The Blending House in Shelbyville, Kentucky is a full-service post-distillation destination for modern distillers looking for barrel storage, bottling and blending services. Spirits industry veterans and Founders CEO Monica Wolf Brown and Master Blender Ashley Barnes have announced they are officially open for business.
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
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DistilleryTrail first visited The Blending House in August 2023. At that time, they had just completed their first rickhouse and had several under various stages of construction. Since then, they have completed seven 20,000 barrel warehouses featuring the K-RAX Premium Barrel Storage System created by their partners at The Koetter Group.
At that time, their 30,000 square foot bottling facility was just a pile of gravel. Today, that facility is up and running offering distillers a one-stop destination for bottling, labeling, and blending of bourbon, rye, American whiskey and other spirits.
Opening During Turbulent Times in the Distilled Spirits Industry
The nature of the distilled spirits industry is changing–there is no question. Located in the heart of bourbon country, The Blending House has positioned itself as the essential infrastructure destination for the next era of disciplined growth for new brand builders and established brand owners.
“As the distilled spirits industry evolves, the strategies that built brands over the past decade won’t necessarily sustain them in the decade ahead,” said The Blending House CEO Monica Wolf Brown.
“We built The Blending House to give domestic and international brands a reliable base of operations, allowing producers to protect quality, operate efficiently, and grow without the capital burden of building and operating their own facility. Currently, there are no other facilities like it in Kentucky or the United States. We were built to bottle, with no competing priorities. When brands work with us, they know their production isn’t an afterthought; it’s our core mission.”
Developed after years of working with third-party bottlers, the operation was designed to incorporate industry best practices while addressing critical gaps. With a dedicated focus on vertically integrating post-distillation needs with state-of-the-art barrel storage, expert blending, precision bottling, and back-office support — all under one roof and staffed by industry veterans with decades of experience.
Blending Services with Master Blender Ashley Barnes
For brands interested in blending services, operations are conducted in a dedicated sensory lab and are led by Master Blender Ashley Barnes. Having trained under industry legends, she is recognized for her work developing premium spirits brands. Her expertise includes warehouse profiling, flavor projection, product development, and quality control. Blending services are available to both emerging and established brands seeking precision, consistency, and distinctive flavor development.
End-to-End Bottling Services
Bottling services are delivered end-to-end, including filtration, proofing, and packaging. The Blending House features a custom-built bottling line supporting formats from 200 mL to 1.75 L – with both automated and artisanal packaging options – as well as a dedicated secondary line for hand-finished and custom products. The facility has the capacity for up to 250,000 cases annually and operates at speeds of 35–40 bottles per minute.
“Our facility layout, equipment, and overall concept allow us to put our customers first, with flexibility to align our operations around their timelines and standards,” said The Blending House Director of Operations Matt King. “Our mission is to be a trusted partner, treating every brand with the same level of care as if it were our own.”
The Blending House meets rigorous QA standards and has the ability to provide expert guidance on labeling and regulatory approval. In addition, clients have the option to select from a menu of back-office support options, such as packaging development, logistics, bookkeeping, graphic design, marketing, and domestic product distribution. Brands including Ten Runner find this, and other aspects of the white-glove service, extremely valuable.
“One of the most important things to have when trying to accomplish something big is to surround yourself with a great team. When I decided to create Ten Runner, I turned to Monica, Ashley, and The Blending House to help craft a truly special blend of the highest quality. They have been excellent to work with and have become a key part of our growing success.” – Ryan Blaney, NASCAR Champion & Founder of Ten Runner Bourbon Whiskey.
The Shelbyville, Kentucky campus spans 108 acres and serves as a centralized production hub designed specifically to optimize operations for spirits brands of all sizes. It represents the next chapter for The Spirits Group , a distilled spirits consulting firm founded in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2017 by seasoned industry veterans and Co-Founders Monica Wolf Brown and Ashley Barnes. Their private, hands-on team offers more than a decade of experience across the industry in the service of helping customers define, hone, and execute their goals. It is home to a 30,000 square foot state-of-the-art blending and bottling facility and seven cutting-edge K-RAX® rickhouses with over 120,000 barrels currently on site.
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