Bourbon maker to renovate Main Street Bldg

A bourbon maker will spend $7.8 million to renovate a historic building at the corner of Eighth and Main streets downtown and open a small distillery.

Michter's Distillery plans to rehabilitate the long vacant Fort Nelson building across from the Louisville Slugger Museum.

Full Story: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/ ... ext|Home|p

I think an out-of-town company making a nearly 8 million investment in our city in this economy is great news any way you cut it.

I think an out-of-town company making a nearly 8 million investment in our city in this economy is great news any way you cut it.

...GASP !!!!! Not local ? OFF with their heads !!!.............

This is terrific, something in keeping with our area's heritage like the Slugger Museum across the street. I had to do a double-take when I read this in the linked article, though:

"Joseph Magliocco, the company's president, said Michter's goal is to show that bourbon and rye whiskey made in the United States can rival whiskies produced elsewhere."

Is it just me, 'cause I've tried a lot of whisky from Scotland, Ireland, Canada but the best I've ever tasted were only as good as medium-good Kentucky or Tennessee whiskey. There's not even a fair contest against the better KY / TN whiskies. Unless he's talking about in mixed drinks, but I don't even allow ice cubes mixed into mine...

This is terrific, something in keeping with our area's heritage like the Slugger Museum across the street. I had to do a double-take when I read this in the linked article, though:

"Joseph Magliocco, the company's president, said Michter's goal is to show that bourbon and rye whiskey made in the United States can rival whiskies produced elsewhere."

Is it just me, 'cause I've tried a lot of whisky from Scotland, Ireland, Canada but the best I've ever tasted were only as good as medium-good Kentucky or Tennessee whiskey. There's not even a fair contest against the better KY / TN whiskies. Unless he's talking about in mixed drinks, but I don't even allow ice cubes mixed into mine...

I concur with all of the above...with the small exception that I do ice my bourbon for the merest fraction of a minute and then strain into the appropriate glassware. Scotch ? Baaah. Irish Whiskey ? Humbug.

[Robin Garr]

Here's the full news release ...

For Immediate Release:

MICHTER’S ANNOUNCES NEW DISTILLERY

IN HISTORIC LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY BUILDING

As part of its long-term planning, Michter’s Distillery LLC, www.michters.com has decided to build a small production distillery in Louisville, Kentucky. Michter’s is the maker of highly acclaimed, limited production Bourbon, Rye, and American Whiskey, and this distillery affirms the company’s commitment to producing outstanding American whiskeys. The Michter’s Distillery will be open to the public and will offer educational tours and tastings.

The proposed site is the historically and architecturally significant Fort Nelson Building at 801 West Main Street in downtown Louisville, directly across the street from one of Louisville’s top tourist attractions, the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, which attracts nearly 300,000 visitors a year. Located on Louisville’s Museum Row, the Fort Nelson building’s striking exterior is a classic example of 1890’s cast iron architecture Link to Photos of Michter's Proposed Distillery Site. According to many architectural historians, Louisville and the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan have the United States’ two most important concentrations of buildings exemplifying great American cast iron architecture. The building is currently owned by Paul Bariteau and Carolan Bariteau. For over a decade, the couple has preserved this building which might otherwise have been slated for demolition.

The staff at Michter’s is excited about the prospect of establishing a distillery in the Fort Nelson Building. Company President, Joseph J. Magliocco www.josephjmagliocco.com stated, “Kentucky is a great state and Louisville is a terrific city. We have considered other locations for this distillery, but we’ve been extremely impressed by Governor Beshear, Mayor Greg Fischer and both of their administrations, as well as the entire team at Greater Louisville, Inc. They are all dedicated to the preservation and the restoration of their historic building stock while at the same time being focused on bringing more economic activity and jobs to Louisville. This could be a great opportunity for both Michter’s and Louisville.”

Last week, the Kentucky Economic Development and Finance Authority approved an incentive package for the Michter’s Distillery. In commenting on the approved incentives, Governor Steve Beshear stated, “We are thrilled to welcome Michter’s to downtown Louisville. Not only will this project create new jobs and preserve one of the most historically significant structures in Louisville, it will also add a new chapter to Kentucky’s proud Bourbon making heritage.” Mayor Fischer concurred, adding “Michter’s new distillery not only creates jobs for Louisville, it brings a significant bourbon presence to downtown while also saving a historic treasure in the Fort Nelson building.”

