The producer of the popular bourbon whiskey Jim Beam says that they will halt production at their main plant in Kentucky throughout next year. Kentucky, which is packed with “Red Necks”, has all voted for Donald Trump and the Republicans, they have thus voted themselves out of their own jobs and survival.
The distillery will remain closed while the company takes “the opportunity to invest in improvements to the facility,” it told the BBC in a statement on Sunday.
“We are always reviewing production levels to best meet consumer demand, and recently we met with our team to discuss our volumes for 2026.”
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Distilleries in Kentucky – known for their bourbon – face uncertainty, due to US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and aggressive attitude towards the rest of the world.
The brand is owned by Japanese beverage giant Suntory Global Spirits, which employs over 1000 people at its facilities in Kentucky.
The company stated that its other operations in the state, including a separate distillery and its bottling and storage facilities, will continue to run next year. The Kentucky Visitor Center will also remain open.
Jim Beam also stated that they were considering how they would use their workforce during the production shutdown, and held talks with the union. – In October, the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) said that the amount of bourbon in stock in the state was at an all-time high of more than 16 million barrels.
According to the organization, the barrels of bourbon, which are taxed by the state, have cost the distilleries “a crushing” $75 million this year.
US distilleries have faced retaliatory import duties on their goods after Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day” announcement in April led to the US imposing tariffs on most countries in the world.
“Much of the expansion over the past ten years has been aimed at global growth,” the KDA said in October when it called for “a rapid return to reciprocal, duty-free trade.”
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Trade tensions between the United States and Canada have also affected alcohol sales, after most Canadian provinces boycotted U.S. spirits earlier this year.
