Louisville Business First

"A21 Spirits reveals plans for former Luca Mariano distillery"

article by Stephen P. Schmidt, Reporter, Louisville Business First

courtesy of Mark Newman

Jul 27, 2026

Story Highlights

• Mark Newman's A21 Wine & Spirits won a $19.5 million bid for the former Luca Mariano

Distillery in Danville, Kentucky.

• The Samuel T. Damgoode Whiskey Co. will produce straight bourbon, rye, wheated

bourbon, and smoked bourbon.

• A21 is raising $20 million in Series D funding to finance expansion plans including

additional rickhouses and a Louisville tasting room.

Within 30 to 60 days, Mark Newman and his team at A21 Wine & Spirits

expect to move into the former Luca Mariano Distillery in Danville, Kentucky.

When Business First spoke with Newman, the CEO of Apogee 21 Holdings

in June, he unveiled a few plans for the distillery.

At the time, he was waiting for the sale to be finalized after Luca Mariano

and its parent company had both filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for

the Eastern District of Michigan.

The winning bid ended up being $19.5 million, which includes $2.2 million

to Louisville-based Farm Credit Leasing for the rickhouse and an additional

$2.2 million to Louisville-based Farm Credit Mid-America for other loans.

“We were elated,” Newman said when he found out his company had the

winning bid. “We're still very excited now, just getting the court confirmation

finally. It’s a very transformative move for us as a company.”

Once the paperwork is finalized, Newman will have a fairly brand new facility

(sitting on a 529 acre-plot of land) that will be called the Samuel T. Damgoode

Whiskey Co.

The building will also serve as the brand home for the newly acquired Noble

Oak Bourbon and other brands for possible contract clients.

“We’re anxious to come to get the distillery open and create some jobs,”

Newman told Business First. “We’ve got 6,600 barrels to start to work with,

which is nice. We want to be good participants and good community members.”

Those barrels largely came from Wilderness Trail Distillery, which is also

located in Danville. The distillery itself had only made around 200 barrels

of whiskey before it was shut down, Newman said.

Noble Oak had been made and stored at the Lawrenceburg, Indiana distillery

MGP Ingredients (Nasdaq: MGPI), but he will start to bring many of those barrels

into the rickhouse at the Danville property, which can hold up to 11,400 barrels.

“Noble Oak is a separate brand, but we want to give it a home,” Newman said.

What's next for A21 Spirits in Danville, Kentucky

Eventually, A21 will start laying down barrels for Noble Oak, but Newman said

that given his current supply of barrels of that expression, his top priority is

distilling and filling barrels for the new product line. That line will include

a straight bourbon, a rye, a wheated bourbon and a smoked bourbon.

Noble Oak, though, with its large distribution network that A21 inherited, is

quickly gaining momentum over A21’s top-selling Monkey in Paradise Vodka.

Newman said that his team plans to add a copper pot still to help produce the

vodka brand in addition to the numerous whiskies. In addition, A21 recently

announced its intention to buy Rod & Hammer’s, a craft distillery in San Luis

Obispo, California, that will serve as a production center for Monkey in Paradise.

Here is a breakdown of the rest of the plans that Newman talked about:

• Converting the distillery’s tasting laboratory into a tasting room.

• Donating some of the property’s acreage to programs for retired thoroughbreds.

• Looking for a plant manager and a master distiller.

• Adding at least two additional rickhouses.

• Restoring a stone home on the property, which is possibly one of the oldest of

its kind in the state. Note: There is also allegedly the largest limestone water

well in the state, according to Newman.

• Applying for admission to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

• Wanting to have a tasting room in Louisville.

Newman said that he heard that at one point the home’s owner may have

owned slaves, who eventually were allowed to leave via the Underground

Railroad. He said that he wanted to reach out to researchers at nearby Centre

College in Danville to find out the actual story.

To help finance all of his aspirations at Danville, A21 is currently raising $20

million in a Series D round, of which he already has a commitment of $7 million.

Newman reiterated that he has had 40-plus years in the beverage alcohol

industry, during which he has turned around liquor and wine distributors and

wineries that were in similar straits as Luca Mariano. The Danville property

represents the first time he has tried to right-size a distillery.

“I’m a long-term believer in the business, and because my orientation is to

try and acquire some assets that are of tremendous value, like this distillery

deal,” Newman said. “We think if you have the correct cost of goods, [and]

the correct investment costs in land, building, and property, you can make

a good business and be profitable. ... We have a very positive outlook for

the business, and I’m known to be a contrarian.”