While the national economy has taken the plunge, distilleries continue to pop up throughout Kentucky. The Bourbon Trail recently grew with a new Bardstown distillery added to its list; meanwhile, a distillery and possibly a rectifier will be locating in Bowling Green.

Corsair Artisan, a microdistillery that will produce small batches of gin, rum and bourbon, plans to open its operation downtown in a warehouse behind the Pushin Building. The space measures 2,600 square feet, and owners hope to open its doors by Thanksgiving.

“It’s a great town,” Corsair CEO Andrew Webber said. “We came here and felt comfortable. We knew we would have everything we needed to operate.”

This will be the first and only location for the distillery, which formed in January, according to Tennessee secretary of state records.

“We’ll either move on (in the future) or we can live here for a decade,” Webber said.

Corsair will produce about 2,000 cases of alcohol a year. It will also open a gift shop on Fridays and Saturdays and give tours of the facility.

Corsair will produce its own product, using an original recipe and “gin-head,” a unique instrument that makes a different style of gin intended for cocktails, Webber said in a news release.

Microdistillers use hand-operated machinery, which requires more labor. But Webber said that, for now, he will be the only worker at the distillery, as company officials want to see if the distillery gets off the ground before it hires employees. So, when the company opens, Webber will be the distiller, the janitor, the gift shop clerk and the tour guide, he said.

Meanwhile, Three Springs Bottling Company, a rectifier, plans to locate at Camping World Court on about 10 acres of land. The company is owned by Bison Capital, LLC, an investment company with ties to Brad Kelley, a Kentucky native and billionaire who founded Bowling Green-based Commonwealth Brands tobacco company.

A rectifier does not produce spirits, but blends and adds flavor to whiskey and other alcoholic beverages. It intends to apply for a license by September 29, according to a news release; phone calls to the company’s general manager were not returned.

Bowling Green is also home to a craft microbrewery, the Bowling Green Brewing Company on Veterans Memorial.