By DEBORAH BEHRENDS

Indiana Correspondent

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — "Ne oublie" (pronounced “nay oob-lay”) is more than just a couple Scottish words. Meaning "never forget," the phrase informs everything the Nethery family does at Jeptha Creed distillery.

The business has been making a name for itself over the past few years as a woman-owned craft distillery with a unique approach to spirits. Already offering award-winning vodka and moonshine, Jeptha Creed recently launched its first straight four-grain bourbon.

One thing that makes these spirits unique is the corn used. Grown on the Netherys' farm in Shelby County, an heirloom varietal called Bloody Butcher is used in all their spirits. Before distilling the first bourbon, mother-daughter owners Joyce and Autumn Nethery had Bruce Nethery (Joyce's husband) plant two fields of corn – one non-genetically modified yellow corn and one Bloody Butcher.

"We knew that corn makes good corn bread, but can it make good bourbon?" Joyce asked. "The first year we planted 20 acres (of Bloody Butcher), and we watched the deer and other wildlife go through the non-GMO yellow corn to get to the Bloody Butcher.”

The next step was to try it out in the still. She explained they found some free time on a still in Wisconsin, so they tested Bloody Butcher with wheat, Bloody Butcher with rye, yellow corn with wheat, and yellow corn with rye. "The Bloody Butcher gave us a smooth, unique flavor.”

Thinking they would have one product, they ended up with three: wheat, rye, and the four-grain bourbon they originally envisioned.

In August 2016, Jeptha Creed distilled and barreled the first legal bourbon in Shelby County since before Prohibition took effect in 1920. While the Netherys were able to start production quickly, aging the whiskey to call it bourbon takes at least two years. The four-grain is being released now after two years; Joyce said they are holding back the wheat and rye to age four years.

Jeptha Creed Straight 4-Grain Bourbon is available for the first time outside of the Louisville area, in Indiana markets, and retails for about $50. Visit jepthacreed.com/where-to-buy to find a retailer. Quantities for this release are limited.

Its vodka was named the official vodka of the Kentucky Derby Festival for two years in a row. "We have a great relationship with the Kentucky Derby Festival planners. The KDF team loved the idea of a local, homemade, ground-to-glass vodka and asked if we would like to participate in the festival. We said yes," Joyce explained.

(She and Autumn also created a signature cocktail for the festival called the Bluegrass Belle. Make it with 2 ounces Jeptha Creed Blueberry Vodka, 1 ounce lime juice, 1 ounce mint syrup, 2 mint sprigs, and lemon-lime soda.

Add all the ingredients to a shaker tin and muddle the mint sprig. Add ice to the tin and shake vigorously. Strain shaker contents into a highball glass full of ice. Top with the soda and garnish with a mint sprig.)

The Netherys pride themselves on their ground-to-glass distillery, meaning they strive to be sustainable and thoughtful at every step of production. They grow or locally source ingredients for all their spirits, right down to the water pulled from the crystal-clear creek on their farm.

"We're doing things in a new way while holding on to the past," Autumn said.

Even the name of the distillery is a nod to the past, as it sits in the foothills of the Jeptha Knobs, named by Squire Boone after a Biblical warrior. The farmland has been owned and worked by the Nethery family since the 1700s.

The Creed part of the distillery's name is "our promise to uphold our values and to be honest with our customers," Autumn said.

When Bruce was just a lad of 18, his grandfather urged him to purchase his first acreage, and he became the youngest farm owner in the Kentucky commonwealth. With a master's degree in chemical engineering, master distiller Joyce worked as a process engineer in industrial-scale distilling for about 15 years, before teaching high school chemistry and physics.

Bruce's dream of owning a distillery reignited her passion for the distillation process. Autumn studied for a year in Scotland with some of the best distillers in the world. Among one of the youngest distillery owners in the country, she serves as marketing manager.

Son Hunter, 20, is not yet old enough to own a share of the distillery, but he serves as the farm's beekeeper, harvesting the honey used in its products. Even the stills used in the distillery were manufactured locally in Louisville by Vendome Copper & Brass Works.

One of the few items the family did not source locally is the custom-designed bourbon bottle. Autumn joked that she suffers from a kind of PTSD after working with an Italian company to manufacture the bottles according to her design.

"Between the language barrier and the time difference, it was not an easy process," she explained.

The tall, slender bottle boasts the tree of life. "The roots represent our roots in Kentucky, the trunk represents the present and the branches, the future. The bottom of the bottle shows our creed 'ne oublie,' which reminds patrons to never forget to buy another bottle."

In February, they barreled their 1,000th barrel of bourbon, and are now producing nine barrels per day.

The distillery is open for tours, the visitor center is home to a tasting room, and the bar serves lunch. On summer Friday evenings, there's live music on the patio with food trucks providing dinner. They also have a meeting room available for parties or corporate events.

Even the visitor center makes use of the property's fallen trees for the bars inside and on the patio, and the countertops in the restrooms.