Brown-Forman announce plans for new cooperage to craft barrels in Decatur, Alabama, in order to meet growing worldwide demand for Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey

Nevin Barich

Nevin Barich

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky , June 14, 2012 (press release) – Brown-Forman (BF-A)(BF-B) announced plans today for a new cooperage to craft barrels in Decatur, Alabama, in order to meet growing worldwide demand for Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.

Brown-Forman and Jack Daniel’s officials joined with Alabama Governor Robert Bentley in Montgomery, AL, to make the formal announcement today. The Jack Daniel Cooperage is expected to be operational in May 2014, and it will eventually employ approximately 200 workers. It will be the second cooperage owned by Brown-Forman, which operates another facility in Louisville, KY, and will double the company’s barrel-making capacity.

“Barrels are more than a container for our whiskey; they’re an important ingredient,” said Jeff Arnett, Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller. “All of the color of Jack Daniel’s and more than half of our whiskey’s flavor is derived from the barrel. We believe in the importance of the barrel in making our whiskey so much that we are the only major distiller that makes its own barrels.
“Making a quality barrel is essential to making a quality whiskey, and this facility will help ensure we hold true to Mr. Jack Daniel’s guiding words that ‘every day we make it, we’ll make it the best we can,’” Arnett added.

Brown-Forman officials said the tremendous growth of the Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands both domestically and internationally necessitated building the new cooperage.

“With the continued long-term growth of the Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands, including the recent introduction and unprecedented success of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, we are expanding to meet anticipated growing production demand,” said Jill Jones, executive vice president and chief production officer for Brown-Forman.

According to Jones, the new cooperage’s proximity to the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, TN, as well as its centralized location between the two stave mills that supply the wood for the barrels (in Stevenson, AL, and Clifton, TN), make Decatur a perfect location for a second cooperage to supply additional Jack Daniel’s barrels.

Distillery officials also noted Jack Daniel’s has historical ties to Alabama. Back in the early 1900s, Mr. Jack Daniel’s nephew Lem Motlow moved operations to Birmingham, AL, when Tennessee went dry prior to National Prohibition.

“This isn’t the first time Alabama has opened its arms to the Jack Daniel Distillery,” said Arnett. “We’re glad to be back and thank everyone who has given us such a warm welcome.”

For more than 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Jack Daniel’s & Cola, Canadian Mist, Korbel, Gentleman Jack, el Jimador, Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, New Mix, Tuaca, and Woodford Reserve. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by nearly 4,000 employees and sold in approximately 135 countries worldwide. For more information about the Company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com/.

About Jack Daniel’s

Officially registered by the U.S. Government in 1866 and based in Lynchburg, Tenn., the Jack Daniel Distillery, Lem Motlow, proprietor, is the oldest registered distillery in the United States and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Jack Daniel’s is the maker of the world-famous Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey-Based Ready-to-Drink Beverages and Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails.

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