FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Kentucky Distiller's Association and state officials announced Wednesday that the Kentucky bourbon industry is worth $8.94 billion.
Distillers employ more than 22,500 people with $1.23 billion in annual payroll in Kentucky, according to the study commissioned by KDA and conducted in part by Paul Coomes, an economic consultant and a professor at the University of Louisville.
The industry's employment and payroll have surged in the past two decades as distilleries open or expand.
Distilling contributes more than $285 million in local and state tax revenue and the industry is in the midst of a $5.2 billion expansion boom, the study showed.
The economic snapshot shows that “bourbon is more than just a drink,” KDA President Eric Gregory said. "It is jobs, investment, tourism and so much more.”
Bourbon barrels increased to 10.3 million aging in Kentucky in 2021, more than twice the state's population. The industry also pays out more than $1 billion in payroll to its 22,000 employees statewide.
"It's not just a central Kentucky thing," Senate President Robert Stivers said. "It is a statewide initiative that affects every place and any place in this state."
And there were significant hurdles to that revenue in the last two years. President Donald Trump's administration placed taxes on EU steel and aluminum in 2018, claiming the foreign products made by American allies were a threat to U.S. national security. Europeans and other allies were outraged by Trump's use of the Article 232 section of U.S. trade law to justify the tariffs, leading many to impose counter-tariffs on U.S.-made motorcycles, bourbon, peanut butter and jeans and hundreds of other items.
Those tariffs on bourbon barrels exported to the EU were lifted as of Jan. 1, so Gov. Andy Beshear said there's even more revenue expected for 2022.
Kentucky has 95 distilleries operated by 75 companies spread across 40 counties, Beshear said.
“It is exciting to see bourbon continuing to boom and to bring Kentucky along with it,” Beshear said. "This type of growth during a pandemic is nothing short of incredible."
You can read the full study below or by clicking here.
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