Jim Beam Brands Co.

The Jim Beam facility in Frankfort, Kentucky is the Old Grand-Dad Plant — one of three Beam Suntory production sites in Kentucky alongside the flagship Clermont distillery and the Booker Noe Plant in Boston. The Frankfort site has been continuously operating as a bourbon production facility since the late 19th century, originally as the Old Grand-Dad Distillery, and remains the home production site for the Old Grand-Dad and Old Crow brands within the larger Beam Suntory portfolio.

Old Grand-Dad itself is one of the oldest continuously produced bourbon brands in the United States. The brand was founded by Raymond B. Hayden in 1882, named in honor of Hayden's grandfather Basil Hayden Sr. — the same Basil Hayden whose name now anchors Beam's Small Batch Collection through the higher-end Basil Hayden's brand introduced in 1992. Old Grand-Dad has been produced continuously through Prohibition (under one of the licensed medicinal-whiskey permits) and through every subsequent ownership change, with the Frankfort facility serving as its primary production site for most of the modern era. The standard Old Grand-Dad mash bill uses a notably high rye content — 27% rye in a recipe traditionally referenced as the "Beam high-rye mash bill" — which distinguishes the brand from the lower-rye standard Jim Beam recipe and gives the bourbon its spicier, more pepper-forward palate character.

The Frankfort plant also produces Old Crow, the brand originally launched in the mid-19th century at the Pepper Distillery site (now Woodford Reserve) under Dr. James Crow's name, then later spun out as its own brand and acquired by Beam in 1987. Old Crow today sits in the budget-bourbon segment but carries one of the most historically significant brand lineages in American whiskey — Dr. James Crow is the man credited with codifying sour mash fermentation, and the Old Crow name has continuously appeared on shelves since the 1840s.

The Frankfort facility does not currently operate a major public visitor program — the Beam Suntory tourism investment is concentrated at the American Stillhouse and Fred B Noe Distillery at the Clermont site, which serves as the primary brand-visitor experience for the entire Beam portfolio. The Frankfort plant remains a production-focused site, with the Old Grand-Dad and Old Crow output supplying both the U.S. and international markets through the Beam Suntory global distribution network. For visitors who want to see Old Grand-Dad production specifically, the option is limited to occasional special-event tours rather than the regular daily-tour cadence available at Clermont.