Increased demand for U.S. whiskey means continued distillery expansion
By SYLVIA HORLANDER
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, 1 p.m. — The demand for American whiskey keeps growing, according to recently released figures from the Distilled Spirits Council.
Whiskey sales in the United States were up 7.8 percent in 2015, amounting to nearly $4 billion. The growing distilled spirits market is also spurring local growth among local bourbon producers.
Heaven Hill Brands is spending nearly $29 million on expansions of its production and warehouse space this year in an effort to keep ahead of market demands.
On Tuesday, Larry Kass, Heaven Hill’s director of trade relations, said it will spend $13.2 million on construction of two new warehouses in the Cox’s Creek area off Louisville Road.
The two warehouses Heaven Hill will build in Cox’s Creek will hold 55,000 barrels each. The warehouses are the fifth and sixth that the company has added in the past eight years. The expansion will add up to 10 new jobs in Nelson County.
The company also will spend $15.5 million to expand the capacity of its Bernheim Distillery in Louisville. The move will expand the distillery’s production capacity from 970 barrels a day to 1,300. The distillery expansion is expected to create will create about 10 new jobs.
Both projects should be completed in 2017.
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