Bankrupt Danville distillery owes more than $34.5 million. It says it’ll survive
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- Luca Mariano Distillery filed for Chapter 11, citing $34.5M in owed debts.
- Primary creditor SummitBridge seeks foreclosure and a court-appointed receiver.
- Owner claims reorganization aims to preserve value and business continuity.
Danville distillery Luca Mariano owes more than $34.5 million to its top 14 creditors, according to the company’s petition for bankruptcy.
Its top creditor, Summit Investment of Denver, Colo., is owed more than $25 million.
Some of the claims are under dispute in ongoing litigation in Boyle Circuit Court.
Luca Mariano Distillery parent LMD Holdings filed for Chapter 11 reorganizational bankruptcy protection on July 18, just as Boyle County Judge Whitney Zimmerman Johns was set to consider motions to put the recently opened distillery into the hands of a receiver and potentially send it to a master commissioner for sale.
On Friday, the company said in a social media post it is poised to “emerge successfully” from the ongoing challenges of the bourbon industry.
Owner Francesco Viola said in a statement to the Herald-Leader last week that he filed for bankruptcy “to maximize the value of the assets for all stakeholders. Luca Mariano Distillery and LMD Holdings have a successful business model, have weathered the prior economic challenges in our industry, and are poised to emerge successfully, ideally with the support of its employees, customers, community and creditors.”
But filings in the Boyle County lawsuit indicate that Viola’s view of the situation is not shared by others.
Summit Investment, which also goes by SummitBridge, wrote in a June 16 filing that Viola’s announcement of a June 13 ribbon cutting ceremony for the distillery falsely represented SummitBridge as a “strategic partner” when in fact the company bought Truist Bank’s defaulted loans in March and is moving to foreclose.
“The falsity of the announcement, and concerns over the maintenance and management of the Real Property and other Collateral (hereinafter the “Property”), further necessitate the appointment of a receiver,” SummitBridge said. “Obligors have not kept current with their obligations regarding the Property, making it appropriate for the Court to appoint a receiver to preserve the Property between now and the foreclosure sale that SummitBridge, and numerous other parties to the action, seek.”
SummitBridge has asked the judge to appoint Aurora Management Partners as receiver. Aurora is serving as the court-appointed receiver for the Garrard County Distillery, which also has been shuttered amid owing millions to creditors.
SummitBridge declined to comment Monday.
Other major creditors of Luca Mariano include contractors Doss & Horky of Danville, more than $2 million; Farm Credit of Elizabethtown, more than $2 million; Farm Credit Leasing of Louisville, almost $2.2 million; Keystone Industrial, more than $1.2 million; Schardein Mechanical of Louisville, $531,000; Insulation Solutions of Elizabethtown, almost $370,000 and Hayslett Mechanical of Harrodsburg, almost $273,000.
This story was originally published July 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
