Fire destroys Jim Beam warehouse filled with 45,000 bourbon barrels
A fire destroyed a massive Jim Beam warehouse filled with 45,000 barrels of bourbon, sending flames shooting into the night sky and generating so much heat that firetruck lights melted, authorities said Wednesday.
Firefighters from four counties responded to the blaze that erupted late Tuesday. Lightning might have been a factor, but fire investigators haven't been able to start looking for the cause, Woodford County Emergency Management Director Drew Chandler said.
No injuries were reported, Chandler said. The fire was contained but was being allowed to burn for several more hours Wednesday, he said.
[...] Officials from Jim Beam's parent company, Suntory Food and Beverage, said the multi-story warehouse that burned contained "relatively young whiskey," meaning it had not reached maturity for bottling for consumers. "Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers," the spirits company said in a statement. The whiskey maker suffered a total loss in the warehouse. The destroyed whiskey amounted to about 1% of Beam's bourbon inventory, it said.
Also at CNN.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 04 2019, @12:29AM (1 child)
You know what's very expensive to replace? Those 45,000 aged barrels. Those are key to the flavor of the product.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Thursday July 04 2019, @02:57AM
Doesn't bourbon require new barrels? Yep: https://thewhiskeywash.com/whiskey-styles/bourbon/bourbon-barrels-why-exactly-must-they-be-new/ [thewhiskeywash.com]