Joseph & Joseph Architects, the 103 year-old Louisville architecture firm that has worked on a number of significant projects in Kentucky including The Henry Clay building, has been engaged by Michter’s to study a renovation of the Fort Nelson Building. The operations of the Michter’s Distillery in the Fort Nelson Building will be overseen by Michter’s Master Distiller, Willie Pratt, www.williepratt.com. Willie is a long-time Louisville native with over 40 years of experience in the whiskey business. Mr. Pratt said, “I’m thrilled at the prospect of this distillery in downtown Louisville, a city with such a grand tradition of whiskey making.”

The history surrounding Michter’s harkens back to America’s first distilling company, established in the 1700s by John Shenk, a Swiss Mennonite farmer. In 1753, Shenk built a small distillery to convert his excess grain to whiskey. In time, this little distillery with its hand-hammered stills would come to produce what would eventually be known as the famous Michter’s whiskey - a whiskey so valued that when the Revolutionary War broke out, General George Washington purchased it to fortify his men.

Michter’s production includes very small batch bourbons, single barrel bourbon, single barrel ryes, and very small batch unblended American whiskey. Its whiskeys have received glowing reviews from many of the most respected spirits writers in the country - Wine Enthusiast magazine and F. Paul Pacult’s Spirit Journal have both awarded Michter’s their highest ratings ever given to spirits, and Food & Wine magazine selected Michter’s as the “Best American Whiskey.”

Michter’s President Joseph J. Magliocco www.josephjmagliocco.com is a businessman interested in not-for-profit institutions. A Religious Studies major, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Yale College. Admitted to the New York State Bar, Magliocco is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where he earned a J.D. degree. Over the years he has done considerable volunteer work for Yale University (where he is a Sterling Fellow), Harvard Law School (where he has been a Traphagen Speaker), The Fresh Air Fund (where he is a current Board Member as well as former Investment Committee Head), The Collegiate School (where he served as Treasurer and Board Member), The Walden Woods Foundation (where he did project work), and other not-for-profits.

For more information, please see:
www.michters.com
www.josephjmagliocco.com
www.williepratt.com

Scotch ? Baaah.

Don't go talking about my Single Malts like that!

There's quality and then there's personal preference. Can't really convince a scotch drinker that he should *like* bourbon *more* than scotch. But, I should be able to convince a (rational) scotch drinker that a bourbon like Blanton's is of a higher quality (in terms of production, flavor, etc.) than the lowest level scotch.

My comparison would be more dynamic if I knew one iota about scotch.

Granted, American fixation with mass-produced swill might undermine my argument.

I believe Wille Pratt is the distiller who came up with Woodford Reserve.

Isn't that the building where there was an unfortunate stairwell collapsing incident a couple years ago? Hope everybody renovating for this project stays safe, and I'm looking forward to checking out the finished product.

I believe Wille Pratt is the distiller who came up with Woodford Reserve.

I work at Brown-Forman so there is so much that I could share but won't

Anyway, Lincoln Henderson (Angel's Envy) was the master distiller at the time. Willie was involved with compliance and writing dumps as well. (Even I wrote the dumps for Woodford for 4 years!) Both of them have since retired. We did work with this new group when Willie was still here. Can't talk about that either

This is great news for the city and downtown development. A lot of jobs will be added through both construction and "manning" the facility. As we all know, all we ever hear is jobs leaving the city, good to have it go in the opposite direction for a change!

Whiskey is good.

http://www.bourbonblog.com/blog/2011/07 ... ouisville/

I believe Wille Pratt is the distiller who came up with Woodford Reserve.

I work at Brown-Forman so there is so much that I could share but won't

Anyway, Lincoln Henderson (Angel's Envy) was the master distiller at the time. Willie was involved with compliance and writing dumps as well. (Even I wrote the dumps for Woodford for 4 years!) Both of them have since retired. We did work with this new group when Willie was still here. Can't talk about that either

That's right, got the 2 confused!

Does anyone know what has happened with the Michter's project. The site seems to have been idle for quite some time now.

Does anyone know what has happened with the Michter's project. The site seems to have been idle for quite some time now.

I read something on a bourbon site claiming it was a sham from the beginning. I will try to dig it up.