A private bourbon club is coming to Lexington, with releases ripped from headlines
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- New Era Whiskey plans to open a bourbon club and micro distillery in Lexington.
- Monthly membership includes exclusive bottle releases and event access onsite.
- Club differentiates with headline-themed labels and cask-strength aged whiskey.
A Lexington-based bourbon brand is expanding — and plans to open a members-only club downtown.
New Era Whiskey & Spirits, which specializes in helping clients pick barrels of bourbon and rye that can be bottled under individual labels, is adding a distillery.
And the whiskey brand plans to open a micro distillery and bourbon club in the historic building at 333 E. Short St.
Co-founder and owner Zane Brammell said they hope to open the club in November, once they receive final approval from the city.
Others will be soon to follow, too: Never Say Die Bourbon founders Brian Luftman and Pat Madden are also planning to open a distillery next year.
How New Era Whiskey started
“New Era as a whole started as a whiskey club,” Brammell said in an interview with the Herald-Leader.
Both he and co-founder Matt Hobbs operated their own clubs, then joined forces to found New Era to take it beyond a Facebook club with partners Kris Comstock and Charlie Curtz.
The new club will be inside the main building on the first floor of the historic property that once housed one of Lexington’s earliest hospitals. The octagonal ward that once was a marvel of medical ventilation will now host bourbon lovers looking for a place to mingle.
Next door to the main building that houses the club is a smaller building that will house a micro distillery where New Era plans to distill gin and vodka that may be aged in used barrels from Kentucky distilling partners. The space also will house a tasting room and a gift shop.
There are plans to open a doorway between the distillery area and the club so patrons can enter without going back outside.
How will New Era differ from other private clubs opened recently in downtown, such as The Melroy, The Camel Club and The Vine?
The whiskey, Brammell said, will make it unique. Each month (or more frequently) members will get a new release from New Era.
What do New Era members get?
New Era recently began releasing its own bottles. All are at least 8 years old, selected from premium distillers including Barton, Bardstown Bourbon and Wilderness Trail in Danville, and all are cask strength.
“Matt and I vet all the barrels,” Bammell said. “Make sure they aren’t empty.”
The labels on each bottle look like newspaper headlines.
Why newspapers? “I appreciate the medium,” Brammell said. (In you case you don’t get it, New Era Whiskey & Spirits abbreviated spells N.E.W.S., a sentiment that this reporter can get behind.)
A recent trio honoring Kentucky state parks are called Nature’s Crossing at Natural Bridge (115 proof); Dark Wonders at Mammoth Cave (113.8 proof); and Magic Moonbow at Cumberland Falls (115 proof.) Two releases that debuted at the Bourbon & Beyond music festival in Louisville were called Stage Diver and Encore! So far almost all of New Era’s releases have sold out.
The club will offer members exclusive releases that can be delivered to their doorstep or to special bourbon lockers inside the club, Brammell said. Members also can reserve the club for private events, he said.
Memberships will be available starting at $299 a month, Brammell said. That includes the price of the New Era releases.
