Neeley Family Distillery has released PaPaw’s Legacy Reserve, a 10-year-old triple pot-stilled Bourbon billed as the oldest of its kind. The whiskey debuts on September 11 at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, Kentucky, and at the distillery in Sparta.
The release honors Earl Sizemore, the grandfather of master distiller Royce Neeley. Sizemore, known to Royce as “PaPaw,” helped the distillery with distillation, tours and events until his death in 2024.
Royce Neeley took up legal distilling in 2015. Together, he and his grandfather distilled more than 1,000 barrels of whiskey. Following Sizemore’s death, Neeley faced the prospect of eventually selling through those remaining barrels. In tribute, he selected the 10 best barrels from the distillery’s rickhouses.
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READ THE STORYThe whiskey was batched in a neutral holding tank to halt further aging. Neeley will release a limited amount each year, never using more than half the tank’s contents.
Each year, he plans to replenish the tank with the best-tasting barrels. This method is designed to preserve his grandfather’s legacy without depleting the original supply.
“It’s bittersweet to think of someday the barrels being depleted that PaPaw and I distilled together, but through replenishing our holding tank each year with the best barrels, it’s a way for PaPaw’s legacy to live on, and I know he would have loved to be celebrated this way,” said Royce Neeley, master distiller.
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As with all Neeley Family releases, the Bourbons in the batch were triple pot-distilled. The wheated Bourbon is cask strength at 110 proof and retails for $299.99 (£224, ₹28,520) per 750ml bottle.
Only 750 bottles have been produced. Sales begin at 11am on September 11 at both the distillery and the Neeley Family Distillery booth at the festival, running each day until sold out.
Customers who dress like PaPaw will receive 10% off their purchase at both locations.
Neeley described his grandfather’s connection to the festival. “He loved coming to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, and through the years, thousands of people got their picture taken with him and autographed bottles,” he said.
“His last event before he passed was the KBF, and although he was very sick, he attended every day with his trademark smirk, selling and signing. That memory makes it even more meaningful to us to celebrate him this weekend with this release.”
The Neeley family distilled and bootlegged illegally in eastern Kentucky for eleven generations before making the business legal in 2015. The distillery uses pot stills, cypress fermenters, sweet mash and its own proprietary yeast strand.
