A month after the collapse of Warehouse 30, cleanup at Barton 1792 Distillery is underway in Bardstown, KY.
The initial collapse on June 22nd caused 9,000 bourbon barrels to tumble to the ground, with broken barrels spilling into a nearby river. The half of the warehouse that was still standing fell two weeks later on July 4th, dropping another 9,000 barrels. The spill from this collapse was quickly contained in a retention pond.
Barton 1792 is using a team of inspectors and coopers with cranes, bobcats, and more to sort through the wreckage of multiple stories. Recovered barrels are sorted into three categories.
- Barrels that don’t need repair are recorded and removed from the pile to continue aging.
- Barrels that are leaky or damaged are moved to a coopering area to be repaired.
- Barrels that are beyond repair are dumped into a holding tank and discarded.
Sazerac spokesperson Amy Preske told The Lexington Herald-Leader that the distillery “is still in recovery mode,” and can’t yet say how many barrels have been saved – or what the plans may be for them.
1792 Fans and collectors have voiced hopes that some barrels may end up in a “Warehouse 30” release, like the famous E.H. Taylor Warehouse C expression, bottled after a tornado took roofing off the corner of a rickhouse at Buffalo Trace.
To learn more and see video from the collapse, please click here.
