Whiskey House of Kentucky faces $1.65m debt
A construction company has filed a US$1.65 million legal claim against Whiskey House of Kentucky for fees owed to the build of its new distillery.
Bardstown-based Buzick Construction filed a lien (a right to keep possession of a property until a debt is paid) on 28 May 2025 in Hardin County court. It claimed that Whiskey House of Kentucky has failed to pay US$1,653,648.79 for labour, materials, equipment and supplies for the construction of its new distillery.
Operating as a third-party whiskey distillery, Whiskey House of Kentucky is from the team behind Bardstown Bourbon Company.
The Whiskey House site, located on a 176-acre campus in the TJ Patterson Industrial Park in Hardin County, Kentucky, began production in July last year.
David Mandell, who is co-founder and CEO of the distillery, called the dispute with the construction firm a “minor blip”.
He said: “Buzick Construction and the founders of Whiskey House of Kentucky have successfully worked together for more than a decade on numerous projects, including constructing our distillery at a cost of nearly US$120 million.
“We have a longstanding relationship with Buzick Construction, and we expect this minor blip on the radar to be resolved quickly.”
The document also states Buzick has an extra contract with Whiskey House for US$6,259,627.83 in additional construction work and could be entitled to file another lien to pursue that sum.
Mandell claims that Whiskey House has “become the leader in custom whiskey production and continues to grow its business, domestically and internationally, by providing the highest level of quality, differentiation, and customer service”.
Buzick Construction refused to provide a comment.
The Whiskey House project is the brainchild of Mandell, John Hargrove and Daniel Linde, who have pledged more than US$350m over the next 10 years to build a new distillery for contract whiskey production in the US.
The Whiskey House campus includes plans for 33 traditional rickhouses capable of holding 41,496 barrels, a 50,000-square-foot palletised warehouse, a spent-grain processing facility, a bottling facility, and a rail system. The 48-inch Vendome still will be accompanied by 14 33,000-gallon, closed-top fermenters. The would double the capacity from 112,000 barrels annually to 224,000 by 2027.
In August last year, Whiskey House secured a US$145m loan to expand its production capacity, add incremental services, and pursue complementary acquisitions. The credit came from Truist Bank, US Bank, First Horizon Bank, Rabobank, and CoBank (Lenders).
In his statement to The Spirits Business, Mandell also noted an unconnected dispute with Taj Mahal Barrels, who could not be reached for comment.
Mandell said: “Separately and unrelated, Whiskey House of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Taj Mahal Barrels LLC in March of this year regarding a contract formed in 2023. As a matter of practice, Whiskey House does not comment on pending litigation.”
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