Lightning blamed as 45,000 whiskey barrels torched in US

WASHINGTON, United States — A fire blamed on a lightning strike at a warehouse in the US state of Kentucky destroyed 45,000 barrels of Jim Beam whiskey, its parent company said Wednesday.

"The warehouse that was destroyed contained 45,000 barrels of relatively young whiskey from the Jim Beam mash bill," Beam Suntory said in a statement posted on Twitter.

No one was injured in the blaze, which initial reports indicate "resulted from a lightning strike," it said.

And whiskey drinkers can rest easy, as the loss of the 45,000 barrels -- a small fraction of the roughly 3.3 million at the company's warehouses in Kentucky -- should not impact supply.

"Given the age of the lost whiskey, this fire will not impact the availability of Jim Beam for consumers," the company said.

Suntory Holdings acquired Beam Inc. for nearly $16 billion in 2014 in one of the biggest-ever overseas acquisitions by a Japanese firm.

Beam sells a range of bourbons other whiskeys, having evolved from a small family base in Kentucky.