Tragic Kentucky Distillery Explosion Has Oregon Connection

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Lance Mayhew, GoLocalPDX Guest Contributor

A recent tragedy at a Kentucky’s Silver Trail Distillery has an Oregon connection. On April 24th, a “catastrophic equipment failure” as described by the Kentucky State Fire Marshall led to a still exploding. “(It) failed massively, hurtling 50 feet and bending an 10 foot by 10 foot door” according to the Silver Trail’s Facebook page, leaving employees Jay and Kyle Rogers with burns over 80 percent of their bodies. Kyle Rogers later died from his injuries.

The still in question was a 300 gallon Revenoor brand still made in Yamhill, Oregon by Revenoor Company Incorporated, owned by Terry Wilhelm. According to Silver Trail owner Spencer Ballantine, “I can tell you that it was not a flash fire nor a propane fire. Also there was no distilling errors as all Silver Trail distilling safety protocols were followed. Bottom line is Jay and Kyle had no warning. Jay and I had run this still well over 100 times and as Jay has said this was four gallons into a perfect run.” Silver Trail has posted a warning on its Facebook page to all owners of Revenoor brand stills not to use the stills without first calling the Kentucky State Fire Marshall’s office.

Silver Trail Distillery and Jay Rogers have now filed suit against Revenoor Company Incorporated. Revenoor ceased operations in mid-February of this year due to a family dispute, which WhiskyCast.com’s Mark Gillespie confirmed during a telephone interview with Terry Wilhelm. State records at the Oregon Secretary of State’s business registry show an “administrative dissolution” for the company on April 24th. During the interview, Wilhelm stated that he had not been contacted by the Kentucky State Fire Marshall’s office but that he was willing to cooperate. Gillespie’s interview with Wilhelm noted that the still was out of warranty, being made 3 to 4 years ago (Revenoor stills carry a one year warranty) and that the company has produced thousands of stills during its 47 years in business. Wilhelm told Gillespie that his pot stills are not designed to build up pressure in any way, and that the only way pressure could build up in the still would be for an outlet tube to become blocked or clogged.

The Kentucky State Fire Marshall continues to investigate the cause of this explosion and, according to soources, the investigation could continue for another month.

Tragic Kentucky Distillery Explosion Has Oregon Connection

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