Inspections of affected barrels will take time as flood cleanup progresses at Kentucky distillery

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Signs of renewal are underway at the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky since floodwaters that inundated the whiskey-making campus receded. But executives say the painstaking task of inspecting any bourbon barrels touched by the high water will take time.

The historic distillery has resumed shipping spirits and hopes to reopen its bottling operation in the coming days, Jake Wenz, CEO and president of the Sazerac Co. and the distillery, said Friday. The campus could reopen to visitors soon on a limited basis but for now is closed to guests through Sunday.

''Restoration of this National Historic Landmark is our top priority to ensure a quick return to making quality, award-winning whiskey and welcoming guests from around the world," Wenz said in a release.

The Frankfort, Kentucky-based distillery — which produces some of the most sought-after bourbon brands — was inundated by floodwaters from the nearby Kentucky River after days of downpours overfilled rivers to near-record levels across parts of the Bluegrass State.

Now that the murky floodwaters are gone, the cleanup at Buffalo Trace is progressing. Teams of engineers and restoration experts have been assessing damage in the buildings that were flooded.

The overall amount of damage is still being determined, the distillery said.

Those damage assessments include some of the barrels filled with aging whiskey. Bourbon gets its flavor and golden brown color during aging. Workers were able to move some barrels of bourbon to upper floors of storage warehouses before the prolonged rains produced the flooding.

Inspections of any barrels touched by the flood began Thursday and will continue until each is carefully assessed, a process that could take several weeks to complete, the distillery said. It hasn't said how many barrels were affected but said it doesn't expect any meaningful loss of inventory.

"This is a very involved process, including both barrel inspection as well as a rigorous quality testing that we do with all of our products,'' said Harlen Wheatley, master distiller at Buffalo Trace.

Based on its experience from previous floods, the distillery is ''confident in our process'' and that it successfully recovered the barrels affected by the flood, Wheatley said. The distillery has markers of several high-water marks from previous floods inside its buildings.

''A lot of heart and soul goes into every product we make, which is why our team is dedicated to testing with heavy scrutiny each barrel possibly affected by floodwaters to ensure there are no issues,'' he said.

Crews started cleaning up the distillery's visitor center, where the flood reached the first floor. During repairs, the distillery said it plans to reopen a modified version of its visitor center as soon as possible.

As a first step, the distillery plans to operate a modified retail hub from its visitor check-in center. Access will be via an email reservation system offered first to people who had tours interrupted by the flooding.

Buffalo Trace Distillery is owned by Sazerac and its popular bourbons include the Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and W.L. Weller brands.