The history of this distillery has been extensively researched by Bill Ambrose (2002). It was built on 3 acres of land off Frankfort Pike (now Manchester St.) at the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad.

1869: The Lexington was established by John D. Hinde adjacent to the Ashland Distillery. He purchased the site on January 4, 1869 for $1,000, but may have been leasing the plant prior to its purchase. Construction was made possible by a $20,000 mortgage through Grotenkemper and Co. of Cincinnati (Henry Grotenkemper and Henry Schultze: the mortgage was dated Feb. 14).

The distillery had three floors, each 7,200 sq ft. Water was drawn from the Ater Spring (which also supplied the adjacent Ashland distillery). One 60 hp steam engine supplied power. Whiskey produced by the still was stored in three warehouses with a capacity of 13,000 barrels.

1870: Financial problems forced the distillery to close

1872: The distillery was sold by the Internal Revenue Bureau for non-payment of excise taxes. Hinde was assessed $3,010 “for barrel and capacity tax, due to United States, also for store keeper’s reimbursement” for 1870.

1876: The property (described as “the distillery built by John D. Hinde, known as Lexington Distillery”) was sold to John H. Temmen, of Cincinnati, Ohio for $10,000.

1874: The plant was leased to Dwight A. Aiken of Lexington for three years (the lease was renewed several times). He operated the plant as D. A. Aiken & Company and produced six thousand five hundred barrels annually with a market value of $130,000, sold under the brand name “D. A. Aiken”.

The company’s production schedule lasted ten months, with fifteen hands employed at $1.50 per day. The company distilled exclusively sweet mash whiskey and the plant could produce fifty barrels per day.

The company also maintained a cattle-feeding operation with the stillage for 600 head.

1882: In March, the distillery was destroyed by a fire that started when a a coal-oil lamp in the distillery’s office exploded. The distillery was a total loss, estimated at $25,000 ($7,500 of this was covered by insurance), but the warehouse was saved.

A short-lived recession in the whiskey market that same year caused the company to fail and T. N. Allen was appointed receiver. The primary creditor was the private bank of D. A. Sayre & Company, with a loan of $7,500.

1883: On April 14, half of the bonded warehouse collapsed and the remaining portion slumped two feet. The warehouse was full with two thousand barrels of whiskey, stored in seven tiers. The ground was soaked and puddles of bourbon were everywhere, causing whiskey to spill into the Town Branch Creek. The company hired twelve men and a derrick to salvage as much whiskey as possible but roughly half was a write-off.

The cause of the collapse was was determined to be a faulty foundation, which was constructed from locust pile that had been driven into the ground during winter. With the ground frozen, the piles failed to reach bedrock.

1892: The plant set idle for several years and then in 1892 it was sold to the William Tarr. The distillery was demolished. Nothing remains today.