American Whiskey Distillery Openings & Closings 2026
American Whiskey Openings & Closings 2026
The distilled spirits sector has been on a wild ride over the last fifteen years. A decade ago, we had nothing but shortages — barrels were in tight supply, producers were dropping age statements from bottles because of dwindling inventory, and many shelf staple bottles went on allocation. Producers responded by increasing production of every aspect of the industry, from barrels to additional fermentation tanks and stills to additional warehouses to age more whiskey than ever. This surged on, full steam ahead, until 2025, when Brown-Forman’s cooperage closed and distilleries like Jim Beam began slowing production, shuttering entire distilleries. The industry and whiskey fans collectively began to panic.
But that panic has been short-lived, at least for those of us paying attention to the numbers. While there was a decrease in American whiskey production in 2025 according to metrics like grain usage and proof gallons, tracked by the Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), those numbers are now starting to creep back up. In fact, DISCUS (The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States) does an annual economic briefing and those numbers at the start of 2026 for 2024-25 showed just a 1% decrease in both volume and sales for all American whiskey categories. The alarming statistic, however, was that DSPs (Distilled Spirits Plants) dropped nationwide by about 20%. This includes tasting rooms and bottling facilities, not just distilleries, although many distilleries did shutter completely during this timeframe. But these closures, again, only represented a 1% decrease in volume and sales for American whiskey, which is a small market contraction, all things considered.
Below you’ll find a running list of the openings and closings of Distilled Spirits Plants (DSPs) throughout American whiskeydom.
Openings
Horse Soldier Farm Distillery
Horse Soldier Farm, home of Horse Soldier Bourbon, will officially open to the public on July 1.
Buffalo Trace Distillery has opened the John G. Carlisle Cafe, a permanent restaurant on the distillery grounds.
Copperworks Distillery’s Kenmore outpost will open Copperworks Tavern and Whiskey Garden and Ember BBQ Restaurant.
Catoctin Creek Distillery will have a grand reopening on July 1, to celebrate a tasting room refresh and new expanded hours and cocktail menu.
Sazerac has announced its first Tennessee distillery, AJ Bond Distillery, in Lavergne, Tennessee. The distillery’s first Tennessee whiskey will be out later this year. Alissa Henley is the Master Distiller.
Copperworks Distillery’s Kenmore outpost will open Copperworks Tavern and Whiskey Garden and Ember BBQ Restaurant.
Catoctin Creek Distillery will have a grand reopening on July 1, 2026 to celebrate a tasting room refresh and new expanded hours and cocktail menu.
The Ingram Distillery in Columbus, Kentucky is now open to the public for tours. It is probably the only distillery in the world with a barge rickhouse floating on the river
The Blending House has opened in Shelbyville, Kentucky. It will be home to Koetter K-Rax warehouses and The Spirits Group.
Koetter has completed construction on the first seven story K-Rax rickhouse, installed at The Whiskey House of Kentucky. This is a new method for building rickhouses that offers advancements in airflow, safety, and more.
Closings
Hotaling & Co. distillery in 2022
San Francisco based Hotaling & Co., which produces Old Potrero American Single Malt, is halting production at its Pier 50 Distillery. Old Potrero and Hirsch, both owned by the parent company, will still be produced/sourced, but the company is focusing on its import business, which includes Kavalan, Nikka, and Dingle whiskeys.