My review of the year 2025
or some thoughts about the whisky year 2025 and the short future
In the last edition of the Malt Whisky Yearbook 2026 from Ingvar Ronde, the value and volumes of single malts were down of 17.2% and 18.2%, respectively, with the total Scotch value decreasing of 3.6% but with volumes increasing of 3.9%, indicating a shift in consumer habits, moving more from premium to value whiskies, but these were the figures for 2024. Figures did not improve by June 2025, as Diageo reported a 4% and 2% decline in sales and volumes for their Scotch whiskies, and 9 and 7%, respectively, for their US whiskies, while values increased by 10 and 7%, respectively, for their international whiskies, which is a small proportion of their global whisky volumes. In terms of organic sales, Pernod Ricard went down by 3% for the same period, while sales of Edrington went down by 10% in sales and benefits by 22% (EBITA) by the end of March.
As a result of these figures, Diageo implemented a major cost-savings program, Pernod Ricard is streamlining its portfolio, and Edrington has sold off its volume brands to focus entirely on the ultra-luxury segment.
While the West struggles, China has emerged as the industry's most dynamic and transformative market. In a historic shift, whisky import value and volume surpassed that of Cognac for the first time in the first half of 2025, ending the latter's decades-long reign as the top imported spirit, and India is doing well. However, due to the fragile economical situation in China and with the US Trump government and its labile tariffs, this creates instability, and we have seen the prices of ultra-premium whiskies (over 2000 euros/USD) under heavy pressure on the secondary market, with for instance the Macallan 25 YO sherry cask having a recommended retailing price (RRP) of circa £1800 while these bottles can be found on whisky auctions for around £1100-1200. The gap is increasing with the most expensive bottles, such as the Macallan 30 YO sherry cask retailing for circa £4000 and selling for circa £2500 at auctions, same as for old Karuizawa, with a price tag of £15000-2000 at retailers like The Whisky Exchange or La Maison du Whisky, reaching about £5000 on whisky auctions.
A Wave of Distillery Closures and Output Reductions
The response to these pressures was swift and substantial, with industry giants announcing a series of production halts. The table below summarizes the key actions taken in 2025:
Company |
Facility / Location |
Action Taken |
Timeline / Details |
Diageo |
Teaninich Distillery (Scottish Highlands) |
Production paused |
Until at least June 2026 |
Roseisle Maltings (Scotland) |
Production paused |
Until at least June 2026 |
|
Balcones Distillery (Texas, USA) |
Production paused; 17 jobs lost |
Until June 2026 |
|
George Dickel / Cascade Hollow (Tennessee, USA) |
Production paused |
Until June 2026; staff roles restructured but retained |
|
Multiple Scotch malt distilleries |
Production scaled back |
Reduced from 7-day to 5-day operating weeks |
|
Brown-Forman |
Brown-Forman Cooperage (Louisville, USA) |
Permanent closure |
Closed by April 2025; 210 employees impacted |
Suntory Global Spirits |
Jim Beam Main Distillery (Clermont, Kentucky, USA) |
Production paused |
Paused for all of 2026 |
LVMH |
Glenmorangie Distillery (Scotland) |
Temporary production halt |
The downturn has also triggered a wave of bankruptcies among smaller US distilleries, with notable names like Ohio's A.M. Scott Distillery, Kentucky's Luca Mariano Distillery, and Texas' Devils River Distillery all filing for bankruptcy in 2025.
Other distilleries, like Penderyn have halted their production and early 2026, Diageo is announcing the probable closure of visitor’s centre such as Clynelish.
The result is a supply chain under severe strain. Distillers' demand for malted barley has slumped, with industry forecasts for next year dropping from the usual 900,000-1 million tonnes to just 600,000-700,000 tonnes. This has left farmers in Scotland struggling to secure contracts and has led to the closure of at least one maltings plant.
During the post-pandemic boom, distilleries ramped up production to meet surging demand. By 2025, that demand had cooled, leaving warehouses "overloaded" and companies "ahead of schedule" on their production volumes . As one Diageo spokesperson explained, the moves were necessary "to balance capacity against current demand" after a period of "sustained growth and associated investment" . Therefore, it is not surprising that companies such as William Grant and Sons or Edrington are looking for solutions to reduce their stocks in the warehouse.
For the recently established distilleries, this generates a very difficult position, as there is now pressure on prices, especially on the pricing based on the “perceived value” shifting now more towards “quality value”, i.e., what is the price the consumer is willing to pay to taste a luxury product vs what is the quality of the product I will get for the money I am willing to pay. Therefore, I would expect that a fair amount of new/recent producers will unfortunately have to close their business.
Until 2024, it was almost impossible to taste any rare or exclusive whiskies, as many companies replied “these bottles are too expensive to be opened”. This was frequent I had then, but starting end of 2024, this has shifted and during the last Whisky Live Paris in September/October 2025, tasting such expensive whiskies was markedly easy. Also, having tasted quite a few travel retails, this new paradigm in the industry is a very positive move for us, the consumers. The latest Bushmills, Balblair or Bruichladdich for Travel retails were all very good, at least as good, if not better, as the previous bottling, with prices going down by 30+%. The independent bottlers who have cash have now access to aged whiskies for fairly low prices, as we have seen some 30+ YO single grains whiskies from Thomson Brothers for less than £100 or 30+ YO old Bowmore from Royal Mile whiskies for less than £250. Signatory have their warehouses full of whiskies and in their 100 proof range, we can find some 16 YO Orkney single malts for circa 80 euros.
As long as the world political and economic situation remains unstable, the demand will be under pressure and the producers will need to manage their large stocks, therefore the pressure on pricing will remain for the next 2-3 years. The industry will need to change and to innovate. Talking to several retailers and observing the participants coming to whisky fairs, I think that the new industry needs to do more efforts to educate newcomers and to facilitate the initiation and discovery of their products. When I started in the whisky in the early 2000s, I enjoyed the whisky tasting organized by Diageo’s classic malts. They have stopped doing for years and in most whisky fair, you tend to meet very frequently the same people, with few new faces. Whisky is a fascinating drink, and there is a need of innovation to attract the new customers, with new presentations of products and to give more opportunities for people to try these products. There are a lot of cross “x” products, with two brands working together, so this industry needs to look for new original products, while ensuring to deliver good value products to their customer’s base.
During my trip last October to Edinburgh, I had the opportunity to visit both the Holyrood and the Port of Leith distillery. They both conducted lots of experimentation, especially with working with different types of yeast and barley types. The results were very pleasant and thus further expanding the flavours that can be generated in Scotch whiskies. Another positive trend is improvement in "wine finishes", as the duration of these finishes has extended from a couple of weeks or months, to months or years, giving often a more balanced whisky.
Slainthe,
Patrick B, 15 February 2026