Bourbon company announces $600 million investment to expand operations in Laurel County

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WYMT) - In what is being called the largest distilled spirits-related investment on record in Kentucky, a Louisville-based bourbon company will spend $600 million to expand into Laurel County.

Governor Andy Beshear and officials with Sazerac Co. announced the move on Wednesday.

“This is a significant investment in Kentucky by Sazerac as our signature bourbon industry continues to grow at an incredible rate,” Gov. Beshear said in a news release. “I am so glad to see this job creation in Southeastern Kentucky, as well as the growth of a company that has invested so much in the commonwealth over the past 25 years. Thank you to the leaders at Sazerac for further deepening their roots in the Bluegrass State.”

The Sazerac Co. is acquiring the 198-acre Rowland Acres Industrial Park from the London-Laurel County Economic Development Authority to construct nearly 20 new barrel storage warehouses in Laurel County, which will create up to 50 full-time jobs.

The project also includes a 72,000-square-foot expansion of Robinson Stave and Cumberland Cooperage, which Sazerac acquired in 2014, to increase production capacity for barrels used to store the company’s aging whiskies.

Work on the project is expected to begin in the coming weeks, with the first seven barrel warehouses expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.

You can read more about the project here.