4 min read
American whiskey exports fell 19% in 2025, a decline of $250 million, according to the DISCUS 2025 American Spirits Exports Report. The headline number is striking. The detail underneath it is more useful for operators trying to make decisions.
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5 min read
There is a number that does not get talked about enough in whiskey circles: the monthly count of new label approvals coming out of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). It is not a glamorous data point. But tracked over time, it works...
5 min read
The spirits industry's biggest story just got more complicated. Two weeks after Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman confirmed they were in active merger discussions, Bloomberg reported last week that Sazerac has entered the picture with its own approach....
3 min read
Bourbon’s popularity has surged in recent years, drawing in brands, distilleries, investors, and collectors from around the world. At the center of that growth sits the barrel market. But despite its importance, the role of the bourbon barrel broker...
2 min read
One of the earliest and most consequential decisions when starting a whiskey brand is where the liquid will come from. While it is unrealistic for a new founder to know exact case volumes before launch, it is still essential to think beyond the...
3 min read
Launching a whiskey brand is an exciting endeavor, but it comes with structural realities that many first-time founders underestimate. Chief among them is a fundamental question: where does the liquid come from?
3 min read
The flavor profile of a whiskey is not determined by the barrel alone. Before new make ever contacts oak, the most consequential decisions have already been made. They are built into the geometry of the still, the reactivity of its surfaces, and the...
2 min read
RTD companies, wine brands, and lifestyle spirits labels are filing whiskey COLAs in growing numbers. Trade press tends to frame this as a vote of confidence in the category. The more useful read is simpler: barrel economics have shifted...
4 min read
The whiskey brands that have lasted more than a century did not survive by accident. They made specific decisions about identity, about when to hold and when to adapt, about how to navigate environments that were actively trying to put them out of...
3 min read
Private label whiskey has moved from the margins of the spirits industry into the mainstream. What was once associated primarily with retail exclusives or novelty projects is now a serious entry and expansion strategy for restaurant groups,...
