Hometown”), details healing from heartbreak by rediscovering old vinyl (“Record Year”), and reminisces on a high school road trip to Talladega Superspeedway (“Talladega”). In his biggest hit to date, “Springsteen,” Church even paints the picture of a song transporting you straight into a memory. Just like Church’s songs evoke nostalgia, so does his whiskey. Taste also harkens back to memories, he says, placing you back in a certain time or reminding you of a specific day. 

If you’re eager to tap into your own JYPSI spirit, grab a bottle of Whiskey JYPSI, crank up the record player, and prepare to reminisce on yesteryear. You’ll be creating new whiskey-soaked memories in no time. 

SIDEBAR: What’s In a Name?

Curious where the Whiskey JYPSI name comes from. Church’s 2021 song “Never Break Heart” planted the seed, but the spelling is done simply to stand out. “It just seemed to look right,” Church says, adding that just like when writing a song, sometimes you just know. 

If love’s like drawin’ cards with a whiskey gypsy
She’s a glass half full, take a pull, then a glass half empty
Well, I say lives are made for chances
And eyes are made for glances
And songs are played, legs are made for dances
– “Never Break Heart” by Eric Church

Photo by Robby Klein

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