Three Families · One Whiskey
The Winsteads made it. The Hargis family found it. The Calls distilled it.
Colonel A.S. Winstead,
and the smoothest whiskey on the market.
In the winter of 1880, after leaving the Worsham family distillery, Colonel Aaron Shelby Winstead set out to build something of his own. At 51, he founded the Winstead Distilling Co. with a clear vision for a more refined bourbon. When the first batch came off the still, he named it for the two finest things he could think of: silk and velvet, a reflection of the character he intended to create.
What followed set him apart. Silk Velvet moved at a scale uncommon for its time, with early shipments reaching New York and beyond, eventually establishing a presence across much of the country. By the early 1900s, it was recognized as one of Kentucky's finest offerings, known for its purity and consistency. Winstead would not live to see its full reach. Prohibition closed the distillery. Time and fire erased what remained. What endured was the standard he set, one built on quality, character, and a name that was never meant to be forgotten.
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Lifelong Hendersonians,
custodians of a name.
It didn't begin in a rickhouse. It began in quiet places, in attics and antique shops, where pieces of Silk Velvet's past had been scattered for decades. Mark Hargis had been collecting those pieces for years, old bottles, worn labels, forgotten records. What started as curiosity turned into something more. In 2020, he and his sons, Zach and Zeb, stepped back and saw the full picture. This wasn't just a relic of the past. It was a Kentucky bourbon with a story that deserved to be told again.
Bringing it back meant doing it the right way. Zach came from within Kentucky bourbon, understanding the process from the inside out, while Zeb brought a deep background in getting bottles into the hands of consumers. Together, with Master Distiller Jacob Call, they focused on one thing: honoring what Silk Velvet was while making it relevant again today. Every blend and every barrel is selected with that in mind, not to recreate the past, but to carry it forward.
Eight Generations.
One unbroken thread.
For over two centuries, the Call name has been tied to Kentucky whiskey. The family's roots trace back to the earliest days of distilling in Bourbon County, where generations learned the craft by doing, passing knowledge down through time and refining it with each new era. It's a legacy that endured when others didn't, grounded in experience, patience, and a relentless focus on making better whiskey.
Today, that legacy is carried forward by Jacob Call, an eighth generation master distiller whose work has helped shape some of the most recognized bourbons of the modern era. Over his career, his whiskeys have been featured across dozens of brands and earned more than 100 industry awards, including multiple Top 20 Whiskies in the World honors. With Silk Velvet, Jacob brings that same disciplined approach to every barrel and every blend, ensuring the whiskey not only honors its past, but stands confidently in the present.