The fungus covers nearby homes and cars in a sooty black film, choking trees and shrubs. The “whiskey fungus” has been been a nuisance around liquor facilities for centuries, but the size and scope of the new barrelhouse complexes means much more ethanol is being released in a concentrated area. Jack Daniel’s has since retroactively received the proper approvals, but neighbors say their biggest complaint has not been addressed: A black fungus that feeds on the ethanol emitted as whiskey ages. Since 2018, the company has built six 86,000-square-foot (7,989-square-meter) warehouses holding 66,000 barrels each on a 120-acre (48-hectare) property, according to the lawsuit. In Tennessee’s Lincoln County, Jack Daniel’s recently was slapped with a stop-work order after neighbors sued over a huge unpermitted expansion. The county gets about $8.6 million a year from the barrel tax, he said. “That got their attention, let’s put it that way,” Hutchins said. Soon, any new projects will be required to seek citizen input and zoning board approval, Judge Executive Timothy Hutchins said. Nelson County, home to Heaven Hill, Log Still and other Kentucky communities involved with the industry, recently approved a moratorium on new bourbon warehouse construction while the county updates zoning and permitting rules. He said Bullitt County does not want any new barrelhouses unless things change, and he is not alone. Officials like Summers are calling that a bluff. In lobbying for the end of the tax, the distillers’ group suggested the industry could leave Kentucky. Jim Beam is owned by Japan-based Beam Suntory. Now many of the most recognized brands are part of international beverage conglomerates. During the same period, the super premium segment rose more than 20-fold to $1.3 billion. American whiskey revenues since 2003 have nearly quadrupled, reaching $5.1 billion last year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. With small batch products, the liquor slowly became cool. While the tax changes take place, whiskey is booming.Īs a former Beam executive, Summers remembers a time when whiskey was a cheap, “bottom shelf” drink. “Even with this relief, distilling remains Kentucky’s highest taxed industry, paying $286 million in taxes each year,” Gregory said in an email. Another tax helps fire and emergency management services, though it does not apply in all counties. Kentucky Distillers’ Association President Eric Gregory noted the compromise bill creates a new excise tax to help fund school districts.
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