LOUISVILLE (WDRB) – Brown-Forman Corp. is moving forward with a $95 million plan to expand its distillery in Shively, doubling its whiskey-making capacity while remaining with the same narrow stretch of real estate between Dixie Highway and 7th Street Road.
The Brown-Forman distillery (formerly called the Early Times distillery) at 2921 Dixie Highway produces whiskeys eventually bottled under company brands such as Old Forester, Woodford Reserve, and Coopers Craft.
The Louisville-based liquor giant first revealed a potential expansion of the site in late 2019, when it filed plans with Metro government contemplating a 12% increase in the building square footage on the property.
The company said in a press release on Thursday that “exceptional growth” in its “premium bourbons” – those are primarily Old Forester and Woodford Reserve – is propelling the expansion.
“The demand for American whiskey worldwide is a result of the craftsmanship and specialness of Kentucky’s signature spirit,” Alex Alvarez, the company’s chief production and sustainability officer, said in the news release. “This expansion will allow us to increase production, improve efficiency, and enhance the workspace so we can continue bringing whiskey, made right here in Louisville, Kentucky, to the world.”
The company doesn’t mention job growth as part of the plan. Kentucky in October approved Brown-Forman for $5.5 million in economic development incentives to encourage the expansion, but the incentives don’t require that the company expand its payroll.
The distillery currently employs 35 people with an average hourly wage of $35.83, according to documents presented to the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority as part of the tax incentive approval.
Brown-Forman Corp. is moving forward with a $95 million plan to expand its distillery in Shively, doubling its whiskey-making capacity while remaining with the same narrow stretch of real estate between Dixie Highway and 7th Street Road.
"Once fully completed and operational, we are expecting some job growth. It will not be a large number and will be dependent on the final design once fully operational," Brown-Forman spokeswoman Elizabeth Conway said in an email.
The plan, according to Brown-Forman, involves:
- Doubling the number of fermenters;
- Adding column still capacity and mash cookers;
- Improving the grain handling and by-products system;
- Improving on-site traffic flow for safety;
- Creating green space for a tree nursery; and
- “Modernizing” the workspace, including a new break room, new locker rooms and “wellness space.”
The company also plans an oak tree nursery on the property, which will enable "a long-term study of oak tree sustainability, part of the company’s overall effort to ensure the future viability of one of the most critical ingredients in bourbon making."
Under federal law, one of the requirements for whiskeys to be called "bourbon" is to be aged in new barrels made of charred oak.
The new "Old Forester Tree Nursery" will enable the first "urban white oak seedling establishment and genetic study" in partnership with the University of Kentucky’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, the company said.
"It will serve as a model for other urban studies in the future with the goal of improving economic and ecological value in urban, rural, and natural forests," Brown-Forman said in the news release.
The company said the expansion will take two years and will not disrupt the distillery’s operations.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Early Times is produced at the distillery. Brown-Forman sold Early Times in 2020.
