James Pepper Distilling Co., LLC

James E. Pepper Distilling Company is the modern Lexington revival of one of Kentucky's most historically significant bourbon names — a brand whose history runs from 1780 through Prohibition to a half-century of dormancy and finally back to active distillation in 2017 on a portion of the original Pepper distillery site. The Pepper family bourbon legacy began with Elijah Pepper in the 1780s on the property that eventually became Woodford Reserve (the Pepper-built 1838 limestone building still standing as Woodford Reserve's heart), then continued under Oscar Pepper and his son James E. Pepper, who built his own large Lexington distillery in 1879 at the corner of Manchester Street and Town Branch — what's now known as the Distillery District.

The James E. Pepper Distillery operated through the late 19th century, weathered Prohibition (Pepper held one of the federal medicinal-whiskey permits, similar to Brown-Forman), and continued production through the post-Repeal era until shutting down in 1958. The site sat dormant for nearly 60 years. In 2017, brand owner Amir Peay — who had previously revived the James E. Pepper brand as a sourced operation in 2008 — completed the restoration of the original 1880s distillery building and began distillation on-site for the first time since the late 1950s.

The current product range covers Old Pepper Straight Bourbon (the flagship, returning to the pre-Prohibition Pepper recipe), Old Pepper Rye, James E. Pepper 1776 Straight Bourbon (a higher-rye expression), James E. Pepper 1776 Straight Rye, and Henry Clay Straight Rye Whiskey (a separate brand revival). The bottlings are split between fully Pepper-distilled releases (still scaling up as the 2017-onward production reaches full bottled-in-bond age) and sourced releases that bridge the gap during the long aging timeline.

The Lexington Distillery District location — the Manchester Street corridor — has become a small craft-spirits and food-and-beverage hub in its own right, with restaurants, bars, and other small producers now clustered around the restored Pepper site. The visitor experience at James E. Pepper includes guided tours through the restored 1880s distillery building, the modern rebuilt stillhouse, and on-site tastings that include both the Pepper-distilled releases and the sourced expressions. The restored buildings themselves are worth the visit independently — among the most architecturally significant restored 19th-century industrial buildings in Lexington, with original brickwork, exposed timber, and the original Pepper distillery signage preserved.