DISTILLERY
Bulleit proof The Bulleit Distilling Company at Shelbyville, Kentucky
ByMatt Strickland
Diageo opened its US$115 million Bulleit Bourbon Distillery in Shelby County, Kentucky in 2017 to pro- duce its Bulleit Bourbon and ‘future’ whiskey brands. Designed for around 1.8m proof gallons of spirit annu- ally, and to employ around 30 people, the company has already announced a further investment in Kentucky to the tune of $130 million for another new distillery in nearby Lebanon. We thought it was time to get along to Shelbyville and take a look around.
Bulleit Distilling Co. Visitor Experience 3464 Benson Pike, Shelbyville KY 40065, USA
We’re checked into security with our names, numbers, and blood sam- ples (kidding) and allowed to proceed through. I park and we step out into pure cloudless Kentucky sunshine buttressed by the heat and humidity so common in these parts. I’m here meeting Dwayne Kozlowski, Bulleit’s Head Distiller, and he has kindly agreed to give me a tour of the facilities. Dwayne came to Kentucky by way of Canada where he spent much of his career at Diageo’s Crown Royal facility in Gimli, Manitoba. As we talk it becomes apparent that at Gimli, he did a little bit of everything,
“W here the hell is this place?!” Google Maps and I are having a lover’s quarrel. I’m beginning to run late for my meeting at Bulleit and my GPS keeps bringing me to the same intersection, completely devoid of anything distillery- related save for the growing acreage of verdant corn surrounding me from all sides. There’s nary a street sign in sight, and I’m beginning to long for the origami mastery once required to navigate with a
simple paper map. (Fortunately, since my visit Google has updated its maps to lead visitors to the correct address.) After a panicked phone call to my Bulleit contact, I nally arrive at the dis- tillery. This is Bulleit’s newest plant, built only a few short years ago in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It’s a nice feather in parent company Diageo’s cap and part of its growing investment in American whis- key production.
50 ● BREWER AND DISTILLER INTERNATIONAL I october 2019
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