Neither rain, nor heat, nor Covid-19 can slow down bourbon production or people’s love for bourbon in Kentucky and throughout the entire U.S. As the home to 95% of the worlds bourbon supply Kentucky’s Gov. Andy Beshear has officially declared September 2021 as Bourbon Heritage Month in the Bluegrass State.
It was the 110th Congress back in 2007 that designated September as National Bourbon Heritage Month to celebrate the nation’s only Native Spirit – Bourbon. It’s a month filled with festivals, new bourbon releases and lots of cheer. And to be clear, it’s a celebration that distillers and fans celebrate in all 50 states.
Related Stories
What is Bourbon Heritage Month?
When Did Bourbon Whiskey Become a Distinctive Product of the United States?
Bourbon Heritage Month Framer & Baseball Hall of Famer Jim Bunning Passes
12 Classic Bourbon Cocktails for Bourbon Heritage Month [Infographic]
Kentucky Bourbon is one of the Commonwealth’s most historic and treasured industries, a thriving $8.6 billion economic engine that generates more than 20,100 jobs with an annual payroll topping $1 billion each year.
Stay Informed: Sign up here for the Distillery Trail free email newsletter and be the first to get all the latest news, trends, job listings and events in your inbox.
In addition, the industry is in the middle of a $2.3 billion building boom, from innovative new tourism centers to expanded production facilities, all to meet the growing global thirst for Kentucky Bourbon.
There are now nearly 10 million barrels of Bourbon and other spirits aging in Kentucky warehouses, the most in the modern era of American Whiskey. Of that, 9.3 million are just Bourbon, the first time since 1967 that the number of Bourbon barrels topped nine million.
Bourbon production has skyrocketed more than 360 percent since the turn of the century, with Kentucky distillers filling 2.1 million barrels in 2019, the second year in a row that Kentucky distillers have filled two million barrels, and the first time that’s happened in the modern era.
Attendance along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® and Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® distilleries has skyrocketed more than 300 percent in the last 10 years. Total attendance in 2019 was nearly two million, the most since KDA founded the tour in 1999.
View all Kentucky Distilleries.
View all U.S. Distilleries.
Please help to support Distillery Trail. Sign up for our Newsletter, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
