Diageo announces plans for new $115 million distillery in Shelby County

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Sunday, June 1, 2014, 8 p.m. — British spirits giant Diageo announced last week its intent to build a new 1.8 million proof-gallon bourbon distillery on a 30-acre site in Shelby County. The $115 million project will create approximately 30 new jobs.

The new distillery and six warehouses are planned for a tract on Benson Pike east of Shelbyville. The new site will distill Diageo’s popular Bulleit Bourbon varieties and other future bourbons and whiskey brands. Diageo hopes to break ground later this summer with a goal of having the distillery operating between July and December 2016.

This is the latest in a series of Diageo investments in Kentucky. Earlier this year, the company announced plans to invest $2 million to develop the Stitzel-Weller visitor center in Louisville. Diageo will renovate the original administrative building to bring to life the history of the Stitzel-Weller Distillery through artifacts from the site’s archives.

“This is an exciting day for one of Kentucky’s signature industries,” Gov. Beshear said in a press release. “The world’s taste for bourbon continues to grow, and Diageo’s new distillery in Shelby County will help satisfy that demand. I look forward to this significant investment and seeing more Kentucky-made product in stores and homes across the globe.”

Bourbon distilling contributes nearly $2 billion in gross state product each year and has more than doubled its importance to the state’s overall economic activity in the past 13 years. Kentucky exported $383 million of its distilled spirits in 2013, a full 21 percent of the U.S. total.

The project has received approval for up to $2.5 million in tax incentives through The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority’s Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

The project also qualifies for up to $1.5 million in additional tax benefits through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, which allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.

Diageo’s spirits, beer and wine brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, George Dickel, Buchanan’s and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Guinness, Beaulieu Vineyard and Sterling Vineyards Wines.

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