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.
“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...