Kentucky’s bourbon industry is a major part of the state’s economy and drinking culture. The Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) describes the broader distilled spirits industry as a $10.6 billion signature industry, supporting 23,935 jobs and generating just over $2 billion in annual labor income. The latest figures also show record barrel inventories, rising production, and a large tourism footprint, alongside softer export performance in parts of 2025.
Bourbon statistics at a glance
- $10.6 billion: Kentucky’s distilled spirits industry value, according to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association Impact page.
- 23,935 jobs: Total Kentucky distilled spirits jobs supported in 2024, including direct, indirect, and induced employment (KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report, 2024-2025).
- 3.03 million barrels: Bourbon barrels filled by Kentucky distillers in 2024 (KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report, 2024-2025).
- 16.1 million barrels: Bourbon inventory aging in Kentucky in 2024 (KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report, 2024-2025).
- $235.1 million: Production-related tax revenue in 2024 (KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report, 2024-2025).
- 2.7 million tours: Annual tours reported by the KDA on its Impact page.
- 566% growth: Increase in Kentucky bourbon production since 2000, according to the KDA Impact page.
Kentucky bourbon production and barrel inventory
Kentucky distillers filled 3.03 million bourbon barrels in 2024. The comparable 2023 figure was 3.2 million barrels, so the 2024 total was lower than the previous year even while remaining well above earlier benchmarks. The KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report says 2024 production was 12% higher than in 2022, 25% higher than in 2020, and 135% higher than 10 years earlier.
The longer view is even more pronounced. The KDA Impact page reports that bourbon production in Kentucky grew 566% since 2000. Its Economic and Fiscal Impacts report describes the increase as more than 560% since the turn of the century. These are rounded descriptions of the same long-term expansion, so they should not be added together.
Production is only one part of the bourbon story because aging inventory represents future releases. Kentucky had a record 17.1 million barrels of spirits aging in bonded warehouses in 2024. Of that total, 16.1 million barrels were bourbon. Bourbon inventory was up 13% from the previous year, while total barrel inventory rose 11%. Since 2020, Kentucky’s total barrel inventory has increased 57%; over the last 10 years, it has increased 175%.
| Kentucky bourbon measure | Reported figure | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Bourbon barrels filled | 3.03 million | 2024 |
| Bourbon barrels filled | 3.2 million | 2023 |
| Spirits aging in bonded warehouses | 17.1 million | 2024 |
| Bourbon barrels in aging inventory | 16.1 million | 2024 |
| Bourbon inventory change | Up 13% | From previous year |
| Total barrel inventory change | Up 57% | Since 2020 |
The KDA Impact page also says Kentucky had 17.1 million aging barrels of bourbon and other spirits, equal to more than three barrels for every person living in the state. That per-person comparison is presented by the KDA as a rounded industry measure rather than as a separate population estimate.
Jobs, payroll, and distillery capacity
The Kentucky distilled spirits industry supported 23,935 jobs in 2024, according to the KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report. Of those, 7,844 were direct jobs, while 15,064 were indirect and induced jobs. The source’s categories describe employment supported across the industry and related economic activity; the figures are not separate bourbon-only job counts.
Total labor income from the industry was just over $2 billion in 2024. The KDA Impact page similarly reports annual payroll of just over $2 billion and more than 23,935 Kentucky jobs. The repeated totals provide a broad measure of the industry’s employment and income footprint, while the 2024 report supplies the direct-versus-related job breakdown.
Production employment has also expanded over time. Kentucky production jobs grew from 3,103 in 2010 to 7,509 in 2024, a reported gain of 142%. This series refers specifically to production jobs, so it should not be compared directly with the broader 23,935-job industry total as though they measured the same population.
The KDA report recorded 169 active federal distillery licenses in Kentucky in July 2025. Kentucky ranked 11th in the United States for active federal distillery licenses and held 3.2% of all federal distillery licenses. Nationally, there were 5,234 federally licensed distilled spirits producers and bottlers. In 2024, fewer than half of licensed distillers—47%—reported removing spirits.
Capital investment is another indicator of capacity. The KDA Impact page reports $3.55 billion in capital projects completed or planned over the next five years. The stated horizon is five years, so this figure combines completed and planned projects rather than representing a single year of spending.
Taxes and the value of aging spirits
Kentucky’s distilled spirits activity produces several kinds of public revenue. The KDA Impact page reports more than $371.8 million in annual tax revenue for Kentucky state and local governments. The KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report gives a 2024 production-related tax total of $235.1 million, including $135.4 million as the state share. School districts received $55.9 million from production taxes in 2024, while consumption taxes from distilled spirits totaled $136.7 million.
The report separately records real and tangible property tax payments from distilled spirits of $19.3 million in 2024. The estimated property tax payment on aging spirits was $60 million in 2024. These measures have different scopes, so the figures should be read as separate tax categories rather than combined into a single total.
