Kentucky distillers broke modern-era records

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Kentucky distillers filled more than 2.1 million barrels of Bourbon in 2018, breaking a record of 1.9 million barrels back in the sixties

The second record broken last year came from the 9.1 million total barrels of spirits filled last year breaking a record of 8.7 million total barrels filled also in the sixties.

The group says both figures are modern-era records.

The press release also states that Kentucky now counts 2 barrels of Bourbon and aging spirits for every person living in the Commonwealth.

It’s the highest inventory in the 52 years that records have been kept. It’s also the only time since 1967 that Kentucky distillers filled more than 2 million barrels.

The KDA also says Kentucky Bourbon is one of the Commonwealth’s most historic and treasured industries with an 8.6 billion-dollar economic engine that generates more than 20-thousand jobs.

“If you are going to open a distillery in Kentucky, you better make some bourbon. People come to the distillery to visit, we get a lot of tourists in here, and they expect to taste bourbon, they expect to taste good solid Kentucky bourbon. We support our local farmers, so we get all of our grain locally,” said Marc Dottore, owner of Dueling Grounds Distillery.

Bourbon tourists also made a record of 1.4 million distillery stops in 2018.

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour alone logged one million visits for the first time since its creation by the KDA in 1999.