Sazerac moves for foreclosure sale of shuttered Kentucky distillery
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sazerac subsidiary seeks foreclosure sale of Garrard County Distillery within 90 days
- Tom Collins plans to bid on site assets including filled bourbon barrels and equipment
- $28 million judgment remains owed if Tom Collins does not win the foreclosure auction
Sazerac, through a subsidiary, has filed motions that would send the shuttered Garrard County Distillery into foreclosure sale.
A month ago, Sazerac subsidiary Tom Collins Distilling LLC bought out the loan on the property from Truist Bank, and on March 30, filed default and summary judgment for $28 million.
Now, Tom Collins has asked for foreclosure sale to be ordered on the property as a whole by the master commissioner within 90 days.
The motion is set to be heard in Garrard County Circuit Court on Friday, April 3.
Tom Collins said in the filing they also plan to bid on the property, which includes all inventory, including filled barrels and bottles of bourbon, as well as all equipment on site in Lancaster.
Sazerac, which owns Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Barton 1792 in Bardstown, and Glenmore Distilling in Owesboro, among other properties, has not commented on plans for the property in Garrard County.
If Tom Collins is not the winning bidder, then Sazerac still will be owed the $28 million judgment, according to the filing.
Garrard County Distillery has been in receivership since April 2025, when Truist Bank sued them, alleging that owners All Nations had defaulted on $26 million in loans. The distillery was newly built and in operation for a little over a year when it shut down abruptly, owing millions.
The founder of the company, Ray Franklin, left at the end of 2024 for Spirits Capital, a digital barrel sales platform, but has since left that company and is now listed as CEO of Lexington-based Blackstar Spirits, which bought Black Button Distilling in New York last fall. It has since fired staff and moved to liquidate inventory.
