Bourbon Prices Not High Enough?

[Gman]

Shoot. Meant to put a question mark at the end of the thread title. Whoops. [MOD: FIFY] ETA: THANKS!

Was reading about a Jim Beam warehouse fire yesterday. I remember a number of events in the bourbon business last year. Is the bourbon business just a mess, or is there more to this?

From 'bourbonado' to Jim Beam's fire: Kentucky's historic bourbon disasters (https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/food/spirits/bourbon/2018/06/22/kentucky-bourbon-disasters-through-years/726491002/)


As anyone paying attention to the Jim Beam warehouse fire can tell you (https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2019/07/03/jim-beam-bourbon-barrel-warehouses-burn-kentucky/1637073001/), the bourbon industry is rough.Cut-throat competition, batches that fail after years in the warehouse and even tornadoes of fire are hazards of the job.

After part of a bourbon warehouse at a Bardstown distillery collapsed (https://www.courier-journal.com/story/life/food/spirits/bourbon/2018/06/22/kentucky-distillery-barton-1792-collapses/725686002/) last year and another bourbon distillery fell down in Owensboro (https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2019/06/17/o-z-tyler-distillery-rickhouse-partially-collapses-owensboro-kentucky/1476043001/), it got us thinking about other massive bourbon spills and natural disasters in recent memory.

Heaven Hill

Heaven quickly turned into hell in 1996 when an estimated 90,000 barrels of whiskey caught fire at Bardstown's Heaven Hill distillery.
More: Hundreds of fish killed in leak from distillery warehouse collapse (https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/06/23/bardstown-cleans-up-after-friday-barton-1792-bourbon-warehouse-collapse/727897002/)

Rivers of burning whiskey slid down the road and barrels exploded through the air, bringing more than 100 firefighters to the scene. According to whiskeyreviewer.com (http://whiskeyreviewer.com/2016/01/the-biggest-modern-whiskey-disasters-012516/), the cause was never revealed.

Luckily, no one was killed. But Heaven Hill?s stock did not escape without a burn, losing around 14 percent.

Wild Turkey

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/75ec204dc339e1525675776807a1df1066924958/c=0-56-1792-1403/local/-/media/2018/06/22/Louisville/Louisville/636652810047687415-lcjdc5-57xcc2m9n47x8czrbvb-original.jpg?width=540&height=405&fit=crop
Greg Snyder, director of operations for the Wild Turkey Distillery, talks to the company officials as fire consumes a bourbon warehouse in 2000. (Photo: Rob Carr/AP)


After a massive fire in May 2000 destroyed a Wild Turkey warehouse in Lawrenceburg, the resulting spill was so bad that workers pumped oxygen into the nearby Kentucky River to try to save its fish.

An estimated 17,000 gallons of bourbon cascaded into the river near Frankfort, killing about 228,000 fish ? one of the worst fish kills in the state's history.

Jim Beam's 2003 'bourbonado'






An actual bourbon tornado, or ?bourbonado,? occurred in 2003 in the Bardstown countryside after a series of severe thunderstorms in the area.

One lightning strike later, and a Jim Beam warehouse went up in flames, taking 800,000 gallons of bourbon with it. The bourbon that didn?t ignite in the warehouse flowed to a nearby creek and also started a massive fire tornado, according to Maxim.com (https://www.maxim.com/maxim-man/kentucky-bourbon-fire-tornado-2015-8).

This disaster is truly notorious.

Buffalo Trace


https://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2018/06/23/Louisville/Louisville/636653575297860982-BartonWarehouse01.jpg




The brilliant minds at Buffalo Trace turned a natural disaster into a marketing moment.

After a tornado ripped through the distillery's storied 1881 warehouse in 2006, the bourbon barrels inside were exposed to the elements for quite a while, creating a different flavor profile.

How better to deal with that dilemma than to offer up E.H. Taylor Jr. Warehouse C Tornado Surviving bourbon (https://www.buffalotracedistillery.com/brands/eh-taylor#5)?

O.Z. Tyler

Part of an O.Z. Tyler Distillery rickhouse collapsed on June 17, 2019. No one was hurt, and the damage wasn't as widespread as some other disasters, but about 4,000 barrels were affected, officials said at the time.

Jim Beam collapse in 2019

A Jim Beam warehouse in Woodford County went up in flames late Tuesday night on July 2, 2019.

Officials said one warehouse initially caught fire, and those flames spread to a second structure nearby. Crews were able to put out the flames in the second warehouse but continued to fight the blaze in the first structure through the morning.

Around 40,000 bourbon barrels were in the first warehouse, officials said.

The cause of the blaze had not yet been identified at 8 a.m. Wednesday.

[theGinsue]

What a Beamer, er...bummer.

[ray1970]

Insurance claims.

[Zundfolge]

The liquor store at Red Rocks (31st and Colorado) has excellent prices on whiskeys ... they have Maker's for $19.99/750ml.

The guy that runs the place has made some connections and moves a lot of whiskey and if you're interested in higher end stuff he apparently has or can get just about anything at the best price in town.

[Irving]

I hear Molly's near I-70 and Harlan has excellent prices as well. My buddy had a specific example where some brand/size is at Total Beverage for $45.99 and is $36.99 at Molly's. That's significant.

