Kentucky distillery expands its visitor center

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VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — The Woodford Reserve Distillery is greeting tourists with an expanded and renovated visitor center in central Kentucky.

VERSAILLES, Ky. (AP) — The Woodford Reserve Distillery is greeting tourists with an expanded and renovated visitor center in central Kentucky.

Brown-Forman Corp., owner of Woodford Reserve bourbon, invested more than $1.9 million into the 7,500-square-foot visitor center near Versailles.

Enhancements include a dedicated tasting room, updates to retail shops, new displays and other improvements.

Last year, about 130,000 people visited the distillery in Woodford County.

Gov. Steve Beshear says the expansion will increase the popularity of one of Kentucky’s signature products.

Louisville-based Brown-Forman also invested $35 million to include new bourbon maturation warehouses and stills, improvements to the bottling line and other upgrades to increase capacity. The company plans to add 15 new jobs as a result of the investment.

Paul Varga, Brown-Forman’s CEO, says Woodford Reserve is one of the fastest-growing super premium bourbons.