Sazerac Co. secured a major increase in its bourbon-making capacity at happy hour prices, completing the purchase of a Kentucky distillery that collapsed under the weight of its debts after just 15 months of operations.
Garrard County Distilling Co. opened in Lancaster, Kentucky, in January 2024 with the promise of more than $250 million of investment and the potential of producing up to 150,000 barrels of bourbon per year.
But when the distillery’s Atlanta-based owners defaulted on loans it took out to build the facility, with its two column stills and 40,000 square feet of barrel warehouse space on 210 acres of land, a Sazerac-controlled entity was able to take over the debt and acquire its assets at auction for just $20 million.
The move gives the New Orleans-based owners of Sazerac a fourth production site in Kentucky. Sazerac, which shares its name with New Orleans’ official cocktail and is co-headquartered in Metairie and Louisville, has been controlled by the Goldring family since the 1940s, and billionaire chairman Bill Goldring is a prominent local philanthropist…