A couple of our old friends have teamed up to co-found a new craft bourbon distillery in Eastern Kentucky called Eastern Light Distilling. Caleb Kilburn and Cordell Lawrence helped build Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company in Louisville over the past nine-plus years. The former Master Distiller and Chief Operations Officer branched out on their own last month, after announcing these plans last summer.
The duo is planning to build a 50,000-square-foot distillery on 230-acres in Morehead (Rowan County). The campus will include:
- Rickhouses
- A bottling facility
- A bourbon tourism experience
- A special event space
- Other operations employing more than 50 full-time staff
"The name Eastern Light is inspired by the rising sun which illuminates a region of Kentucky full of culture, ingenuity, and talented artisans. It is a region marked by natural beauty and abundant resources. The distillery’s brand evokes newness, innovation, directionality, and hope—all of which are reflected in Eastern Light’s mission to provide craft makers with something new in the bourbon industry, a tailored brand experience and their own distillery homeplace."
