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New Distillery in Franklin Aims for Spot on Kentucky Craft Bourbon Trail

Rhonda J. Miller

The owner of the new Dueling Grounds Distillery in Franklin says he isn’t aiming to be one of the big guys on Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail.   

Marc Dottore will make smaller batches of bourbon in the craft distillery set to open in April.

"This kind of happened out of doing some Bourbon Trail tours and seeing how it was made at a large scale, and then finding out there was this whole world of smaller people in the 200 to 300 gallon capacity making really good, hand-crafted quality spirits," says Dottore. "I thought that’s something I could aspire to. I like that.”

Dottore says his distillery near I-65 is well-positioned to be part of the Kentucky Craft Bourbon Trail. That route currently includes Corsair Artisan Distillery in Bowling Green, MB Roland Distillery in Christian County, and Wilderness Trail Distillery in Boyle County. 

He says Dueling Grounds is also conveniently located so that those interested in spirits can stop by as they’re coming and going to the larger distilleries.

Dottore has spent two decades commuting back and forth to Nashville as a manager for musicians. He says the new distillery is 10 minutes from his home in Simpson County. “I’ve always wanted to pursue a business I could do in Franklin. And I wanted to find a business that would allow me to participate in the local community, employ people here," he says. "And the other thing that was important, I wanted to make a physical product.”

Dottore has been working on perfecting bourbon recipes with a small 25-gallon still, while installing the larger equipment.

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