Kentucky Artisan Distillery - The Home of Jefferson's Bourbon
The distillery is set in rural surroundings, about 20 miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky, and it resides in a building which originally was home to an ice cream distributer. On site is the distillery, a gift shop/visitor center, a small laboratory for research and development, a small tasting bar and an event space. The aging warehouse is a short distance down the road and corn and rye come from a farm about a mile away.
Our visit, like most distillery visits, began in the gift shop. We were greeted by Liz, the visitor center manager. The next tour was set to begin just a few minutes after our arrival, but that still gave us a little time to look around. The gift shop sells Jefferson’s paraphernalia, and an interesting selection of whiskeys. In addition to the standard Jefferson’s bottlings, there are a variety of very small batch bourbons, most only available for purchase at the distillery. Many come in 200ml bottles. There are also displays illustrating the history of Jefferson’s Bourbon, so our education began while we passed the time waiting for our tour to begin.
Our first stop was the tasting room, which doubles as an event space and small barrel room. Here we learned a little background information about the distillery and Jefferson’s. On display in this area is Kentucky Artisan's now retired original still, which originally began its life at the Early Times Distillery. On the wall adjacent to the tasting bar, there is a large collection of old spirit bottles, small stills and old tools, and opposite the tasting bar is a rack with barrels of Jefferson’s Chef’s Collaboration and Jefferson’s Experimental Whiskey. There is large rectangular table with 10 chairs as well as a couple of smaller tables, perfect for an event. The small tasting bar is where we would ultimately finish our tour.
On our way to the main production area, we passed a small lab where research and development are done; it's all hush-hush and photos are off-limits in this area. From there, we passed a small exhibit about barrels and aging. Kentucky Artisan Distillery gets their barrels from Kelvin Cooperage. Kelvin Cooperage produces barrels for the wine and craft distilling industry and was founded in 1963 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1991 Kelvin relocated to Louisville, KY, and set up shop. The exhibit features barrel staves demonstrating char levels 1-4. Also showcased are bottles filled with spirits ranging from fresh distillate (aka "new make") to whiskey up to 4 years old. This nicely illustrates the color changes that occur during the aging process.
Interestingly, Kentucky Artisan has a small malting room. Malting is done in a large rectangular metal box, however the capacity is very limited and not enough to supply all their needs. Milling of the grain is done on-site, and this takes place out of doors, next to the main production area, keeping the dust away from the mash and distillate. In the main production area there are two large stainless steel cookers. Fermentation takes place in two large cypress fermenters and five stainless steel fermenters. Four stills are used for various tasks. There is the copper hybrid finishing still, which was originally at Old Forester, and two Vendome hybrid stripping stills, as well as a small experimental still.
After distillation, the new make is barreled on site and aged in a warehouse just a short drive down the road. Then it is back to the distillery for dumping and bottling, and from there, on to us to enjoy.
The bottling room has a full mechanical bottling line, which at this point exceeds the capacity of the distillery. The extra bottling capacity is used for contract bottling. Also in this area are exhibits depicting the ports of call of the ship that carries Jefferson’s Ocean around the globe. For those not familiar with Ocean, it is a bourbon that is aged at sea. Recent versions have stopped at 30 ports of call around the globe!
Our tour finished back in the tasting room. The small tasting bar has space for around 4 stools, which was more than sufficient for our group of two. On today’s sampling menu were: Jefferson’s The Manhattan, a bottled, barrel finished cocktail; Jefferson’s Ocean Voyage 17; Billy Goat Strut, a “North American Whiskey” produced under the Kentucky Artisan Label (not Jefferson’s) and sold only at the gift shop; and Jefferson’s Reserve, the flagship Jefferson’s bourbon.
Our visit to Kentucky Artisan taught us much about the Jefferson brand, it’s history and future. The current releases of Jefferson’s Bourbons are still sourced elsewhere, and the distillate produced here will not be ready to be released as a Jefferson’s bourbon for a few more years. While Kentucky Artisan Distillery contract distills for other labels, and produces products other than Jeffersons, it is clear that the two are tightly intertwined, and will be for years to come.
https://kentuckyartisandistillery.com/about-us/
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Please note that due to COVID Distillery Hours and Tour/Tasting Availability may vary. Please contact the distillery or check their web page or social media for details before you go.
| Days of operation | Monday - Saturday 10am-4pm Sunday 12pm-4pm |
| Paved Drive / Lot | No (Gravel) |
| Motorcycle Parking | No |
| Motorcycle unfriendly features | Gravel parking lot |
| Number of tours per day | 6 Mon-Sat, 4 Sun |
| Length of Tour(s) | 1h |
| Advanced topic tours? | No |
| Advanced topic tour names | N/A |
| Tours by owners /distillers available? | No, but they may be around |
| Number of different types of tours | 1 |
| On-Line Tour Reservations Available | Yes |
| Advanced Reservations Recommended/Required | Probably not needed for small groups |
| Cost for tour(s) in $ | $10 ($5 for military Veterans & First Responders; children free) |
| Tasting Included? | Yes |
| Number of samples included in tasting | 4 |
| Tasting Only Option? | ? |
| Tasting Only Option Cost | ? |
| High-end tasting option? | Tasting of 3 different Jefferson’s Ocean bourbons accompanied by presentation on the history of Ocean. M-F @ 1:30pm. |
| High-end tasting option cost? | $30.00 |
| Designated Driver Option | No |
| Handicapped Accessible? | Yes |
| Souvenirs included with tour? | No |
| Gift shop | Yes |
| On-Site bottle sales? | Yes |
| On-site food: Restaurant/Cafe/Snacks | No |
| On-site Cocktail bar | No |
| On-site event space | Yes |
| Should I visit? (Yes, Perhaps, No) | Yes |
| Unique Features | Contract distillery which is now the “Home” of Jefferson’s Bourbon. Rural surroundings. Local ingredients used. |
| Website | |
| Date Visited | July 2019 |
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