Update - Jim Beam Makes a 'Strategic Move' and Closes Largest Facility

Jim Beam Distillery has made a striking choice. At the brand’s flagship distillery in Kentucky, the stills will stay cold next year, meaning not a single drop of spirit will be distilled.

The distillery is not closing all of its locations. The pause is limited to the Clermont distillery only. The bigger Booker Noe facility will remain active in 2026.

It’s a notable decision by Suntory’s distillery. The doors will remain open for bottling, warehousing, and visitors, but whiskey production itself will be paused for the time being.

Suntory Global Spirits, owner of Jim Beam, doesn’t describe the production pause as a closure, but as a strategic move. In a statement, the company shared the following:

Based on that meeting, the decision was made to temporarily halt production and “invest in improvements to the distillery.”

Suntory’s move comes with a clear rationale, but the timing is striking. The whisky market has been under pressure, with uncertainty driven by several factors.

Recent import tariffs and rising costs play a major role, as do the massive inventories built up during the pandemic. Those stocks represent future sales (someone has to drink them eventually), but in the meantime they’re expensive to carry. Underwhelming global figures also suggest whisky isn’t selling as briskly as it did during the pandemic.

The American whiskey maker isn’t alone in shutting down the stills—at least for now. Around the world, several distilleries have gone dark or scaled back production.

At Midleton and Tullamore Dew, production has been reduced, while GlenGlassaugh has switched the stills off entirely, with similar adjustments visible at various other distilleries.

It’s not yet known when the stills at the Jim Beam distillery will fire back up. The timing will depend on how the market evolves.