Jim Beam is pausing production at a Kentucky distillery for at least a year starting in 2026. The decision comes as the whiskey industry faces tariffs and declining demand.
The most dramatic decrease came in U.S. spirits exports to Canada, which fell 85% in the April-through-June quarter
I’m a Ky native, I grew up just a couple towns over from Jim Beam, I’ve built equipment for the bourbon industry, I have friends and family that currently work at distilleries. Keep up the boycott Canada, make it hurt. The majority of my fellow Kentuckians voted for Trump. Despite the rest of us warning them what would happen, we pleaded with them even, but here we are. They voted for greed and bigotry, and I have 0 sympathy for the ones that are losing their jobs over this. After all, it’s what they voted for.
I wish I had saved the news article when the head of an American distiller laughed at the idea of a booze boycott. He said something like “What are they going to do, drink Crown Royal?” (trying a google search for the quote is fruitless due to one of the Crown Royal bottling plants being moved to the US, but mostly because Google sucks now.) Anyway, the absolute arrogance of the guy was unbelievable. It had the vibe of a domestic abuser bragging that his freshly beaten spouse couldn’t possibly leave him.
So, it turns out, yes, we will drink Crown Royal. but for me, Forty Creek, which is far superior. I bought a case of it. Should last quite a while.
I’m a Ky native, I grew up just a couple towns over from Jim Beam, I’ve built equipment for the bourbon industry, I have friends and family that currently work at distilleries. Keep up the boycott Canada, make it hurt. The majority of my fellow Kentuckians voted for Trump. Despite the rest of us warning them what would happen, we pleaded with them even, but here we are. They voted for greed and bigotry, and I have 0 sympathy for the ones that are losing their jobs over this. After all, it’s what they voted for.
I wish I had saved the news article when the head of an American distiller laughed at the idea of a booze boycott. He said something like “What are they going to do, drink Crown Royal?” (trying a google search for the quote is fruitless due to one of the Crown Royal bottling plants being moved to the US, but mostly because Google sucks now.) Anyway, the absolute arrogance of the guy was unbelievable. It had the vibe of a domestic abuser bragging that his freshly beaten spouse couldn’t possibly leave him.
So, it turns out, yes, we will drink Crown Royal. but for me, Forty Creek, which is far superior. I bought a case of it. Should last quite a while.
It’s not a boycott anymore. We found new products we like more. We are never going back to the American products we gave up.