FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Buffalo Trace Distillery celebrated filling its ninth million barrel of bourbon, marking a significant milestone that highlights the explosive growth of Kentucky's bourbon industry.
The achievement came less than three years after the distillery filled its eighth million barrel, demonstrating the rapid pace of expansion in the bourbon sector. To put this growth into perspective, company leader say it once took Buffalo Trace almost three decades to fill a million barrels.
"It took us 27 years from 5 to 6 million. And we're going from 8 to 9 in less than 3 years," Jake Wenz, president and CEO of Sazerac Company said. "So I think that shows you what's been going on here over the last few years."
The transformation at Buffalo Trace reflects broader changes in the industry. 30 years ago, distillery leaders say, they could produce all the bourbon it needed for an entire year in just six weeks. Today, the facility operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
State leaders say bourbon's growth has been instrumental in Kentucky's tourism success, helping the state break tourism records three years in a row.
However, the industry faces uncertainty due to ongoing tariff concerns. Bourbon has been caught in trade disputes, with tariffs being implemented during the Trump administration creating volatility for producers.
"I think the entire bourbon industry is concerned that the tariffs that have come and gone and risen and fallen - it's just a lot of uncertainty and of course businesses can't really operate on uncertainty," Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman said.
Coleman noted that while the state is working to stabilize the situation, there are limits to what can be accomplished at the state level. Republican leaders in the legislature have also indicated they are monitoring the situation and exploring ways the state could possibly provide some relief to the bourbon industry.