The assessed value of distilled spirits in bonded warehouses was nearly $10 billion in tax year 2025. The report gives an implied taxable value of $9.34 billion and an estimated state property-tax collection from aging spirits of $4.7 million for that tax year. The use of “estimated,” “assessed,” and “implied” matters here: each label describes a different type of reported value.
The report’s 2024 breakdown also lists property-tax line items for distilled spirits by recipient category: $3.73 for the state, $8.07 for city and county governments, $40.58 for schools, $3.30 for libraries, $1.19 for county extension, $1.37 for health, $1.63 for fire districts, and $0.06 for the air board per category shown in the report’s breakdown. These are reported line items, not a replacement for the broader dollar totals above.
Corn, grains, barrels, and Kentucky suppliers
Bourbon production connects distilleries to Kentucky agriculture. Kentucky distillers use more than 27.3 million bushels of corn per year. In 2025, 84% of the corn used by KDA distillers came from Kentucky farmers. Kentucky distillers’ corn purchases equal 10% of the state’s total corn output.
Other grains have a smaller reported Kentucky share: 29% of the other grains used by KDA distillers came from Kentucky farmers in 2025. The source distinguishes this figure from corn sourcing, so the two percentages should not be treated as one combined local-grain rate.
Barrel purchasing is another large supply-chain expense. KDA members spent just over $700 million to purchase barrels in 2024, and 67% of those barrels came from cooperages in Kentucky. A cooperage is a barrel-making operation; the reported share identifies the location of the supplier, not the percentage of all barrel materials produced in the state.
The industry’s scale is also visible in its warehouse stock. The 17.1 million barrels of spirits aging in Kentucky in 2024 included 16.1 million bourbon barrels, making bourbon the dominant component of the reported inventory. The record inventory and the barrel-purchase total describe different stages of the supply chain: one measures stock aging in bonded warehouses, while the other measures a year of barrel purchases.
Tourism and the bourbon trail
Bourbon is also a tourism draw for visitors looking for distillery experiences, tastings, and regional nightlife. The KDA Impact page says Kentucky Bourbon Trail experiences attract almost 3 million combined annual visits. The same page reports 2.7 million annual tours.
Those two figures use different wording—“combined annual visits” and “annual tours”—and should not be added together. They indicate a large visitor presence, but the supplied figures do not establish whether every visit and tour is counted under the same method or whether some activity appears in both measures.
For a live-music and nightlife audience, the tourism numbers help explain why bourbon functions as more than a packaged drink. Distillery destinations create organized visitor experiences, while bourbon’s wider economic footprint supports hospitality, transportation, food service, and entertainment activity. The supplied statistics quantify the visits and tours, but they do not provide separate attendance totals for concerts, bars, restaurants, or music venues.
Exports and international bourbon-related trade
The export picture was mixed in the first 10 months of 2025. Kentucky whiskey exports were down 12% compared with the first 10 months of 2024. Exports to Canada were down 42% through October 2025, and exports to the European Union were down 13% over the same comparison period. These are partial-year comparisons, not full-year 2025 results.
Used barrels also moved through international markets. Five countries accounted for 87% of Kentucky’s 2025 used-barrel exports. The United Kingdom accounted for 55% of those exports. Used-barrel exports to the United Kingdom were down 27% in the first 10 months of 2025 versus the same period in 2024, while exports to Ireland were down 68%.
| Kentucky exports of wood casks, barrels, and vats | Value |
|---|---|
| 2010 | $53 million |
| 2015 | $103 million |
| 2019 | $135 million |
| 2020 | $112 million |
| 2022 | $149 million |
| 2023 | $212 million |
| 2024 | $267 million |
| January–October 2025 | $163 million |
The longer export series for wood casks, barrels, and vats shows annual values of $53 million in 2010, $52 million in 2011, $64 million in 2012, $71 million in 2013, $95 million in 2014, $103 million in 2015, $90 million in 2016, $100 million in 2017, $127 million in 2018, $135 million in 2019, $112 million in 2020, $105 million in 2021, $149 million in 2022, $212 million in 2023, and $267 million in 2024. The January-through-October 2025 value was $163 million, so it is not directly comparable with the full-year figures.
Where Kentucky bourbon is produced
Production is concentrated geographically. The KDA Economic and Fiscal Impacts report states that only 10 Kentucky counties produced 94% of the state’s bourbon. Nelson County alone produced 30% of Kentucky’s bourbon.
These figures show why a statewide bourbon statistic can conceal a highly concentrated local economy. The 94% figure describes the share attributed to 10 counties, while the 30% figure identifies Nelson County’s share. Neither figure supplies a complete county-by-county ranking, so the remaining production cannot be allocated among other counties from the supplied data.
For readers following bourbon through Kentucky’s nightlife and visitor culture, this concentration is important context. A large share of production, barrel aging, tours, employment, and related spending is tied to a relatively small set of places, even though the industry’s tax, agricultural, and export effects reach across the state.