On Saturday, October 17, Leiper's Fork Distillery will mark ten years of whiskey-making with an evening at 3381 Southall Road. The night will also be one of the last big gatherings on the farm before its first still is scheduled to leave. Under plans the company has described, the 500-gallon still known as "Ginger" will move to a new location at Nashville Yards. A new 1,000-gallon still will then be installed at the original distillery.
So the downtown site gets the still that started everything, and the farm outside Leiper's Fork is planned to get one with twice the capacity. After a decade, the brand now runs out of more than one address, and the plans put its largest still on Southall Road.
Ten Years, Counted in Barrels
The distillery's first barrel was filled in spring 2016. Behind it was a much longer run-up. Founder and chief distiller Lee Kennedy built his first still at 18, spent more than two decades as a home distiller, and then worked to change Williamson County law before he could open a licensed business. He and Lynlee Kennedy founded the distillery together. The Williamson Herald's grand-opening coverage described a family business that also included Gayle Locke Kennedy, Nick Locke and Wes Kennedy.
That opening was small. According to the Herald, the first 54 barrels were on display at the opening, half Tennessee rye and half Tennessee whiskey, and the signature line needed five to seven years of aging. In the meantime, the team hand-selected 20 barrels of Tennessee bourbon for Hunter's Select Barrel. The distillery also planned to sell Old Natchez Trace white whiskey and a 90-proof Tennessee rye. The bourbon's name points to the ground under the stillhouse. It honors Col. Henry Hunter, who once owned the property.
The setting hasn't changed much since then. The distillery sits on 27 acres outside the village, and its stillhouse tour ends in a restored log cabin that serves as the tasting room and gift shop. The Herald dated the cabin to the 1820s and reported that it was moved to the farm from Dickson County.
The anniversary bottle looks back to that start. The limited release, "A Decade of Distilling: Grain to Glass," marks the distillery's first barrel and blends straight bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey. Rye, Tennessee whiskey and bourbon are the same three styles the distillery started out with in 2016.
Where Ginger Is Going
The Nashville Yards plan has been public for more than a year, and the details have changed along the way. Here's the order it came out in:
- June 2025. The Tennessean reported that Leiper's Fork was bringing a production facility to Nashville Yards. Days later, WSMV listed production, a restaurant, a bar, retail, a private tasting room and a music stage. It also reported that Ginger was planned to move from Leiper's Fork.
- May 2026. FranklinIs reported a mid-2026 target. It added that production would run five days a week and front-of-house operations six days, with a patio overlooking Ascension Saint Thomas Landing. The same report confirmed the plan for a 1,000-gallon still on Southall Road once Ginger leaves.
- Now. The distillery's own Nashville Yards page says "Opening Fall 2026." It describes a 7,500-square-foot space with a bar and restaurant, distillation, tours and tastings, private dining and live entertainment. It lists the address as 21 Platform Way S., with hours still to be announced.
Earlier coverage described a space of roughly 9,000 square feet with a mid-2026 opening. The company's page now gives a smaller footprint and a later season, and no explanation for the change has been published. Today is October 4, and the Nashville location isn't open yet. Its hours are still listed as TBA.
The new building is also designed to host music. The plans include a regular artist showcase series that builds on the distillery's "Still House Sessions." That's a format Southall Road regulars will recognize.
What the Plan Leaves on Southall Road
With Nashville Yards open, the company will run three physical locations, and its whiskey is distributed in six states and the United Kingdom. Each address has a different job:
- Southall Road, outside Leiper's Fork. The original 27-acre farm, the stillhouse tour and the log-cabin tasting room. Under the stated plan, it's where the new 1,000-gallon still will go.
- House of Spirits, Main Street, downtown Franklin. It held its ribbon-cutting on August 21, 2025, and offers an experimental distillation lab, tasting flights, cocktails, food and live music. The Main Street space also hosts private events.
- Nashville Yards, 21 Platform Way S. The company lists it for fall 2026. Ginger is planned to move here.
The Franklin location is built for experiments. Nashville Yards will have its own production facility, running five days a week, alongside a restaurant and retail store. Southall Road remains the original home of the distillery's grain-to-glass process, from milling and mashing through distillation, aging and bottling.
The new still has been announced, but its installation hasn't been confirmed in any coverage so far. Until the company says it's running, the bigger still on Southall Road is a plan. The music schedule at the farm hasn't changed. Performances generally run Friday through Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., with individual shows posted to the distillery's event calendar.
The Night of the 17th
The anniversary is set for the farm, not either of the newer locations. Here's what's been published:
- When: Saturday, October 17, 6 to 10 p.m.
- Where: 3381 Southall Rd, Franklin, TN 37064
- What's planned: live music, local food trucks and the limited "A Decade of Distilling: Grain to Glass" release
- On stage: the Bandana Brothers, at the Southall Stage from 7 to 9 p.m., with that set listed as free entry
The event listing doesn't say whether the food or the anniversary bottle costs extra, or how many bottles will be available. Six to ten is longer than the farm's usual afternoon music hours, and the evening ends after dark on a two-lane country road. Plan your ride home before you head out.
Before You Drive Out
Regular tour times and prices are set through the distillery's online booking page, and they're worth checking there directly. Third-party listings give conflicting weekday hours. The tour still ends where it always has, in the 1820s log cabin moved from Dickson County. This fall may be the last chance to see Ginger working on Southall Road before it moves downtown.
Places like this farm on Southall Road, with its working stillhouse, the music on weekend afternoons and a cabin that's been around for two centuries, are a big part of daily life out here. At Kim Biddle, we follow these changes closely because they shape what owning land around the village feels like. If the countryside around Leiper's Fork is on your mind, explore Leiper's Fork listings and request a private tour.
