Jeptha Creed Distillery — Local services in Shelbyville

It was my daughter, Claire, who insisted we take the Jeptha Creed tour, her treat no less, in the fall of 2018. They make a great bacon rimmed bloody mary and the tour was fun, the inside cat house was unexpected but hey, I like cats so it was cool. For years I was a displaced Kentuckian living in Virginia and began to collect Kentucky bourbons. When Claire moved out of Kentucky she too began a collection. Having moved back to Kentucky my collecting has slowed down but Claire is still an avid collector. Needless to say that after having taken the Jeptha Creed tour on three separate occasions Claire was looking forward to the release of the first batch of their bourbon. Both of us got a congratulations email with a certificate of purchase for one of the first 600 bottles , only to be followed by another email saying the previous email was a mistake. Oops, mistakes happen. My husband and I drove to Jeptha Creed today to purchase two bottles of first batch, one for us and one for Claire. I understand only selling one bottle per person, Four Roses did the same thing a few weeks ago with the release of their small batch select bourbon, but needing two different cards! I had left my purse in the car so didn't have my cards with me and we asked the person ringing us up if we could ring them up together. Nope, not going to happen and you can't use your same bank card on the second bottle. Why? The money comes out of the same account. When we asked if the bottles could be signed since we couldn't be there during the hour that the signing was to take place." No, the master distiller is way too busy today, " was the response we were given. Jeptha Creed's master distiller will be on sight singing bottles for one hour, 6 - 7 pm. First batch release and they set aside one whole hour, wow. Stopping by Wild Turkey on a whim one day we were able to purchase two bottles of bourbon that the bottle was being discontinued not only at the same time but with the same bank card. Master Distiller Jimmie Russell was there and chatted with us,signed the bottles, couldn't have been nicer. The staff there went the extra mile and took our bottles off to have the other master distiller, Eddie Russell, sign them while he was in a meeting. Very successful distillery not to busy to make the customer feel special. Take note Jeptha Creed. Jokes on me, just noticed I purchased a bottle of Straight Bourbon Whiskey, not Kentucky Straight...

I would not recommend this distillery as a place to hold an event such as a wedding. It’s a beautiful site, but without staff (specifically the current event coordinator) not doing her job, it became a stressful process. As the sister of the bride, I was involved in the majority of the meetings and wedding events including initial meetings, the rehearsal, and the wedding. In October 2017 we were told an awning would be constructed to cover the patio area where the wedding would be held. In spring 2018, that same space had a tent which at that time we were told would cost additional. Similar things became issues, what was discussed initially was changed by Spring (after the first deposit for the venue was made.) Christine met with us and detailed event information was provided and the rehearsal date and time were scheduled. The date of the rehearsal she stated that she didn’t realize it was the rehearsal, but thought it was a meeting. She was also unavailable during the rehearsal process to answer questions as she booked another event the same time as the rehearsal. I literally had to walk into the distillery 2 times to find her. 1 time she was tending to the other event and the other she was on her computer in the bar area. Any time she came out to the patio she was prompted by staff or myself to assist us. She also could not recall details given to her at the previous meeting. I left the rehearsal concerned that my sister’s wedding day would be chaotic as the event coordinator did not remember details or was not readily available for questions. On the wedding day, it was bitterly cold, which that’s something you understand when you have an outdoor wedding. However, there were to be 6 working heaters and only 4 were available - 3 working through the event. Following the outdoor ceremony, we all entered the tent. The open flap was letting in so much cold air. I asked the event coordinator if she could or other staff would be able to close it so that the event space would not be as cold (there was a wind advisory and it was colder than 50 degrees by that point.) She said she could “see what she could do” and proceeded to stand by the bar area. The DJ ended up assisted with a groomsman to close the tent. I’m very disappointed in the service or lack of from the event coordinator. Jeptha has a lot of work to do before they should agree to hold another wedding on...

This was our third stop on my pal's bachelorette bourbon tasting tour. For the record, this is the only stop I didn't do an actual tour for - I just hung out with a couple others in the bar/gift shop area while the bride and a few friends did the tour.

However, those of us waiting were hungry and so this review is mostly based on our experience with the bar and the food.

FWIW, the bride and others seemed to have fun on the tour and I remember one girl in particularly extolling about the vodka. That's one kinda unique thing about Jeptha Creed - they make vodka, too!

Anyway. Their bar is an all-in-one stop for alcohol and for food. For whatever reason, it was absolutely SWAMPED and stayed that way the whole hour or so we were hanging out. Seating is pretty limited, especially when they close the doors to the other half of the building, which they did about 15 minutes after we got there. I think that's for tours or something, idk.

One of the other girls stood in line to place our order and it took her about 15 minutes to get through. She said the bartenders were very nice and apologetic about the fact that the kitchen was also backed up. I don't blame the staff at all; they were clearly working their hardest. I just felt bad for them - they seemed understaffed.

The kitchen was indeed backed up and it took about 35 minutes after ordering for our food to be delivered to our table. We got a cheese pizza for the bride to feed her after she got done with the tour and the pretzel sticks with curry mustard and beer cheese for the three of us that were waiting.

The bride and the others who noshed on the pizza said it was nothing special and about what you'd expect from a distillery kitchen. I remember they said it was very saucy, too much so for them.

However, the pretzel appetizer was pretty good! The pretzels themselves were a little too greasy, but the beer cheese tasted great and we all really enjoyed the curry flavors in the mustard. It was unique and punchy. I'd eat that appetizer again.

Overall, it's probably worth a stop if you're a bourbon trail completionist or a vodka fan. Just be advised they do seem to get very busy and if you're hungry for a bite or a mixed drink you may be...