Behind the Pour: Ashley Smith
Where Kentucky's bourbon heritage and Black farming meet
Commissioned photography by Brittany GreesonAshley Smith enjoys relaxing with a sip of bourbon as much as anyone — especially when it serves as the base of a mint julep, come Kentucky Derby time.
As a native Kentuckian, she understands how the right bourbon pairs perfectly with a tender steak or slow-smoked beef brisket. As an avid bourbon fan, she makes a point to never miss marquee tastings at Lexington's annual BourbonCon, a weekend-long bourbon convention that has become one of her favourite annual events.
But its bourbon's power of connectivity, and its innate connection to the land, that Smith loves perhaps most of all. To her, it's more than a drink—it reflects the work she's doing.
Sowing awareness
Smith is the co-founder and executive director of Black Soil KY, a non-profit whose mission is to reconnect Black Kentuckians to their agricultural heritage and legacy. She runs Black Soil KY alongside her husband and co-founder, Trevor Claiborn. In her work, Smith is part entrepreneur, part partnership builder, and part change maker.
Black Soil KY's efforts centre on building larger markets for farm products from Black producers. The non-profit accomplishes that through education, outreach and special events, including tours and farm-to-table dinners. "We focus on small- to mid-sized farms that specialise in direct-to-consumer products such as seasonal produce and locally grown meats," Smith explains.
Smith heads to work each day with a goal: to bring Kentucky's Black farmers from the periphery to the mainstream by raising awareness of their products and fostering partnerships. In time, she believes Kentucky's independent Black producers can become household names, both throughout the Bluegrass State and beyond. The non-profit already works with Black farms across Kentucky and its reach continues to grow, with partner farms as far away as Los Angeles County in California.
Today, Smith often travels to small towns across Kentucky to visit and support Black-owned farms such as Barbour's Farm in Canmer, a frequent partner in Black Soil's tours and farm-to-table dinner events. These efforts to showcase the talents and contributions of Black producers are gaining notice. "Black Soil KY has grown from being perceived as a 'cute' idea to establishing itself as a respected industry voice," Smith says.
From bourbon to barn
As a cornerstone of Kentucky's agricultural economy, the bourbon industry serves as a powerful tool for Smith to build connections and advance her organisation's mission.
All bourbons derive from a 51% corn base, with the rest of their composition, or mash bill, formed by a mix of grains such as wheat, rye or malted barley. After the bourbon distillation process is complete, the grains are known as spent grain. Through a newly forged Black Soil KY-built partnership, some of that spent grain is fuelling farms.
At Fresh Bourbon Distillery, a Black-owned business in Lexington, spent grain is no longer destined for a landfill. Instead, it's trucked to nearby Paris, Kentucky, where it feeds Angus cattle at Stoner View Farm Bed and Breakfast, another Black-owned business.
"With this approach, a local business can offload their excess by-product, while a farm can feed their cattle more efficiently," Smith says. "It's all about meeting people where they are and finding out how to best match partnerships to ensure we're all finding success."
Smith's work with the owners of Fresh Bourbon Distillery traces back through a connection with a sorority sister at the University of Kentucky. "These ripple connections illustrate how we're trying to amplify our networks in order to produce and cultivate sustainable results for Black-owned farms and Black agriculture-based producers in everything we do," Smith explains.
Blending two worlds
Although Smith has always called Lexington home, her family's roots spread across the state. Thanks to those ties, Smith moves naturally through the state's rural agricultural landscape.
"My mom is from Madisonville, and my father was originally from Alabama but moved to Trigg County as a boy, so Western Kentucky is very near and dear to my heart," Smith says. "We spent a lot of summers there. We would always attend local events like the Trig County Country Ham Festival and the Eighth of August Festival [an emancipation celebration recognised in portions of Tennessee, Western Kentucky and Missouri linked to the freeing of enslaved people in Tennessee in 1863]."
Growing up with a blend of city and small-town experiences honed Smith's ability to see the intrinsic interconnectedness of both ways of life, she says. "Our rural communities thrive off of urban support, and, on the flip side, our urban communities depend on rural communities to exist as well," she says. "We need folks committed to agriculture who are willing to take on the calling of being a farmer in order to feed everyone."
In her own family, Smith sees agricultural prowess being passed on to the next generation. As the mother of six-year-old twins Caroline and Trevor Jr., Smith witnesses the green-thumbed enthusiasm of her kids on a daily basis.
"They work with my husband in our community garden, and they already know how to maintain and harvest the vegetables and keep them going," Smith says. "They also understand why gardens like this are necessary to help everyone thrive — and they recognise the unity that is needed to ensure that that garden thrives for everyone, not just an individual."
A hidden history
Before launching Black Soil KY in 2017, Smith graduated from the University of Kentucky and worked in programme development at the Lyric Theatre, a historic Black theatre in downtown Lexington. Whilst there, a colleague recognised her talents and suggested she consider a change. Smith started working as a community educator focused on land-based policy.
"Making that pivot, I thrived," Smith says. "I quickly realised that Kentucky has these post-Civil War, historic Black hamlets full of formerly vibrant farms and homesteads that had become invisible. It was time for someone to help bring those stories forward."
One of the stories that Black Soil KY was able to help highlight was the role of enslaved African Americans in the early history of Kentucky bourbon making, among other industries. "These residents' ancestors were pivotal in Kentucky's agricultural heritage," Smith explains. "Their generational contributions helped establish Kentucky's signature agricultural industries, from tobacco and horses to distilling."
Working with the Jack Jouett House, historic home of the Revolutionary War fighter, Black Soil KY determined that the master distiller there was a 65-year-old enslaved man. In fact, scholars have determined that on plantations across Kentucky, Black men were to be found distilling bourbon. Making bourbon, "was a very real task and a role that was fulfilled by enslaved men," Smith explains.
By shining a light on this history, Smith hopes to combat the erasure of Black contributions to bourbon history. "[Now] we have the historic perspective of, actually, this is rooted in the innovations and intellectual property of the enslaved from Kentucky. So we've been involved in the industry from the very beginning, but just have been moved out," she explains.
Today at farm-to-table dinners, Black Soil KY features bourbon bottles from Black-owned businesses, such as that of Allen and Leslie Carter of Silver Springs Farm Equwine and Vineyard in Lexington — made on land once home to whiskey pioneers Nathaniel Harris and James E. Pepper. “We've worked with bourbon companies to host farm-to-table dinners, expertly pairing the notes in the bourbon — alongside of our culinary professional working with them to curate the menu,” Smith says.
Establishing a legacy
By connecting urban families to rural and urban Black farmers and producers, and by inviting non-Kentuckians to visit Kentucky's growing community of modern Black-owned farms, Smith hopes to build market share and visibility for those in Black Soil KY's network.
As for her legacy, Smith says she is most proud of the way farms she works with are thinking of their own futures, with sustainability and succession planning. "Each of them have identified how their farm will pass on," Smith explains. "So it's not a flash in the pan or trend. This is for life."
That's a legacy worthy of a bourbon toast.
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The Spirit of Kentucky
Experience bourbon bliss in the Bluegrass State, where a visit to a distillery is just the beginning of the adventure. Taste your way along the Bourbon Trail™ or celebrate centuries of rich bourbon heritage at events like the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival™. Whether it's culture, music, good food, or good spirits, you can find it in Kentucky.
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