LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — There are a lot of limbs to check within the family tree of bourbon history.
Taylor, Blanton, Van Winkle just to name a few.
However, there's one name that might be at the roots of this storied industry.
Pepper.
A name in bourbon about as old as our country's independence.
Pepper Distillery started back during the American Revolution in the Blue Ridge Mountains by Elijah Pepper," Pepper Distillery operations assistant Katherine Foley said.
"Elijah moved that distillery to the town of Versailles on Glen Creek. He built his distillery there which is now where Woodford Reserve stands."
The Pepper Distillery went through multiple phases of being built up just to be lost, mainly to financial struggles.
However, it withstood those shortfalls to settle in Lexington comfortably since the 1930's.
Dawning the name of Elijah's grandson, James.
“The building we’re in right now dates back to 1934, this was the original distillery building. Our retail area used to be what was the loading dock," Foley said.
“We have a very unassuming entrance so you have to know that we’re here to be able to find us.”
The distillery is decently camouflaged by the neighboring bars and restaurants.
A hidden gem of an area appropriately called the Distillery District.
"Goodfellas was the furnace and boiler room. The Break Room was the employee break room. Crank & Boom was the administrative building," Foley said.
“We have archived over 80 different historical documents, records and letters from the Pepper family. All the way from our bottles to actual advertisements. We really are just trying to grow the brand while preserving the brand at the same time.”
Despite all the history in the distilleries walls, it's only been open to distilling since 2017, revitalizing the James Pepper name.
It's become prominent enough on the bourbon trail to attract folks like Mike Tozier and Rick Hart who have came across the Old Pepper a couple years ago while visiting from Charlotte.
“We actually discovered Pepper our second year here. We were at another distillery and I happened to strike up a conversation with a man and he said ‘have you guys been to Pepper yet,'" Hart said.
"We said we’d never heard of it and he said ‘you’ve got to go to Pepper.’ Looked it up on the map, took off and came down here and we’ve been coming back ever since.”
According to Foley, about 90% of their guests are from outside of Kentucky.
The rich history and bourbon have attracted folks from all over the world since reopening six years ago.
“The fact that this was a full running distillery for so long and then it was able to keep it’s number. Then to come back into resurgence. Just falling in love with the time that it’s been around and the product that it’s putting out," Tozier said.
It's very much a collision of two time periods.
Preserving the history of the Pepper name while trying to bring it into the modern bourbon world.
Foley is a part of a relatively young group running the Pepper Distillery, excited to propel this brand into present day.
It’s great to be a part of this new brand and also to teach the history of the Distillery District, of Lexington, of the bourbon spirit in general," Foley said.
"Really we’re just bringing history back to life and I think people are really interested in that.”
