James E. Pepper Distillery

James E. Pepper Distillery makes bourbon and rye on the same Lexington, Kentucky ground where Colonel James E. Pepper built his namesake distillery in 1880, a site abandoned for half a century before being rebuilt and returned to production in 2017.

History & Heritage

The Pepper family's whiskey story predates the distillery itself: secondary sources trace the Old Pepper brand to 1780, and James E. Pepper was the third generation of his family to produce it. He built the Lexington distillery, registered as DSP-KY-5 (the fifth distillery licensed in Kentucky), in 1880 in what is now the city's revitalized Distillery District. The site continued producing whiskey until 1967, when it closed and sat abandoned for more than fifty years.

Whiskey entrepreneur Amir Peay relaunched the James E. Pepper brand in 2008, initially working with partner distilleries to bring expressions to market while the historic Lexington site was rebuilt. Distilling resumed on the original ground on December 21, 2017. Cody Giles serves as Head Distiller and Blender. Colonel Pepper's own legacy extends beyond the bottle: the Old Fashioned cocktail is said to have been created in his honor at Louisville's Pendennis Club, and he later popularized the drink at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan.

The Whiskey

James E. Pepper now distills roughly 2,000 barrels a year on site, using water drawn from the historic distillery well and corn grown entirely by a single local farmer, with rye and barley sourced globally. Bourbon distillate enters the barrel at no more than 110 proof, aged in new, toasted-and-charred barrels made from Kentucky oak that is air-seasoned for eighteen to twenty-four months. Some current expressions still include whiskey distilled at partner facilities; the James E. Pepper 1776 line, for example, is distilled at MGP of Indiana and bottled at the Lexington site, a sourcing practice the distillery discloses on its own website.

The Reserve Whiskey Library carries James E. Pepper Barrel Proof Bourbon Whiskey, James E Pepper Bourbon 1776, Old Pepper Distillery Bourbon Bottled in Bond, and Old Pepper Distillery Rye Bottled in Bond, among other expressions from the producer. The Old Pepper Distillery bottled-in-bond releases meet the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897 standard: single distillery, single distilling season, at least four years of aging in a federally bonded warehouse, and bottling at exactly 100 proof.

Why It Matters

James E. Pepper 1776 Straight Rye earned a Double Gold Medal at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition and was named Best Rye Whiskey Under $40 in Fred Minnick's 2020 blind tasting. Amir Peay received the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States' Craft Member of the Year award in 2021. As of July 2026, the distillery is owned and operated by Amir Peay, with no other legal ownership identified in public records. For those who appreciate good whiskey, James E. Pepper represents a rare case of a pre-Prohibition-era Kentucky distillery returning to its original address rather than existing only as a revived label.

Visiting the Distillery

The Lexington distillery offers tours for $20 per person, covering the Pepper family and brand history, time in the on-site museum, a walk through the working distillery, a tasting, and a complimentary tasting glass. Tours run about an hour, tastings do not require a reservation, and the site is wheelchair accessible.