BOURBON BURGULARS BUSTED

BOURBON IS HOT STUFF. Demand is hot and so apparently is the black market for it. Nine people were recently indicted by a grand jury in Frankfort, Kentucky for alleged involvement in a bourbon-theft ring that stole more than $1OO,OOO of whiskey, including hard-to-find Pappy Van Winkle and several 5OO-pound barrels of Wild Turkey, the Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney office said. The county sheriff’s office said it uncovered the ring after receiving a tip about barrels in the backyard of a man named Toby Curtsinger that allegedly were stolen from Wild Turkey. The detectives linked the bourbon to an employee at Wild Turkey who worked on the loading dock and hauled bourbon between the distillery’s warehouses.

Authorities also recovered more than 2O cases of Pappy Van Winkle – one of the most expensive bourbon brands at $5O to $25O a bottle-as part of the investigation. Those were allegedly sold by Curtsinger, whom it described as the ringleader, and said he was an employee at Buffalo Trace Distillery, a unit of Sazerac Co. that makes Pappy Van Winkle. The alleged thefts came amid a world-wide bourbon boom, as people increasingly choose the brown spirit over vodka and rum. Sales of bourbon have increased more than 35% in the US, and 5O% overseas, over the past five years, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US.