Log Still Distillery to create 126 new jobs with $24 million Phase 2 investment
NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT
Thursday, April 15, 2021 — Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday that the Dant family’s Log Still Distillery, a startup reviving a historic site in southern Nelson County, expects to create 126 full-time jobs with a $24 million Phase 2 investment as they open Dant Crossing, a 300-acre campus that will be home to the distillery and other amenities to be rolled out over the next year.
With Log Still Distillery and Dant Crossing, founder J.W. “Wally” Dant aims to create a family-friendly tourism destination. New jobs created with the second phase of the project will include hospitality, event operations, restaurant and distillery operations positions.
The first lodging amenity to open at Dant Crossing, the Homestead Bed & Breakfast, welcomed its first guests earlier this year, and spirits from Log Still will be available in the coming weeks.
The company expects to open additional amenities this year, including a tasting room, amphitheater, restaurant, train depot and event/conference center, with plans to add a visitor’s center, museum and gift shop in 2022.
Log Still’s products will include bourbon, rye whiskey and gin under the Monk’s Road brand and a line of Tennessee whiskeys under the Rattle and Snap label. The distillery’s initial phase was announced in 2019 as a $12 million investment that would create 20 full-time jobs.
Log Still president and distiller, Wally Dant, expressed his appreciate for the governor’s support and for the economic incentives approve by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority and the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.
“We are thrilled to move forward in creating destinations that will bring vibrancy, jobs and economic growth to southern Nelson County and the state of Kentucky as a whole. Southern Nelson County has been home to generations of Dants, and we are honored to help put it back on the tourism attraction map. We look forward to welcoming guests in the weeks, months and years to come.”
Nelson County Judge Executive Dean Watts said the company provides a unique twist on Kentucky’s thriving bourbon industry.
“We are very excited to see the continued investments being made by the Dant family. This project will be one of the most unique and inviting experiences that any community could have.”
Kentucky tourism is an $11.8 billion industry in the commonwealth. Known as the Bourbon Capital of the World, Nelson County generated over $42 million in economic impact from visitor and travel spending in 2019. The commonwealth is home to 66 spirits operations employing more than 5,100 people full-time statewide. In 2020, the industry announced 20 projects in Kentucky, totaling more than $300 million in new investment and nearly 230 projected jobs.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in March approved Log Still for up to $500,000 in tax incentives through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA) based on the company’s total investment of $24 million. KEIA allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing.
For more information on Log Still Distillery, visit LogStillDistillery.com.
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