Bourbon maker Jim Beam halts manufacturing at major distillery for a 12 months | EUROtoday

The maker of the favored Jim Beam bourbon whiskey says it would halt manufacturing at its major web site in Kentucky for all of subsequent 12 months.

The distillery will keep closed whereas the agency takes “the opportunity to invest in site enhancements,” it instructed to the BBC in a press release on Sunday.

“We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand and recently met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026.”

Distillers in Kentucky – well-known for its bourbon – face uncertainty, partially, resulting from US President Donald Trump’s commerce insurance policies.

The model is owned by Japanese drinks large Suntory Global Spirits, which employs greater than 1,000 folks throughout its websites in Kentucky.

The agency mentioned its different operations within the state, together with a separate distillery and its bottling and warehousing crops, will proceed to function subsequent 12 months.

Jim Beam additionally mentioned it’s assessing the way it will use its workforce throughout the manufacturing pause and is holding talks with the employees’ union.

In October, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) commerce physique mentioned the quantity of bourbon in warehouses throughout the state was at a document excessive of greater than 16 million barrels.

According to the affiliation, the barrels of bourbon, that are taxed by the state, have value distillers “a crushing” $75m (£56m) this 12 months.

US distillers have confronted retaliatory import taxes on their items after Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement in April noticed the US imposing tariffs on most nations all over the world.

“Much of the expansion over the last decade has been geared towards global growth,” the KDA mentioned in October because it known as for a “for a speedy return to reciprocal, tariff-free trade”.

Trade tensions between the US and Canada have additionally impacted gross sales of alcohol, with most Canadian provinces boycotting American spirits earlier within the 12 months.