LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Bourbon Path is maturing, just like the wonderful whiskeys it showcases.
A brand new-look Bourbon Path unveiled Thursday will lead guests to massive and small distilleries alike, linking relative newcomers and age-old manufacturers in a collective technique to construct on bourbon tourism’s reputation.
It started with seven collaborating distilleries welcoming guests 25 years in the past. Now the tour will showcase 46 distilleries, giving guests extra choices to plan journeys to soak within the sights and smells of bourbon-making within the Bluegrass State.
Since its creation in 1999 by the Kentucky Distillers’ Affiliation, the spirits tour has attracted greater than 18 million guests from all 50 states and dozens of nations, the KDA stated.
“The Kentucky Bourbon Path now’s a worldwide, bucket-list tourism vacation spot,” Eric Gregory, president of the distillers’ affiliation, stated as business leaders gathered for the announcement.
As the unique path grew, it traversed the guts of Kentucky bourbon nation, spotlighting such powerhouse manufacturers as Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, Evan Williams, 4 Roses, Previous Forester, Michter’s and Bulleit.
In 2012, a separate Kentucky Bourbon Path Craft Tour was launched to showcase the rising variety of smaller distilleries searching for their share of the ultra-competitive spirits market.
Now these excursions are consolidating. The brand new tourism and advertising technique was unveiled in Louisville — the gateway to bourbon tourism. In addition they introduced a brand new brand and a brand new digital advertising marketing campaign to assist vacationers plan bourbon journeys to the state.
Spirit corporations have invested large sums into new or expanded customer facilities to capitalize on the rising attraction of getting behind-the-scenes peeks into how bourbon is crafted.
For small distilleries, becoming a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Path was likened to creating the large leagues.
Kim Bard, co-founder of The Bard Distillery in western Kentucky, stated it’s going to instantly change perceptions about smaller producers that had been a part of the craft tour.
“Folks would are available in, a number of instances they see us as less-than as a result of we’re on the craft path and never on the Kentucky Bourbon Path,” she stated in an interview. “They see that as a really distinctive line.
“Now that the KDA has put us all on the identical path, I believe that type of pondering will cease and we’ll be checked out as simply one other distillery, which is nice for us,” she added.
Brent Goodin, proprietor of Boundary Oak Distillery in central Kentucky, predicted that shifting to the Kentucky Bourbon Path will enhance tourism at his and different smaller distilleries. Producers see tourism as an important a part of model promotion.
“Something we are able to do to make the vacationer notice that all the pieces is Kentucky bourbon and we’re all producing the identical factor –- possibly not as a lot as the subsequent man however we’re all form of in it collectively,” he stated in an interview.
Any huge bourbon announcement in Kentucky sometimes attracts a bevy of the state’s political leaders. On Thursday, business leaders had been joined by Democratic Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman and Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, who co-chairs the Congressional Bourbon Caucus.
Bourbon tourism’s world attraction is creating extra enterprise alternatives for producers, Barr stated.
“There’s a lot alternative within the export marketplace for Kentucky bourbon,” Barr stated.
Coleman led the group in toasting the bourbon sector’s previous and future whereas recognizing Kentucky’s standing because the “undisputed residence of bourbon.”
Bourbon tourism has shaken off any pandemic-era hangover as venerable bourbon producers and business newcomers alike are benefiting from a brand new surge in guests. Attendance surpassed 2.5 million guests final yr alongside the Kentucky Bourbon Path and the Kentucky Bourbon Path Craft Tour.
General, Kentucky’s bourbon business injects $9 billion into the state’s financial system every year, creating extra jobs and attracting extra vacationers than ever earlier than, in accordance with a latest examine. Extra rounds of progress are anticipated as Kentucky producers make billions of {dollars} in capital investments. Kentucky distillers produced a report 2.7 million barrels of bourbon in 2022, in accordance with the report, which was commissioned by the distillers’ affiliation.
Producers had a report stock of 12.6 million bourbon barrels growing old in warehouses initially of 2023, in accordance with the affiliation. These large inventories are a guess on the longer term as a result of most bourbons sometimes age 4 to eight years earlier than reaching their market. Bourbon will get its taste and golden brown coloration throughout growing old.
Kentucky distillers produce 95% of the worldwide bourbon provide, the KDA says.