Preservation Distillery
Of the hundreds of new DSPs to pop up in the past 20years (after being reduced to something like 7 in Kentucky by the 90s) the vast majority are NDPs with rebranded bulk whiskey... Of the few Distillers to break ground in the 21st century almost none are using a Pot Still because it is less efficient and produces "Stinky" Distillate that takes longer to "Blow off" as they say... The stinky aroma is in fact oil and esters extracted from the grains into the distillate in overabundant amounts... These volatile compounds need more time to rest in the barrel, and when they do, well that is what evolves into vibrant, energetic & delicious Whiskey... that and the low entry proof of course...
The proprietor of Preservation Distillery in Bardstown, KY is none other that Marci Palatella, who built out the global export markets for high end American Whiskey in the 1980s & 90s with her over-aged and high proof brands like Olde St. Nick, Old Man Winter and so on... at least a few hundred different variants were bottled and exported using sourced whiskey that had piled up from closed or soon to close distilleries. Given her background selling wine MP had a knack for picking through all the dead barrels to find ones that still had fruit and sweetness... To develop her own brands Marci worked with 2 NDPs, both with fantastic whiskey that was sitting, and both with a long family legacy of producing the finest Bourbon, and both with shuttered stills...
Before hoards of flippers were camping outside the local shops for Pappy, the Van Winkle Family's prized Stitzel Weller Distillery from which Pappy himself built out legendary brands like Old Fitzgerald, was slowly going under... The Bernheim Distillery being another shuttered still known for its Epic wheated bourbons and high octane ryes... Willett also distilled their own whiskey until ~1977 (and have since resumed of course)... Old Heaven Hill and various other shuttered stills would have had their barrel inventory flow into warehouses across Kentucky and the rest of the world.
When finding a plot of land to build her Distillery, Marci knew she needed both very clean water and a nice hilltop for maximum airflow over the barrels... So with pure Kentucky Limestone and hilltop rickhouse MP began Pot Distilling and filling barrels at the tradition low of ~105... the result is some seriously viscous, aromatic and juicy whiskey... Preservation still bottles fantastic sourced whiskey, most of which they have aged themselves & if you know a thing about rickhouses its that not all are created equal... The first vintage of Preservation's own Distillate is late 2017 with very limited production, only recently released in December of 2024 we think it was worth the wait & are very excited to watch this whiskey put on weight as it ages.
