Our History
Bourbon was born right here in the heart of Kentucky. Steeped in charred oak barrels in the ideal climate of Kentucky’s hot summers and snowy winters; the tradition carries on today, almost entirely unchanged.
In 2012, Steve Thompson, Chris Miller and Mike Loring came together with an idea to create a place for people to come and ‘bottle their dreams’ in the old Crestwood, Kentucky Ice Cream Distributors, Inc. building. Steve’s many years of experience in the spirits industry played a big role in the inspiration and power behind the Kentucky Artisan Distillery concept. It would be the first contract distillery in Kentucky, and the only production sized farm-to-bottle distillery capable of distilling as little as ten barrels for a special occasion on up to over 2,000 barrels a year for partners like Jefferson’s Reserve.
As bourbon has gained popularity in recent years, things have changed a little bit. The Jefferson’s brand has grown, and has adopted Kentucky Artisan Distillery as its official home. We take great pride in being the home to this innovative brand, which still stays true to the rich heritage and tradition of bourbon. This is why KAD is the perfect home for Jefferson’s.
Our Story
Kentucky Artisan Distillery: Where distilling is still an art.
Kentucky Artisan Distillery is a unique place in the craft distillery world. A visit to KAD shows the real side of Kentucky craft distilling. Led by our Master Distiller, Jade Peterson, our team of distillers run a distillery using their senses to know when a batch is finished. Our distillery is truly as close as a production facility in the 21stcentury can get to how bourbon was made 200 years ago.
Kentucky’s finest Farm-to-Bottle operation
On any warm day all through the growing season, on your drive up to the distillery, you may see our trailers hauling corn or rye, harvested from a field just a mile away. They are coming from the 700 acres at Waldeck Farm, where we contract grow our grains. All under our careful and time-tested process, these grains will undergo the process of milling, mashing, distilling, aging and bottling under the names of some of our favorite small batch brands, right here at Kentucky Artisan Distillery. We even up-cycle our spent grain locally to Oldham and Henry County farms to feed their cattle.
Get a behind the scenes tour of a real working distillery
Every tour of KAD is a behind the scenes tour. Built first as a distillery, and then having tours added later, allows visitors to immerse themselves in a true craft distillery. Ask a distiller that question you’ve always wanted the answer to, walk into our laboratory, and sample the finished product.
Book TourMeet The Team
Our distillery artists and artisans
Jade Peterson
Master Distiller
Respecting the art of distilling by honoring tradition; Jade runs our distillery and leads our distilling team to create the best products possible.
Our Tour Guides
Our tour guides are bourbon experts who can guide you through our distillery and answer any questions you have about our distillery, our brands or bourbon in general.
Our Distilling Team
Our distillery team is filled with true artisans. They work hard to create beautiful bourbon and other fine spirits for you to enjoy. Stop by and say hello during one of our tours.
Meet The Distillery
Step into our world of small-batch distillation, where tradition meets innovation. Nestled in the heart of Oldham County, Kentucky, our distillery is a testament to quality and craftsmanship.
Our distillery has expanded capabilities from 300 barrels in 2014 to our current capacity of 6,000 barrels per year.
We use a stainless steel 3,000-gallon cooking system to prepare these local grains. This cooker partners with a combination of nine fermenters to feed these stills.
The fermenters range in size from 1,300 to 5,700 gallons each. They serve as the resting place for the mash to ferment and are as unique as our stills, some fermenters having surpassed an age of 75 years old. The oldest are our cypress fermenters, prominently displayed for all the guests to see.
At the core of our operation is the custom-made Vendome copper and brassworks column still. Standing at 40 feet tall with an 18-inch diameter, this impressive piece of equipment is adorned with a copper rectifying section, beer heater, condenser, and trays. Adding to our unique setup, Vendome repurposed a thumper from one of our retired pot stills, affectionately named Ginger, to further refine our distillation process.
Bottling Line – 500 to 1,000 cases per day
Four Warehouses – 36,000 barrel capacity