Manhattan’s only whiskey distillery closed unexpectedly this month as US alcohol consumption hits document lows.
Great Jones Distilling Co. — which cleared bureaucratic hurdles in 2021 to open the first whisky distillery on the island since prohibition — has operated a 28,000 square-foot space at 686 Broadway that included a restaurant, retail store, speakeasy, tasting rooms and tours, according to its web site.
“After 5 incredible years, Great Jones Distilling Co. Visitor Center is closed until further notice,” the web site states.
Great Jones is owned by Proximo Spirits, the Jersey City, NJ-based maker of Jose Cuervo. Neither Great Jones nor Proximo responded to requests for remark.
Great Jones Distillery closed after a five-year run and $21 million investment in building out the space. Great Jones Distilling Co./Instagram
It took six years to construct the venue and clear the metropolis’s bureaucratic hurdles. Great Jones Distilling Co./Instagram
“The decision [to close Great Jones] followed a thorough review of the current beverage industry trends, market conditions, and overall company business strategy,” a Proximo spokesperson informed The Spirits Business, a commerce publication.
Great Jones will proceed to promote its whiskey online and at retail shops, even as its $21 million investment in building out the distillery seems to have gone down the drain, according to Engineering News Record.
The closure follows a slew of destructive headlines for the alcohol industry, including a new Gallup ballot in August exhibiting that Americans are imbibing at the lowest degree since 1939.
Also in August, the second largest distributor of wine and spirits, Republic National Distributing Company of Grand Prairie, Texas, filed for Chapter 11
Great Jones was the first distillery to operate in Manhattan since 1939. Great Jones Distilling Co./Instagram
Its largest creditor was Proximo – which is owned by Mexico’s largest spirits producer, Becle, which was owed $94 million, according to court filings.
The alcohol “industry is going through a major reset,” said Michael Correra, govt director of the Metro Package Store Association, a commerce group representing wine and liquor shops in the New York Metro space.
“The business is imploding and I think you’ll see liquor stores close as well because fewer people are drinking.”
Great Jones is owned by the largest tequila maker, Proximo. Great Jones Distilling Co.
Last yr, Jack Daniels father or mother Brown Forman laid off 12% of its workforce, or 650 workers, because of weak demand for its whiskies, which also embrace Woodford Reserve and Old Forester. Brown Forman is among several Kentucky bourbon makers who have been hit onerous by declining gross sales because of commerce disputes and the truth that Gen Zers are not ingesting.
