Massive expansion at Buffalo Trace Distillery

Buffalo Trace Distillery is on track to produce more bourbon than it did ever before as progress on its expansion project continues. Nine years ago, expansion at Buffalo Trace Distillery began to meet growing consumer demand for its products, and to date those efforts have resulted in an increase in whiskey making at the distillery by 50 percent. In the coming years that number is projected to double with the completion of Buffalo Trace Distillery’s additional still house.

The $1.2 billion expansion encompasses all operations at Buffalo Trace Distillery, starting with a new distribution center and bottling operations in 2015 and 2019.

More recently, the distillery added 14 new barrel warehouses, 12 additional fermenters, additional cookers, a new cooling system and tripled the size of its visitor center. This year Buffalo Trace’s additional dry house, hammer mill, additional still house and wastewater treatment plant have been constructed and will be operational by the end of this year.

The newly constructed still house will begin operating in December 2022 and allows Buffalo Trace to double its production. The second still house is located adjacent to Buffalo Trace’s existing 1930s still house and contains a duplicate still of Buffalo Trace’s existing still, standing 40 feet tall and having the capacity of 60,000 gallons a day.

The wastewater treatment plant will process 1.2 million gallons of water per day. The treatment plant will be comprised of a moving bed biofilm reactor, allowing wastewater to be treated efficiently and maintain water quality standards. Wastewater will be treated and disinfected so it is clean enough to release into the Penitentiary Branch, which leads to the Kentucky River.

In addition to increased production, the expansion has added 200 production-focused jobs at Buffalo Trace Distillery over the past four years. With the continued capacity increases, there will be up to 50 more jobs added in the coming few years.