SMALL BATCH, BIG DEAL The Bardstown Bourbon Company brings new ideas to an old craft Written by Bridget Williams / Photos by Rachel Lutz, Andrew Kung Group David Mandell, one of the four founders of the Bardstown Bourbon Company (BBCo), isn't a Kentucky native, but he is a quick study when it comes to Southern hospitality. During a recent visit to the BBCo's 100-acre campus to talk about their exponential growth in the last five years, Mandell offered me a pour from the Vintage Library at the distillery's Bottle & Bond Kitchen and Bar—a 1929 Seagram's Pedigree Straight Rye. To my great surprise, the 90-year-old whiskey's exceptionally smooth character belied the bitterness of the stock market crash that marked the start of the Great Depression the same year it was bottled. As I swirled the caramel-colored liquid in the delicate tapered glass, I pondered the parallels between investing and bourbon—regulatory oversight, market cycles and the importance of a diversified portfolio to name a few. If history is any indication, bourbon is an increasingly safe bet, while still remaining ripe for innovation and growth. According to the Kentucky Distillers Association, bourbon production has increased more than 115 percent in the last five years, with premium small batch and single barrel brands being the driving force. The BBCo is a leading facilitator for small producers, emphasizing technological innovation and transparency in production over spinning a yarn, thereby taking the historic spirit in a thoroughly 74 slmag.net
modern direction. "We named the company after the community to reflect both our core commitment to collaboration and to celebrate the craft," explained Mandell. Under the direction of Bourbon Hall of Fame Master Distiller Steve Nally and BBCo's Executive Director of Distilling Operations, John Hargrove, the backbone of the company is their Collaborative Distilling Program. This unprecedented initiative, which began in 2016, allows the BBCo to produce completely custom, high-quality, authentic Kentucky bourbon, whiskey, and rye brands for carefully vetted craft distillers and non-distilling brand owners interested in conceiving new whiskey products, along with improving the quality and scale of their current brands. Their novel concept proved to be so popular that within two years, the company added a second 55-foot, 36-inch column still that upped their capacity to a whopping 21,000 gallons per day, which is quadruple their output when they started distilling. "In a short period of time, we've become one of the most technically advanced and flexible whiskey distilleries in the world," said Mandell. There are four 22.5k barrel warehouses on the property, with a fifth, able to store 58,000 barrels, currently under construction. The expansion is being led by Bardstown-based Buzick Construction, who also built the distillery.
