CRESTWOOD — In an industry steeped in tradition, Kentucky Artisan Distillery is offering something refreshingly personal: a new bourbon series crafted entirely in-house and an immersive tasting experience where visitors can drink spirits straight from the barrel.

The distillery, located at 6230 Old La Grange Road, started in 2012 with Steve Thompson, Chris Miller and Mike Loring idea of creating a place for people to bring their bourbon dreams to life in the former Ice Cream Distributors, Inc. building. By 2014, productions had started through contract distilling, which remains the distillery’s main focus with partners like Jefferson’s Reserve and Whiskey Row.

Chief Operating Officer and Master Distiller Jade Peterson, who started at the distillery in January 2015 on the bottling line, said that creating their own series felt natural after becoming so invested in the production of other brands. More importantly, it carried on Steve Thompson’s legacy of tradition and craft.

For Peterson, the Kentucky Artisan Distillery Series gives customers “a firsthand look at how product moves through a whole facility.” And with Kentucky-sourced wheat and neighboring Waldeck Farm growing corn and Ryman Rye, almost every ingredient in the series is locally sourced.

Aside from ingredients, the experience of contract distilling and the facilities for stand-alone production allows the distilling team to have control over every step of the creation process. Thanks to the distillery’s regularly offered tours, customers “can see the fermentation tanks where we mill the grain, where the stills are, the bottling line, and then all the way to the gift shop,” Peterson said.

Despite minimal marketing, Peterson added that the series has seen tremendous response. “It’s a proof of concept to make sure we could follow it through all the way from production to the gift shop … We wanted to make sure that people were enjoying it the way we had it laid out before we really pushed for mass production.”

The series features six bottles, including:

  • Wheated Bourbon
  • Four-Grain Bourbon
  • High Rye Whiskey
  • Rye Whiskey
  • Single Malt
  • “White Dog” Whiskey

The idea of the Kentucky Artisan Distillery Clubhouse was born out of the need for an “in-house place for us to have [contract distilling] client education and be able to entertain guests when we had them in town,” said Peterson. “Then we realized that it was kind of commercially viable for us to be able to show our products to the world.”

Located just down the street from the distillery at 6316 Old La Grange Road, the clubhouse offers a “thieve-your-own” experience where customers can taste select spirits straight from the barrel. “If you really fall in love with one of those recipes, you can buy a bottle right there on the spot.”

“If you test drive a car, but you never went and actually got in the car to drive it, you’re probably less likely to pull the trigger and buy it,” Peterson explained. “Since you have the access to the barrels, you’re walking into a space that isn’t real clinical,” he said. “You don’t feel like you’re sitting at a generic tasting lounge … you feel like you’re part of the distillery.”

Juggling the creation of both the series and the clubhouse wasn’t without its challenges. “It’s hard to flip a switch and have a good quality product to release to the market as soon as you say you want it,” Peterson said — especially for a business whose products need years to age. “You have to jump,” he said, “and we decided last year that we were going to jump.”

With the series exclusively on Kentucky Artisan Distillery shelves and the clubhouse open, Peterson and the rest of the Kentucky Artisan team are looking to create more in-house brands: adding a higher-proof “Bottled in Bond” version to the series and creating a Copperhead Series — an homage to the founders and official name, “Copperhead Distillery.”

Though a name and trademark are still in the works, Peterson also mentioned an Oldham County-exclusive, Kentucky Proud launch with “everything that we couple possibly source from here” and possible implementation of historical recipes. Also, Peterson hopes to have the Artisan Distillery Series widely distributed in 2026.

Visit kentuckyartisandistillery.com or call 502-822-3042 to schedule a tour, tasting or private event.