A brand new distillery will soon come on line, but Log Still will have a pedigree that goes back about as far as bourbon itself. And at the helm of that venture is JW Dant, a name you might recognize as a brand by the same name is still sold today, by Heaven Hill.
The Log Still story really began in 1836, when JW Dant made a still from a hollowed-out poplar log, firing up his family’s legacy in the Kentucky bourbon business.
And while multiple generations of Dants followed in JW’s footsteps, the family had gotten out of the bourbon business altogether … until now, as JW’s great-great-great-grandson Wally Dant has come to revive the family legacy.
Wally, previously a healthcare entrepreneur, has shifted gears to dive full force into the bourbon business to honor his forefather’s legacy. And as he fires up the new distillery, along comes a multi-million-dollar investment, the project bringing 70 or more jobs to bourbon country.
“We have a very big family … actually, seven generations of big families … so, more cousins than we can count,” Wally said in an interview with us. “And for as long as I can remember, whenever we’d gather, our family would talk about how much we all wished we were still in the bourbon business.”
Wally had a business interest in spirits for a while and actually owned a wholesale distribution company in Tennessee. “One day, one of my clients who happened to be a bourbon distiller from Kentucky, said, ‘Wally, you’ve got an incredible, genuine story to tell. You ought to think about doing this.’ That was in 2017, and that’s when the seed was planted. I created the Log Still Distillery brand a year later and reached out to my talented cousins Lynne and Charles and asked them to join me in this venture.”
Must Read Stories
The Dants are looking at the American culture of bourbon, at this time in history, and that plays into the development of “site attractions and amenities” for the new Log Still Distillery.
“Bourbon is the only native American spirit, and it is very gratifying to see its popularity on the rise, especially knowing that our family played an important role in bringing bourbon to the world,” Wally said. “So we look back on our history with pride, but our real focus is looking forward and creating a product and a destination … what we call Dant Crossing … where people want to bring their families and then bring them back again. We want to create great bourbon and great family memories for our guests.”
Wally and his fellow Dants offered their hats off to the Kentucky Distillers Association, the Bardstown Chamber of Commerce and all the other organizations that helped make their part of Kentucky a true tourist destination.