[Skip]

Wonder if the boycott was working?

https://www.dailywire.com/news/23183/backlash-jim-bean-boycott-erupts-after-mila-kunis-amanda-prestigiacomo

[Gman]

Wonder if the boycott was working?
I doubt it. The Japanese and Chinese have been buying whiskey like crazy.

[brutal]

That tornado bourbon goes for $3-4K a bottle.

Yowsers.

[BladesNBarrels]

Jim Beam announced

"We operate 126 barrel warehouses in Kentucky that hold approximately 3.3 million barrels for our brands, and the warehouse that was destroyed contained 45,000 barrels of relatively young whiskey from the Jim Beam mash bill. Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers."

[Gman]

It may be "available", but there's 1.4% of their future volume up in flames. Depending on the market when that whiskey was supposed to be ready for bottling, it may become financially significant. Higher demand+lower volume=higher prices.

[Ah Pook]

Didn’t Makers Mark have a big fire a few years ago?

[Gman]

Almost. They started watering down their bourbon and then received a lot of backlash and stopped doing it.

...but Maker's Mark is owned by Beam, so kinda?

[brutal]

FWIW, we used to peddle Jim Beam rats to the Germans in the 80's. Nobody else wanted to drink the stuff.

[rondog]

Reminds me, I'm out of my Woodford Reserve......

[Gman]

Jim Beam bourbon warehouse fire still burning Thursday more than 42 hours after it started (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/jim-beam-bourbon-warehouse-fire-still-burning-thursday-more-than-42-hours-after-it-started/ar-AADRLy7)


MILLVILLE, Ky. – The Jim Beam bourbon warehouse that started around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday is still burning in Woodford County, according to authorities.

After trying to put out the fire throughout Tuesday night into Wednesday afternoon, the Woodford County Fire Department is going to wait to extinguish the fire for a day or two "because of the environmental consideration," said Drew Chandler, Woodford County Emergency Management director.

"There is less environmental impact to allowing the ethanol to continue to burn," he said. "That’s really all that’s left."

The decision comes after runoff from the blaze had made it to the nearby Kentucky River and Glenns Creek.

John Mura, a spokesman for the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet, said the state had advised firefighters not to spray water on the fire, because it would increase the runoff. Crews were using sand to try to prevent more runoff from going into the streams.

According to Mura, the cabinet has already "seen some fish killed" as a result of the incident and expects the number of deaths to increase.

To try to keep the fish alive, Mura said that Beam Suntory, the Chicago-based spirits company that owns Jim Beam, is putting aerators into Kentucky River and Glenns Creek in an attempt to oxygenate the water.

Mura also said the cabinet will issue a notice of violation to Beam Suntory for bourbon runoff spilling into nearby waters. Such notices give recipients the chance to explain their actions and comply with regulations.

For now, the Woodford County Fire Department and the Versailles Police Department are the only groups remaining at the site of the warehouse. Chandler said they will hold a "permanent presence" until the fire is extinguished.

The warehouse contained 45,000 barrels of bourbon. One standard bourbon barrel usually holds about 53 gallons of bourbon, which eventually turns into around 150 to 200 750-milliliter bottles. If all of the barrels held bourbon, that would be a loss of at least 6.75 million bottles.

Beam Suntory said in a statement Wednesday that initial reports indicated "the fire resulted from a lightning strike." The company also noted that the barrels in the warehouse contained “relatively young whiskey from the Jim Beam mash bill” and will not impact availability of the product for customers.

In a statement Thursday, Beam Suntory said it will "work with local, state and federal agencies as we conduct response operations."

"We are thankful that no one was injured in the fire, and we are grateful to the courageous firefighters from multiple jurisdictions who brought the fire under control," the company statement said. "These heroic efforts were able to contain a portion of the material from the fire on the warehouse campus."

While officials said nobody was injured, some nearby property was damaged.

Gary Tate, who has lived on a farm across the street with his wife, Linda, for about 20 years, told the Courier Journal that the flames were so intense, they melted the front side of their home and "peeled it just like a banana."

With the fire creating intense heat, Chandler said that firefighters had "minimal amounts of time up close" before coming out for a cool-down period, where their blood pressures and other vital signs were checked.

“Keeping tabs on our personnel is as important as the task that’s in front of us,” he said.

[Skip]

Still? (rimshot please)

I can believe the fire is being fueled by an efficient mix of alcohol and wood barrels. I just can't believe they don't have a way to deal with it knowing that risk and the runoff problem.

But is runoff a problem? Free booze in my water? Yes, please.

[TFOGGER]

http://scontent.fapa1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/66098047_387383585244740_3743931796606156800_n.jpg ?_nc_cat=101&_nc_oc=AQnKuuv2z7nYD-T3gquNl-U69GUjzV4T0JbWoAeA9EyV8Mu38x1I0AhmJHD5N6B_HNc3PPIr ETr3tHs6i5Vvrxt5&_nc_ht=scontent.fapa1-1.fna&oh=f14051a6e3932ed0aab53780f0e4f21d&oe=5DC621CF

[Gman]

That's funny! [LOL]