Rabbit Hole is a whiskey distillery in Louisville, Kentucky, founded in 2012 by Kaveh Zamanian, a former clinical psychologist.1,2,3 Pernod Ricard bought a majority stake in 2019.1,3,4
Zamanian began developing his recipes in 2012, and from 2014 his whiskey was made under contract at other distilleries.1,2,3 By 2018 master distiller Cameron Talley had created 3 whiskeys at a northern Kentucky distillery.4,5 In October 2016 Rabbit Hole held its official groundbreaking off East Jefferson Street in Louisville's NuLu district, with construction already under way.
The 55,000-square-foot distillery at 711 E. Jefferson St. began making spirit in May 2018.1,7,8 It is built around a 48-foot copper column still made by Vendome, a still that can keep distilling without stopping.1,7,8 From October 2018 it ran 24 hours a day, and some of that spirit was made for other brands.4 Its whiskey goes into barrels that are both toasted and charred, at a low entry proof, the spirit's strength as it goes into the barrel.2,7 Rabbit Hole says the lower strength draws more sugars from the wood.2,7
In 2019 its bourbon and rye were still made from sourced whiskey, distilled elsewhere, while the new distillery laid down stock for later releases.9,10 Pernod Ricard completed its purchase of a majority stake on 19 July 2019, while Zamanian kept most of his own shares and kept running the company.1,3,4 In July 2024 Pernod Ricard formed North American Distillers to run its American whiskey brands, Rabbit Hole among them, and their sites.11,12 Zamanian moved to a new role guiding whiskey strategy across that whole portfolio.11,12
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