Blue Run Spirits Previews New Kentucky Whiskey Distillery

Blue Run Spirits recently revealed the first look at its planned whiskey distillery and headquarters in Georgetown, Kentucky.

A prepared statement from the distiller noted that the upcoming project was designed by international architect firm Bjarke Ingels Group and the new facility will clock in at 35,000-square-feet for the distillery and 20,000-square-feet for the new rickhouse.

Blue Run will break ground soon at Georgetown’s Lanes Run Business Park. The new campus is projected to open in 2025, with distillery operations anticipated to bring at least 45 full time jobs.

Blue Run Spirits recently revealed the first look at its planned whiskey distillery and headquarters in Georgetown, Kentucky. (image via Blue Run)

“We are thrilled to be able to reveal an early look of Bjarke Ingels Group’s design for the new Blue Run Spirits distillery in Georgetown, giving everyone a glimpse at where we are heading in developing a welcoming, unexpected and modern facility with a true focus on sustainability,” said Blue Run Spirits CEO and cofounder Mike Montgomery.

“This will be a game-changing addition to Blue Run’s long-range business plans, allowing us to meet forecasted and unforeseen demand, while also giving our Whiskey Director Shaylyn Gammon and Liquid Advisor Jim Rutledge a home base of operations,” he added.

Blue Run officials noted that the design of the new distillery, called “Meander,” is meant to evoke the journey of the limestone-rich water of the Royal Spring in Georgetown as it winds its way through the distilling, aging and blending process.

The Royal Spring, dubbed the Blue Run by one of the founders, serves as the company’s namesake.

The design firm Bjarke Ingels was founded in 2005 and is based in Copenhagen and New York City with offices in London, Barcelona and Shenzhen. Their notable projects include Google Headquarters, Lego Brand Museum, Audemars Piguet Museum and Hotel, the San Pellegrino Flagship Factory, and world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma.

“For Blue Run, we have boiled the entire process of whiskey-making down to a single linear sequence … from distilling to maturing to bottling,” said founder and creative director Bjarke Ingels. “The half-mile long process meanders through the gentle hillsides creating bends and banks, inlets, and outlooks. A single shingled roof of photovoltaic tiles twists and turns to maintain optimal orientation even as the activities underneath require grandeur or intimacy. In the same way the Royal Spring is shaped by how the water flows through it, Blue Run Distillery is shaped by the flow of the whiskey and the processes and people who make it.”

Blue Run’s Montgomery said that design is at the center of everything they do at Blue Run, from their liquid to their bottle to their new distillery. “The design BIG has developed is in dialogue with the landscape, the meandering path to making whiskey and a manifestation of the bold, distinct and inviting ethos that signifies Blue Run Spirits.”

Blue Run Spirits has 13 bourbon and rye whiskeys in their portfolio since the brand’s launch in October of 2020. The company recently announced expanded distribution in New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Washington, Minnesota and Ontario.

For more information, check out www.bluerunspirits.com.