Kentucky Peerless Distilling Co sits in a restored 1890s building at 120 N 10th Street in downtown Louisville’s Whiskey Row district. Corky Taylor, a fourth-generation member of the Peerless family, revived the brand in 2015 after his great-great-grandfather Henry Kraver shut down the original Peerless Distillery in Henderson, Kentucky during Prohibition rather than compromise quality. The family held onto the Distilled Spirits Plant license—the oldest continuously held license in Kentucky—through four generations of dormancy. Master Distiller Caleb Kilburn joined Taylor to bring the brand back to life in this 26,000-square-foot facility that houses custom copper pot stills and a sweet mash production process that sets them apart from typical bourbon makers. Taylor spent years researching the original Peerless recipes and methods before launching production. The distillery operates with a philosophy of transparency and craftsmanship that Henry Kraver would recognize—they control every step from grain to glass, milling wheat, corn, and rye on-site. Kilburn, who previously worked at Woodford Reserve, brought modern precision to century-old family recipes. The team decided to age their bourbon and rye at least four years before releasing anything, which meant operating for years without revenue while building inventory. They finally released their first bourbon in 2017, followed by their rye whiskey in 2019. Visitors enter through massive wooden doors into a working distillery where you can see, smell, and hear bourbon being made. The tours take you through their unique sweet mash process—they don’t use sour mash like most Kentucky distilleries—and up to the barrel storage areas where thousands of barrels age in Louisville’s climate-controlled environment. The tasting room occupies the building’s original freight elevator shaft, and you’ll often find Taylor or Kilburn around to talk about the family history and production methods that make Peerless different from every other bourbon on Whiskey Row.