Nearly a year since ground was broken for their new distillery in Morehead, Eastern Light Distilling has announced its partnership with Kentucky-based construction company Gray Ohio Valley. Officials said the partnership not only aims to expand the bourbon industry to eastern Kentucky but seeks to bolster the local economy.
Caleb Kilburn, Master Distiller and co-founder of Eastern Light, said he hopes the new facility will bring jobs into the community.
“At start up, we would expect it to be a total of 50. That being said, as we work to ramp up into retail and tourism, we should probably add another 15 or 20 jobs to that. Our long-term aspiration is for Eastern Light to employ more than 100 in the community,” said Kilburn.
He added Gray and Eastern Light are working with dozens of local contractors and workers for the construction phase.
The Master Distiller said Eastern Light has utilized their partnership with Gray to ensure it will be a state-of-the-art facility for the many craft brewers that will utilize it.
“Sharing the success of what the distilment industry can provide is something that’s really special to us,” said Kilburn. “All in all, it’s a big thank you to the community for continuing to support us and everybody being eagerly optimistic about the road ahead.”
The distillery will be capable of producing 100,000 barrels of bourbon yearly. Kilburn said the facility is expected to be operational by late summer or early fall next year.