Buffalo Trace plans $200 million expansion for 30 barrel warehouses

Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort is going on a $200 million building spree, with 30 new bourbon aging warehouses planned for the next 10 years. It’s all to help alleviate bourbon shortages.

Buffalo Trace officials said its most popular whiskeys will remain “on allocation” with only limited amounts shipped to each state per month.

“We’re still looking at shortages across the board for all of our brands, and although the volumes are increasing, allocations will continue,” said Kris Comstock, distillery spokesman.

But the distillery said in a news release on Thursday that inventory is slightly better than three years ago. There will be more Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and E.H. Taylor Jr. this year. Volumes of Elmer T. Lee, Stagg Jr. and W.L. Weller bourbons will remain about the same. And the distillery said it hopes barrels of George T. Stagg and Van Winkle bourbon will yield a bit more this fall than last autumn.

For the future, Buffalo Trace is taking buildings adjacent to the distillery that had been sold off for offices and converting them back to barrel warehouses. And with the completion of a new distribution center, three more warehouses are being converted back to barrel storage.

The distillery also plans to begin new barrel warehouses next year on 200 acres of farmland purchased a few years ago; 30 warehouses are planned, with one going up every five months over the next decade.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 12:19 PM with the headline "Buffalo Trace plans $200 million expansion for 30 barrel warehouses."