Home » Ground broken on Diageo distillery in Shelby County

Ground broken on Diageo distillery in Shelby County

Will be called Bulleit Distilling Co.

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (Aug. 21, 2014)– Gov. Steve Beshear today joined company officials and local leaders to break ground on Diageo’s 1.8 million distillery in Shelby County. Diageo also announced the official name of the facility — The Bulleit Distilling Co.

bulleit_bourbon_frontier_whiskeyEarlier this year, Diageo announced its intention to invest an estimated $115 million to build the 1.8 million proof gallon (750,000 9-liter cases) distillery and six barrel warehouses. In June, Shelby County’s Triple S Planning Commission unanimously approved the distillery project. Along with Bulleit Bourbon, the facility will distill a number of current and future Diageo bourbon and North American whiskey brands.

Founded by Tom Bulleit more than 20 years ago, Bulleit Bourbon ranks as one of the fastest-growing small batch whiskeys in America.

“When I walked away from my career as a lawyer to revive my great, great grandfather’s high-rye bourbon recipe, people thought I was crazy,” said Tom Bulleit. “Twenty-seven years into this entrepreneurial journey later, it’s humbling to know this amazing facility right here in Kentucky will bear my family’s name. It’s an honor I’m not sure I will ever fully be able to describe.

To encourage the investment and job growth in Shelby County, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives of up to $2.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

KEDFA also approved the company for tax benefits up to $1.5 million through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, which allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.

Bourbon distilling contributes nearly $2 billion in gross state product each year and has more than doubled its importance to the state’s overall economic activity in the past 13 years. Kentucky exported $383 million of its distilled spirits in 2013, a full 21 percent of the U.S. total.