New distillery coming to Woodford County

MIDWAY, Ky. (WKYT) - A new distillery is coming to Woodford County.

State leaders were on hand to break ground on Bluegrass Distillery at Elkwood Farms in Midway.

It is the first distillery to be located in Midway since 1959.

“This is going to be an anchor that brings in tourists, that feeds the already incredible restaurants that are here that people travel to,” said Gov. Andy Beshear. “This is going to be a gem in Midway.”

The location of the distillery comes with a rich history.

“The choice of this distillery, to come to this beautiful piece of property, to restore a mansion on the national historic landmark, is pretty special,” said Gov. Beshear. “It’s going to work in perfectly with the Midway community.”

Tthe owners of the new distillery were thankful to have the support of the community, the mayor, and the government officials who made an appearance.

“We wouldn’t have been at this point without that support and all the guidance received from different government ties that have helped us along the way.” said Bluegrass Distillery owner Ben Franzini. “So, Governor Beshear being here today and ringing the spotlight to our location here at elkwood farm, we are incredibly grateful for it.”

Governor Beshear says summer 2023 is a perfect time to introduce a big new distillery.

“Bourbon is booming at a level we have never seen before. In fact, the next best year was half a billion dollars less than we saw invested best time for bourbon in the history of the commonwealth of Kentucky,” said Gov. Beshear.

Restaurants in the Miday community, like Brown Barrel, are hopeful that the new distillery will bring new business to town.

With Bluegrass now coming in and putting in a warehouse, we should see some more tourism, people wanting to go to the distillery, look at downtown Midway, see what everybody is about. We’re such a nice rusted vacation town,” said JP Gibson, Brown Barrel owner.

Bluegrass is excited to finally be getting the ball rolling, and hopes to make this distillery another one of the main tourist attractions in the area.

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