J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery

What J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery does

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery is a privately held, family-owned craft bourbon distillery headquartered in Frankfort, Kentucky, producing handcrafted bourbons and rye whiskeys. The company was founded by Jeff Mattingly, a sixth-generation descendant of John Graves Mattingly (1823-1910), who historically perfected the column still used by major bourbon producers. The distillery's core technology is its trademarked "Double Staving" (DOUBLE STAVINGtm) process, which adds extra wood staves to each charred oak barrel to increase the surface area of distillate-oak contact and extract more flavor; the exact number of additional staves is a protected trade secret.

The company operates a vertically integrated experience-and-product model. Core offerings include a 20-minute tasting experience ($20/person, up to 6 blends), a 90-minute private blending event ($175/person) where guests create a fully customized bottle, and guided distillery tours for groups up to 35 people. Direct-to-consumer custom bottle sales are conducted through a Shopify storefront with shipping to select U.S. states, supplemented by an on-site gift shop. The go-to-market combines experiential marketing (tours, tastings, blending events) with organic social media presence on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X, plus email marketing. Customers are primarily craft bourbon enthusiasts seeking personalized spirits, gift buyers purchasing custom bottles for special occasions, and Kentucky Bourbon Trail tourism visitors. The company employs 11-50 people and has no disclosed institutional investment, M&A activity, or external capital.

Name

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery

Legal name

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery

Website

https://jmattingly1845.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery is a family-owned craft bourbon distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky that produces proprietary "Double Staved" bourbon and offers custom bottle blending experiences, tasting sessions, and tours to bourbon enthusiasts, gift buyers, and Bourbon Trail tourists.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Craft Bourbon Distillery

NAICS

Distilleries (312140), Beverage Manufacturing (3121)

SIC

Beverages (2080)

akta.pro primary industry

Spirits Distilling & Brands (CRADAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Spirits Distillery Tours & Tastings (Whiskey, Rum, Gin, Vodka) (THAJAGAF)

Keywords

• Craft bourbon distillery
• Custom whiskey blending
• Bourbon tasting experiences
• Distillery tours Kentucky
• Direct-to-consumer spirits

Headquarters

HQ city

Frankfort

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Bourbon Bottle Sales: Direct sales of custom-crafted bourbon bottles through e-commerce. Customers select their blend profile, bottle, label design, closure type (various wax colors or wood cork), and personal name for their creation. Ships to select U.S. states.
2. Distillery Experiences: Revenue from paid tasting experiences ($20 for 20-minute tasting of up to 6 blends) and private blending events ($175 for 90-minute master blender experience). Experiences include barrel sampling, custom bottle creation, and branded takeaways.
3. On-site Retail/Gift Shop: In-person sales of bourbon products, branded merchandise, and packaged goods at the distillery gift shop.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery produces handcrafted bourbon and rye whiskey using a proprietary Double Staving process and sells custom-blended, personalized bottles directly to consumers. Its core commercial offering is the Custom Bourbon Blending Experience, which lets customers blend their own bottle from a selection of Double Staved barrels and customize the label, closure, and personal name. The distillery also generates revenue from paid on-site tasting experiences, private blending events, distillery tours, and on-site gift shop sales.

Product overview

J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery operates as a craft bourbon distillery offering a unified experience portfolio centered around its proprietary 'Double Staved' bourbon production process. The core product offering consists of in-person distillery experiences (Tasting Experience and Private Blending Event) at their Frankfort, KY facility, complemented by a Custom Bourbon Blending Experience where guests create personalized bottles. Remote customers can order Custom Bottle Orders through their Shopify e-commerce platform. The Distillery Tours provide access to the production facility, while Gift Vouchers serve as an add-on for gifting purposes. The distillery's unique value proposition is the ability for customers to participate as creators, blending their own bourbon to exact taste specifications with custom packaging options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tasting Experience A 20-minute guided tasting session at the Frankfort, KY distillery in which guests sample up to 6 unique J. Mattingly 1845 bourbon releases, priced at $20 per person.
• Private Blending Event A 90-minute immersive experience priced at $175 per person in which guests act as a master blender, blending and customizing their own bourbon bottle, including choice of wax color.
• Distillery Tours Guided tours of the J. Mattingly 1845 distillery in Frankfort, KY, providing behind-the-scenes access to the production facility, barrel aging cellar, and blending experience room, with capacity for groups up to 35 people.
• Custom Bourbon & Rye Bottle Orders Direct-to-consumer e-commerce offering that lets remote customers customize and order their own personal bottle of Double Staved Bourbon or Rye whiskey from the website, with custom label, closure, and personal name, shipped to eligible U.S. states.
• Gift Vouchers Purchaseable gift vouchers that allow recipients to redeem J. Mattingly 1845 distillery experiences or custom bourbon products.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Maker's Mark: Maker's Mark is a globally distributed Kentucky bourbon brand (Beam Suntory) famous for its hand-dipped wax closures and on-site distillery tourism — broad incumbent with overlapping heritage-driven customization, packaging, and Bourbon Trail experience offerings.
• Wild Turkey Distillery: Wild Turkey is a major Kentucky bourbon producer (Campari Group) with an active visitor center and tasting experiences — broad incumbent in the same category and Kentucky tourism ecosystem, though at much higher volume.
• Bulleit Frontier Whiskey: Bulleit is a high-rye Kentucky bourbon brand now owned by Diageo with award-winning visitor experiences at its Louisville distillery — broad incumbent that overlaps with J. Mattingly on Kentucky bourbon heritage and tourism, but at global scale.
• Old Forester: Old Forester is the longest-running bourbon brand (Brown-Forman) with a working distillery on Whiskey Row that runs tours and tastings — broader incumbent that competes for the same Bourbon Trail visitation and craft-adjacent premium positioning.
• Woodford Reserve: Woodford Reserve is a major Kentucky bourbon brand owned by Brown-Forman with a flagship distillery that is a Bourbon Trail tourism destination — broader incumbent that shares Kentucky heritage and tourism-led tasting experiences, but at materially larger scale.

Direct peers

• KOVAL Distillery: KOVAL is an independent craft distillery producing whiskey and specialty spirits with a strong direct-to-consumer and visitor-experience component — comparable as a craft distillery that combines small-batch spirits with branded experiential retail.
• Castle & Key Distillery: Castle & Key is a craft distillery in Frankfort, KY offering bourbon and gin with distillery tours and tastings — same city, similar scale, and similar tourism-led experiential GTM, making it the closest direct comparable.
• Wilderness Trail Distillery: Wilderness Trail is a Kentucky craft distillery producing bourbon and rye with on-site tours and tastings — directly comparable as a Kentucky-based craft producer targeting similar bourbon enthusiast and tourism segments.
• New Riff Distilling: New Riff is an independent Kentucky craft distillery producing bourbon and rye with a strong focus on transparency, single-barrel programs, and on-site experiences — directly comparable as an independent Kentucky craft bourbon producer with tourism and DTC.
• Bardstown Bourbon Company: Bardstown Bourbon Company is a Kentucky-based craft distillery whose business model combines contract distillation with premium branded bourbon and a destination restaurant/experience venue — closely comparable as a craft player that has aggressively built tourism and DTC around bourbon.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/JMattingly1845
• Facebookfacebook.com/JMattingly1845
• Instagraminstagram.com/jmattingly1845
• TikToktiktok.com/@jmattingly1845distillery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bourbon-30-spirits

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about J. Mattingly 1845 Distillery