Highlighting the Innovation that Supports a Good Drink

Louisville Water often calls our product “bourbon’s best friend” since water is an additive to bourbon, and it influences the flavor, quality, and maturation. Since most of the world’s bourbon is produced in Kentucky and Louisville Water supplies nearly 20 of the state’s distilleries with water, that means our water is part of some of the most popular bourbon brands.

At its recent annual meeting in Louisville, the Kentucky Distillers Association highlighted the value of water.

Louisville Pure Tap® was on the table and Pete Goodmann, Director of Water Quality and Research, was on stage, talking about our work. Goodmann joined a representative of Tapi, a manufacturer of the stoppers in bourbon bottles, for a discussion on innovation that supports the bourbon industry.

Goodmann talked about Louisville Water’s culture of excellence and explained how we have “little control on what we see in our source, the Ohio River, yet consistently produce a product that’s reliable, high-quality, and meets all standards.”

Distilleries are interested in our water quality and Goodmann explained how we often host distillery staff for tours and time in the lab with our scientists. “We view our work with the industry as a partnership and think about the knowledge we have to share.”

Bottle stoppers and Pure Tap do have something in common: Tapi talked about the importance of storytelling in the stopper that’s protecting a drink until it’s consumed (Tapi produces 600 million stoppers annually). Louisville Water uses storytelling to highlight our history with the bourbon industry that dates back to 1860.

Louisville Water is a member of the Kentucky Distillers Association, joining as one of the first industry champions. As bourbon is an important part of the state’s economy and our customer base, the partnership supports the notion that bourbon and water truly are “best friends.”