Sazerac has bought a site belonging to former Kentucky-based Bourbon distiller Garrard County Distilling.

In a statement, the group confirmed it "was the successful bidder in the auction process for Garrard County Distilling".

The group declined to provide further details on the transaction when approached by Just Drinks.

According to local reports from Lex 18, Garrard County Distilling's property was sold at a court-ordered auction last week for $20m.

Tom Collins Distilling, a subsidiary of Sazerac, was said to be the only bidder.

In March, local news outlet the Lexington Herald Leader reported that Garrard County Distilling closed and entered receivership in April last year.

According to the outlet, court filings in receivership proceedings linked to Garrard County Distilling in March had showed that Sazerac's subsidiary had bought debt owed by Garrard County to Truist Bank.

Approached at the time by Just Drinks on the March coverage, Sazerac confirmed that Tom Collins Distilling was "a separate entity owned by Sazerac" but declined to comment further.

A page for Garrard County Distilling on LinkedIn suggests a company called Staghorn owned the business in Lancaster, Kentucky. The site has a more than 50,000 square-foot distillery as well as rickhouses.

While a website for Staghorn is still running, an email address for the business tried by Just Drinks at the time of writing was inactive.

Earlier this month, Sazerac launched its first Tennessee whiskey.

The move followed the company’s 2016 purchase of a distillery in Newport in Tennessee from Avery’s Trail Distilling Co. 

In May, the business also invested again in RTDs, buying a stake in Sipmargs, the margarita brand backed by social media influencer Alix Earle.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and Sazerac declined to comment on the size of its stake and how much it paid.

Sazerac already has the RTD brands Dirty Shirley and BuzzBallz in its portfolio.