Jim Beam is one of the most popular brands of whiskey, available in almost every pub, bar or club across the globe.
Like any other brand, it has got some diehard fans as well as some total haters.
In case you happen to love Jim Beams, read ahead on your own risk. You might not like to learn that tons of your favorite liquor have burnt to ashes.
One of Jim Beam’s warehouses, located in Kentucky, has recently turned into a blazing inferno. Initial reports have confirmed that it contained well above 45,000 barrels (yeah barrels, not bottles) of the renowned whiskey.
According to Drew Chandler, the Emergency Management Director of Woodford County, the most probable cause of the accident could be lightening.
Firefighting crews worked day and night to bring the blazing inferno under control and limit the spread of the fire.
According to Chandler, the bourbon present in the warehouse is the perfect material for the fire to propagate.
He added that they are taking care of the environmental aspect of the scenario by preventing the liquor from getting mixed into the Kentucky River.
Beam Suntory, the parent company of Jim Beam, issued a statement, saying: “We are thankful that no one was injured in this incident, and we are grateful to the courageous firefighters from multiple jurisdictions who brought the fire under control and prevented it from spreading.
“We have a comprehensive warehouse safety program that includes regular inspections and rigorous protocols to promote safety and the security of our aging inventory.”
You might be worried about the local suppliers and distributors running out of your beloved spirit, but you need not fear. Jim Beam has more than 120 warehouses all over Kentucky, holding above 2 million barrels of the booze. So, there’s still enough bourbon left to cater for everyone’s needs.
There’s a reason these barrels are kept in the warehouses for so long. It is an essential part of the production of Jim Beam and without the aging process that’s completed in the warehouses, its typical taste cannot be achieved.
Lightning and Jim Beam don’t get along quite well.
There was an exactly identical incident in a warehouse containing 800,000 gallons of alcohol of the same brand, all of which was destroyed by a lightning-caused fire back in 2015.
Luckily, there was no human loss in that incident too.
However, a nearby creek got polluted by the emissions caused by the incident, resulting in a considerable loss of marine life.
Jim Beam also had to spend nearly $27,000 to clean up the mess but, luckily, the distribution of the booze was not suspended due to that incident.