Lofted Spirits Set For New Expansion Of Its Bottling Capacity

Amid the current whisky downturn, which has seen layoffs, distillery closings, and generally lower production, some whisky makers are in expansion mode. Lofted Spirits, the company that owns Bardstown Bourbon Company and Green River Distilling, has broken ground on a 4,000 square foot build-out of its bottling facility that will double its footprint and expand annual bottling capacity from 10 million to 35 million bottles, including all sizes from 50 ml to 1.75 liter.

This move comes on top of last year’s major expansion on the Bardstown Bourbon campus. This latest round of construction is underway, and the newly enlarged operation is expected to be fully functioning by early in the second quarter of 2026.

In addition to making whiskeys under its own name, Lofted’s Bardstown Bourbon Co. unit has been a contract distiller since its inception in 2016 and has supplied whiskey for labels including Belle Meade, Calumet Farms, 15 Stars, Hirsch, Jefferson’s, Pursuit United, and High West, among others. Sister company Green River Distilling Co., located in Owensboro, Kentucky, is also a contract distiller, in addition to having its own core branded bourbon, wheated bourbon, rye, full proof bourbon, and single barrel bourbon.

Earlier this year, Lofted Spirits debuted its Alternating Proprietorship program, which allows other labels to distill at Bardstown Bourbon under their own distilled spirits producer permit. Unlike its contract distilling program, where Bardstown handles all aspects of distillation, the Alternating Proprietorship program allows other brands to distill their own whiskey at Bardstown Bourbon. This arrangement, as permitted under the Craft Beverage Modernization Act, reduces producers’ federal excise taxes and operational expenses.