Bluegrass Distillers Breaks Ground at Historic Elkwood Farm – New $8 Million Distillery to Increase Production 100x

Bluegrass Distillers, a craft distillery in Lexington, Kentucky was founded in 2013. What better way to celebrate your 10th Anniversary then with an $8 million groundbreaking for a new distillery that will increase your distillation capacity by 100-fold. And that is exactly what Bluegrass Distillers is doing.

Bluegrass Distillers announced the acquisition of the historic Elkwood Farm in Midway, Kentucky back in 2020. Their original plan called for going from their current level of about a half a barrel of bourbon a day to 20 barrels per day and opening by the fall of 2021. Well, a lot has happened over the last couple years between covid slowdowns, supply chain issues and an education on what it takes to expand one’s distillery to today. Over the last couple of years, the earlier plan has expanded to a much larger production distillery with room to grow and larger storage facilities to age all that bourbon and rye whiskey that will soon be flowing.

The new $8 million distillery will feature six 18,000-gallon fermentation tanks that will feed a 36” x 45-foot-tall column still manufactured by Specific Mechanical. The distillery will be built a few hundred yards from the Elkwood Farm mansion, a home that was placed on the National Historic Register in 1994. According to the historic records, the 5,950 square foot home built in 1835 was likely designed by Gideon Shryock, Kentucky’s first professional architect. One of Shryock’s most famous buildings is Kentucky’s Old State Capital in Frankfort. In 1824 Kentucky’s original state house burned down. In 1827 the state legislature chose Gideon Shryock to design a new state capital. The Old State Capital still stands today in downtown Frankfort about 17 miles away from Elkwood Farm.

Bluegrass has been utilizing the property for growing their own heirloom blue corn last year. In fact, the first new structure built on the property was a new grain bin to hold the heirloom blue corn harvest used to make their bourbon.

When completed, the new Bluegrass Distillers’ Midway location will increase production capacity to about 20,000 barrels per year with room to add a second column in the future. The facility will also house offices, labs, tasting and event space and a bottling line. 

“We are thrilled to break ground on our new distillery in Midway,” said Bluegrass Distillers Co-Owner Sam Rock. “This new best of class facility will allow us to massively expand production of our spirits and grow our reach while creating jobs and contributing to the local economy.”

Rock added that he is originally from Woodford County and looks forward to building the new distillery in the county where he grew up.

To commemorate the groundbreaking, Bluegrass has announced the first ever release of Elkwood Reserve, a 9-year single barrel bourbon whiskey.

“Bluegrass has been distilling for nine years, and the release of Elkwood Reserve exemplifies the premium bourbons we will be showcasing with our complete grain-to-glass experience at Elkwood Farm,” added Co-Owner Ben Franzini. “Our team’s experience paired with the state-of-the-art equipment and facilities we are building will allow us to take everything we do to the next level.” This limited release product will be available at their Lexington, Kentucky gift shop.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was also in attendance to celebrate the groundbreaking.

“The commonwealth’s bourbon industry is coming off its best ever year for growth in 2022, and it continues to gain momentum,” Beshear said. “Bluegrass Distillers is a homegrown company that was founded by Kentuckians, and today’s groundbreaking is a welcome addition to Midway and the Woodford County community. I want to thank the leaders of Bluegrass Distillers for their vision to grow in Kentucky and look forward to seeing their continued success in the coming years.”