Sazerac tells BourbonBlog.com officially acquired Garrard County Distilling in Lancaster, Kentucky, adding one of the Commonwealth’s newest large-scale bourbon production facilities to the company’s expanding distillery network.
The August 21 announcement completes a deal that had been developing for months. Sazerac affiliate Tom Collins Distilling LLC purchased the property for $20 million as the sole bidder during a court-ordered auction in June 2026.
The distillery entered receivership after closing in 2025—only about a year after beginning production.
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Sazerac’s Garrard County Distilling Acquisition at a Glance
- Location: Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky
- Purchase price: $20 million following a court-ordered auction
- Property: Approximately 210 acres with a 50,000-square-foot distillery
- Production equipment: Two 45-foot column stills, 18 fermenters and two 20,000-square-foot barrel warehouses
- Potential capacity: Up to 150,000 barrels annually
- Original developer: Atlanta-based spirits company Staghorn
- Original announced investment: More than $250 million
- Former house brand: All Nations Whiskey, named in reference to Garrard County native and temperance activist Carry Nation
- Former All Nations bourbon lineup: A 96-proof Flagship Kentucky Straight Bourbon, 107-proof Small Batch Bourbon and approximately 111-proof Single Barrel Bourbon
- Important product distinction: The mature All Nations bourbons were sourced from established Kentucky distilleries, then selected, blended and aged by the Garrard County team. They were not distilled at the new Lancaster facility because its own whiskey was still too young.
- Whiskey actually distilled in Lancaster: High-rye bourbon, rye whiskey and American single malt, along with whiskey produced through contract-distilling arrangements
- Documented recipes: One house bourbon used 70% corn, 21% rye and 9% malted barley. Its rye reportedly used 95% Kentucky rye and 5% malted barley.
- Production history: The first barrel was filled on January 2, 2024. More than 32,000 barrels had been produced by January 2025, with approximately 40,000 barrels reportedly filled before the shutdown.
- Closure: Production stopped in late March 2025. Employees were furloughed as the company faced unpaid property taxes, contractor liens and mounting debt.
- Receivership: The property entered court-controlled receivership in April 2025 after Truist Bank alleged more than $26 million in defaulted debt.
- Sazerac acquisition: Sazerac affiliate Tom Collins Distilling became the sole bidder at the June 2026 auction. Sazerac officially announced its ownership of the facility on August 21, 2026.
- What happens next: Sazerac plans to restart production, hire employees and use the Lancaster facility to provide additional capacity across its spirits portfolio.
One key unanswered question: Sazerac has confirmed its acquisition of the distillery facility, but it has not announced that the All Nations Whiskey brand was included in the deal.
Imag above courtesy of Garrard County Distilling Co./Staghorn, originally distributed with prior All Nations Whiskey press releases.
What Sazerac Is Acquiring in Lancaster
Garrard County Distilling opened in 2024 on approximately 210 acres. The property includes two column stills and two 20,000-square-foot barrel warehouses.
Earlier descriptions of the project detailed a 50,000-square-foot distillery with 18 fermenters and the potential to produce as many as 150,000 barrels annually.
The Lancaster facility was originally developed by Atlanta-based Staghorn as a planned $250 million investment. Its rapid fall into receivership became one of the most significant reversals of Kentucky bourbon’s recent expansion period.
The $20 million auction price, following reported debts of more than $26 million, gave Sazerac control of a relatively new production facility at a fraction of the project’s originally announced investment.
Why Sazerac Wanted the Additional Capacity
Sazerac has not announced which brands or whiskey recipes will be produced in Lancaster. The company says it will use the existing infrastructure to support production needs across its extensive spirits portfolio.
The company expects to hire an initial team and add employees as operations at the facility grow.
“Even with all the investments we have made to expand, we need more supply to keep up with demand,” Sazerac President and CEO Jake Wenz said.
Wenz described the Lancaster facility as a valuable addition to Sazerac’s production capabilities and said the company is excited to become part of the Garrard County community.
For bourbon drinkers, the significant point is not simply that Sazerac has acquired another distillery. The company behind Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and Weller now controls a modern Kentucky facility capable of producing whiskey at a substantial scale.
Sazerac’s Growing Kentucky Bourbon Footprint
Garrard County Distilling joins a Kentucky network that includes:
- Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort
- Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown
- The Glenmore Distillery in Owensboro
- Additional barrel-aging operations in Laurel and Taylor counties
Sazerac says nearly 3,000 employees currently work across its Kentucky operations.
The company has also made several major Kentucky investments in recent years.
At Barton 1792 Distillery, Sazerac has invested approximately $50 million during the past five years. The improvements include new fermenters, expanded bottling operations and three additional aging warehouses that increased barrel-storage capacity by 25%.
In January 2025, Sazerac completed a ten-year, $1.2 billion expansion of Buffalo Trace Distillery. That project added a new still house, boiler house, bottling operation, 20 fermenters and 19 aging warehouses.
Sazerac has invested another $40 million at Glenmore since 2020 to improve processing capabilities, barrel equipment, distillery controls and bottling lines.
Will Garrard County Distilling Offer Public Tours?
Current plans call for Sazerac to use the Lancaster property primarily as a production facility.
The company has not announced plans for public tours, a visitor center or a brand experience at the distillery. That could change as operations develop, but the immediate priority appears to be restarting production and expanding Sazerac’s whiskey supply.
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