The liquor business is booming for Brown-Forman Corp. (BF.A -1.32%) (BF.B -1.58%).
Thursday morning, Brown-Forman announced plans to spend more than $100 million expanding operations at its Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tenn., the largest single production expansion in the brand's long history. Stills, barrel warehouses, and related infrastructure are all on the shopping list as Jack Daniel's increases capacity to "bring our distinctive, charcoal-mellowed whiskey to the world."
Brown-Forman noted that it will be building out the distillery on its existing property in Lynchburg, and using "the same source of cave spring water."
Beginning this fall, and wrapping up two years later, the expansion is expected to add 90 full-time jobs at the company over the next five years.
"It's a good time in the whiskey industry, and our future prospects look really good," said Jeff Arnett, master distiller at the distillery. "We don't want to find ourselves without any additional throttle, if we need it."
The U.S. still ranks as Jack Daniel's largest market and the brand's domestic sales grew in 2012. But overseas markets now represent slightly more than half of overall sales. The brand has had volume growth for 21 straight years, and its global net sales increased by 9% in the last year.
Officially registered by the U.S. government in 1866, the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg is, according to the company, the oldest registered distillery in the United States and on the National Register of Historic Places.
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
