The 2nd Half of the Barton 1792 Distillery Barrel Warehouse 30 Has Collapsed, No Injuries [Video]

Barton 1792 Distillery - Warehouse Collapse, July 4 2018

Half of the Barton 1792 Distillery warehouse 30 collapsed on June 22 sending approximately 9,000 barrels to the ground. Today, on the 4th of July, the city of Bardstown had an unexpected boom when the second half of the warehouse fell sending the remaining barrels to the ground. Fortunately, for all involved, no one was in the building at the time of the incident and no one was hurt.

As a results of the first collapse, the Barton 1792 Distillery team was prepared and had equipment on site to address any further problems from debris from the initial collapse or from the structure that remained standing. The team worked to quickly contain the spill from any leaking or destroyed barrels. The Distillery is reporting that no runoff from today’s collapse entered any waterways. The previous spill did allow some of the aging whiskey into the local streams and there were reports of about 800 dead fish.

Drone Video Footage of the 1st Half of the Barton 1792 Barrel Warehouse Collapse on June 22

The distillery team is working with local fire and police departments as well as the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection (KDEP).

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A press release from the company said that, “The remaining half of the warehouse that was still standing was unable to be secured after the initial collapse due to worker safety concerns. Warehouse 30 held approximately 18,000 barrels in total. It is unknown at this time how many barrels can be salvaged. Officials expect it to be weeks before the root cause is determined.”

The barrel warehouse that collapsed at the Barton 1792 Distillery was built in the 1940s. The remaining barrel warehouses at the distillery have been inspected since June 22nd by third party experts and are deemed safe. Barrel warehouses at the other two Sazerac owned distilleries in Kentucky have also been inspected and deemed safe.

Barton 1792 Distillery was established in 1879 and continues today as the oldest fully-operating Distillery in Bardstown. The Distillery is located on 196 acres and includes 28 warehouses, 22 other buildings, the Morton Spring and the Tom Moore Spring. The 1792 used in the brands name denotes the year Kentucky became a state.

Barton Brands has facilities in Bardstown, Carson, California, and Baltimore, Maryland. Barton Brands is owned by the Sazerac Company based in New Orleans, Louisiana.

We’ll update this story as we learn more.