Two local distilleries have slightly altered operations, as both O.Z. Tyler Distillery and Glenmore Distillery have decided to start producing and donating hand sanitizer during a time when supplies are running low for many due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At O.Z. Tyler, Master Distiller and Director of Operations Jacob Call said his “skeleton crew” production staff is making hand sanitizer for Owensboro’s front-line workers, which include staff at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital and first responders.
“I wish we could do more, but we’re trying to take care of our police officers and healthcare workers,” Call said.
Call said O.Z. Tyler has been inundated with requests for sanitizer from different businesses. With a small staff — and with a lot of the distillery’s crew not currently working to prevent further spread of the virus — Call said his team can only focus on creating sanitizer for those facing the pandemic head-on.
So far, O.Z. Tyler has created one 270-gallon tote of sanitizer by using 190-proof grain neutral spirits combined with glycerin and hydrogen peroxide. Call said the production staff at O.Z. Tyler does the mixing and batching themselves.
Call said their hand sanitizer is being produced concurrently with its ongoing production of bourbons and whiskeys. Owensboro Police Department and OHRH were the first to receive local batches of sanitizer, with Kentucky State Police next in line.
Glenmore Distillery and their parent company Sazerac have started producing an even larger amount of hand sanitizer, adding production capacity to cope with the massive industrial demand.
“We have seen the great need for hand sanitizer from industries across the board — many of these organizations are desperate, as supplies have dwindled,” said Sazerac Chief Operating Officer Matt Maimone.
Maimone added that demand for the product is so high, Sazerac has received over five million requests for bottles of hand sanitizer. His company is prepared to meet that demand, and possibly exceed it, at Sazerac sites across North America, he said.
Glenmore began distributing cases on Monday, while the initial run of sanitizers at Sazerac started on March 27 at its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Franklin.
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