Kentucky’s $3 billion bourbon industry has a lot in store: 40-year record 5.7m barrels in warehouses

That’s the highest number since 1975 when the state’s distilleries reported 5.8 million barrels.

“The last time Kentucky had this much bourbon, Jimmy Hoffa was still alive,” said Eric Gregory, president of the nonprofit trade group founded in 1880.

Other tidbits from 1975: a gallon of gas was 44 cents, BIC launched the first disposable razor, Saturday Night Live debuted on NBC, The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened on Broadway, the stock market closed at 852 points and the world lost the last two Stooges.

The $3 billion Kentucky bourbon industry generates more than 15,400 jobs with an annual payroll topping $700 million and pours $166 million into state and local coffers each year.

Production has soared more than 170 percent since the turn of the century, with only 485,020 barrels filled in 1999. Distilleries crafted 1,306,375 barrels last year – the highest production mark since 1970 and the third straight year with a million barrels born. (Amounts include all distilleries in Kentucky compiled from state Department of Revenue data.)

Other key facts released today:

‣ Bourbon isn’t the only spirit aging in barrels. When you include brandy and other whiskies, the state’s total barrel inventory was 6.2 million in 2014, the highest total since 1975.

‣ The tax-assessed value of aging barrels this year is $2.1 billion, an increase of $223 million from 2014 and more than double the value since 2006.

‣ Distilleries paid $14 million in ad valorem barrel taxes last year to the state and local communities, the majority of which goes to fund education, public safety and other causes.

‣ More than $1.3 billion in capital projects has been completed or is planned in the next five years by KDA members, from new distilleries to aging warehouses, bottling facilities, tourism centers and more.

From Kentucky Distiller’s Association