UK James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits

Completed by Marrillia in 2023, the new distillery and barrel house campus, which includes the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits Still Building and the Independent Stave Company Maturation Building educates the next generation of distillers with the skills needed to succeed in the distilled spirits industry at the undergraduate, graduate and professional levels. Incorporating a state of the art Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) classroom and lab space, this project is the only distillery operating on a college campus in the country and navigates the complex overlap of operations with the educational needs of the students and faculty.

According to the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, there are nearly two barrels of bourbon resting in the state of Kentucky for every person living there, valued at $3 billion, up 300% from 2009. Bourbon contributes $8.6 billion to Kentucky’s economy each year, including $1 billion in payroll, and $235 million in state and local tax revenue. The bourbon industry also provides more than 20,000 jobs in the state. This project supports the offering of courses across engineering, chemistry, business, law, horticulture, forestry, food science, and entomology to address the spirits industry needs in sustainable agriculture, research and development, and more for its future workforce.

Very few places in the world have a historic landmark product like bourbon, and this Marrillia constructed facility increases the longevity and the economic development for the spirits industry in Kentucky. The craftsmanship imparted by Marrillia into this $10,335,575 project is only matched by the craftsmanship of the Kentucky bourbon industry.