Jim Beam Announces New Multi-Million Dollar Tourism Center To Boost Kentucky Bourbon Trail

Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. announced the ground-breaking of its Visitors’ Experience project at its Clermont distillery. With this multi-million dollar tourism development project, Jim Beam continues to be the industry leader and positions its flagship distillery as the gateway to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

With more than 80,000 visitors annually, the development of the Jim Beam Distillery Visitors’ Experience project is driven by heightened consumer interest in crafting bourbon and increased travel along the Bourbon Trail. The three-phase construction of the Visitors’ Experience will include displays of newly discovered historical documents and images and will culminate with the opening of a state-of-the-art Welcome Center complex highlighting the history and heritage of Jim Beam. Completion of this project is expected before the start of the tourist season in April 2011 and will be able to accommodate approximately 200,000 visitors a year.

“As the first stop from Louisville on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, we want to offer our visitors the best experience possible,” said Jim Beam Noe, great-grandson of Jim Beam and head of the Visitors’ Experience project. “The Visitors’ Experience allows our guests to become a part of the Jim Beam family by taking an up-close and personal look at my family’s business in the bourbon industry. While we have always welcomed visitors to see the process behind our production, this project is designed to further enhance visitors’ experience with Jim Beam and celebrate the brand.”

Crafted since 1795, Jim Beam prides itself on more than two centuries of quality and integrity, with a long lineage of family distillers and a lasting commitment to the classic recipe. Even today, the demand for bourbon continues to grow. Jim Beam filled its 11 millionth barrel in February 2008, marking the first time the brand filled one million barrels in less than three years.

More than two-thirds of the bourbon made in Kentucky comes from Beam Global’s iconic bourbons. In addition to Jim Beam, The Small Batch Bourbon Collection® comprises four ultra-premium bourbons: Knob Creek® Bourbon, Booker’s® Bourbon, Basil Hayden’s® Bourbon and Baker’s® Bourbon. The Collection is credited with driving growth in the Bourbon category at the high-end. Enhancements to Jim Beam Distillery Visitors’ Experience will include a greater focus on the heritage of these brands as well. The Small Batch Bourbon Collection, created by Booker Noe, sixth generation Jim Beam master distiller, boasts individual characteristics and distinct flavors, offering a bourbon for everyone’s taste.

RELATED 11/2008:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Tourism Development Authority today approved a tax incentive for a new visitor center at Jim Beam Distillery in Clermont, Ky.

The $15 million project will include a new entrance road, an expanded visitor center and gift shop and a new interpretive center, according to Jim Beam Noe, the plant’s engineer.

The plant currently attracts about 80,000 tourists a year and a consultant estimated that would more than double with the improvements, which are expected to be completed in 2012. Noe told the authority work would begin soon on the project and some parts would be open next year.

Marcheta Sparrow, the secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, said the project would be a boost to tourism, particularly the Bourbon Trail, a collection of the state’s bourbon distilleries that offer tours.

“This will help all of the other partners on the Bourbon Trail,” Sparrow said.

The consultant’s report estimated that the state would get $2.2 million in revenues over a 10-year period and that Beam would be able to receive $1.2 million in tax refunds over the same period.