The historic milestone, achieved less than two years after the filling of Jim Beam’s 14 millionth barrel — the shortest period of time between milestone barrel fills — can be attributed to continued strong sales spurred by rising global demand and the excellent performance of the entire Jim Beam portfolio across the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia, Beam Suntory said.
“We’re reaching these milestones faster and faster,” said Craig Christenson, vp-global marketing, Jim Beam. “From Russia and Germany to Japan and China – not to mention the United States where Jim Beam is gaining substantial market share, bourbon has become the spirit of choice around the world and we’re happy to oblige them by making more. We’re the first to reach 15 million and we’re not slowing down.”
The 15 millionth barrel, signed by employees at the company’s Clermont, Boston and Frankfort plants, will join the nearly 2.3 million barrels of bourbon currently aging in Jim Beam’s rackhouses across the Commonwealth. It will be stored inside the distillery’s historic rackhouse D, a nine-story warehouse rebuilt by Jim Beam after Prohibition on the Clermont distillery grounds. The rackhouse is open to visitors as part of the Jim Beam American Stillhouse tour.
According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, bourbon is now an $8.5 billion state industry, supporting more than 17,500 jobs and generating more than $1.8 million in tax revenues annually.