On December 21, 2025, Jim Beam announced it will temporarily halt distillation at its flagship distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, for the entirety of the 2026 calendar year.
Only the main Clermont campus is pausing distillation. Operations will continue at the company’s smaller craft facilities, including the Booker Noe Distillery in Boston, KY, and the Fred B. Noe Craft Distillery in Clermont.
Bottling, warehousing, and tourism will not stop. The visitor center and restaurant remain open to the public.
As of December 2025, Jim Beam has not announced layoffs. The company is working with union leadership to reassign production employees to other roles within the company during the transition.
The company cited a need to invest in site enhancements.
Whiskey Glut: Kentucky currently has a record 16.1 million barrels of bourbon in storage—triple the amount from 15 years ago—amid a significant drop in consumer consumption.
Kentucky distillers are facing “crushing” taxes on aging inventory, paying an estimated $75 million in barrel taxes in 2025, a 27% increase from the previous year.
