Scots And Kentuckians Share Distillery Fungus Complaints

By Richard Thomas

The world whiskey boom has prompted expansions, re-openings, and ramped up production at distilleries around the world, and one outgrowth of that has been a rising tide of complaints about black fungus infestations from people who live in the major whiskey-making regions of Kentucky and Scotland.

Far from being sanitized by the presence of alcohol, particular strains of fungus thrive in ethanol-rich environments, and colonies of the fungus have long been familiar sights at many distilleries around the world, both in the whiskey and in other spirits industries. In Kentucky, people living around distilleries have been familiar with the black fungus for decades, usually treating it as a minor nuisance.

Yet when the explosive demand for Kentucky bourbon produced a dramatic increase in the amount of whiskey produced and stored in the Central Kentucky region, the frequency and quantity of black fungus outbreaks allegedly spiked as a result. The first official complaints were lodged with authorities in Louisville in 2006, and since that time Heaven Hill, Brown-Forman, Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace have all been sued over the fungus problem. The lawsuits against Heaven Hill and Brown-Forman were dismissed, but the Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace suits are still in the Kentucky state courts. A fifth Federal lawsuit was filed against Diageo over its warehousing in the Louisville area, prompting the British drinks giant to agree to close down its warehousing in the area by 2015.

Meanwhile in Scotland, black fungus claims have prompted the a “Stop Chivas Regal” civic action campaign in the township of Beith. At issue are the whisky-making activities of Pernod Ricard, producer of Ballentine’s and Chivas Regal.

As a practical matter, the fungus, also known as baudoinia, is often described as “clingy,” but is removable by convention means such as washing with agents like bleach and borax. Furthermore, the black fungus is not thought to damage the surfaces infested, because degrading stone, wood and other materials is not part of its growth cycle.