Posted on 08/06/2025 3:03:09 AM PDT by dennisw
A wave of American whiskey distilleries are collapsing under the weight of mounting debt, falling demand, and rising global tensions — signaling a crisis for the once-booming industry.
The latest to fall the owner of the Luca Mariano Distillery in Danville, Kentucky, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month with an estimated $25 million in debt.
Owner Francesco Viola said he hopes the business can 'emerge successfully, ideally with the support of its employees, customers, community and creditors.'
Luca Mariano follows the high-profile collapse of Garrard County Distilling, a $250 million independent Kentucky distillery that was placed into receivership and shut down in April after defaulting on debt.
And in late 2023, the iconic Kentucky Owl, founded in 1879, also filed for bankruptcy — citing slumping sales and a crippling cyberattack that halted operations.
Sales are drying up as price-sensitive and health-conscious American consumers pull back on spirits.
Campari-owned Wild Turkey saw an 8 percent decline in US sales during the first half of 2025, while Jack Daniel’s dropped 6 percent year-over-year.
In January, Jack Daniel's parent company Brown-Forman announced layoffs affecting 12 percent of its workforce and the closure of a major barrel-making facility in Louisville.
Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey also fell 6 percent year-over-year, its latest report revealed.
'This has been an extremely difficult time for distillers across the country who are dealing with increased production costs, a slowdown in spirits sales in the U.S. marketplace, and a significant disruption to spirits exports due to threat of tariffs and retaliation related to ongoing trade disputes,
Another major hurdle for this industry is that Canada, the US spirits second largest export market, is keeping whisky off its store shelves in protest at Trump's punitive trade policies against the nation.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
There is also a rise in new, small and independent distillers. The influence of these craft distillers may be makins serious inroads on the old unpopular brands
"Total Tax Burden: The combined federal and state excise taxes can make up to 50% of the final price at the checkout counter. In some cases, like in the UK, tax can make up a very high percentage of the bottle's cost, especially for cheaper whiskeys."
I think it’s because a lot of them went woke a few years ago. And they are in your face woke.
I marvel at the number of distilleries that have sprung into being.
I had to open your Trading Places image in a new tab to see it>>> https://y.yarn.co/7f0e6e84-ccc3-41a4-a154-dc88d3a95618_text.gif
Grape growers are price fixing the market...
********
Just following the price procedures of most producers.
Get the max out of your efforts. When the grape addicks
price is too high then they quit buying and the growers
loose. Economics at work.
That follows a trend. Sin taxes never produce the expected, or promised, revenue.
They call these cyclical industries for a reason. Auto sales fell 14.8% in 2020.
This is in spite of the obviously staggering increase in alcohol consumption by Hellary, Nanzi, Kumala, Fauxahontas, and their ilk.
Youth smoke skunk weed and don’t drink.
And why not, in Kathy Hochul's New York we have a cannabis retail store on every street corner, more than CVS, Walgreen and Rite Aid combined.
The M2 money supply increased by 70% during Covid.
There is no going back, now that the dollar is worth less.
Maybe this is part of the reason the housing market in Louisville has come to a near halt. Especially in mid-range price levels. $450-600k.
I hate to hear Brown Forman closed the barrel making facility. I toured that cooperage twice. It was a really cool place. It looked a bit like a giant, real life mousetrap games. Conveyer belts going everywhere. The best was when they fire charged the barrels. That was impressive!
I have Yuengling Lager on tap. Still expensive - not like the old days - but that’s all I need.
The rising generations just aren’t into liquor as much as preceding generations. And that’s a good thing — as long as they aren’t substituting weed or something worse.
Backing away from just distilleries and their client base, so many other industries will have the same article written of them. A part of the post-mortem will read:
Far too many companies have "acquired" debt beyond their abilities to manage and pay. Extending the comment, far too many individuals and far too many nations have "acquired" debt threatening to or causing actual collapse.
Many comments on this thread are about which whiskey or bourbon is affordable to an individual Freeper. May that perspective be extended to include all the other manners in which we Americans take on debt and more debt.
Unpayable debt has been the cause of many collapses historically, from individuals to whole nations.
“...collapsing under the weight of mounting debt....”
Far too many companies have “acquired” debt beyond their abilities to manage and pay.
Because it looked good on the quarterly balance sheet, and kept the stock price up, and the bennies to the C-Level managers flowing. But now the bills are coming due.
Hard liquor is competing against micro breweries, which are being driven by the younger generations.
They are popping up all over my region, and young people hang out there.
Also, the younger generation do not like the dark atmosphere of old fashioned bars where Hard liquor is sold.
They tend to go to trendy places.
Not a drinker, just an observer. I personally am glad liquor sales are diminishing. I’ve witnessed too many tragedies and heartbreaks because of liquor.
That may be a reason for the slumping sales too. Younger generations suffered from the effects of alcoholic parents,
Pot is their buzz of choice. We can expect a sharp increase in lung cancer..
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