Huge new bourbon distillery opens in Kentucky’s ‘birthplace of Prohibition’

A new distillery that quietly opened this month near Lancaster is about to make a big splash in Kentucky bourbon.

“We’re swinging for the fence,” said Ray Franklin, founder of Garrard County Distilling Co., a new operation that is the largest all-new independent distillery in the commonwealth.

“In my opinion we’ve caught the golden age of distilling,” Franklin said.

His goal was not to open in stages as many new Kentucky distilleries are planning to do, with one column still and then adding another. Instead, he wants to open with full capacity from the beginning to maximize the operation.

With two 45-foot by 36-inch Vendome column stills, Garrard County Distilling isn’t wasting any time ramping up production: The first barrels were filled on Jan. 2.

The $250 million project by Atlanta-based spirits company Staghorn, founded by industry veteran Franklin, already has begun producing its first barrels. The distillery is capable of filling up to 150,000 barrels a year.

Ties to Prohibition, Carrie Nation

It’s a big leap for a Kentucky county with unique ties to Prohibition, which banned sales and manufacturing of spirits from 1920 to 1933.

Garrard County was “dry” with no alcohol sales allowed until November. Garrard County Distilling is now the first commercial distillery there since the 1800s.

Staghorn sells All Nations Whiskey bourbon and rye, available in markets in Georgia and Kentucky for $70-$90 and coming to more states this year. They also have a Prohibition Reserve blend of rye and bourbon that’s about $300 a bottle.

The name is a nod to a poster that hung in many bars during Carrie Nation’s temperance crusade in the late 1800s: “All Nations Welcome Except Carrie.”

Carrie {or Carry) Nation, a Kentucky native, was born in Garrard County, which earned it the nickname “the birthplace of Prohibition.” As a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in 1900, Nation gained fame as a hatchet-wielding crusader against alcohol, smashing bars in Kansas and Missouri.

Now Franklin has transported and reconstructed her Kentucky birthplace stone by stone to the distillery site. The house had been in disrepair but now travelers to the distillery will be able to visit it.

Scope of new Kentucky distillery

“We started building in 2020 and we were able to keep it quiet because of COVID,” Franklin said in an interview. “We quietly built one of the largest all-new distilleries in the country.”

“Garrard County Distilling Co. is Staghorn’s first distillery and the dedication and size at which they are entering the category is a true testament to the worldwide appeal of bourbon from our great commonwealth,” said Gov. Andy Beshear in a news release. “Staghorn’s investment is a welcome addition to the Lancaster and Garrard County communities, as well as to Kentucky tourism. I want to thank the company’s leadership for their vision to grow in the commonwealth, contributing to Kentucky’s position as the bourbon capital of the world.”

On a 210-acre site about 30 minutes south of Lexington, the project includes a 50,000-square-foot distillery capable of producing up to 8.5 million proof gallons a year, 18 fermenters and three rickhouses, with plans to build up to 24 25,000-barrel warehouses by 2030.

For comparison, that’s bigger than the Whiskey House of Kentucky distillery under construction in Elizabethtown and is about the size of a new distillery announced by Heaven Hill in Bardstown, although that one will eventually be three times that size.

The distillery also plans to add a visitor center, tasting room and restaurant by the end of 2024. The distillery will create about 60 jobs, according to a news release.

Garrard County Distilling Co. has joined the Kentucky Distillers Association and plans to apply to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Franklin said they plan to use grain sourced from within 50 miles of the distillery.

“Communities across Kentucky have benefited greatly from the recent bourbon boom and now I am pleased to say Garrard County will as well,” said Garrard County Judge-Executive Chris Elleman in a statement.

“As recently as three months ago, Garrard County was dry, but we were already working cooperatively with the team at Staghorn on this project because we clearly understood the benefits this distillery would bring to Lancaster and the surrounding area,” said Lancaster Mayor Michael Gaffney in the release. “We see Garrard County Distilling Co. as a real opportunity to not only grow our economy, but to share our central Kentucky heritage with folks from around the world ... over a glass of whiskey, of course.”

How Staghorn got started; what’s next

Franklin said Shane Baker and Pat Heist, founders of Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville, were instrumental in helping him get the Garrard County distillery organized.

The first releases of All Nations Whiskey, launched in 2020, were producing using barrels sourced from the Danville distillery that sold in 2022 to Campari for $600 million.

Staghorn has about 17,000 barrels of the original whiskey aging on site that they will continue to use until their own whiskey has aged sufficiently to use, in about four years, with older releases planned as well.

Besides All Nations Whiskey, Franklin said they will offer contract distilling for other small labels.

Franklin said the company plans to announce its head distiller in coming weeks as well as new bourbon and whiskey brands. He said they are producing a high-rye bourbon and will add a wheated one as well as a single-malt.

“All Nations won’t be our only brand,” Franklin said.

This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 6:00 AM.

Janet Patton

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-379-5233

Janet Patton covers restaurants, bars, food and bourbon for the Herald-Leader. She is an award-winning business reporter who also has covered agriculture, gambling, horses and hemp. Support my work with a digital subscription