A new report estimates that the Bourbon industry has a $9 billion economic impact on Kentucky’s economy each year. According to the biennial report commissioned… Read More
A new report estimates that the Bourbon industry has a $9 billion economic impact on Kentucky’s economy each year. According to the biennial report commissioned by the Kentucky Distillers Association, that impact includes more than 23,000 jobs with annual salaries and benefits totaling $2.2 billion.
“Kentucky Bourbon is a $9 billion economic and tourism powerhouse for our Commonwealth, now generating more jobs, more payroll, more tax revenue, more tourists and more distilleries in more Kentucky counties than ever before, KDA President Eric Gregory said at a briefing at the state Capitol in Frankfort.
The state’s 100 licensed distilleries purchased 21 million bushels of grain from Kentucky farmers during 2023, accounting for 70 percent of their grain needs and providing what Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell called a boon for farm families across the Commonwealth. “It’s areas of this state that have a hard time with economic development, but this is an area in which they’re able to help them with their local economies. With the distillers, the farmers, the people who work these fields and the people who distill these spirits, this is something that helps grow Kentucky a tremendous amount,” he said.
The industry accounted for $358 million in state and local taxes during 2023, up 180% from when the KDA’s first economic impact study was conducted in 2009. The industry also accounted for $1.9 billion in federal excise taxes – nearly 25 percent of the federal government’s entire revenue from alcohol excise taxes. In addition, Bourbon distilleries generated 2.5 million visitor experiences during 2023, leading to further economic growth in the hospitality sector.
The study was conducted again this year by University of Louisville professor emeritus of economics Paul Coomes and economic consultant Barry Kornstein. With Coomes retiring, the biennial studies will now be conducted by the University of Kentucky’s James B. Beam Institute.
Valuations for rare whiskies have started to slow down after being one of the best performing alternative investments over the last ten years. The latest… Read More
Valuations for rare whiskies have started to slow down after being one of the best performing alternative investments over the last ten years. The latest Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index shows a four percent decline year-over-year in the value of the rare whiskies that make up the index. Is this the start of a trend? We’ll ask rare whisky consultant Andy Simpson, who helps compile the index for Rare Whisky 101.
In the news, Scotch Whisky exports fell during the first six months of 2023 compared to last year, with a sharp 20 percent decrease in volume. Irish whiskey exports rose during 2022, according to a new report released this week, and Hedley Wright, the longtime chairman of Springbank owner J&A Mitchell Co. Ltd. passed away this month at the age of 92.
A monumental new chapter has opened in the Book of Kentucky Bourbon. This week marks the official opening of the James B. Beam Institute of Kentucky Spirits on the University of Kentucky’s campus in Lexington. Bourbon is a game of chess, not checkers. It’s a long game if you will. The positive effects of this […]
A monumental new chapter has opened in the Book of Kentucky Bourbon. This week marks the official opening of the James B. Beam Institute of Kentucky Spirits on the University of Kentucky’s campus in Lexington. Bourbon is a game of chess, not checkers. It’s a long game if you will. The positive effects of this will take time to notice, just a like fine aging Kentucky Bourbon. But make no mistake, it will have a tremendous impact on the future landscape of American distilling.
“This is the largest teaching distillery in the United States and in the world,” said Seth DeBolt, institute director and UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment professor. “It will allow us to train the next generation of distillers and researchers, and to conduct cutting-edge research on the science of spirits production.”
Dr. Seth Debolt, Director of the James B. Beam Institute & UK Horticulture Professor
The new UK campus facilities include a research distillery building, with a 30-foot column still as the centerpiece, and the Independent Stave Company – Boswell Family Barrel Warehouse. The maturation facility allows the Beam Institute to experiment with barrel aging spirits produced in its research distillery.
“Today’s ceremony reinforces our commitment to investing in our students and Kentucky’s future,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “It also reinforces the importance of our essential partnerships that will help us advance Kentucky. This new facility will help leverage transdisciplinary work and show students that the distilling industry needs employees from a vast array of disciplines and majors.”
The Beam Institute offers engineering, chemistry, business, law, horticulture, forestry, food science, and entomology courses to address spirits industry needs in sustainable agriculture, research and development and more. DeBolt said students will begin learning in the new facilities this fall.
The cutting edge institution is a multidisciplinary effort of experts from the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, College of Engineering, College of Arts and Sciences and Gatton College of Business and Economics. Essentially, the program integrates both the biz and the science of the Bourbon industry.
Courtesy.
“When Beam Suntory first partnered with the University of Kentucky to create the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits, we did so as an investment in the future of bourbon and the future of Kentucky’s workforce,” said Alex Alvarez, chief supply chain officer at Beam Suntory. “The institute has firmly established itself as a forum for continuing education and research, as well as collaboration across the industry to tackle some of our toughest challenges together. We’re proud to be an active partner in this work, pushing our industry toward a bright future.”
Just imagine if something like this existed even 10 years ago. Think how much more developed and advanced the available workforce would be in the distilling industry. Instead of graduating from a university, then having to gain that critical experience working at an actual distillery, this expedites the learning curve exponentially.
15 years ago, there were less than 100 distilleries in the country. Now, there are over 2,000. Will this program serve to benefit all scales of spirit making, from the behemoths to the startups? Time will tell, but that seems like a very safe bet.
Scene from the Institute’s distillation room where researchers and students will have the capacity to produce a barrel a day thanks to Louisville company Vendome Copper & Brass Works.
