Jim Beam is Closing One of its Distilleries for 2026
The American whiskey industry has been in a tough spot over the past year or so, as evidenced by the news of major drinks companies reporting drops in profits, reducing production estimates, and even pausing production at some of their distilleries. It seems that this trend will continue into the new year, because one of the largest American whiskey distilleries, the James B. Beam Distilling Co., announced that it will stop making whiskey at one of its main facilities for all of 2026.
The James B. Beam Distilling Co., which is owned by Suntory Global Spirits, is the home of Jim Beam, the best-selling bourbon brand in the world. Many other whiskey brands are also produced there, including Booker’s, Basil Hayden, Knob Creek, and Baker’s. Over the weekend, Beam released the following statement: “We are always assessing production levels to best meet consumer demand and recently met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026. We’ve shared with our teams that while we will continue to distill at our [Fred B. Noe] craft distillery in Clermont and at our larger Booker Noe distillery in Boston, we plan to pause distillation at our main distillery on the James B. Beam campus for 2026 while we take the opportunity to invest in site enhancements.” The visitor center there will remain open, as will the distillery’s Kitchen Table restaurant.
Anyone who has been following the news about American whiskey, and indeed whiskey around the globe, has probably seen similar language regarding investment and upgrades when these types of announcements are made. But this statement was actually quite frank about some of the real issues, specifically in regards to having to adjust production levels based on the reduction in consumer demand. Not mentioned here, however, were the impacts that tariffs are having on American whiskey sales as well. For example, Brown-Forman, the parent company of Jack Daniel’s, recently pointed to the Canadian ban on American spirits imports that were issued in retaliation to Trump’s tariffs as having a significant negative impact on its profits.
As noted in the statement, Beam will continue to make whiskey at the Fred B. Noe Distillery in Clermont, which opened in 2021 and is named after Beam’s seventh-generation master distiller. Also the larger Booker Noe plant in Boston, which is named after Fred Noe’s father, will continue to operate. There is no word yet about how this will affect the company’s more than 1,000 employees in Kentucky, but by law it would be required to notify the state if there were layoffs of more than 50 people, and that paperwork has not yet been filed.
Jim Beam declined to comment when Robb Report reached out for comment on the closure. This story will be updated if that changes.
