News Updates

Kentucky Barrel Inventory Reaches New High

/

September 27, 2022 – Kentucky distillers set a new production record in 2021, according to state revenue department data released today by the Kentucky Distillers Association. Distillers filled more than 2 million barrels for the fourth consecutive year, and had a total of nearly 12 million barrels of Bourbon and other spirits aging in the state’s rickhouses as of January 1, when they’re required to file an inventory report with the state. The inventory generated a total of $40 million in “barrel taxes,” the property tax leveled on every barrel of maturing spirits in a distiller’s inventory. That money goes Read More »

Irish Distillers Plans €250 Million Midleton Expansion

/

September 15, 2022 – Irish Distillers plans to expand Ireland’s largest distillery once again to meet growing global demand for Irish Whiskey. The €250 million project will see an all-new distillery built on a 55-acre site just across the Dungourney River from the existing Midleton distillery, which opened in 1975 to replace the original Midleton Distillery. “We have a vision that by 2030, we’ll be selling 15 million cases of Jameson (annually),” Midleton master distiller Kevin O’Gorman told WhiskyCast. “Last year, to put it in context, in our financial year 2022…we for the first time surpassed 10 million cases of Read More »

Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2022

/

August 17, 2022 – Six inductees will join the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame next month in the first induction ceremony since 2019. The honorees were announced today, including the late Stephen Thompson of Kentucky Artisan Distillery, this year’s recipient of the Parker Beam Lifetime Achievement Award. Thompson passed away last year at the age of 79 following an accident. “He’s another one that everyone misses,” said Kentucky Distillers Association president Eric Gregory. “He was such a resource and an advocate for the craft distilleries…he had almost an encyclopedic knowledge of production facilities and what to do, and if you Read More »

TTB Issuing Proposed Standards for American Single Malts

/

July 28, 2022 – American single malt whisky distillers are finally getting the recognition they’ve sought from the U.S. government for the last six years. Tomorrow, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will publish its proposed standards for American single malts in the Federal Register and open a 60-day public comment period. The proposed standard comes nearly 5 years after Seattle’s Westland Distillery and other members of the American Single Malt Whisky Commission filed petitions with the TTB to create a “standard of identity,” or official definition of American single malts. Westland co-founder Matt Hofmann told WhiskyCast the Read More »

Thieves Strike Glenfarclas Visitors Centre

/

May 15, 2022 – Police Scotland is investigating an overnight break-in at the Glenfarclas Distillery visitors centre. According to the distillery, the burglars smashed display cases and stole a bottle of 60-year-old single malt along with a number of Family Casks releases valued at more than £100,000. In an Instagram post, the distillery asked anyone who may be offered these bottles in a private sale to contact them. View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Glenfarclas Distillery (@glenfarclasdistillery) Police have not disclosed whether any cameras were operating at the distillery that might have captured images of the Read More »

Pernod Ricard to Invest $110 Million at Speyside Distilleries

/

April 29, 2022 – Pernod Ricard is planning major expansions at its Aberlour and Miltonduff distilleries in Scotland. The two Speyside distilleries will receive a total of £88 million ($110 million USD) in upgrades that will increase production by 14 million liters of alcohol annually. In a news release, the company’s Chivas Brothers unit unveiled plans for an all-new still house at Aberlour, along with a new visitors center to replace the tiny shop at the distillery’s main gate. The distillery’s production will be doubled to nearly eight million liters of alcohol each year using sustainable distilling technology as part Read More »

Heaven Hill Plans $135 Million Bardstown Distillery

/

April 27, 2022 – Groundbreaking is expected in June for Heaven Hill’s return to distilling in Bardstown, Kentucky. The family-owned distiller plans to build a $135 million dollar distillery in Bardstown. When it opens in 2024, the distillery will make Heaven Hill’s first whiskey in Bardstown since the historic 1996 fire that destroyed the Shapira family’s original distillery. The announcement comes after Tuesday night’s approval of zoning changes for the site by the Nelson County Planning Commission. The distillery will be built on a 61-acre vacant piece of land just east of Bardstown Community Park along Highway 245, just west of Read More »

Danish Distiller Says “No Peace, No Whisky”

/

February 16, 2022 – Hans Island sounds like the name of the villain in a James Bond movie, but it’s actually more like a lair for a Bond villain. It’s a small island in the North Atlantic on the border between Canada and Greenland, and has been the subject of a low-key diplomatic dispute between Canada and Denmark for decades. Both sides claim sovereignty over Hans Island, but the dispute escalated in 1984 when Canadian soldiers “invaded” the island, planted the Maple Leaf flag, and left behind a bottle of Canadian Whisky. Denmark’s minister for Greenland followed up on that Read More »

Heaven Hill Acquires Craft Producer Samson & Surrey

/

February 1, 2022 – Heaven Hill is expanding its portfolio to include “craft” whiskey brands such as FEW Spirits, Widow Jane, and Brenne with its acquisition of Samson & Surrey. The craft producer has been one of the fastest-growing spirits companies in the industry since it was founded by industry veterans Robert Furniss-Roe and Juan Rovira five years ago, and will operate as a standalone unit within the Shapira family’s Heaven Hill Brands. Heaven Hill president Max Shapira said in a statement released following the close of business Tuesday “the Samson & Surrey portfolio strategically enhances our portfolio with emerging Read More »

Private Barrel Kentucky Bourbons in Legal Jeopardy

/

January 29, 2022 – Sales of “private selection” barrels by distillers in Kentucky have become popular choices for retailers, bars, restaurants, and even whiskey clubs. However, it turns out that those sales actually violate state liquor regulations in Kentucky, and perhaps even at the federal level. It’s not because sales by the barrel are specifically banned, but because the process of selecting those barrels violates a number of state regulations. Kentucky’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board enforces the state’s regulations, and has issued an advisory opinion to that effect, according to Kentucky Distillers Association president Eric Gregory. “Right now, the ABC Read More »

Scroll to Top