Louisville Distilling started as a three-generation family affair. Lincoln Henderson was an experienced industry insider, with nearly forty years of experience at Brown-Forman as a master distiller and research fellow. His son Wesley was first CEO at a micro distillery, then a distilling consulting company.

And since the launching of their products in 2005, Lincoln’s grandson Kyle joined the team. Lincoln’s dream was to do everything “right” with less regard for profit margins. And that’s what they did, shaking up the Bourbon world with the release of their Angel’s Envy line of Bourbon and Rye.

Not only was every aspect of production tightly controlled — from yeast strains to distillation — they brought secondary aging techniques used in Scotland, to American Bourbon for the first time.

For the first several years, the actual act of distillation was contracted out (stills are expensive), but the company completed it’s own full-production plant in downtown Louisville within the last year. Now everything is done in house.

They won the most prestigious awards available including a special declaration. Their signature Cask strength, Port-finished Bourbon was even declared “The Best Spirit in the World” — not just best Bourbon, best spirit bar none.

Having completed his life’s work — his masterpiece — Lincoln passed away in 2013. And although the rest of the family still works for the company, the family sold its ownership interest to Bacardi in 2015.