Making great bourbon whiskey requires patience. Patience is something Fresh Bourbon Distilling Co. has leaned on heavily over the last couple of years on their Kentucky bourbon journey.
The plans for Fresh Bourbon Distilling Co. in Lexington, Kentucky were announced in February of 2020. Since then, co-founders Sean and Tia Edwards have been nailing down their financing, property and their bourbon recipe. The original plans call for a $5.4 million, 34,000 square foot distillery in Lexington. Though they have yet to break ground on the distillery all the pieces are in place to make that a reality very soon.
Fresh Bourbon Cuts the Ribbon on Tasting Room in Lexington
Stay Informed: Sign up here for the Distillery Trail free email newsletter and be the first to get all the latest news, trends, job listings and events in your inbox.
In the meantime, they’ve been working diligently with their distilling partner Hartfield & Co. Distillery in nearby Paris, Kentucky to lay down bourbon using their own custom four-grain recipe. Their bourbon is now sold at several restaurants, bars, and liquor stores.
In addition to making their own whiskey, Fresh Bourbon just cut the ribbon on a new tasting room at 377 E Main Street in downtown Lexington. The new tasting room is next to Thoroughbred Park, several restaurants and sits less than a mile from Kentucky’s largest college campus the University of Kentucky.
They built their tasting room with an eye toward bringing a sophisticated bourbon and cocktail experience tailored to Kentucky Bourbon tourists.
Related Story – Watch the entire ribbon cutting ceremony here.
“The philosophy of the Fresh Bourbon tasting room experience is to guide people to find their own taste in bourbon be it neat, on the rocks or in an amazing cocktail,” said Tia Edwards. “I wanted this space to be the environment that I enjoy drinking cocktails in elegant, timeless, classic, sophisticated, and a little bit expensive. We found our taste so let Fresh Bourbon help you find yours.”
The tasting room interior is a display of modern luxury with marble floors, porcelain tile, chandeliers and imported African Kewazinga wood paneling all designed to reflect and celebrate the elegance, sophistication and glamor of the modern Bourbon and cocktail lifestyle.
What Makes Fresh Bourbon Unique?
“We wanted fresh bourbon to be the starting place for drinkers. We travel a lot, and we realized if you ask 10 people what bourbon do they recommend you’ll get 10 different suggestions. Well, we have the answer to that question. Fresh Bourbon is the answer to the inevitable question in the bourbon industry, ‘What bourbon do you recommend?’ We want Fresh Bourbon to be the starting point for bourbon. ‘Start Fresh, finish wherever you like.’”
“When we founded this company, we wanted to have a fresh approach to the bourbon industry… We developed a unique recipe. We are the only bourbon in the industry that uses honey malt as the second primary grain. Honey malt is malted barley that malts to the point that has honey notes to it. So, there are no flavors in our bourbon, it’s just a sweeter bourbon on the nose. On the finish it’s very smooth. And I know in bourbon that smooth is not a flavor but at Fresh Bourbon, smooth is a feeling.”
Fresh Bourbon uses a unique four-grain recipe incorporating honey malt, which produces a distinctive sweet and floral character. The bourbon is distilled in a pre-prohibition era style in a copper pot-still and is matured in a mix of barrel sizes from 6 gallon “nano” barrels to traditional 53-gallon barrels with varying maturation times.
“For years, we have been diligently developing our Bourbon and spirit’s line. We have been very intentional and deliberate in crafting our spirits – from the mash bills up – and we’re excited to share what we have created from our own space,” states Edwards.
During the ribbon cutting Edwards proudly added, “We are the first African-Americans to make bourbon in the state of Kentucky since slavery.”
When Can We Expect a Fresh Bourbon Distillery?
Future plans include a multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art distillery in Lexington. Fresh Bourbon expects to make an announcement on the location soon with a groundbreaking before the end of the year.
The Fresh Bourbon Distilling Co. Tasting Room is now open for visitors. Tasting room guests will experience a guided Bourbon tasting and interactive, customized mixology session led by trained mixologists as well as have the opportunity to purchase unique fashion and lifestyle products as well as their own craft made bourbon. Tours are expected to last about 45 minutes.
Related Story
Startup Fresh Bourbon Distilling Co. Investing $5.4 Million to Build 34,000 Sq. Ft. Distillery [VIDEO]
Learn more about Fresh Bourbon Distilling Co.
View all Lexington Distilleries.
View all Kentucky Distilleries.
View all U.S. Distilleries.
Please help to support Distillery Trail. Sign up for our Newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
