Jackson Purchase Distillery in Hickman, Kentucky, may have started in 2021 but the story of this long-forgotten distillery and the industry veterans behind the brand can be traced back seven generations. What started out as a somewhat random conversation about wanting to get into the distilling industry and the existence of what some would call a ghost distillery began on a duck hunt in Western Kentucky.
“A few years ago, David, Lloyd and several of us, had been known to go duck hunting on occasion,” said Jackson Purchase Distillery Chairman of the Board Van Carlisle. “Lloyd Jones, who is a native of Fulton County, was down there with David Salmon our Chief Operating Officer, and they were duck hunting on the Mississippi River. It was probably one of those days that the ducks weren’t flying too much, which happens a lot down on the river. David was telling Lloyd how great the bourbon business was and said, ‘If we could just get into the bourbon business that would be great.’ Lloyd kind of looks at him and says, ‘There’s a distillery down the street that has never been opened.’
“The ducks weren’t flying so they picked the decoys up and went over to the distillery and peered through the windows and low and behold there was a 24” Vendome Copper & Brass Works column and fermenters. Soon after that, Lloyd finds the owner, Ray Jamieson of Jamieson Distillery. He started the distillery back in 2008 as a hobby and just never really got it finished.”
After a few years of talking to Ray, he and his son decided they would sell the business. “We got the (distilling) band together again and got Ray under contract in February of 2020. By April 1, 2021, we took ownership,” said Carlisle.
Fast forward four years and Jackson Purchase Distillery, which is primarily a contract distillery, is ready to release Jackson Purchase Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Batch No. 1 – Full Proof, its first whiskey, at the 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Festival.
Though they are releasing a bourbon brand, their core business is contract distilling bourbon, rye and American whiskey for others. “We hope you will have a chance to come visit us,” said Carlisle. “When you do, there are several things you won’t see at Jackson Purchase Distillery. You won’t see a big tasting room, you won’t see a visitor center, you won’t see a gift shop, because we put our money into what is important which is making great whiskey.”
Jackson Purchase Distillery Hires 7th Generation Master Distiller Craig Beam
Out of the gate during the startup phase, the Jackson Purchase team knew they wanted an experienced distiller to lead their distilling operations. After doing some courting, they hired 7th Generation and 2025 Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Famer Master Distiller Craig Beam. Along with Beam, they hired Assistant Master Distiller Terry Ballard, who had many years of experience working at Willett Distillery in Bardstown, to run daily operations.
Watch the video to hear Beam tell the story in his words from his courtship journey with Lloyd, David, and Van, to signing on the dotted line, getting the 10-year-old ghost still up and running, to bottling their first four-year-old Kentucky bourbon.
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What Makes Bourbon in Western Kentucky v. the Bluegrass Region Unique?
Physiographic Regions.
The Bluegrass Region in the center of Kentucky is well known for making bourbon. According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, Kentucky is home to 95% of the world’s bourbon. Most of that bourbon comes from what has been called the Amber Triangle between Frankfort, Louisville, and Bardstown. Over the last decade that triangle has expanded into a rectangle covering almost all of Kentucky with the furthest Western outpost being Jackson Purchase. To put it in perspective, Jackson Purchase is about 250 miles southwest of Bardstown.
Kentucky is broken into several ecoregions across the state. Hickman is No. 74b, the ‘Mississippi Valley Loess Plains’ region while Bardstown is is 71, the ‘Interior Plateau’ which goes from Louisville to Bardstown. Beam pointed out that the farmers start the planting season earlier in the Hickman area and end the season later compared to the middle of the state. In total, the growing season lasts about eight weeks longer in far Western Kentucky. Take a look at the data below for the details.
“With the average temperature here being 4-5 degrees higher than the rest of the state, we can’t believe how quickly our whiskey has taken on a deep color and rich flavor,” said Beam. “At four years old, I’d put Jackson Purchase Bourbon up against most 8–10-year-old bourbons on the market.”
The point is to say that the Jackson Purchase bourbon is technically aged four years old but because of the regional differences it tastes more like a six-year-old bourbon according to Beam. In addition to the microclimate along the Mississippi River Valley, it is also home to a calcium-rich underground aquifer that provides 100% of the water used in the distilling process.
Physiographic Regions of Kentucky
| Ecoregions of Kentucky | 'Precipitation' Mean Annual in Inches | 'Frost Free Days' Mean Annual Days | 'Mean Temperature' |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson Purchase Area | |||
| 74. Mississippi Valley Loess Plains Ecoregion: 74b. Loess Plains | 45" - 52" | 185 - 205 | Jan. — Min/Max 23°F/48°F Jul. — Min/Max 64°F/91°F |
| Bardstown and Louisville Regions | |||
71. Interior Plateau Ecoregion: 71d. Outer Bluegrass | 38” - 48” * | 160 - 210 | Jan —Min/Max 20°F / 45°F Jul — Min/Max 62°F / 89°F ** |
*Snowfall is greater in Northern portion.
** Northern portion is colder than southern portion.
Jackson Purchase Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Batch No. 1 – Full Proof
For this first release Beam and Ballard chose a batch of barrels that were distilled using a mash bill of 70% corn, 20% rye, and 10% malted barley. The distillate was barreled at 120 proof in 53-gallon #4 charred oak barrels with no toasting. The barrels were mostly aged in a palletized warehouse then finished for the last few weeks on the top floor of a traditional bourbon barrel rickhouse. The final proof after blending the barrels ended up at 117.8 proof.
“By offering a limited number of bottles on the retail market, we’re giving bourbon drinkers a rare opportunity to taste for themselves what we can do,” said Jackson Purchase Distillery CEO Lloyd Jones. “We built our business around the bourbon first, not marketing or visitors.”
The Jackson Purchase Batch No. 1 – Full Proof Bourbon will make its debut Sept. 5th at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, where Beam and Ballard will sign them in person. They’ll hit select retail shelves in Kentucky at around the same time with a suggested retail price of $59.
Founded in 2021, Jackson Purchase Distillery is one of the fastest growing distilleries in Kentucky. The Hickman, Kentucky-based company, offers contract distilling, selling new-fill barrels to craft brands, distillers in need of increased capacity, and companies that purchase barrels for future third party sales. The distillery’s 36-inch Louisville Exchange & Vessel column and 24-inch Vendome Copper & Brass Works copper column stills now produce up to 60,000 barrels of whiskey per year.
Related Stories
– Introducing the 2025 ‘Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame’ Inductees including the Woman Who Made Bourbon in Mexico
– Jackson Purchase Distillery Fills its 100,000th Barrel of Kentucky Whiskey – Expands Investment to $40 Million
– Jackson Purchase Distillery Expansion Continues with Ribbon Cutting on a Pair of State-of-the-Art $5 Million Steel Rickhouses
Learn more about Jackson Purchase Distillery.
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