Inspections of affected barrels will take time as flood cleanup
progresses at Kentucky distillery
[April 14, 2025] By
BRUCE SCHREINER
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Signs of renewal are underway at the Buffalo Trace
Distillery in Kentucky since floodwaters that inundated the
whiskey-making campus receded. But executives say the painstaking task
of inspecting any bourbon barrels touched by the high water will take
time.
The historic distillery has resumed shipping spirits and hopes to reopen
its bottling operation in the coming days, Jake Wenz, CEO and president
of the Sazerac Co. and the distillery, said Friday. The campus could
reopen to visitors soon on a limited basis but for now is closed to
guests through Sunday.
“Restoration of this National Historic Landmark is our top priority to
ensure a quick return to making quality, award-winning whiskey and
welcoming guests from around the world," Wenz said in a release.
The Frankfort, Kentucky-based distillery — which produces some of the
most sought-after bourbon brands — was inundated by floodwaters from the
nearby Kentucky River after days of downpours overfilled rivers to
near-record levels across parts of the Bluegrass State.
Now that the murky floodwaters are gone, the cleanup at Buffalo Trace is
progressing. Teams of engineers and restoration experts have been
assessing damage in the buildings that were flooded.
The overall amount of damage is still being determined, the distillery
said.
Those damage assessments include some of the barrels filled with aging
whiskey. Bourbon gets its flavor and golden brown color during aging.
Workers were able to move some barrels of bourbon to upper floors of
storage warehouses before the prolonged rains produced the flooding.
Inspections of any barrels touched by the flood began Thursday and will
continue until each is carefully assessed, a process that could take
several weeks to complete, the distillery said. It hasn’t said how many
barrels were affected but said it doesn’t expect any meaningful loss of
inventory.
[to top of second column] |
In an aerial view, the flooded Buffalo Trace Distillery is seen on
Monday, April 7, 2025, in Frankfort, Ky. (AP Photo/Jon Cherry, File)
"This is a very involved process, including both barrel inspection as
well as a rigorous quality testing that we do with all of our products,”
said Harlen Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo Trace.
Based on its experience from previous floods, the distillery is
“confident in our process” and that it successfully recovered the
barrels affected by the flood, Wheatley said. The distillery has markers
of several high-water marks from previous floods inside its buildings.
“A lot of heart and soul goes into every product we make, which is why
our team is dedicated to testing with heavy scrutiny each barrel
possibly affected by floodwaters to ensure there are no issues,” he
said.
Crews started cleaning up the distillery's visitor center, where the
flood reached the first floor. During repairs, the distillery said it
plans to reopen a modified version of its visitor center as soon as
possible.
As a first step, the distillery plans to operate a modified retail hub
from its visitor check-in center. Access will be via an email
reservation system offered first to people who had tours interrupted by
the flooding.
Buffalo Trace Distillery is owned by Sazerac and its popular bourbons
include the Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and W.L. Weller brands.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
