A Jack Daniel’s barrel house in Lynchburg, Tennessee experienced a partial structural collapse early Monday morning, affecting around 3,000 barrels of maturing whiskey, according to The Lynchburg Times. No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred at one of the distillery’s older warehouses dating back to the 1960s.
Quick Response Contains Whiskey Spill
The collapse triggered a fire alarm around 5:50 a.m. when the falling structure severed a fire suppression line at Barrel House 2-15, located behind the distillery’s South Bottling Plant. Officials responded immediately to the scene.
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“Overnight, there was a partial collapse of a Jack Daniel Distillery barrel house in Lynchburg, TN. No individuals were inside the barrel house at the time and there were no injuries to any employees. We are working with distillery and local officials to assess the damage,” said Svend Jansen, Jack Daniel’s Global Public Relations Officer in a statement from Brown-Forman. “Thanks to the quick response by the Jack Daniel Distillery team, we have the spill contained with minimal runoff,” he told The Lynchburg Times.
Historic Structure Affected
The affected warehouse, constructed in the late 1960s, had the capacity to store approximately 19,000 barrels of maturing Tennessee whiskey. The collapse impacted roughly 15% of the stored barrels, primarily affecting the back corner of the structure.
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The barrel house represents one of Jack Daniel’s traditional storage facilities, similar to the iconic warehouses visible behind Lynchburg Square, rather than the newer palletized facilities along Lynchburg Highway. Despite the incident, distillery tours and operations continued as normal.
Company officials emphasized that the situation was contained and could have been much worse. Ashley Schaffner Fletcher, a Jack Daniel’s spokesperson, confirmed that a full assessment of the damage is underway in an email exchange with The Tennessean. He said: “We are working to conduct a full assessment of the damage at this time, but believe no more than 15% of the barrels inside the house were impacted. All affected whiskey has been contained and we are working with all appropriate government agencies as we remediate this incident.”
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