Craig Beam was destined to be a Master Distiller.
He's a seventh-generation bourbon distiller who can trace his lineage back to theJim Beam. He was taught the craft of distilling by his grandfather, Earl, and father, Parker, at Heaven Hill Distillery, where he worked for 35 years.
Now, Beam and Terry Ballard, the former Willett Distillery head distiller, are leading a new distillery, bringing growth to a small west Kentucky town, including a recently completed $25 million expansion to meet the growing demand for bourbon.
In 2021, when Lloyd Jones, David Salmon and Van Carlisle bought the Jackson Purchase Distillery in Hickman, they felt confident they could turn the defunct distillery into a production beast — all they needed was to build their distilling credibility.
That's where Beam and Ballard come in.
Once Jones, the president and CEO of Jackson Purchase Distillery, had the duo on board, the business took off.
"We have a group of customers, and so they actually came to us, word of mouth got around ... everybody has come to us," Beam told the Courier Journal. "We've probably got a couple of dozen people or more and we're booked up for the next several years, actually."
Unlike a distillery, like Jim Beam, that makes bourbon for its branded labels, Jackson Purchase Distillery is in contract distilling, meaning it produces bourbon for clients who want specific mash bills or for clients who need bourbon for a particular brand.
"There's such a high demand for Kentucky bourbon that there was an immediate need for somebody to fill the void from other distilleries not being able to make what they needed," Jones said.
Jackson Purchase is one of the fastest-growing distilleries in Kentucky
The distillery, which Jones and his leadership team acquired in April of 2021, has seen ample early success, leading it to be coined one of the fastest-growing distilleries in the state.
Within 103 days of assuming ownership of the distillery, the team was already distilling and barreling bourbon, Jones said. And this week, just a little over three years later, the company will produce its 50,000th bourbon barrel.
"We've done it all in less than three years," Jones said. "We've been pretty successful and that's why a lot of people who have heard about us are calling us and want us to make their bourbon because it's pretty good bourbon, too."
Jones attributes the company's success to the master distilling minds of Beam and Ballard and says it's their "brand" that has led the barely three-year-old company to undergo a massive $25 million expansion project. The expansion includes a newcopper column still, 10 new 20,000-gallon fermenters, and two newly built rick houses at the distillery in west Kentucky.
The expansion has allowed the distillery to go from producing 50 barrels a day to 200 barrels daily, Beam said, which bodes well for the company as many of its customers are already asking Jackson Purchase to increase their orders.
Helping a community grow
While Jackson Purchase doesn't offer bourbon tours and isn't open to the public, the distillery in rural Fulton County with a population of roughly 6,000, is having a major impact on the local community.
"The whole community is behind us down in Fulton and the Hickman area," Beam said.
The distillery has created 50 jobs and supported other local businesses, such as farming operations. When Jackson Purchase needed more corn, wheat and rye, the distillery turned to fifth-generation family farmer Henry Sanger, providing the farmer with business in an industry that has continually seen family farms disappear over the last few decades.
"Being a small community, we always are looking for and needing new industries," Sanger said. "It's just good to have another industry in town for further opportunities, it gives us other opportunities in places to market."
Mark Welch, president of Fulton-Hickman Counties Economic Development Partnership, said the Jackson Purchase Distillery has been a welcomed investment because it supports the area's key industry of agribusiness and because the "bourbon industry is quintessentially Kentucky."
Jackson Purchase is also unique in the fact that Jones, one of the owners, is a native of Fulton who returned to the area to reinvest in his hometown.
"[Jones] went to the Louisville area and did very well in the corporate world," Welch said. "But for somebody like him to come back to his hometown because an opportunity arose for him... it's almost like a Hallmark movie."
What's next for Jackson Purchase Distillery?
The Jackson Purchase team entered the market as the "bourbon boom was really almost peaking" Jones said, but the quick, yet continued success is something the team plans to capitalize on for years to come.
On the immediate horizon, the Jackson Purchase Distillery is preparing for some of its early barrels to turn four next year, which could start being bottled, sold, and appearing on shelves.
For Beam, the opportunity to join Jackson Purchase was a way for him to pay homage to his bourbon ancestors but also chart a new path within the ever-growing Kentucky industry.
"It was a unique opportunity ... do something more or less on my own," Beam said. "It's a good feeling to have and knowing that you had a little bit more involved in development along the way."
Beam looks forward to "someday down the road" when the company may come out with a brand of bourbon under the Jackson Purchase name.
Until then, Beam, Ballard, and the Jackson Purchase Distillery team will continue to focus on producing quality bourbon.
"I'm really pleased with what we've done and I'm excited about even doing more, even trying to provide more for customers," Beam said.
Contact business reporter Olivia Evans at oevans@courier-journal.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @oliviamevans_.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Jackson Purchase Distillery is one of fastest growing in Kentucky
