Overview
- Sazerac announced Friday that it has acquired the Garrard County Distilling site in Lancaster, a 210-acre complex that opened in 2024 and includes two column stills and two 20,000-square-foot barrel warehouses.
- The company says it will use the site's existing distilling and rickhouse capacity to support growth across brands such as Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Weller and Fireball while staffing grows as operations develop.
- The property was sold at a court-ordered auction for $20 million after prior owners ran into financial trouble and bank control, with Sazerac connected to the sale through an affiliated bidder that purchased the outstanding debt.
- The acquisition follows a string of recent Kentucky investments by Sazerac, including a completed $1.2 billion expansion at Buffalo Trace in January 2025 and multimillion-dollar upgrades at Barton 1792 and The Glenmore.
- Local officials welcomed the deal as a path to restart the dormant facility and bring jobs to Garrard County, though the company has not provided a specific timeline for restarting or ramping production.