Diageo, the parent company behind Bulleit bourbon and a number of other iconic liquor brands has announced plans to open a new distillery in Kentucky.
The project, which is expected to cost around $130 million, also includes plans to build a warehousing space on a 144-acre site in Marion County, around 30 miles east of Louisville. It hopes to have the distillery running by 2021, reports the Associated Press.
The space will allow the company to expand its production of Bulleit at a time when the whiskey market is booming. Americans purchased $2.08 billion worth of whiskey last year according to Nielsen, up 4.6% since 2016 and that number is growing.
Along with the announcement of the new distillery, Diageo said that Bulleit has experienced double-digit growth over the past year. The new space, which will employ 30 people when it’s finished, will help the brand continue to grow.
The new distillery space will supplement Diageo’s existing spaces in Kentucky: the Stitzel-Weller distillery in Louisville and the new Bulleit distillery which opened last year near Shelbyville.
The new distillery will reportedly be capable of producing 10 million proof gallons of liquor each year, the equivalent of 3.8 million 9-liter cases.
