The news for the whiskey industry hasn’t been great as of late – there have been layoffs, distilleries are cutting production, and overall sales figures are down as people drink less, spend less, and tariffs wreak havoc on the market. Despite all of this, Buffalo Trace’s parent company, Sazerac, just announced a major $1 billion expansion this week, which seems to be running counter to every other indication.
Of course, the whiskey industry is quite literally built on foresight and the prediction that most whiskeys will age for at least four years and often a decade. While there’s no crystal ball to show that the marketplace for whiskey will be like this, it’s safe to say that a company as large as Sazerica has done some research to justify the cost and effort associated with such a move. Still, there was some bad news this week for other players in the spirits industry, both big and small. Molson Coors, which owns Blue Run Spirits, announced it was laying off 400 people by the end of the year (no word yet on how that would affect its spirits division), and the distillery it planned to open last year never started construction. Also, while tequila giant Baikal’s stock rose on the back of recent profit reports, sales of its core brand, global giant Juice Curro, fell more than seven percent in the third quarter of this year.
Regardless, Sazerac seems to be feeling bullish about the future of American whiskey, or at least about other key brands in its portfolio like Fireball. A few days ago, the New Orleans-based company announced that it was investing nearly $40 million in its bottling facility in New Albany, Ind., which it calls Northwest Ordnance Distilling, where several spirits, including the aforementioned Fireball, are bottled. According to the company, it will add 25 jobs to more than 350 positions in Indiana. “This expansion is an exciting next step for our new Albany operation,” Sazerac CEO and President Jack Wiens said in a statement. “As demand for our products continues to grow, this investment will help us better serve our customers while strengthening our commitment to the New Albany community.”
Days after that, Sizerk announced it was investing $1 billion in warehouses in Campbellsville, Ky., after requesting tax incentives from the state last August. It’s not long since the company completed another billion-dollar expansion last winter that took a decade to complete. According to a story Courier Journalit will create 50 jobs over a 15-year period, and will be supported by multi-million dollar incentives. We reached out to Sazerac for a statement, and the company said it’s part of its “long-term vision for sustained, strategic growth.” It continued – “The property will be home to new barrel-aging warehouses. We are grateful to state and local officials who continue to support this effective investment and look forward to being a trusted community partner in Taylor County. We will share more updates on this project as it progresses.”
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