Jackson Purchase Distillery in Hickman, Kentucky, has come a long way baby. Jackson Purchase acquired a mothballed distillery in Western Kentucky and quickly put together a well-oiled team to get the operation up and running. The management team acquired extensive whiskey making expertise with the hiring of 7th Generation Master Distiller Craig Beam, formerly of Heaven Hill Distillery, and Plant Manager and Assistant Master Distiller Terry Ballard, formerly of Willett Distillery in Bardstown.
Jackson Purchase Distillery Fills 100,000th Barrel
The Jackson Purchase Distillery had the honor of celebrating the filling of their 100,000th barrel at the state’s capital in Frankfort, with Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. Beshear welcomed Jack Purchase CEO Lloyd Jones and Master Distiller Craig Beam to his recent Team Kentucky Update to celebrate the contract distiller’s tremendous success and impact on their community.
“Today, we congratulate the leaders of Jackson Purchase Distillery as they will soon officially fill their 100,000th barrel of bourbon,” said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. “Thank you for helping make bourbon the great ambassador of our commonwealth it is.”
Jackson Purchase Distillery launched in 2021, when a team of Kentucky business veterans took over an abandoned in Hickman, – just a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River. Over the last four years Beam and Ballard have leveraged the unique local climate, water and grains to create an unforgettable Kentucky bourbon.
With a capacity now reaching 5,000 barrels per month it’s time to add more rickhouses. To make space for aging all those barrels, the distillery recently finalized plans for two new warehouses alongside its original one in Hickman, in addition to the two new traditional rickhouses at the distillery site. The distillery’s rapid expansion led to another milestone in March, when the Kentucky Distillers’ Association invited the distillery to move up to the Heritage level of membership, joining the biggest names in Kentucky Distilling like Brown-Forman, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Diageo, and others.
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“We have an awful lot to celebrate, and we’re grateful to our team, our customers, and our community for making it all possible” said Jackson Purchase Distillery CEO Lloyd Jones. “As I’ve often said, there is no better place in Kentucky to have a distillery than in Fulton County.”
New Construction Extends Distillery Investment to $40 Million
As a Fulton County native, Jones has kept Jackson Purchase Distillery focused on its community. The two new warehouses will bring the total investment in the Fulton County community to $40 million, creating 48 jobs. The distillery buys its ingredients from more than a dozen local farmers, and makes its spent grain available to feed livestock in the area. The company also sponsors numerous local events and organizations, and the first of five barrels donated for auction recently brought in $10,100 for Ken-Tenn EMS, the area’s only emergency medical service.
Jackson Purchase Distillery’s whiskies are currently sold exclusively to other brands on the wholesale market and to investors through platforms like CaskX. The distillery produces whiskey with several distinct mash bills of their own, including a new American Single Malt, and can customize the product to customer’s specifications. With its oldest bourbon barrels now reaching the 4-year mark, the whiskey will soon be available through numerous brands, as well as other distribution channels to be announced soon.
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” and 24” copper column stills now produce up to 60,000 barrels per year.
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