Troubles in the whiskey business

[Donw]

Gift article from the NYT

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/dining/jim-beam-production-pause-whiskey-bourbon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-k8.5qIK.wFbp8Q4SWr8U&smid=url-share

[captainlee]

Sign of the times. Everything as we know it is changing. A different world everyday.

[bbqLuv]

Amen fellow BBQer. You said a mouth full.

[Starsky]

I'm supporting it the best I can but I'm only one man!

[cruiseplanner1]

I am doing the best I can also

[wu7y]

And you have a wingman in Wyoming.

[bbqLuv]

Ditto.
Interesting enough, whisky does not contain sugar for carbohydrate. So, it's neat for me.

My favorite cheap BrokeR's is made my Jim Beam.

[Jerod Broussard]

They ain't made a penny off me since the early 90's.......and it wasn't much anyway. I have plenty relatives that picked up my slack.

[Donw]

Early 70’s for me. Not a total teetotaler though, as I’ve probably drunk a half dozen beers and a half dozen glasses of wine over the last 50 years. Didn’t want to overdo it. 🙂

[ecowper]

too much whiskey supply means lower prices. Considering how prices have gone over the past 10 years, I'm okay with this.

[smokenoob]

like how you think….

[BBQPhil]

But with lower sales, costs will rise along with prices. We all benefit by the company having greater sales.

[tstalafuse]

A couple of years back something changed in my gizzards that no longer allowed me to consume alcohol in any form. Just a sip or two made me very ill, so them shutting down is probably my fault since I did my best. What the article didn't mention was the fastest grown segment are the zero-proof offerings. Most of big beer brewers already have one offering on the shelf, and I have also seen zero-proof in the wine and spirit sections.

[cruiseplanner1]

Zero proof Bourbon is like decaf coffee. No thanks not for me anyway

[Whiskeyman53]

It’s a win for the consumer. They don’t want the shelves to have dust on the bottles, dust is not money. I will do my part to help Jim Beam but I am only an army of one.

[Hulagn1971]

I know for sure the vodka producers took a hit in the early spring of 2021 when I quit drinking liquor. Two handles a week just by myself not including a bourbon nightcap. I sure don't miss those foggy mornings.

[Dewesq55]

I was just about to post this. I've been out shopping all afternoon.

[jayjordan]

Bourbon producers ramped up supply to meet demand during Covid, then didn't ramp down after everyone had to start working instead of hanging around the house drinking bourbon. Also throw in all the bourbon influencers convincing people they had to start spending big bucks on "rare" bourbons- you know the rare million bottles produced ones.

Probably didn't help that so many small bourbon distilleries sprang up all over the country.
One of my company's restaurant customers brews beer and distills vodka and bourbon inside the (quite large) restaurant.

[dpearce]

Didn't something like this happen to small beer brewers as well, when the IPA craze was in full swing then bottomed out? (Or is it still in full swing?). Wasn't a big IPA person anyway, but it seemed like wherever we'd go menus were full of IPA offerings, so many, it was impossible to pick. Then I heard or read about a bunch of small beer brewers going out of business...

Personally, I don't hoard whiskey, only buy it when I notice I'm out. And then I typically go cheap. The most I've ever spent on a bottle was about $85 (Angels Envy). It's rare when I do that. $20 and a 12 pack of lemon-lime seltzer water can last a pretty long time.

I know my kids don't particularly like whiskey. They like fru-fru vodka drinks, so maybe there's something to that Gen Z stuff.

[wu7y]

You have good taste. I don't often drink bourbon but when I do it's Angels Envy. Got some a year or two ago as a gift and wished I'd learned about it sooner.

[cruiseplanner1]

One of my favorites is Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. That is found on the bottom shelves. And I have some above average priced bottles too. Funny that Evan Williams was ranked 3rd here by Whisky Advocate in their blind taste tests. So as you noticed price isn't the whole story

[58limited]

The alcoholic beverage industry has been crashing for the past few years. The pre-COVID 20 somethings now have families and don't drink as much. Also, the younger generations don't drink as much. Some of us older drinkers have had to slow down too.

[Dewesq55]

jayjordan - Oh, I give them an answer. How accurate that answer is is a matter for discussion.

[wu7y]

In Wyoming if you told the doctor you had no guns he/she would know you were lying.

[dpearce]

I’ve had every doctor ask me “do you feel safe at home”, and I say, I have three daughters, a wife, the dog is female and the cat is female. So no, I don’t feel safe at home. Stop asking stupid questions.

[smokenoob]

must admit, I have paused high octane alcohol also…..

[Skinsfan1311]

I haven't paused but I've certainly scaled back on drinking, or buying, whiskey that breaks the 120 proof barrier. 90‐110 proof is squarely in my wheelhouse.

[Oak Smoke]

I had to give it up altogether 6 years ago. Health issues that weren’t going to get better if i continued to drink. I’m pretty sure I was an evening alcoholic. I drank every night, I didn’t get hammered but made sure there was either good bourbon, scotch, or rum on hand at all times. As I said I drank several drinks every night. It may have been from boredom, if there was something to do that evening I might just have 1 drink when I got home. There is still a bottle of 12 year old scotch in the cabinet in case of snake bite!

[dpearce]

Does help keep the blood thin, but yeah, nightly does wear on you after awhile.

[TomfromtheSoo]

Some of the comments of the article mentioned cannabis. Twenty-four states are now legal for recreational cannabis. That also factors in over all age groups at least somewhat.

[Dewesq55]

I was just reading that my state, Pennsylvania, is moving rapidly toward legalizing recreational cannabis. They are losing too much potential revenue to neighboring states which already have it. Not to be a hypocrite (I was in college in the '70's after all), but I'm not too sure I want it to be legal.

[Uncle Bob]

Some of the younger folks who have forsaken alcoholic beverages use this as their substitute "relaxant".

[Oak Smoke]

I’m certainly no angle! In the early 70’s I was no stranger to weed. From what I gather from tv weed is much more expensive now. Back in the day you could get a case of Coors for $4.50 or an ounce of weed for $10.00. The weed would last longer and not leave you devastated the next morning. I understand the weed now is much stronger than we had back then. I was one of those boys from Oklahoma that Cross Canadian Ragweed talked about. I can’t see where it would be a good thing long term.