Covington, Kentucky-based Wenzel Whiskey this week announced it has acquired assets and an inventory of aged spirits from Savannah, Georgia-based Ghost Coast Distillery, which closed its tasting room doors in September of 2022.
Wenzel reached an agreement with Ghost Coast to purchase all equipment used for distilling and nearly 500 barrels of aged bourbon and rum. The equipment includes a pot still and cooker from Vendome Copper & Brass Works, and the barrels of aged spirits includes a considerable amount of bourbon that is upwards of seven years old. Distillery Now Consulting served to broker the sale of the distillery and also handled the decommission and relocation of the equipment and barrels to Covington.
“The opportunity to acquire a fully functioning distillery, especially one with the reputation of Ghost Coast, was one we could not pass up,” said Tony Milburn, senior partner of Wenzel. “This will jumpstart our Wenzel brand by about three years. Plus bringing that beautiful Vendome still back to Kentucky is awesome.”
Added Bill Whitlow, brand ambassador for Wenzel: “We are extremely excited to have been able to see this through. We had aspirations of expanding into production, but this will allow us to speed up that timeline by a few years. We can’t wait to be producing bourbon in Covington, Kentucky, for the first time in around a century!”
“The purchase of the distilling equipment and barrels of aged spirits from Ghost Coast positions Wenzel Whiskey to fast-track the build of their distillery ahead by a few years,” said Kris Bohm, president of Distillery Now Consulting. “We are excited for Wenzel Whiskey and enjoyed assisting them with the acquisition of equipment and aged spirits.”