Future Bulleit Bourbon Distillery Coming Along Quite Nicely

When we last looked in on the under construction Bulleit Bourbon distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky this past July, the facility’s first new warehouse had just taken possession of its first whiskey barrels. A new progress report out this week indicates things are continuing to move along quite nicely still as the highly anticipated project aims to wrap up by the end of next year.

Among the highlights from Bulleit and parent company Diageo,

• Structural framing of the distillery, barreling building and power house is nearing completion. Soon these buildings will be enclosed and interior mechanical work will begin. The foundational infrastructures, including water, electrical, gas, sewer and land grading are nearing completion.
• The first completed warehouse is already holding barrels of bourbon. The warehouse is expected to be full by mid-October. A second warehouse is nearing completion, and ground was broken on a third warehouse in September. Each has a capacity of 55,000 barrels. The warehouses offer state-of-the-art technology to ensure all barrels are aged consistently, including automated windows, fans and insulation for temperature control and vapor dispersion.

As we mentioned in the last story we wrote about this project, it is a $115 million undertaking which, once complete, will sit atop 300 acres and have the potential to produce 1.8 million proof gallons of alcohol per year. Along with Bulleit’s bourbon it will also be responsible for distilling and aging “a number of current and future Diageo bourbon and North American whiskey brands.”

Front view of the distillery

A photo posted by BulleitDistillingCoShelbyville (@bulleitdistillery_shelbyville) on Oct 5, 2015 at 12:36pm PDT

Interestingly Diageo/Bulleit is aiming to take steps to make this location both locally focused and environmentally friendly. To that end, according to them,

• The Bulleit Distilling Company plans to buy corn from local farmers and will implement a wet cake operation on-site for use by local farmers. The wet distiller’s grain is a byproduct of the distillation process and is a cost-effective and nutritious way for farmers to feed their cattle. In addition to benefiting local farmers, this is an environmentally friendly initiative by Diageo.
• The Bulleit Distilling Company and parent company Diageo have gone to great lengths to build an environmentally friendly facility, spending millions to protect the environment, community, and workers. Approximately 100 acres of land around the property line will serve as a natural barrier to site operations. Also, there has been minimal tree removal, as buildings have been strategically located on open areas. Plans also call for reforesting more acres on site than will be impacted by construction.
• Water conservation and protecting lake habitat are also top priorities. Water will be withdrawn — very slowly — from Guist Creek Lake into the plant storage pond, which will then provide water needed for distilling. Additionally, a six million gallon bio-pond on-site is capable of containing all the liquid on property, as well water that could be generated through the most extreme “100-year” rain event.

Construction on this started in August of last year, and once fully operational the new distillery will employ approximately 30 people.

“The project is really taking shape and it’s exciting to look around and have a true sense of what the site will look like in the end,” said Pauline Rooney, vice president, distillation, maturation and engineering for Diageo North America, in a statement.