There’s nothing that warms the soul quite like good friends, a warm fire, and the sweet smell of brewing pre-Prohibition rye whiskey.

That’s exactly what people found this weekend at the Indian Creek Distillery. A warm, homey atmosphere met those who walked into the large, antique distillery to join in the celebration to wash away the Winter blues and welcome in the Spring.

At the creak of the old fashioned front door, your senses are met by the sweet smell of brewing rye whiskey, from a family recipe in the pre-Prohibition Era. Folk music plays in the background as the taster continues to the middle of the room.

On the side of the distillery are two original stills, copper plated and carefully taken care of. The stills sit atop brick ovens, carefully preserved over the last 197 years.

The distillery is owned by Joe and Missy Duer, a lovely middle-aged couple who have the distillery in the family for six generations on Missy’s side. In 1820, Missy’s family started the distillery and “distilled for about a hundred years until 1920”, when the Prohibition Era began, Joe told.

Joe also told of the history of the stills and how they were “the oldest operating stills in the country” because of the care and time Missy’s great-grandfather took in the upkeep of the distillery.

On the walls of the large room were feed sacks that had been saved throughout the years, as well as some memorabilia that had been saved and passed down through Missy’s family.

Missy and Joe “got the idea seven or eight years ago to resurrect the stills” and to help bring the past into the future. They brew original recipe corn and rye whiskey and sell to “about 150 state agency stores” around the state, and sell to two locations in Kentucky as well.

From grain to whiskey, it takes the Duer’s and their help about a week to brew their whiskey. They have they two recipes for corn and rye whiskey, as well as two other ways that they make it: they can age it, or can leave it unaged.

Moving up to the second story of the distillery are artifacts kept and preserved over time to keep the history of the family and the distillery alive. Family heirlooms and trinkets kept from the time period.

The open hospitality of the Duer family shone throughout the event as they shared memories and their whiskey to those who came with the hopes of forgetting for a moment the blues of the winter.

Elias Staley, Missy’s ancestor, said “Drink the Spirit and become a legend”. The legend of the Indian Creek Distillery and the Staley family whiskey will continue to live on through Missy and Joe Duer and their traditions.