Stephen Beam is a seventh-generation distiller and the founder of Limestone Branch Distillery in Lebanon, Kentucky. He comes from a long line of distillers on both sides of his family, with his great-great-grandfather being the bourbon pioneer Joseph Washington Dant and his great-grandfather being Minor Case Beam, the eldest son of James Beam.

Stephen's interest in distilling began at a young age, as he grew up surrounded by distillery memorabilia and family stories. He had an early dream of opening a distillery, but the time wasn't right in the 1980s. He initially pursued a career in horticulture and was a landscape architect, but the idea of distilling never left him.

In 2010, along with his brother Paul, he decided to carry on the family tradition and started Limestone Branch Distillery. Their goal was to resurrect th ...