Shelbyville, KY – London, UK-based beverage giant Diageo has broken ground at its new distillery in Shelby County, Kentucky distillery.

The company said it will invest $115 million in the new Bulleit Distilling Co. distillery that will feature six barrel warehouses and have an annual capacity of 1.8 million gallons of spirits annually.

Along with Bulleit Bourbon, the facility will distill a number of current and future Diageo bourbon and ‘North American’ whiskey brands.

Diageo aims to have the distillery operational in late 2016.  Diageo expects the construction phase will provide a significant number of jobs and anticipates employing approximately 30 people for whiskey distillation and maturation.

‘Small batch’ distiller Bulleit Distilling Co. was started more than 20 years ago with ‘Bulleit Bourbon’, and in March 2011, a straight rye whiskey was added to the portfolio. The brand’s newest variant, ‘Bulleit 10-Year’ was introduced in 2013.

Diageo counts Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, J&B, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness among its brands, which are marketed in more than 180 countries around the world.

08/26/2014