What started as a casual conversation between friends over a couple of glasses of Knob Creek has transformed into one of Covington’s most popular drinkeries.
While standing out in the blazing sun in front of Wenzel Whiskey’s new distillery along Madison Avenue, co-founder Austin Dunbar recalled the conversation he and co-founder Tony Milburn had the night they decided to dive headfirst into the bourbon industry.
“He slowly leaned in and he patted me on the cheek three times very softly, and he said, ‘I’ll do it if you do it,’” Dunbar remembered. “At that point, the Knob Creek started dialing in, and, to me, talk is cheap; action costs something. I quickly responded, ‘sounds good, I’m in.’”
In 2022, Dunbar, Milburn, and fellow founders Todd McMurty and Nic Manning established the modern Wenzel Whiskey at 15 Tobacco Alley, Covington. Local restaurateur Bill Whitlow also plays a significant role as the distillery’s brand ambassador.
Wenzel started as a blending house that used sourced bourbon barrels. It provides both public and private blending sessions, allowing guests to craft their own whiskey blends. Additionally, the company has released several small-batch products that have garnered national and international recognition. It was even added to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in February.
Three years later, the founders, along with local and statewide dignitaries, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of their new facility and recognize the years of effort invested to bring it to fruition.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who was in attendance at the ceremony, lauded the company’s contribution to Northern Kentucky and the statewide bourbon industry. Wenzel is part of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the B-Line, Northern Kentucky’s own bourbon trail experience.
“Wenzel is another great company adding to the Bourbon Trail, adding to our tourism, making sure that Northern Kentucky continues to be a really important part of this bourbon economy,” Beshear said. “We see people coming by the thousands every day and every week in Kentucky to be introduced to us and our way of life.”
The new Wenzel Whiskey is situated just up the alley from its previous location in the Pickle Factory Hotel. In February 2022, Milburn, a local real estate investor, purchased the vacant Bilz Insurance building for $1.2 million. The approximately 10,000-square-foot building, constructed in 1916, was once a Packard car dealership and garage. Later, it was used as an office for Bilz Insurance, which has now moved to Fort Wright.
When Milburn purchased the property, it was dilapidated and in desperate need of a facelift. Its dry, yellow-brick exterior stood out among the surrounding buildings. Inside, the building was dusty, rusty and generally rundown. Despite the building’s age, Dunbar, Milburn, McMurtry and Manning believed it had the bones to be repurposed into something better that benefits the community.
A key aspect of the renovation focused on the distillation operations of Wenzel products. With more space available, the production team required larger distilling equipment to increase their output. In May 2023, Wenzel acquired more than $5 million in distilling equipment from the closed Ghost Coast Distillery in Savannah, Georgia. The purchase included a 500-gallon Vendome pot still and cooker made by Vendome Copper and Brass Works in Louisville.
Now, the Bilz Insurance building has been fully converted into Wenzel Whiskey’s new headquarters and distillery. Green paint now covers the previously dull, yellow exterior. The interior includes the distillery operation, gift shop, bar, and event space, among other features. Emboss, a Newport-based architecture firm, designed the building’s interior.
Covington Mayor Ron Washington praised the Wenzel crew for their restoration of a vacant building in the heart of the city’s urban core.
“We don’t just preserve our history, we build on it,” he said. “Wenzel Distillery is a symbol of our momentum–new jobs, new investment and new energy in the heart of the city, and this moment is a reminder that the best is yet to come, as long as we keep working for it.”
