Briana Pace | Southern Indiana Business Report
In the rolling hills of southern Indiana sits the Kavanaugh family’s fifth-generation farm. Six years ago, they added McCracken Curve Distillery to the business, and this summer, they opened a tasting room.
Renovated from a 100-year-old crew house, the tasting room opened June 27. Designed to be a warm, inviting place, with natural colors, deep oak wood, leathers, vaulted ceilings and the aroma of spirits; it’s big enough for private events, but still maintains an intimate setting.
“It’s not a bar,” Jeff Kavanaugh, co-founder and distiller, said. “It is a tasting area where people can have a good time and relax.”
McCracken Curve distillery, named for the curved stretch of U.S. Highway 50 it sits on, was founded in 2020 by Jeff and his brothers, Jason and Steve Kavanaugh. Their spouses also played a large role. The group always knew the distillery would need a tasting room; a place where the public could experience the brand, physically.
“I think the world’s gone a little bit too digital,” Jeff said. “It’s nice to be able to experience something in person, the physicality: you touch, you drink, you smell, you see the corn, you see the fields. I think people value, if nothing else they appreciate, having the experience. That’s what we’re trying to build.”
The tasting room was praised by Daviess County Economic Development Corporation Executive Director, Bob Grewe. He believes the tasting room is a great addition to the county’s already strong tourism sector and has the potential to further its growth, largely due to its advantageous location, right off the highway.
“Daviess County has a reputation for outstanding locally grown, made, produced local food items, so this is just another compliment to that portfolio of locally made products,” Grewe said. “I think it’s a great fit. I think they’re in a really good spot whenever they sort out their operational considerations.”
Starting in September, the tasting room will be open to the public on the first Saturday of every month from 1-5 p.m. The Kavanaughs hope to increase the room’s public hours as they settle into opening, but they don’t want to rush it. They want to make sure they do it right.
“There’s more opportunities than time,” Jeff said. “We’re just trying to be selective, grow it and not just push something to push it, but do something where the spirits or the products naturally follow a good experience.”
For now, the tasting room will primarily be used to host private events. So far, it’s been used by Daviess County leaders, Posey County leaders and other community organizations. The tasting room was also used for a first responders’ night earlier this summer.
The tasting room also has a full kitchen available for caterers to use during private events. Eventually, the Kavanaughs want to add a firepit and feature live music outside the tasting room.
McCracken Curve Distillery products are available in liquor stores across Indiana, but the tasting room has one exclusive drink, cherry moonshine, and more in development. They are working on a popcorn-based bourbon and a honey bourbon. The popcorn bourbon features popcorn grown on the family farm, merely hundreds of feet away from the tasting room, and the honey bourbon is made from another nearby farm’s honey. The family is also experimenting with vanilla and cinnamon flavors, plus some non-alcoholic drinks.
Jeff emphasized the role the entire family has played in these projects. The distillery was a family vision. When he started experimenting with making bourbon and his brother created the Apple Pi moonshine, they saw it as a way to connect back to the land that has been in the family for five generations.
“Everything ties back to family, to the community, to quality,” Jeff said.
When you talk to someone working at the tasting room, you’re talking to someone who puts the liquids in the bottle and has worked on the land.
Though the company is completely private, with no external investors or loans, you’ll never see the family’s name on the bottles or billboards. They believe that the product is not theirs— it’s the community’s, county’s, the state’s.