Neeley Family Distillery is a family-owned and operated venue located in the rolling hills of the Kentucky bluegrass, and a proud member of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The Neeley Family has been distilling since 1740, and bootlegging illegally in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky for eleven generations until 2015, when tenth generation family member Roy Neeley and his son, eleventh generation Royce Neeley, took the family business legal for the first time since the family went completely illegal in the late 1700s.
Roy hand built the state-of-the-art distillery himself in Sparta, Kentucky, 1/2 mile from Interstate 71, a few miles from Belterra Casino, and 200 yards from the grandstands of the Kentucky Speedway where NASCAR fans come each year to watch high speed races. Neeley Family Distillery is the only distillery in Kentucky that operates in a building that was hand built by the family. The Family Distillery focuses on quality only, limiting themselves to 3 barrels per day of production, allowing full control over their process.
Royce, who is the Master Distiller, and possibly the youngest Distillery Owner in the world, makes his spirits the historic way with old family mash recipes using only pot stills, cypress open top fermenters, long fermentation times, sweet mash, extra air seasoned barrels, only the finest local grains (some of which are grown on the family farm), the freshest Kentucky Limestone well water, and the Neeley Family yeast strand which is unique to the family, and propagated at the distillery, the old way. All of our spirits are non-chill-filtered, preserving the unique natural flavor of each one. Royce is the only Master Distiller in Kentucky that utilizes all of these Pre-Prohibition style techniques, and his true commitment to quality has allowed Neeley Family Distillery to gain global recognition, becoming the most internationally award-winning craft distillery in Kentucky.
Royce Neeley
Master Distiller and Proprietor
Sweet Mashed | Jug Yeast | Copper Pot Distilled | Non-Chill Filtered | Limestone Well Water | Cypress Fermented
