On Tuesday, industry leaders reassembled with a bipartisan group of Kentucky leaders to toast the bourbon sector's record growth. Kentucky's bourbon industry pumps $9 billion into the Bluegrass State's economy each year, creating more jobs and attracting more tourists than ever before, according to a study released Tuesday. Kentucky distillers produce 95% of the global bourbon supply, according to the Kentucky Distillers' Association. Producers had a record inventory of 12.6 million bourbon barrels aging in warehouses at the start of 2023, it said. Bourbon tourism has flourished, with attendance surpassing 2.5 million visitors last year along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour, which showcases smaller distilleries.

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Persons: Andy Beshear, Bill Samuels Jr, Maker's Mark, Samuels, “, ”, David Osborne, Eric Gregory, ” Samuels Organizations: Kentucky Capitol, Democratic, Kentucky distillers, Kentucky Distillers ' Association, Maker's, statehouse, distillers, Producers, Bourbon, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, Distillers, Republican, Bluegrass State, Capitol, Ivy League Locations: FRANKFORT, Ky, Kentucky