From the outside, Bardstown Bourbon Company appeared to be thriving. It built an impressive roster of custom distilling clients in the past few years while other companies in the industry struggled, and it presented a polished and luxurious face to visitors.
But a recent whistleblower lawsuit filed by the former head of human resources presents a different picture — one of a toxic culture that repeatedly demeaned and ousted women employees, flouting the company’s own policies along the way.
At least six women executives were fired or driven to quit between fall 2021 and fall 2024, according to the lawsuit filed Feb. 13 in Nelson County by Sylvia Sanders. The suit includes wide-ranging allegations of sexism, racism, transphobia, falsified safety records, state alcohol violations and more.
Sanders, 62, served as Bardstown Bourbon Company’s vice president of human resources for 4 1/2 years, from November 2019 to May 2024, when she was abruptly fired and stripped of an equity stake after taking her concerns to Mark Erwin, who was CEO and president of Bardstown Bourbon Company before being elevated in 2025 to CEO of Lofted Spirits, the umbrella company over Bardstown Bourbon and Green River Distilling. Lofted says it is the largest contract distiller — a company that makes liquor for other companies to sell — in Kentucky.
Sanders claims the entire chain of ownership, from Bardstown Bourbon to Lofted to its ownership group, is to blame for the toxic and discriminatory workplace...
Kenneth Scott Miller, 48, is charged with a felony count of making a false report to law enforcement. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond. According to an Escambia County ...