Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated Whiskey House of Kentucky, a producer of contract bourbon and American whiskey, as company and local leadership gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on a new $130 million operation in Elizabethtown that is creating 100 high-wage full-time jobs.
"Congratulations to Whiskey House of Kentucky and its entire team on reaching this incredible milestone in Elizabethtown,” said Gov. Beshear. “This new distilling operation will not only foster growth in the commonwealth’s signature bourbon industry but is also bringing $130 million in new economic development investment, well-paying jobs and another great reason for tourists to visit the area.”
Rocky Adkins, the Governor’s senior advisor, attended Thursday’s event and congratulated company and regional leaders: “Bourbon is a $9 billion industry in the commonwealth and provides jobs for more than 22,500 of our people. Whiskey House of Kentucky is making sure this industry and the Elizabethtown community remain strong far into the future.”
Whiskey House’s property development plan includes 16 traditional rickhouses, each with capacity for 41,500 barrels. Plans also include a 50,000-square-foot palletized warehouse, a spent grain processing facility, a bottling facility and a rail system, as well as access to one of the highest yielding hydrostratigraphic limestone aquifers in the region, which sits 120 feet below the property.
Produced by Vendome Copper & Brass Works, Whiskey House’s distilling and processing equipment is built around a 48-inch custom still and 14 closed-top fermenters with a capacity of 33,000 gallons. The company will begin operations with more than 7 million proof gallons of annual capacity (112,000 barrels), expanding to more than 14 million proof gallons (224,000 barrels) in 2027.
“Whiskey House will reshape the contract whiskey market in the United States,” said David Mandell, co-founder and CEO of Whiskey House. “As the bourbon market continues to grow, we see the need for additional distilling capacity and more customer focused solutions. We will provide the highest-quality production, guaranteed capacity and exceptional customer service for our brand partners.”
“Whiskey House sets a high bar for advanced manufacturing in the whiskey industry,” said John Hargrove, co-founder, president and COO of Whiskey House. “We’re making major investments in the technological capabilities of the distillery that will immediately make Whiskey House the most advanced contract whiskey production facility in the United States.”
Founded in 2022 by Mandell, Hargrove and Daniel Linde – the team that started and built the Bardstown Bourbon Co. – Whiskey House is designed to focus solely on large-scale, flexible, contract whiskey production. With no brands of its own, Whiskey House provides quality customer service, competitive pricing and visibility into the manufacturing and barrel aging process for its custom whiskey production customers.
Whiskey House’s fully integrated operational and information technology infrastructure captures and analyzes data across the entire manufacturing process. With the addition of its artificial intelligence applications, the company can continually improve quality and efficiency, increase production yields, expand sustainability initiatives and provide critical real-time information to customers about their product. As a result of its efforts and vision for the distillery, Whiskey House received a Microsoft for Startups Founder’s Hub Grant to accelerate the implementation of AI in all aspects of its manufacturing and distillation process.
Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul showed his excitement for the project: “I am enthusiastic about diversifying our local industry while providing more job opportunities for our citizens. I’m confident that Whiskey House’s investment will provide jobs for our citizens for many years to come. The tourism this business could potentially bring to Hardin County gives us a stronger position in Kentucky’s ever-growing bourbon industry, boosting our local economy by positively impacting small businesses.”
Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory mentioned bourbon production in the commonwealth: “We are extremely excited to welcome the Whiskey House of Kentucky to Elizabethtown. It’s no secret that bourbon production is booming in the commonwealth. With the addition of Whiskey House in our industrial park, it allows Elizabethtown another opportunity to showcase our successes and the positive growth that we have been continuously blessed with.”
Elizabethtown/Hardin County Industrial Foundation Vice President Andy Games spoke on the positive long term effects Whiskey House will have on the community: “Few things are as quintessentially Kentucky as bourbon whiskey, and to have the top producer by volume of American whiskey in the U.S. here in Elizabethtown’s T.J. Patterson Industrial Park is a testament to the steadfast economic growth of our region. This is a historic investment that will further place our region’s industrial sector, and the greater Elizabethtown area, on the map.”