J. W. Dant

The Log Still part of the name has real meaning. History has it that J.W. Dant, Wally’s Great-great-grandfather started distilling at the age of 16. He fashioned his own still out of two halves of a hollowed out log that was filled with fermented mash and then steam would be fed through copper piping inside the log to start distillation. There are only remnants of the old distillery operations on the site like the old bottling hall and what was once a distillery standard, a water tower as Dant mentioned. The distillery equipment and surrounding buildings are long gone.

The Dant and Beam family names meander through distillings colorful history like a stream through the rolling hills of Kentucky. They’ve had their names on the door or have taken on the role of master distiller in many, many distilleries since the early 1800s. This week as a part of National Bourbon Day celebration in Bardstown, Kentucky, J.W. “Wally” Dant surprised the crowd when he proudly announced he was returning to the families roots by starting a new distillery.

Dant has purchased 220 acres of land to build Log Still Distillery on a site that was most recently called Gethsemane Distillery until it was shut down in 1961. In 1883 the distillery at this site was called the Head & Beam Distillery but was closed when Prohibition caused hundreds of distilleries across the country to be shuttered. The distillery reopened following the repeal of Prohibition eventually selling to United Distillers and later Schenely. Production at the old distillery was relocated to Louisville in the early 1960s and production at this location ceased. The J.W. Dant brand name was sold to Heaven Hill in the early 1990s. Heaven Hill still produces a J.W. Dant bourbon today so don’t expect to see this name on a future bottle from Log Still Distillery.

“We are looking forward to bringing the new Dant distillery back to into operation in Gethsemane,” said Wally Dant at the gathering in Bardstown. “It’s going to be a big renovation project so you are going to have to be patient with us as we go through this. We plan on using the old bottling house that’s down there on the property as well as the old water tower. We are extremely proud on this National Bourbon Day…Have patience with us, we are going to have a lot of fun with this project and we look forward to seeing you all out there soon.”