GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A court has now taken control of Garrard County Distilling, a company that closed in March amid a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed by one of its lenders.
It's a painful reminder for Brad Luttrell, one of the workers furloughed by the company last month.
"It was by far the best place I'd ever worked," Luttrell said. Working in maintenance, Luttrell enjoyed the flexibility.
"We could jump in and help the cookers, the barrelers, anything that we needed to do, we could jump in and help them at any time," Luttrell added.
Initially, workers were supposed to be furloughed for two to four weeks.
"Huge place, very unfortunate," Luttrell noted.
This place, more than 50,000 square feet, opened for business less than two weeks ago. Now it's on pause.
"There's a lot of us that still want to be called back, still holding on to a lot of hope," Luttrell said.
That is in a holding pattern, according to Chris Elleman, Garrard County Judge Executive, who told LEX 18 he couldn't comment on a lawsuit.
That suit, filed by Truist Bank earlier this month, claims the distillery owes them more than $26 million in loans. Elleman is confident there will be an update from Truist Bank soon.
Meanwhile, at City Hall in Lancaster, after a request for comment from LEX 18, Mayor Michael Gaffney couldn't add anything further in response to the suit or the receiver appointed to manage the distillery on a temporary basis potentially putting its assets up for sale.
If the distillery reopens, Luttrell hopes it will take a different approach.
"Maybe not go the corporate route and maybe keep it a little closer to home," Luttrell said.
Luttrell has since moved on to work for a different employer. As for the distillery's future, LEX 18 is still awaiting comment from Staghorn, the parent company.
