Officials hope new distillery in Morehead will bring extend Kentucky's Bourbon Trail east

Last week officials broke ground on a new distillery in Rowan County. Eastern Light Distillery will sit on a 230-acre campus in just outside of Morehead.

Jason Slone is the President of the Morehead-Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development.

He said this is an opportunity for eastern Kentucky to benefit from the bourbon industry.

“The commonwealth's signature industry is bourbon and it's a nine billion dollar industry as we speak, and it's projected to be a ten billion dollar industry next year. So, it's a flourishing, growing community of opportunity.”

He said this facility and all of it's adjacent parts will create quality jobs for people in the area.

“And that creates more jobs, more opportunities for eastern Kentucky people. These are good paying jobs, these are jobs paying an average of $34 an hour.”

Slone said this will also help grow tourism to the region. Eastern Light will feature a 50,000-square-foot full-service distillery, nine rick-houses with an average capacity of 33,000 barrels each and a full bottling facility.

** WEKU is working hard to be a leading source for public service, and fact-based journalism. Monthly supporters are the top funding source for this growing nonprofit news organization. Please join others in your community who support WEKU by making your donation.