Michter’s plans expansion in face of shortage

Kentucky-based Michter’s Distillery has cancelled the 2016 launch of its Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Bourbon, at the same time announcing plans to double capacity.

Located in the Shively area of Louisville, Kentucky, Michter’s has struggled to meet soaring demand, last year admitting that its total US*1 line of whiskeys had been place on allocation and halting distribution of US*1 Sour Mash Whiskey altogether in 2015.

Now, the company’s planned release of a new edition of Michter’s US*1 Toasted Barrel Bourbon in September has been cancelled.

“The incredible popularity of our Toasted Barrel Bourbon release during the past two years made this a very tough decision,” said Michter’s Distillery president Joseph J. Magliocco.

“The problem is every drop of our Toasted Barrel Bourbon that we release this year is one less drop of our Michter’s US*1 Bourbon that we have to allocate to our distributors and importers.”

The distillery will now undertake work to expand its capacity from 500,000 proof gallons per year to one million proof gallons. When the distillery resumes production in August after closing down for a month of maintenance work, its capacity will have doubled.

Michter’s will add four more 16,000-gallon fermenters custom built by Louisville-based still maker Vendome with a total capacity for 64,000 gallons and also go to a second shift.

“It’s really great for us to be able to offer more of our whiskeys to people at home and abroad, but Michter’s will never sacrifice quality to do so,” said master distiller Willie Pratt.

In May this year, Buffalo Trace said it is aiming to tackle “shortages across the board” for all it brands with a US$200m distillery expansion.