Kentucky
Eastern Light Distilling breaks ground in Kentucky – The Spirits Business
Located in Morehead, Kentucky, the new distillery is expected to open in late 2025.
The Kentucky Bourbon scene grows ever larger with the addition of Eastern Light Distilling, which began construction of its new distillery on 2 July with a groundbreaking ceremony.
Eastern Light comes from master distiller Caleb Kilburn and and CEO Cordell Lawrence, who previously worked together at Kentucky Peerless Distilling.
“We are thrilled to celebrate this important moment as we bring Eastern Light Distilling to life,” Kilburn said. “Being from Eastern Kentucky, I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow the industry I’m so passionate about in the region I call home.”
Eastern Light will contract distill, working with craft producers from product inception to branding.
The 230-acre campus will feature a 50,000-square-foot distillery, nine rickhouses with an average capacity of 33,000 barrels each, a full bottling facility, and a visitor experience. Once up and running, the distillery will employ more than 50 full-time staff and produce upwards of 97,000 barrels per year.
“Eastern Light will fill a tremendous need in the Bourbon industry, operating with a fully customisable solutions-based model that will help craft distillers and Bourbon brands to not only reach their goals and bring their products to market, but to flourish,” Lawrence said.
“We believe in removing barriers to entry in the spirits space so that we can share our passion with like-minded creators while prioritising quality, inspiring creativity, and investing in the state’s signature Bourbon industry and the health of the region.”
Eastern Light joins a crop of new distillery projects that are either focused on contract distilling or plan on making it a core business component. The past decade saw a rise in non-distillery producers as entrepreneurs and upstart craft brands sought a piece of the Bourbon market without the high costs of building a distillery or the long wait times for whiskey to mature.
In October 2023, the team behind Bardstown Bourbon Company pledged more than US$350 million over the next 10 years to build a new distillery for contract whiskey production in the US. Located in Kentucky, Whiskey House will be the ‘first’ distillery designed from scratch to focus entirely on large-scale, flexible, contract whiskey production.
In January 2024, Garrard County began production as the largest independently owned distillery in Kentucky, with contract distilling as a part of its model.
Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel
Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.
Want more coverage of the Cats? Join KSR+
KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our growing online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard and House of Blue, the most vibrant message board communities in Big Blue Nation.
JOIN HERE
There is a ton of stress right now in Lexington as Mark Pope and the staff are trying to land Milan Momcilovic, but this recruitment is being stretched out, which isn’t good for Kentucky. It sounds like the Wildcats have the highest offer NIL money wise, but he still hasn’t committed which has Kentucky fans scratching their heads.
Since Momcilovic pulled his name out of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Kentucky fans have felt pretty good about him being a Wildcat, but with the Wildcats being the hot name in the recruitment, fans wanted this done sooner rather than later. The other schools that are involved in this recruitment are Louisville and Arizona.
Louisville has spent a ton of money this offseason, but it sounds like they still have more in the tank, knowing their offer isn’t far off from Kentucky’s, according to reports. Arizona hasn’t offered as much as these two schools, so if Momcilovic were in it for the money, one would imagine that he ends up at Louisville or Kentucky.
When it comes to his system fit at these two schools, he fits in well with what both Pope and Pat Kelsey want to do. These teams want to shoot the three-ball a ton, and Momcilovic is the best shooter in college basketball. Both Kentucky and Louisville are in need of some shooters, so he would be a massive addition to either of these rosters.
Knowing the Wildcats had a ton of early momentum in this recruitment, Big Blue Nation wanted this to be a done deal late last week or early this weekend. It is midday on Sunday, and there is no word on his recruitment. It is head-scratching for Kentucky fans knowing that the Wildcats have a massive offer on the table, but he still hasn’t picked Kentucky.
While I do believe he will end up in Lexington, it is definitely a little bit concerning that he hasn’t done it already, knowing the Wildcats have thrown a ton of money his way. Pope knows how important adding a player like Momcilovic is to the upside of this team, so if he isn’t able to land him, things could get ugly next season in Lexington.
There is a world where he could commit later this evening, but if this keeps drawing out over the next few days, it really seems like Momcilovic might not want to be a Wildcat unless he is looking for more NIL money.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and YouTube for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
Austin, TX4 minutes agoTexas Pride events 2026: Parades, festivals and more happening this June
-
Alabama7 minutes agoTwo Alabama Players, One Coach Being Considered for 2027 CFB Hall of Fame Class
-
Alaska12 minutes agoAlaska Dividend Payments in June 2026: Dates, amount and eligibility
-
Arizona19 minutes agoNCAA Softball: 7 transfers the Arizona Wildcats should pursue
-
Arkansas22 minutes ago
Hogs’ Season Ends in NCAA Lawrence Regional
-
California27 minutes agoAP Decision Notes: What to expect in California’s state primary
-
Colorado34 minutes agoColorado elections clerk Tina Peters released from prison after governor commutes sentence
-
Connecticut37 minutes agoSouth Carolina man found cutting down light poles in Rocky Hill, police say
