Experiencing Kentucky’s Hidden Gem
Did you know that in 2024, Kentucky boasted over 100 licensed, operating distilleries? That’s a hell of a lot of distilleries, but I’m not here to talk about 99% of those. Instead, I want to talk about the one that I consider to be Kentucky’s hidden gem, Pensive Distilling Co. Just to be clear. I am in no way, shape, or form receiving a paycheck or any other restitution from Pensive, but I feel that our audience, the Cigar Public family, needs to know more about this one!
Exploring the Original Sin City
Let us commence with a brief but oh so colorful history lesson. Before there was Las Vegas, there was Newport, Kentucky the first and original sin city. During the 1920’s and 30’s, prior to and during Prohibition, the German mafia from Cleveland, Ohio expanded its territory to Newport. Gambling rings, prostitution, illegal alcohol stills, you name it, and Newport participated in it. The main thoroughfare of Newport, Monmouth Street hosted a hotbed of speakeasies, illegal casinos and houses of ill-repute. Among this backdrop, the King of the Bootleggers George Remus emerged to build his empire. Pensive Distilling Co. stands in the shadow of this dark, exciting time period and shines a light on how this area went from mob central to the hospitable, beautiful, tourist attraction Kentucky of today. Let me tell you how Pensive bridged that gap.
Evaluating Pensive Distilling Co.
Pensive was started in 2020 by Scott Quigley. A California native who transplanted to Northern Kentucky, Scott fell in love with Kentucky culture. In an effort to claim Kentucky as his own, Scott decided to pursue the two things Kentucky is famous for, bourbon and the Kentucky Derby. Clearly, he’s conquered one of the two. While he awaits Derby winning success, Scott has taken his love of the sport and crafted a Derby-themed restaurant, bar and distillery. Pensive, the namesake, won the Kentucky Derby in 1944. Embodying the history of Newport, Scott placed Pensive Distillery in a building that once housed a speakeasy and to this day has a .45 caliber bullet hole in its tasting room from a raid or possible mob hit.
To find out more about the building, Newport history and the famous King of the Bootleggers, you will have to come and tour this fascinating distillery. While you are planning the trip, let me tell you about their bourbon! Every single bottle of their bourbon is a single barrel bottle. The management team at Pensive Distilling Co. participates in all the steps of the distilling process and faithfully ensures that everything goes as perfectly as it can. This micro-distillery does absolutely no blends, and as I said, everything points to a fantastic single-barrel experience.
Recently, I had the awesome opportunity to interview their general manager, their chief operations officer, and their marketing manager. During this interview, I asked them what separated them from all the other distilleries and specifically the big box distilleries. They gave an answer that hits deep in my soul. “We never forgot what makes bourbon, bourbon. We’re in this completely – blood, sweat and tears.”
The claim to fame at Pensive is that they do everything by hand from thieving their whiskey, to rotating their barrels, down to spicing their own apple pie moonshine. In fact, their COO told me that moments before the interview, he had been distilling their shine. They said that there are 1 million ways to do bourbon and nobody is incorrect. However, their way is more hands-on. With bourbon being the cornerstone of Kentucky culture, Pensive wanted to ensure that they had something for everyone ranging from a fascinating historical tour, to a restaurant focused on great appetizers and sandwiches, to a cacophony of exemplary spirits. The alcohols include a sweet apple pie moonshine, an exotic gin, a smooth vodka, and three different types of bourbon. In bourbons, they provide an 80 proof for beginners, a 100 proof for more advanced connoisseurs, and a cask strength 9-year for those whose passion is strength with a punch.
You might be asking yourself if Pensive is so great, why have I never seen them on the shelf? Pensive’s motto is “Only in Kentucky”, and they take that motto to heart. Every ingredient is locally sourced and comes solely from Kentucky. You will not be able to find a drop of their liquor sold in any retail store outside of the beautiful bluegrass state. They have no intention of selling Pensive spirits in any other state, including Ohio, which is less than a 5 minute drive across the bridge. Now, don’t think that you have to come to Newport to try their bourbon because the Kentucky amendment KRS 243.0305 allows craft distillers to self-distribute up to 5,000 gallons of distilled spirits per year directly to licensed retailers. This means you are able to purchase Pensive products throughout Kentucky. So when you ask yourself “how craft are they”, they’re that craft!
Also, in the near future, Pensive plans to expand their tasting room to different cities across Kentucky to make sure anyone living in or visiting Kentucky has the availability to try Pensive products. So if you do not want to visit Northern Kentucky or the Greater Cincinnati area, but still want to try Pensive, watch the Louisville and Lexington areas. But for now, I guess you’ll have to come up to my neck of the woods to give them a shot!
If readers can take only one thing away, it would be the experience that the management team discussed. “In each glass, we want you to taste the southern hospitality and Kentucky love that everyone talks about. We want you to feel the authentic Kentucky culture. We’re not trying to be the Disneyland of Bourbon; we are trying to be authentic. Kentucky’s true bourbon.” In my opinion, they exceed their own expectations and offer a unique and titillating experience for both the bourbon and non-bourbon drinker. A true must see. As I said in the opening, the hidden gem of Kentucky.
Closing out, I want to give some suggested pairing recommendations. As I always say, life brings you many questions, but remember everybody, the answer is always To Cigar.
Pensive Pairing Recommendations
The 1944 cask strength: I recommend a full-bodied, spicy cigar, the Padron 1964
Apple Pie Moonshine: I recommend a more mellow, sweet cigar, the Davidoff Aniversario
The 100 proof: I recommend a bold cigar with some sweetness, the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink
Logan Huddleston
Hello, my name is Logan Huddleston. I own and operate To Cigar, which provides cigar and alcohol content on all major social media platforms. My goal is to connect with and engage other GenZers to help them fall in love with cigars and cigar culture. I do reviews, memes, recipes, pairings, pretty much anything that connects with my audience. Most nights, I can be found with a cigar in one hand and a good drink in the other. Life brings us many questions, but I’m fond of saying, the answer is always To Cigar!
