9,000 Barrels of Whiskey Just Crashed to the Ground at a Kentucky Distillery

And local fish populations are paying the price

June 29, 2018 9:00 am

The only thing worse than breaking a beloved personal item?

Breaking someone else’s beloved personal item. (Still sorry about your mug, Mom.)

And the only thing worse than that? Sending 9,000 barrels of aged whiskey tumbling to the ground in a cataclysmic factory accident.

Some poor guy, or team of poor guys, is dealing with that emotional fallout right now, in the days following a truly tragic wreck at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Kentucky. Local reporters claim a wall of the warehouse was undergoing construction, and while no lives were harmed, the barrels — which each contained about 53 gallons of aged bourbon — ended up in a shipwreck-esque debris heap.

Unfortunately, it gets worse from there. Nearby Withrow Creek and Beach Fork River have seen nearly 1,000 fish dead in the days since the crash — an array of catfish, darters, gar small largemouth bass and suckers. State environment officials are suing Sazerac, Inc. (Barton 1792’s parent company) at the rate of $25K a day as the alcohol continues to destroy local waters.

The distillery is continuing production, but digging out from a 9,000-barrel loss is unfathomable, and the local ecosystem will struggle mightily to flush out gallons of unwelcome toxins.

Crying over spilt bourbon definitely allowed, this time around. 

Images: Barton 1792 Distillery, CNN

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