Bourbon production is down 55 million proof gallons nationwide this year
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- U.S. whiskey production dropped 55 million proof gallons through August 2025.
- Kentucky bourbon distillers hold a record 16.1M barrels in warehouses.
- Exports and domestic sales sank; Canada shipments fell over 60% in 2025.
As the spirits industry continues to reel from declining drinking, whiskey production has dropped to its lowest levels in years.
New monthly data released by the Treasury Department shows that through August, whiskey distillers had produced just under 142 million proof gallons, 55 million proof gallons less than the same period last year.
That level remains 28% lower than in 2024, just as it was in April.
It’s the lowest eight-month total since 2018, when the industry produced just under 136.5 million proof gallons.
The monthly production fell under 14.5 million proof gallons in July 2025, the lowest monthly production since mid-pandemic July 2020 levels.
The dramatic drop in whiskey production reflects steady decline in sales seen for many major brands. Last week, top American whiskey maker Brown-Forman reported sales were down 5% in the latest quarter, down 4% for the year.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s bourbon distillers are sitting on record 16.1 million barrels of inventory in warehouses, an all-time high, as of Jan. 1, 2025.
According to Hasan Bakir, senior director of economic studies for the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., an alcohol industry trade group, the slowdown has been coming for more than a year: Year-over-year monthly percentage changes have been negative since October 2024, with the biggest monthly change coming in April 2025, which was down 35% from the same month in 2024.
In September, Bakir said that President Trump’s ongoing trade war also has had an impact on the industry’s appetite for growth: “The production decline is not too surprising given the current level of whiskey inventories, the slowdown in the domestic market and tariff-related issues that are negatively impacting exports,” Bakir said in a statement.
The ongoing boycott by Canada continues to hurt the industry. Brown-Forman reported that exports to Canada are down more than 60% so far this year.
