Local distillery shares Coolest Thing Made in Indiana title

After coming in second last year in voting for the Coolest Thing Made in Indiana, Hard Truth Whiskey Co. is the co-champion in this year’s contest with the winners announced yesterday at a luncheon in Indianapolis.

The Nashville company is being celebrated along with Rising Sun-based Harpsicle Harps in the contest organized by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Indiana Destination Development Corporation . Organizers said that the co-championship decision, the first in the four years the contest has operated, was due to “a lack of clarity in how the finalists could market their participation in the event – which may have created an unlevel playing field.”

Hard Truth’s Sweet Mash Whiskey, and Harpsicle Harps’ handcrafted harp for the casual player were the specific products in the running for the finals.

Hard Truth began distilling in 2015 and in 2018 the Restaurant at Hard Truth opened and the company made the move to its state-of-the-art, sweet mash distillery in Brown County about a mile away from Hard Truth’s original home at Big Woods Pizza.

In online voting, the two companies finished in a near dead heat. There were six rounds of voting leading to the championship with 90 companies represented since the voting started last month.

Among the local products in the original field were Hiker Trailers and the Déjà Vu Art and Fine Craft Show from Columbus, Honda’s Indiana Auto Plant in Greensburg, Guardian Bike and SpaceGuard Products in Seymour, Bear Wallow Distillery in Nashville, Marion-Kay Spices in Brownstown, Not Just Popcorn in Edinburgh and Endress+Hauser in Greenwood. Also on the list is Wood-Mizer Portable Sawmill based in Batesville and Indianapolis.