RD1 Spirits’ brand home in the Commons will include a small distillery, tasting rooms, a cocktail bar, and both indoor and outdoor event spaces.
A fast-growing, three-year-old spirits company has ambitious plans at its development site on Leestown Road. RD1 Spirits has broken ground for its $4.8 million brand destination as the anchor tenant in what will become a 40-acre mixed-use community and entertainment center known as the Commons. Located in a former tobacco warehouse district less than a mile from downtown Lexington, RD1's two-story, 10,000-plus square foot building will welcome visitors to this latest stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
Their bourbon's name — RD1 — stands for Registered Distillery One, a nod to Ashland Distillery, Lexington's first federally registered distillery established in 1865 on what is now Manchester Street next to The Manchester hotel. It was later renamed William Tarr Distillery.
Guests will experience an interactive look at Lexington's bourbon history and wander the building on a tour that takes them from fermentation to distillation. There will be bourbon tasting rooms, a craft cocktail bar, and a VIP speakeasy tasting room. Souvenirs can be purchased at a gift shop. Outside, there will be space for private events, and the property's historic water tower will feature RD1's artwork, giving the brand visual name recognition. The project is scheduled for completion by late summer. Developers hope to open in time for the busy fall bourbon tourism season.
Lexington's RD1 distillery will have two pot stills — one with an 800-gallon capacity and another with a 175-gallon capacity — a 1,000-gallon mash cooker, a 750-gallon fermenter, and space to age a limited number of barrels. When opened, the distillery is expected to produce one barrel of bourbon per week for the sole purpose of research and development. RD1 will continue to produce its Kentucky straight bourbon at Western Kentucky Distilling in Beaver Dam under eighth-generation master distiller Jacob Call.
Lexington native Barry Brinegar is a co-founder and RD1's national brand ambassador. "I preach the gospel of RD1 to the nation," he said. Brinegar's main job is sending marketing and sales teams to do deep market blitzes by penetrating and supporting new and existing markets. "No. 1, since we are a Kentucky brand, we wanted to have deep roots in Kentucky," he said. "We began here and are now available for sale in 15 other states. We also wanted to make sure we had a wonderful infrastructure, and you see the start of that right here."
Owners, investors, and others involved with RD1 Spirits participated in a groundbreaking ceremony in January.
The bourbon industry's growth is tremendous, and liquor store shelves are crammed with dozens of brands. How will RD1 stand out? "When a customer first sees our bottle, it's the start of the journey," said Brinegar. "The way we continue that is through innovation. We create a classic small-batch Kentucky straight bourbon and see what special barrel wood can do to influence the flavor profile. That's because 50 to 70 percent of bourbon's flavor comes from the charred oak inside the barrel, and we are changing the equation in unusual ways."
After getting operations up and running in Western Kentucky, the company released its first bourbon last March in a distinctive bottle with the phrase "Kentucky Born & Raised" etched into the top of the bottle and a plank fence etched along the bottom. What followed was the release of three whiskies aged four years in different woods — maple, French oak, and Brazilian Amburana. Currently, the company is experimenting with aging whiskey in about a dozen different woods to create unique tasting experiences. The bourbon is made with Kentucky-grown corn, along with rye and barley, and blended with local limestone well water. The results have been promising. So far, RD1 has earned 66 bourbon industry gold, double gold, platinum, and century awards.
RD1's investors, which include University of Kentucky head football coach Mark Stoops, are aware of the history of bourbon making in Kentucky and want to stake their claim to it. "I thought coming into it, the bourbon industry in Kentucky was the ideal situation for us," said investor and chief executive officer Mike Tetterton. "Because, like the Frank Sinatra song 'New York, New York,' if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere because the field is so crowded."
Tetterton wants potential RD1 customers to know that the distillery is a small start-up with the roots of a large distillery. "We have the awards and we have the 'juice' of a big distillery," said the CEO. "We will now have a Lexington home and expect to see 30,000 to 35,000 visitors here in the first 12 months. If you come hang out with us, we will educate you." Tetterton adds that RD1's investors did not know much about bourbon when they entered the arena. They are businesspeople. But now they have learned the nuances from experts.
The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority approved $521,000 in incentives for RD1's venture. "As we continue to see growth in Kentucky's signature bourbon industry, projects like this are adding momentum to our tourism efforts," Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement.