Company Returns To Its Historic Roots on Main Street
LOUISVILLE, Ky.,--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Brown-Forman Corporation (NYSE:BFA) (NYSE:BFB) today announced that it
will open a distillery and bourbon experience for its founding brand,
Old Forester, in two historic buildings on West Main Street in
Louisville, Kentucky. Brown-Forman expects to open the Old Forester
Distillery in the fall of 2016, building on the company’s strong bourbon
whiskey heritage by creating a world-class distilling operation and
visitor destination that showcases the craftsmanship and authenticity of
Old Forester, the first bottled bourbon. The company anticipates
investing approximately $30 million in this project.
“George Garvin Brown introduced Old Forester, America’s first bottled
bourbon, more than 140 years ago, which changed our industry and the
Louisville community forever,” said Paul Varga, CEO of Brown-Forman
Corporation. “As demand for high quality bourbon continues to increase,
the Old Forester Distillery will enable us to expand capacity so that we
can further showcase one of the greatest tasting and most historic
bourbons. We believe this will enrich Kentucky, the home of bourbon, and
Louisville, the historic home of Brown-Forman and the Brown family.”
Old Forester is Brown-Forman’s founding brand, founded in 1870 by George
Garvin Brown. Brown believed Old Forester was so pure and consistent
that he sealed it, signed it, and pledged “There is nothing better in
the market.” The Old Forester Distillery will celebrate Brown’s
innovative spirit and his commitment to making the highest quality
bourbon.
The Old Forester Distillery will include fermentation, distilling,
barrel making, filling and dumping, and bottling. The new distillery
will allow the company to double its current production of Old Forester.
The historic properties at 117 and 119 West Main Street, where the Old
Forester Distillery will be located, were built around 1857 and used for
warehousing barrels of whiskey produced at numerous distilleries in the
area. At least 19 distillers, wholesalers, and other whiskey-related
businesses called this block of West Main Street home.
By the mid-1870s, this stretch of West Main Street was known as “Whiskey
Row.”
“Between 1900 and 1919, Brown-Forman occupied 117 West Main Street on
Louisville’s Whiskey Row. We’re returning to our roots with this
distillery, just another wonderful example of Brown-Forman’s commitment
to historic preservation and downtown development in Louisville,” said
Geo. Garvin Brown IV, a 5th generation descendant of the
company’s founder and the company’s current board chairman.
With the purchase of these two buildings, Brown-Forman owns five
buildings on Louisville’s revitalized Main Street. Brown-Forman will
potentially receive a total of $1.3M in various Kentucky tax incentives.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) has
preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $900,000
through the Kentucky Business Investment (KBI) program. KEDFA also
approved Brown-Forman for tax benefits of $400,000 through the Kentucky
Enterprise Initiative Act (KEIA).
For more than 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the
experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol
brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort,
Finlandia, Jack Daniel’s & Cola, Canadian Mist, Korbel, Gentleman Jack,
el Jimador, Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, New Mix, Tuaca, and
Woodford Reserve. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by nearly 4,200
employees and sold in approximately 160 countries worldwide. For more
information about the company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com/.
Brown-Forman Corporation
Phil Lynch, 502-774-7928
Vice
President
Director Corporate Communications and Public Relations
or
Jay
Koval, 502-774-6903
Vice President
Director Investor Relations
Source: Brown-Forman Corporation