Angel’s Envy Founder’s New Whiskey Venture Faces $1.4 Million in Lawsuits

Versailles’ Kentucky Castle, acquired by Wes Henderson and TKC Distilling in 2023 for $19 million. (Photo: True Story Whiskey)

A whiskey company founded by a co-founder of Angel’s Envy is facing multiple lawsuits alleging more than $1.4 million in unpaid debts, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported Tuesday.

The lawsuits were filed separately in Jefferson County Circuit Court against TKC Distilling and related companies connected to the True Story whiskey brand, which was launched by bourbon entrepreneur Wes Henderson after his 2023 purchase of The Kentucky Castle in Versailles for $19 million.

One lawsuit was filed by architecture firm Luckett & Farley, while the other was brought by bourbon industry consultant Peggy Noe Stevens, a fellow member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.

The legal disputes come as questions surround a planned $92.5 million distillery and tourism project that Henderson unveiled in 2024. The development was slated for a 150-acre site in Versailles and was expected to include a distillery, visitor center, restaurant, retail space and lodging accommodations tied to the True Story whiskey brand.

The project received approval for more than $5 million in state tax incentives and was projected to create 89 jobs. However, the planned groundbreaking never appears to have taken place.

According to court filings, Luckett & Farley was hired to provide architectural services for the proposed distillery and related Kentucky Castle improvements. The firm alleges it was contracted for nearly $1.15 million in work and is now owed approximately $936,000 after the company allegedly defaulted on a promissory note executed in 2025.

TKC Distilling has denied the allegations in court filings and requested dismissal of the lawsuit.

In a separate complaint filed on May 21, Peggy Noe Stevens & Associates alleged that it is owed more than $510,000 for consulting services provided to the company. TKC Distilling had not yet filed a response to that lawsuit at the time of publication.

Henderson launched True Story in 2024 as a legacy project for his six sons after selling Angel’s Envy to Bacardi in 2015 in a deal reportedly valued at $150 million. The brand currently sells sourced and finished whiskeys while awaiting the maturation of its own distillate.