Bourbon maker Jim Beam halts production at main distillery for a year

The maker of the popular Jim Beam bourbon whiskey says it will halt production at its main site in Kentucky for all of next year.

The distillery will stay closed while the firm takes “the opportunity to invest in site enhancements,” it told to the BBC in a statement 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 – famous for its bourbon – face uncertainty, in part, due to US President Donald Trump’s trade policies.

The brand is owned by Japanese drinks giant Suntory Global Spirits, which employs more than 1,000 people across its sites in Kentucky.

The firm said its other operations in the state, including a separate distillery and its bottling and warehousing plants, will continue to operate next year.

Jim Beam also said it is assessing how it will use its workforce during the production pause and is holding talks with the workers’ union.

In October, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) trade body said the amount of bourbon in warehouses across the state was at a record high of more than 16 million barrels.

According to the association, the barrels of bourbon, which are taxed by the state, have cost distillers “a crushing” $75m (£56m) this year.

US distillers have faced retaliatory import taxes on their goods after Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement in April saw the US imposing tariffs on most countries around the world.

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

Trade tensions between the US and Canada have also impacted sales of alcohol, with most Canadian provinces boycotting American spirits earlier in the year.