Dive Brief:
- Kentucky is in the midst of a bourbon boon, with bourbon production hitting 1.3 million barrels filled, the most since 1970, and bourbon inventory in warehouses reaching nearly 5.7 million barrels, a 40-year high in 2014, according to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association. For perspective, bourbon production totaled just over 485,020 barrels in 1999.
- Increased demand has encouraged bourbon producers to expand, including members of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association having completed or planning "more than $1.3 billion in capital projects as part of a 10-year growth spurt," The Washington Post reported.
- Heaven Hill Distilleries, maker of Evan Williams, is planning to expand its main Louisville distillery with an about $30 million investment. The company plans to increase production by one-third by building more warehouses to age the whiskey.
Dive Insight:
Kentucky's bourbon production has soared over 170% since the turn of the century, and with Kentucky as the source for 95% of global bourbon production, that rapid growth means the bourbon industry as a whole is booming across the world. Sales and production can be a guessing game, as bourbon takes at least two years to age properly, so estimating demand in the future could be tricky — if the outlook for bourbon wasn't looking so good.