Woodford Reserve Revives Historic 1812 Elijah Pepper Home for Private Barrel Selects – See Exclusive Before & After Photos

Woodford Reserve Distillery Site Declared National Historic Landmark

During the construction and renovation project, Brown-Forman applied for and eventually got approval to include this property known as ‘Labrot & Graham’s Old Oscar Pepper Distillery’ on the National Register of Historic Places. The application says that “In 1812, Elijah Pepper (Oscar’s father) selected his farm alongside Glenn’s Creek as an excellent place to support both diversified agriculture and a distilling operation. The protective valley and stream banks created by the Grassy Springs Branch with its limestone filtered springs provided both the necessary waterpower for running a grain mill plus clean water for fermenting and distilling. The higher, flat hillside on both sides of the creek served for a residence and agricultural and grazing land… The earliest building that remains on this property is the log house Elijah and Sarah Pepper built upon settling the land.” Take a close look at the 1936 Labrot & Graham Distillery photo and you can see the Pepper home sitting atop the hill. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000.

According to Woodford Reserve Master Distiller Emeritus Chris Morris the Pepper House is, “The oldest continuously inhabited log cabin in the history of Kentucky. Someone lived in this house from 1812 until 2003.”

Elijah Pepper started his farm distilling operation in 1812. A few years later in 1838 his son, Oscar Pepper made the transition from farm to commercial distillery when he built the Oscar Pepper Distillery along Glenn’s Creek. During that time Oscar Pepper hired Dr. James Crow to act as master distiller from 1833 to 1855. James Crow, a Scottish-born chemist “first employed the scientific techniques that came to be regarded as essential to bourbon production. Crow perfected the sour mash method of making bourbon—today a cornerstone of the national industry—and he employed instruments to gauge the temperature, acidity, and sugar-content of the bourbon and its chemical antecedents. He was an innovator in the maturing of whisky in charred oak barrels, giving his product the amber hue that is now accepted as a defining characteristic of bourbon.”

In 1878 the Pepper family sold the distillery to Leopold Labrot and James Graham. If you look close at the photos of the stacks rising above the distillery, you’ll see the initials L & G. Those historic letters are still visible today. Ironically, in 1941 Brown-Forman purchased the Labrot & Graham Distillery and ran it until 1968 when brown spirits sales declined in favor of clear spirits like vodka. In 1971 the distillery was sold to a neighboring farmer and returned to a farm property.

In 1994 when brown spirits started to make a resurgence, Brown-Forman bought the 42+ acre property back to start a new premium bourbon. After a two-year $7.4 million renovation and construction project the company introduced Woodford Reserve Bourbon on October 17, 1996, and soon began offering public tours of the Labrot & Graham Distillery. This was one of the original seven distilleries included on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail when it was launched in 1999. In 2003 the distillery was renamed as the Woodford Reserve Distillery that world knows today.

In 1997 soon after the distillery began operations Brown-Forman purchased an additional 30+ surrounding acres that included the original Elijah Pepper farmstead with the springs and house. The house was lived in until 2003. After that, the house was vacant and fell into disrepair for nearly two decades until this most recent renovation and transformation brought it back to life.