Luca Mariano Distillery

On a 557-acre stretch of Boyle County farmland outside Danville, Kentucky, Luca Mariano Distillery built one of American whiskey's more dramatic recent stories: a from-scratch farm distillery that opened its doors in June 2025 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy months later. As of July 2026, the property and its aging stocks are being acquired by Apogee 21 Holdings Inc., a publicly traded wine and spirits holding company, in a deal that will keep the whiskey in production under new ownership.

History & Heritage

Francesco S. Viola founded Luca Mariano Distillery in 2013, having started distilling as a hobby in his garage in 2010. The company acquired its 557-acre historic property at 1695 Old Lancaster Road in Danville in 2017, and while the site was under development the brand partnered with Wilderness Trail Distillery to produce and age its early whiskey. Construction continued for years, culminating in a grand opening on June 13, 2025, with ambitions for a full visitor destination: a coffee shop, restaurants, a chocolate shop, a rooftop bar, and boutique hotel rooms.

The celebration was short-lived. The distillery shut down in July 2025 after its parent company, LMD Holdings, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and Luca Mariano Distillery itself filed for Chapter 11 in November 2025 carrying more than $34.5 million in debt. Francesco S. Viola II had been listed as the 100% equity owner going into the filing. Public access was limited to custom barrel picks during this period, and as of December 2025 no tours could be booked while the case moved through court.

In January 2026, the distillery began seeking a buyer for its Danville property and roughly 6,000 to 6,600 barrels of aging whiskey. An auction process ultimately drew a single bid from Mark Newman, CEO of Apogee 21 Holdings, offering approximately $16.7 million and the assumption of $14.5 million in debt owed to lender SummitBridge. Apogee 21 is a publicly traded wine and spirits holding company whose portfolio includes Noble Oak bourbon and rye, Monkey in Paradise vodka, Andale tequila, and John Lee Hooker spirits; the Luca Mariano deal marks its first move into distilling its own spirit rather than sourcing it. As of July 2026, the brand and distillery are owned, pending finalization of that sale, by Apogee 21 Holdings Inc., which has said it plans to hire 15 to 18 full-time employees, restart production, and eventually build a new hospitality center and a copper pot still on the property.

The Whiskey

Luca Mariano built its production around a farm-to-bottle philosophy, growing its own corn and wheat on-site through Caverndale Farms while sourcing barley and rye from outside suppliers. Whiskey is aged a minimum of four years in new charred oak, using barrels charred to a number four char by Independent Stave Company and rested 18 months before assembly. The distillery's most distinctive architectural choice is its "Torta A Tre" (three-layered cake) rickhouses, engineered to even out barrel aging without physical rotation.

The production plant is built for scale: a 7,500-gallon cooker, seven 7,500-gallon open-top fermenters, a 10,000-gallon beer well, and an 18-inch diameter column still installed in September 2023, capable of producing up to 18,000 barrels a year. Some expressions draw on a proprietary mash bill that folds in smoked malted barley for a distinct smoky edge, a signature that sets Luca Mariano apart from more traditional Kentucky mash bills.

The Reserve Whiskey Library carries the Luca Mariano Single Barrel Bourbon, a high-rye expression aged a minimum of six years and bottled at 103 proof, produced under contract at Wilderness Trail Distillery during the brand's early years before its own stills came online. Other notable expressions include Old Americana Bourbon and Luca Mariano Rye Whiskey, both first released in 2019; the limited-edition Francesco S. Viola Single Barrel Bourbon from 2020; the Gianna Lorén Single Barrel Rye, named for the founder's daughter; the smoked-malt Luca Mariano Signature Bourbon at 107 proof; and Luca Mariano Ambassador 86, an 8-year, 6-day bourbon created as a tribute to former NFL receiver Antonio Freeman's jersey number.

Why It Matters

Luca Mariano's arc compresses the modern American whiskey boom's boldest bets and sharpest risks into a single decade: a garage hobbyist who built a 557-acre production estate with its own farm, its own patented rickhouse design, and expansion plans for a full hospitality campus, only to run into the debt load that has caught out several ambitious new-era distilleries. The Apogee 21 acquisition matters because it keeps a genuinely distinctive production philosophy, farm-grown grain, smoked malted barley, and non-rotated three-tier aging, in production rather than mothballed in bankruptcy court. For those who appreciate good whiskey, it is a brand worth watching closely through 2026 as new ownership decides what stays and what changes.

Visiting the Distillery

Tours are not currently bookable. The distillery held its grand opening in June 2025 with plans for a broader visitor destination, but construction was incomplete and public access was limited to custom barrel picks even before the bankruptcy filing. As of the most recent reporting, Apogee 21 Holdings has signaled plans to build a new hospitality center on the property, but no public tour program has been announced.