“It all started with a single grain of corn… in a crock pot,” according to Bluegrass Distillers Founder Sam Rock. The year was 2012, before bourbon was cool again. A year later, Rock and his partners leased space along the railroad tracks on the backside of a local brewery to launch Bluegrass Distillers, in Lexington, Kentucky. Distillation began in 2013 on an open flame 250-gallon Hoga copper pot still and they’ve been hustling bourbon and rye whiskey ever since.
Bluegrass Distillers officially opened its new home at the historic Elkwood Farm, a 62-acre property with a ribbon cutting ceremony attended by community members, state leaders, and industry partners.
Nothing Matters But Your Will
“I want to thank everybody for coming. It has been an amazing journey,” said Sam Rock, Co-Owner and Co-Founder of Bluegrass Distillers. “We are one of the few people who can say we started from a single grain of corn. We started on a crock pot. We started in 2013, and we’ve always been self-financed ever since.
“The past a couple of years as we were building this, I would wake up in the morning, there was something that would flash in my head and it was ‘nothing matters but your will.’ And I thought about it every single day, it was like a billboard in my head. Nothing matters, but your will.
“What was more important was actually the will of our team. And how important that their vision and their steely grit was to see this project through. We were out here digging in the dirt, working with the contractors on a daily basis. Because we were self-funded, we really made it through because they pulled through the income. We didn’t have any investors to go talk to. We have people who were working hard every single day. And who forged through the dips in the seasons and without them it would have never happened.”
Rock went on to say, “Most importantly, I want to thank my wife. We started this distillery before we were married, and had she known what it would be, I’m not sure she would have married me. So, looking back, she might have said, ‘Hmm, you should have stayed a lawyer’.” Fortunately, Rock couldn’t stay away from the distilling industry and building his own brand as this small business celebrates the grand opening of its new $8 million distillery.
A True Ground-to-Glass Distillery
Bluegrass Distillers began talk of expansion plans in 2017. As luck would have it, the city leaders in Midway, Kentucky, established in 1833, were looking to bring a distillery to Midway, Sam’s boyhood hometown.
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‘We Are After All, A Drinking Town with a Train Problem’
“You know, when I say this is a long time coming, it’s not just cliché,” said Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift. “The story here goes back to 2017 when we appointed a task force for the purpose of bringing a distillery, back to Midway. We hadn’t had one in 60 years, and it seemed long overdue in the bourbon boom that we’ve been in for a decade now, and so we appointed task force, and they began looking for potential distilleries that might come [to Midway].
“Sam and Ben got into the fold, and that’s when the phone calls from Sam began. And I can tell you this right now, if it weren’t for Sam and his persistence to land in Midway and bring Bluegrass Distillers here to be our first distillery, since the 1960s, this would not have happened. Sam Rock never quit.
“It goes to show that when you believe in something and you stick with it and you give it enough time, it will happen. This is going to be such a huge boon to our tourism, to our already bustling downtown scene, but it’s a huge boost to who we are as a city. You could go back and read the old first-hand accounts back when there was a distillery district in Midway. And there are stories, my favorite story in particular, was, during an unfortunate fire, that sent of lot of bourbon, spilling into Lee’s Branch, next to this distillery, there are first-hand accounts of many people burning their hands, yes, these are good Midwegians, burning their hands, trying to get free whiskey and water out of the Lee’s Branch.
“There are so many stories like that throughout Midway’s history. ‘We are after all, a drinking town with a train problem.’ Well, that’s an on the way home [joke].
“This is such a vital part of who we are. It’s such a vital part to our economy locally, to our economy obviously in Kentucky, and we’re looking forward to being once again a leader, and I cannot thank Sam and Ben enough.”
The Bluegrass Distillers Ribbon Cutting
The event featured remarks from Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift, Kentucky Distillers’ Association President Eric Gregory, and Bluegrass Distillers’ co-founders Ben Franzini and Sam Rock. The event featured a ceremonial barrel fill, a celebratory toast, and distillery and visitor center tours.
The opening marks a major milestone for Bluegrass Distillers, which was founded in 2012 and has built a reputation for its award-winning small-batch and single-barrel bourbons. At its new Elkwood Farm location, Bluegrass Distillers has significantly expanded production capacity over 1,000%. This dramatic increase sets the stage for substantial future growth while remaining dedicated to authentic Kentucky craft bourbon traditions. Bluegrass will be making whiskey for their own products as well as contract distillation.
Owned by Sam Rock and Ben Franzini, of Lexington, the new $8 million distillery includes six 18,000-gallon fermentation tanks feeding a towering 36” x 45-foot column still manufactured by Specific Mechanical. The facility sits just across from the Elkwood Farm mansion, a historic residence placed on the National Historic Register in 1994. The new campus also includes a single-story barrel warehouse, a fully automated bottling line, and an on-site well that provides limestone spring water used in the distillation process. In keeping with their commitment to craftsmanship and sustainability, Bluegrass also grows their own corn right on the property.
As part of its ground-to-glass mission, the distillery sources local ingredients—including non-GMO, heirloom blue corn grown on-site—to create bourbon that reflects the heritage and flavor of the Bluegrass region. Elkwood Farm also represents a meaningful investment in the local economy: Bluegrass Distillers has already created 15 new jobs, with plans to add 10 more in the next couple of years.
“The past four years have been an incredible journey bringing Elkwood Farm Distillery to life. While we’ve already begun distilling and welcoming visitors, this ribbon cutting marks a monumental moment for our team—and we couldn’t be more proud to share it with our community.” added Rock.
Bluegrass Distillers Elkwood Farm to Welcome 40,000 Kentucky Bourbon Trail Visitors
Bluegrass Distillers has long been part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail™ in Lexington, but as of last month, the new Elkwood Farm location is now their official stop on the Trail, further enhancing the region’s tourism landscape. Over 40,000 visitors are expected to visit Bluegrass Distillers in the coming year to enjoy guided tours, tastings, and a full-service bourbon bar. The company envisions Elkwood Farm evolving into a key destination for bourbon tourists and the local community. The next phase of development will introduce food-centered experiences to enhance the visitor experience. More than a distillery, the new facility is designed to be a place for connection, exploration, and lasting appreciation of Kentucky’s heritage.
Now open seven days a week, the new Bluegrass Distillers location invites visitors to experience bourbon where it begins—on the farm.
Related Stories
– Bluegrass Distillers Breaks Ground at Historic Elkwood Farm – New $8 Million Distillery to Increase Production 100x Feb 2023
– Bluegrass Distillers Announces $3.9 Million Expansion & Move to Historic Woodford County Farm Dec 2020
– Bluegrass Distillers Revives Midway Distilling Co., A Pre-Prohibition Brand with a Line of Barrel Finished Rye Whiskies Dec 2021
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