In 1869, the Ripy Brothers started distilling on Wild Turkey Hill near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Their early days went well and their Bourbon — Ripy Brother Bourbon — was selected to represent the State of Kentucky at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

It wasn’t until years later, in 1940, that the name Wild Turkey appeared on a Whiskey. But as soon as it did it became their number one seller, the name of the distillery was changed to reflect that success. The Ripy Brothers sold out in 1952, and a series mergers and acquisition occurred.

Current owners, the Italian Campari Group, produce a wide range of Bourbons under Wild Turkey and other brands. In 2000 a raging fire broke out in one of the storage rick-houses that contained 17,000 barrels of aging spirits.

The entire structure as well as all of the Whiskey was lost. A new multi-story aging rick-house was built the next year with fire protection built in.

In 2010, Campari invested an additional $100 million in upgrading and expanding production at the distillery. This subsequently doubled the production capacity to more than 10 million proof gallons per year.