The end is nigh my friends: there’s a whiskey shortage. And for those of you thinking you can just hop onto the specialty beer train to replace your favorite drink, be warned: hops production has taken a hit as well.
We only have ourselves to blame. In the past 10 years, we’ve managed to drink enough of the amber colored liquor that companies have taken notice and began to build bigger plants, produce more barrels and small, specialty distilleries are popping up all over the country. This isn’t a late night rant to my feline friend Mr. Miyagi after being unable to find an especially hard-to-come by bottle of the good stuff, these are real numbers: Annual sales rose 10.2 percent in 2013 alone and they are up $600 million compared to 2003 reports.
(Note: Miyagi, to be clear, is not a drinker, although I have caught him sitting in the sink after I clean a whiskey glass.)
Whiskey may not be as old as wine or beer, although the distillation process can be dated back to the 12th century, but it's always been fairly present in modern times. The first trace of the original 'grain spirit' can be found in Scotland and Ireland in the early 14th century. In fact, Old Bushmills Distillery, a whiskey brand in Northern Ireland, is often considered to be the oldest distillery in the world and its labels are all printed with a 1608 date when it was granted its first license.
So how, suddenly, have we run out? Let’s look at some of the small yet significant players that amassed to bring us on the edge of this precipice. For starters, it turns out our collective taste buds have changed and there is a new revival in wanting a simplistic and smooth whiskey on the rocks after 20 years of the liquor being cast aside in favor of vodka, rum and whatever else goes into those complicated fruity drinks that come with an umbrella and a straw. And remember how earlier we discussed the huge boost in sales last year alone? That’s due to a reduction in tariffs for whiskey exports, which made whiskey less available in the U.S. and more available to the rest of the world, adding to the increase in demand and decrease in state- side availability. Then there’s the barrel shortage, which is really only affecting micro-distilleries, but big producers aren’t able to get as many barrels as they want now either. Yes, the actual holding cask for the liquor is in short supply because loggers have been unable to cut enough trees to meet the quota this year due to a long and harsh winter.
Whiskey producers also can’t just rush to produce liquor. It takes time to age.
On top of all that, the more media attention this shortage gets (USA Today, Times, Fox News, Esquire and now us) the more apt people are to run to the store and buy up a supply of their favorites, thus escalating the shortage, at least in the short term.
While it is big news, many larger whiskey distilleries like Maker’s Mark, W.L. Weller and Buffalo Trace, have always been on allocation, meaning you call them asking for 20 barrels and they say no, you can have four, or however many they can give up at that point. It’s not a new practice and supplies have gotten tighter but there are no widespread reports, yet, of people unable to find a common brand.
This is good news for micro-distilleries who are now getting interest from more knowledgeable drinkers looking for the next big taste. Consumers are more willing to try something new and the smaller distilleries are now getting more of a shot to compete with the big guys. That is, again, if they can keep shelves stocked.
Many distilleries are basing future production on current sales demands, but they only have one year of data on the new thriving markets of India and China, which may not hold up to the sales expectations moving forward. In the meantime, Jack Daniels recently announced a $100 million expansion, tripling its square footage in Tennessee. Jim Beam is also building a super warehouse to house its product.
Charles K. Cowdery, author of Bourbon Straight, did offer the consumer some good news during a recent interview with USA Today saying because of the heightened production, we could actually be ‘swimming in the stuff.’
I choose to look at this optimistically, even though I did go out and buy a bottle of my favorite, we just need to get through the short term, and by golly friends, I think we can do it.
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