Old Pogue Distillery, whose roots go back to 1876, became the newest member of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association this week. The Maysville, Ky., distiller is the KDA’s 13th member and its seventh craft distiller – which means that for the first time ever, craft distillers outnumber the founding members. While there is no legal definition of “craft distiller” yet, the KDA considers a craft distiller to be one whose inventory consists of 25,000 or fewer barrels in one place.
Old Pogue is located on the same piece of property as the original H.E. Pogue Distillery, of which only the foundation remains. It began production in March, using Pogue recipes dating to the late 1800s, the KDA says. Its products include Old Pogue Master Select Bourbon and Limestone Landing Rye Whiskey, named for the original moniker of its home county of Mason. Back then, the area was part of Bourbon County, Va.
Many consider Mason County to be the birthplace of bourbon production in Kentucky, but until the reopening of Old Pogue, the spirit had not been made there since World War II.
