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 ...
Or maybe people are starting to realize they don’t need so much stuff.
Seems like a lot of good stuff went away and all we got for it is a bunch of
wetbacks.
Kamala alone would have kept many breweries, vineyards and distilleries in business.
I do my part supporting the Wild Turkey brand 😁
It’s not just the distilled spirits. The wine industry is having problems too, demand down. The softening demand is due to two things, costs have spiraled up for grapes and the consumer is looking for a less expensive substitute i.e. a decent bottle of a local IPA in a restaurant here is $7. A red or white glass of wine is $12-15.
yep, Gen Z is drinking Neuvo Zima: fizzy, flavored soda pop vodka drinks ... whiskey/Bourbon/Scotch are out ...
Doesn’t matter much to me; never touch the stuff. If the liquor industry totally folded, I doubt I’d even notice.
True, probably a little of both.
Muslims will be happy, too.
I quit drinking decades ago. I’m not about to start again.
What I just read was “All I care about is me...”
Whole lot of that going around...
“costs have spiraled up for grapes”
Yet the costs to grow grapes have not gone up very much at all. Grape growers are price fixing the market...
Headed for another recession!
I will stock some Kentucky Bourbon and some Jack Daniels. Hope that helps.
I imagine “craft breweries” are next.
There is one on every corner in Vermont. They are growing like weeds here in Western MA as well. I guess its just another term for a “bar.”
The only thing growing like weeds where I live is Indian Supermarkets.
In the early 80’s, onFriday afternoon the “bar in the office” would open and folks would have a drink before they drove home for the weekend. Some stayed late.
Of course, offices came with ash trays back then too.
I had a lot of fun at work in those days. LOL
Maybe people are literally sobering up to the reality that love, happiness and peace cannot be found at the bottom of a bottle or with a toke of weed.
They're pretty much anti-social. Plus they had to deal with the world shutting down due to covid in 2020.
They'll rather stay at home and use social media instead.
Actually good news!
people are drinking less!
There was a surge of boozing during the COVID era.
It is going away.
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