New owners expect Green River Distilling to grow

Jul. 14—The new owners took over Green River Spirits and its Owensboro-based Green River Distilling Co. on Wednesday.

Mark Erwin, the new CEO, says things will only get better in the future.

Erwin is also president and CEO of Bardstown Bourbon Co., a division of Pritzker Private Capital, the new owners.

He said the partnership with Pritzker, which was completed on Feb. 28, gave both Bardstown Bourbon and now Green River the capital needed to grow.

Pritzker Private Capital, a family-owned company, is headed by Tony Pritzker. His brother, J.B. Pritzker, is the governor of Illinois. And their sister, Penny Pritzker, was secretary of commerce during the Obama administration.

The Bardstown distillery underwent a $28.7 million expansion this spring.

Erwin said both Bardstown and Green River had constrictions on growth because shareholders of both were hesitant to grow very fast.

But now, he said, "the handcuffs are off. We're looking for room to grow."

Erwin was hesitant to make predictions of changes at the distillery.

But he said Bardstown Bourbon has a restaurant — The Kitchen & Bar — that's been "a huge tourist attraction" and is introducing that distillery's brands to a lot of visitors.

Erwin said he wants to see if a restaurant will work at Green River.

Herb Heneman, executive vice president for sales and marketing at Bardstown Bourbon, said Green River bourbon is now in four states and Bardstown is in 20.

The goal, he said, is to have both brands in all 50 states and make them international brands, exporting to other countries.

To do that, Heneman said, production capacity has to be increased at Green River.

It's producing about 10,000 cases of the new Green River Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey this year.

Production to increase TENfoldThat has to increase to more than 100,000 cases a year before it can go international, Heneman said.

That should happen by 2027, he said.

Heneman said the distillery's goal is to be "the best employer in town."

"There are all kinds of things we can do here to grow," Erwin said.

He said both distilleries work in custom distilling — helping celebrities like Terry Bradshaw, Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley, whose bourbon is made in Bardstown, craft their products.

They also help noncelebrities as well, Erwin said.

The revenue from custom distilling helps the distilleries grow their own brands, he said.

Green River is the western anchor on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

Erwin said tourism and the Bourbon Trail are more important to small distilleries than to the larger ones.

Visitors help spread the word on their bourbons, he said.

"This is how we grow our brands," Erwin said.

Erwin is relatively new to the bourbon industry, becoming president of Bardstown Bourbon in September 2019.

Before that, he served 26 years in the U.S. Army, ending his career as the chief of staff of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, which had a budget in excess of $1.5 billion and a headquarters staff of more than 1,000.

He had several deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

After leaving the Army, Erwin said he spent time in Africa and the Middle East before coming home to America.

Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301 klawrence@messenger-inquirer.com