[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.12.1″ background_image=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/background.png” custom_margin=”||-72px|”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.10.1″ background_color=”#131313″ border_radii=”|5px|5px|0px|0px” border_width_all=”2px” border_color_all=”#e09900″ border_width_bottom=”0px” custom_padding=”|10px||10px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Top” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” text_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_2_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_4_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_5_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_6_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” text_orientation=”center”]

Collapse at the Barton whiskey distillery, KY, June 23 2018

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/636653575014590610-BartonWarehouse06.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”52%” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.10.1″ background_color=”#131313″ border_width_all=”2px” border_color_all=”#e09900″ border_width_top=”0px” border_width_bottom=”0px” custom_padding=”|10px||10px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” max_width=”85%” module_alignment=”center”]

There are stories about fire in a whiskey warehouse, but such a collapse is very rare. It happened last Friday, June 23 2018, at the Barton 1792 distillery located in Bardstown, KY, the city that was recently designated as the “Bourbon Capital”.

Early afternoon of that Friday, one of the wall of wharehouse #30 that was under repair collapsed, creating a gigantic fall of thousands of barrels full of Bourbon quietly maturing. This 7-story warehouse was built in the 1940’s.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/636653574893813998-BartonWarehouse07.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”52%” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” max_width=”85%” module_alignment=”center”]

Out of the 20,000 barrels being held in the warehouse, 9,000 came tumbling down, some crashing and spilling bourbon. Each barrel contains at fill 53 gallons of spirit. But the maturation process removes part of the liquid that is either captured in the wood or evaporates (the famous “angel’s share”), so the barrels were certainly not full. Even if they were filled on average with 70% of the initial content, it is 334 thousands gallons of Bourbon that are at risk, which represents about two million bottles.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/636653574593513030-BartonWarehouse15.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”52%” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.10.1″ background_color=”#131313″ border_width_all=”2px” border_color_all=”#e09900″ border_width_top=”0px” border_width_bottom=”0px” custom_padding=”|10px||10px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” module_alignment=”center” max_width=”85%”]

The good news? No one was present either in the facility or outside, so nobody was injured. Casualties would have surely occurred had any worker been inside or near by at the time of the collapse.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/25-bourbon-warehouse-collapse.w710.h473.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”52%” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” module_alignment=”center” max_width=”85%”]

The warehouse sits on a hill,  and some of the barrels rolled down toward a small stream of the Beech Fork River. 800 fishes were retrieved dead, letting observers assume that bourbon had reached the stream, and that the spirit is clearly no good for water life.

Another good news in this case is that Bardstown’s public water is not supplied by the Beech Fork River. When the Environmental Protection Agency and Kentucky Division of Water conducted tests into the river, they all came back clean.

Here is an aerial view of the property. One can see the collapsed warehouse on the bottom left corner

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/636653574156811050-BartonWarehouse21.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”52%” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” module_alignment=”center” max_width=”85%”]

For the Whiskey amateurs, the distillery said that there will be no shortage of their Bourbon.

The distillery had come to light earlier this year, as the 1792 Full Proof release had been awarded as “best bourbon 2018” at the American Whisky Award ceremony.  See related article:

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.10.1″ module_alignment=”center” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#e09900″ border_radii=”on|10px|10px|10px|10px” border_width_all=”3px” border_color_all=”#e09900″ max_width=”31%” custom_margin=”20px|||” custom_padding=”20px|||”]

2018 American Whisky Awards

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1792-Full-Proof-1.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”27%” module_alignment=”center” /][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.10.1″ header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff”]

 Barton 1792 full Proof – 125 proof (62.5%ABV), best Bourbon 2018

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” module_alignment=”center” max_width=”85%”]

The distillery is also famous for hosting the largest barrel in the world:

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.10.1″ src=”https://whiskey-gourmet.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/3.jpg” align=”center” max_width=”48%” module_alignment=”center” /][et_pb_text admin_label=”Milieu – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ border_color_all=”#e09900″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_font=”Josefin Sans||||||||” header_3_line_height=”1.3em” module_alignment=”center” max_width=”85%”]

By coincidence, I happened to be at the Barton distillery five days before the collapse… This gives also a better grasp at the impressive size of the barrel.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.10.1″ background_color=”#131313″ border_width_all=”2px” border_color_all=”#e09900″ border_width_top=”0px” border_radii=”|0px|0px|5px|5px” custom_padding=”|10px||10px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Bas – 1 colonne” _builder_version=”3.10.1″ text_text_color=”#ffffff” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_2_text_color=”#ffffff” header_3_text_color=”#ffffff” header_4_text_color=”#ffffff” header_5_text_color=”#ffffff” header_6_text_color=”#ffffff” /][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]