Bourbon Back to Life
Tucked in the rolling hills just outside of Bowling Green on a gravel road leading to a family farm, the smell of alcohol and wood hangs in the air. Inside a modest distillery, Luke Jean and his family aren’t just bottling bourbon — they’re bottling history.

Balance Distilling sits just ten miles outside of town at 3558 Will Bohannon Rd. in Smiths Grove, Ky. The distillery sits on a nearly 15-acre plot of land where Ken and Lori Payne live."





Luke Jean opens the tasting room at Balance Distilling on March 7, 2025 in Smith's Grove, Ky. Visitors are welcome to sample and learn about the Bourbon history in the Mammoth Cave area.  



Jean, the founder of Balance Distilling, is a family-run operation producing moonshine, rum and bourbon just 10 miles outside Bowling Green. Their latest project, the revival of a historic bourbon brand called Mammoth Cave Kentucky Straight Bourbon, has stirred more than just cocktails. It's also stirred memories of Kentucky’s long, sometimes hidden, distilling past.




Luke Jean tests a new batch of Mammoth Cave Blackberry Moonshine by comparing product from a tasting bottle and from the new batch to be bottled. "Everything leading to the product in a bottle has room for error. I try my best to limit as much as I can."

“We didn’t want to make bourbon just because we’re in Kentucky, we wanted to tell a story that’s unique — something real.”
                  

                              -Luke Jean






That story begins in 1869, when W.G. Coldewey & Co. launched Mammoth Cave Bourbon. By 1907, W.L. Weller and Sons had acquired the brand and sold it as medicinal whiskey during Prohibition. Decades later, the name faded from liquor store shelves — until Jean brought it back.

William Laure Weller of W.L. Weller and Sons. Sketch provided by Buffalo Trace website.


According to bourbon historian Michael Veach, Mammoth Cave Bourbon was once part of the famed Stitzel-Weller Distillery portfolio, which included industry giants like Old Fitzgerald and Rebel Yell. But by the 1960s, Mammoth Cave was no longer in production.

Jean, working with his father-in-law Ken, a bourbon storyteller and brand developer for Balance Distilling, reclaimed the trademark and began producing bourbon with a traditional wheated mash bill — a nod to the brand’s historic profile.

Luke Jean puts caps on bottles filled with product with the help from his father-in-law, Ken on April 23, 2025. "Having people you trust, it's huge. Frustrating in some ways."
Ken Payne checks the color of the newly distilled and bottled Blackberry Moonshine on April 23, 2025. "It's all about continuity in this business," said Payne.



The whiskey officially relaunched in November 2024 with a public tasting at The Lodge at Mammoth Cave National Park, complete with live music, dinner and drinks. Now, it’s available at the lodge’s gift shop and Balance Distilling’s tasting room.

“This isn’t just about bringing back a brand,” Jean said. “It’s about bringing back a chapter of Kentucky history.”
Original bottles of Mammoth Cave Whiskey from when W.L. Weller owned the company. Bottles and other Mammoth Cave Bourbon Whiskey memorabilia are found at the National Cave Museum and Library in Cave City, Ky. 



Balance Distilling is a full family affair.

Jean handles the distilling. His wife, Creste, manages the farm. His mother-in-law, Lory, runs the tasting room. His sister-in-law, Kassie, designs the labels. And Ken — the family historian — talks to visitors about everything from moonshining in caves to Pappy Van Winkle’s early days.

“People don’t always realize that the bourbon industry was built on stories — not just spirits,” Ken said while helping bottle whiskey on a recent spring morning. “We’re just keeping the tradition alive.”

Inside the distillery, bluegrass music plays over the speakers. Bottles are labeled and boxed by hand. Jean and Ken swap stories about early Kentucky distillers, lost brands and the moonshiners who used local caves as cover.

“We’re small,” Jean said. “But we’re real.”

Blackberry Moonshine is Balance Distilling's best seller at Mammoth Cave's visitor center. "People really like the bottle, and it's our cheapest product."
Luke Jean moves an order of fresh product on April 16, 2025 to the Caver's Camp Store at Mammoth Cave. "Mammoth Cave Bourbon was never made around here, it was made in Louisville" Jean said. "Being able to bring the brand 15 miles from the cave, it's cool."


Caves play a major role in the bourbon mythos of Kentucky, and even more so in its moonshine legacy.

Federal agent William Bernard “Big Six” Henderson, who patrolled the state in the 1950s and 1960s, reportedly destroyed over 5,000 illegal stills, many hidden in the cave systems of South-Central Kentucky.

Places like Mammoth Cave, Lost River Cave and Onyx Cave offered perfect conditions for clandestine distillation — consistent temperatures, easy water access and natural concealment.

To honor that heritage, Balance Distilling produces Mammoth Cave Moonshine in flavors like caramel, blackberry and hot pepper — and offers it in a cocktail lineup with names like The Reverend Uncle Joe and Boozy Cream Soda, both favorites made with Mammoth Cave Bourbon.

At a wedding for his uncle in nearby Smiths Grove this spring, Luke and other members of his family raised glasses to the family’s spirits, many unaware of the deep history behind each pour.

“We make it fun, but it all comes from somewhere” Jean said. “I love being able to share that with my family who isn’t as involved in this world.”

From inside of Balance Distilling, Ken and Lori Payne's home just up the driveway. "While I was deployed in 2023, he [Ken] was largely running the whole operation," said Jean. "Six months of distillery training and he was producing the products."
Laci the Distillery dog rests by the main still at Balance Distilling in Smith's Grove, Ky. "She loves when people come and visit," said Lori Payne, Luke's Mother-in-law. "He'll even try to jump in your car and go [home] with you."


Jean says the goal of Balance Distilling isn’t to become the next big name in spirits. It’s to preserve something authentic — and to do it with family.

On one visit, Ken rode up on a four-wheeler to grab a company T-shirt before bottling began.

“Gotta be in uniform,” he joked.

That attention to detail, both in spirit and story, is part of what makes Balance Distilling stand out in a state with more than 100 bourbon distilleries.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Jean said. “We’re just picking up where the story left off.”

And in Kentucky, where bourbon is both industry and identity, that story is far from over.
Luke Jean's product surrounded by the many different bottles from the years at the National Cave Museum and Library in Cave City, Ky.