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Sazerac Plans $71 Million in Kentucky Bourbon Expansion Projects

April 23, 2014 – In the latest burst of expansion in Bourbon Country, Sazerac has announced plans to invest $71 million to expand production capacity at its three Kentucky distilleries: Buffalo Trace in Frankfort, 1792 Barton in Bardstown, and Glenmore in Owensboro. The Metairie, Louisiana-based company will add approximately 110 jobs to its Kentucky workforce when the projects are completed, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

The projects have been approved for $7.4 million in tax incentives from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority. Last week, Governor Steve Beshear signed a new law supported by the Kentucky Distillers Association that will allow the state’s distilleries to take a credit on their corporate income taxes for the money they pay in so-called “barrel taxes” on maturing whiskey, with the credits to be reinvested in capital projects within the state. The credits will be phased in over the next five years when the law takes effect starting in 2015, and Sazerac’s expansion is the first to be announced since the new law was signed.

Buffalo Trace will get a new bottled goods warehouse with computerized inventory storage and retrieval equipment, while Glenmore will get a new distribution center with similar high-tech inventory control systems and upgrades to its maturation warehouses. Barton is slated to receive additional production capacity.

Sazerac declined to make executives available for interviews to discuss the expansion.

Links: Sazerac | Buffalo Trace