Thanks to Facebook’s algorithm, I was alerted to the fact that a new craft distillery in my hometown was in the works, and when I saw I could reserve one of 150 bottles of their initial release of their vodka, of course I reserved one. I received an email that I could pick it up during the soft opening this weekend. Catherine and I went and I really enjoyed the visit and what is happening there.

Kisatchie Springs Distillery is a family project of the Rachal family, who, I am told, had a bootlegger in the family during prohibition. What is super exciting is that the master distiller, Juliette Rachal, is around the age of one of my stepsons. She’s almost too young to have had a prior career, but she was an epidemiologist with a Masters in Public Health before becoming a master distiller. The distiller’s motto, C’est Dans Ton Sang, means “It’s in the Blood” which refers to the Rachal family’s revival of a family distilling tradition. Or your blood alcohol level after you have had some of their spirits.

The facility is very warm and inviting, with a beautiful cypress bar and nice furnishings and decorations. Right now, they have an extensive cocktail menu, and are serving a tasting flight consisting of vodka, moonshine, American Light Whiskey, and Bourbon. The initial releases of Whiskey and Bourbon are five years old and contact distilled by MGP (Midwest Grain Products now known as Ross & Squibb in Indiana), which is a smart way to start and shows how much thought and planning went into the start up of this craft distillery. The Rachals started contract distillation five years ago in preparation for a 2026 opening. But the spirits being distilled here are made from an all corn mashbill with the corn being locally sourced from Petrus, a well known purveyor in Central Louisiana. The MGP bourbon and whiskey were made using the Rachal’s mashbill of nearly all corn, but not on their equipment obviously.

While I will do fuller reviews of their spirits when I can take bottles of all of them home and really try them, I did the flight. The 80 proof corn vodka is extremely smooth, slightly sweet, and is silky on the palate. This bodes well for when whiskey distilled here is ready to be bottled in the future. The moonshine, was, well, moonshine; generally not my jam but tasting it as a whiskey precursor (which it really is) it is very grain forward and silky and time in the barrel will make something great. The American Light Whiskey is very smooth and desserty. It is good neat, but would also make a great addition to egg nog or milk punch I think. It is sweet but not too sweet, so it could stand with a sweet mixer, but also has potential to make a great Sazerac cocktail as I could see the sweetness complementing the bitters. The bourbon is five years old from Kistachie’s 99% corn 1% barley mashbill, and while it is a little low proof for my cask strength palate, for a first time release from a craft distillery, it is very good, and amazingly, with no serious negatives. No youthful bitterness, no yeast funk, and nothing offputting on the palate at all. Having tried a lot of craft distillery bourbon sourced at MGP and other places as distilling was getting started, this is arguably one of the best first cradt bourbon releases precisely because it has nothing wrong with it. That, to me, is really an achievement.

But, of course, I had the master distiller share her set up with me. I am a whiskey nerd that way. It is an impressive combination of pot and column stills, which explains why their first vodka is so refined.

The big secret as to why their whiskies are so good for a start up is their use of Mexican vanilla and other staves to add subtle flavors to their whiskey while finishing it in a steel barrel. Juliette let me handle and smell one of the Mexican vanilla staves. Given that vanilla notes are one of my favorites on a whiskey, I like the idea of using staves that simply compliment traditional bourbon flavors, rather than adding something different. Really smart idea.

Lastly, the barrels are currently being aged on site in the distilling room. The distilling room is climate controlled, so the barrels can breathe in the whiskey without becoming over oaked in Louisiana’s extreme summer heat or losing too much alcohol in Louisiana’s humid climate. I am sure eventually they will have to build a rickhouse, but they have plenty of room for now to age more barrels.

I will certainly be back and bring friends with me. I also plan to do an interview with Juliette to have her talk to me readers about how Kisatchie Springs came to be, and what is behind her craft sometime next month when the bourbon and whiskey are available for purchase at the distillery. I will also write detailed reviews of their bourbon and whiskey once I can take them home and contemplate them.

In the meantime, definitely stop in for a visit, sample their spirits, and have a visit with Juliette Rachal and her family. You will be glad you did.