A rough 2020 for the drinks business ended on a high note: On Dec. 31, Brough Brothers Distillery became Kentucky’s first African-American owned- and operated distillery.
According to the site Distillery Trail, the company filled its first barrel of bourbon on the last day of the year. Started by three brothers — Victor, Bryson and Chris Yarbrough — back in 2013, the whiskey makers already have a high-rye bourbon on the market that they’ve sourced. It’ll obviously take a few years for the Louisville-based brand to age and market their own stuff.
As the Distillery Trail article notes, the company says they wanted to introduce a bourbon to an industry that has “thus far remained largely inaccessible to minority entrepreneurs” and also be a part of revitalizing the West End neighborhood where the distillery is based.
The current bottle, which features drawings of the three brothers alongside representations of four pieces of Kentucky culture (bourbon, basketball, boxing and horse racing) is available on ReserveBar for $32.
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