Black, sooty whiskey fungus is spreading through bourbon country, pitting homeowners against distilleries

American bourbon is a growing industry, but the resulting spread of warehouses to age all that bourbon has led to another kind of growth: whiskey fungus. The dark, sooty fungus, Baudoinia compniacensis — named after Antonin Baudoin, a French Distillers' Association director who observed a "plague of soot" at Cognac distilleries in the 1870s — feeds off the ethanol vapors, or "angel's share" of whiskey, that escape from aging barrels.
The people who live near the barrelhouses don't love the bourbon-fueled black plague.
"The fungus is pretty destructive," James Scott, a University of Toronto professor who has studied the fungus since 2001, tells The New York Times. "It wrecks patio furniture, house siding, almost any outdoor surface. I've seen trees choked to death by it." It's very hard to kill, he added, but thankfully it doesn't "appear to have a negative impact on human health."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Residents in several Kentucky counties have fought expansion by bourbon makers and sued major distilleries, trying to force the companies to install filtered ventilation to stop the spread of whiskey fungus, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. Their lawsuits were dismissed. Homeowners in Lincoln County, Tennessee, had slightly better luck.
A Lincoln County judge on Feb. 24 rescinded the building permit for a seventh Jack Daniel's barrelhouse in the county, siding with homeowners Christi and Patrick Long. The Longs say they spend about $10,000 a year power-washing their house with water and Clorox, but they paused the barrelhouse expansion on zoning grounds.
In Kentucky, "if you go on a distillery tour, they proudly reference the angel's share," Jason Holleman, an attorney for Christi Long, told the Herald-Leader. "But the angel's share results in the devil's fungus." He said the fungus wasn't a problem when the barrelhouses were further apart. Jack Daniel, headquartered in neighboring Moore County, got approval in 2018 to build two barrelhouses in Lincoln County. It now has six and has plans to build up to 20.
Jack Daniel representative Donna Willis told county officials in November that 14 barrelhouses would generate $1 million in property taxes for the county of 35,000 residents. She said adding air filters to barrelhouses, as residents demand, could degrade the flavor Jack Daniel's acquires through aging, and suggested residents manage the "nuisance" of whiskey fungus by "having it washed off."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Melvin Keebler, general manager of the Jack Daniel Distillery, said the company "complies with all local, state, and federal regulations regarding the design, construction, and permitting of our barrelhouses," and is "committed to protecting the environment and the safety and health of our employees and neighbors."
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
October 19 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's editorial cartoons include Pete Hegseth and the press, an absence of government, and George Washington crossing the Delaware
-
A little-visited Indian Ocean archipelago
The Week Recommends The paradise of the Union of the Comoros features beautiful beaches, colourful coral reefs and lush forests
-
AI: is the bubble about to burst?
In the Spotlight Stock market ever-more reliant on tech stocks whose value relies on assumptions of continued growth and easy financing
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literature
Speed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91
Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year