In 2008, Jeff Wiseman and Pete Wright, the owners of Barrel House Distilling Company, brought bourbon distillation back to Lexington after over a half-century of its absence from the city. Now they’re doing the same thing for Cynthiana in Harrison County, which, like Lexington, has a bourbon legacy and no distillery for more than 50 years.
“The distilling history runs deep, and the people there embraced us to a point we never would have dreamed of,” Wiseman said.
Barrel House co-founders Jeff Wiseman, left, and Pete Wright at the November groundbreaking for its new distillery in Cynthiana. The first phase of the $1.8 million project is expected to be operational in late 2024.
In 2006, over a game of poker, Wiseman, Wright, and a few friends discussed the idea of starting a bourbon distillery in Lexington. The two owners saw it through. They acquired a 1,500-square-foot building at the then-deserted and dilapidated James E. Pepper Distillery complex on Manchester Street and began operations. “We were here six years by ourselves,” Wiseman said of the now-thriving Distillery District. Barrel House has since garnered several awards for its spirits at national competitions, most recently with its Barrel House Select bourbon winning a double gold from the 2023 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
A turning point came in the summer of 2017, when Forbes magazine listed Barrel House’s RockCastle bourbon whiskey as one of the eight best bourbons produced in Kentucky. Barrel House was the only craft distillery on the list. “That’s when we started seeing people driving their cars from Chicago, Wisconsin, Florida — or flying private planes down here with their buddies to pick up a bottle,” Wright said. Barrel House releases small batches of RockCastle bourbon twice a year.
Barrel House’s first product was its Pure Blue Vodka, a spirit that requires no aging. That was followed by Devil John Moonshine, another unaged product. In 2012, they introduced their first aged product, Oak Rum. The first bourbon release came in 2015 with RockCastle, named for the county where they collect the spring water used to make Barrel House’s spirits. Their grains (white corn, yellow corn, wheat, barley, and rye) are all grown in Kentucky, except for the occasional needed supplement of barley grown elsewhere. Barrel House is a Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour member and only distributes its spirits in the state.
Barrel House’s Cynthiana distillery will also join the Bourbon Trail Craft Tour. The new distillery will be next door to South Fork Malt House, the only malt house in Kentucky. Maiden City Brewery is just two doors down. A groundbreaking event was held in November at the six-acre site. The $1.8 million distillery complex will include rickhouses and an event space with a kitchen. With a greater production capacity, it will take over the making of Barrel House Select bourbon, the company’s best-seller.
The Lexington location will focus on producing RockCastle bourbon and continue to produce vodka and moonshines. The adjacent Elkhorn Tavern will also remain open. Lead distiller and operations manager Andrew Tyma has developed a new product, King Solomon Rye Whiskey, and expects to release the first batch in January. Tyma has also been making an apple brandy using apple cider from Wise Bird Cider Co., another business located in the Distillery District.
Wiseman said the distillery had nearly 25,000 visitors in 2022. Within five years of operation, the founders project that the Cynthiana location will attract 12,000 visitors annually and generate $2.7 million in local economic impact. We spoke with Wright and Wiseman about their plans.
What compelled you to build a new distillery in Cynthiana?
Wright: Essentially, the demand in the bourbon industry. We’ve been in the business for over 15 years and have seen the business steadily grow. While we have been very happy at our current location, demand has outstripped our capacity to produce. Looking to the future, we realized we need a larger facility to continue to meet future demand. Cynthiana has a rich distilling heritage, and they want to grow their tourism. The support from the community made us very interested in that location.
What can you tell us about Kentucky’s Moonshine Trail?
Wiseman: I’d first like to mention that our moonshine, Devil John Moonshine, won an award at the Denver International Spirits Competition. Governor Beshear came to Pikeville in September and announced the official kick-off of the Moonshine Trail. It’s primarily six distilleries and three other stops. If we can get people up into the mountains, I think they’re going to want to come back. The other folks on the trail have done an amazing job. They have a national marketing budget for next year that blows me away. You’re going to start seeing advertisements in 2024.
We’ve got a strong connection to that part of the country. My family is from Cecil County, though I’ve never lived there. Wright: I lived in Floyd and Johnson Counties. Wiseman: We want to do what’s best for Eastern Kentucky and try to help there.
Devil John Moonshine was named for one of your ancestors, Pete. What’s that story?
Wright: Devil John was a Wyatt Earp kind of character in Western Virginia and Eastern Kentucky, born around 1840. He lived into the 1920s. He served as a lawman and also took his turn at distilling over the years, like many people in the hills of Appalachia. He was well known throughout Eastern Kentucky and western Virginia. We have a recipe from my family that we suspect would be similar to what Devil John made. And so, we wanted to honor Devil John with that moonshine.
There seems to be a lot of mutual support among bourbon distillers.
Wright: The cooperation with both large and small distilleries has been wonderful. Everyone realizes that what is beneficial for one is beneficial to all. We were first brought into the Kentucky Distillers’ Association in 2012. Chris Morris of Woodford Reserve, Jimmy Russell (Wild Turkey); all the major distillers came down to our little distillery to welcome us, and from that point forward we’ve felt very supported by the industry. And, of course, in the craft movement, all of us little guys are always looking to try to aid one another.
Wiseman: Lexington also just became a gateway city for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to distilleries located in Fayette County. Bardstown is the “Bourbon Capital of the World,” and Lexington now has the tagline, “Bourbon Land.” It’s beginning to be promoted heavily. If you look at the history of bourbon in Kentucky, it comes back to Central Kentucky.
Wright: It’s a far-reaching industry when you look at the farms and the barrels and the whole gamut that it takes to make bourbon. Our barrels are from Kelvin Cooperage, made in Louisville. They’re using a lot of Kentucky oak, and that impacts loggers, foresters, transporters, and sawmills.
Wiseman: I just did some grain calculations and based on bushels that we’re going to be using starting next year, we’re essentially looking at a 100-acre farm. We’ll totally sustain one Kentucky family farm.