Police say a whiskey smuggling ring has been busted in Kentucky after they charged nine people with stealing more bourbon that anyone could drink in a lifetime.

The distillery workers were charged with engaging in organised crime. The alleged scheme had begun to unravel after whiskey barrels were discovered behind a shed in Franklin County.

Police had been searching for the perpetrators since 200 bottles of aging Pappy Van Winkle bourbon had vanished from a locked area of the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Bottles of Pappy Van Winkle are rare and some fetch as much as $1000 in private sales, according to NPR.

Since then detectives have traced the theft to the home of a Buffalo Trace distillery employee called Gilbert Curtsinger, where they found five barrels of Wild Turkey whiskey. They later identified the other suspects in the gang.

The gang allegedly targeted expensive whiskey since 2008 or 2009 under the leadership of Curtsinger. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Bottles of Pappy Van Winkle are rare and some fetch as much as 00 in private sales (Getty)

Pat Melton, Franklin County Sheriff, said that $100,000 worth of bourbon had been recovered, including one barrel of 17-year-old Eagle Rare valued at $11,000.