A maker of barrels for aging whiskey will lay off approximately 75 employees at its Smyth County plant, citing “bourbon industry slowdowns,” according to a letter that the company sent to state officials.
The layoffs at Speyside Bourbon Cooperage Inc.’s facility in Atkins will be effective April 30. Impacted employees were notified Feb. 28, according to the letter.
It’s unclear how many people Speyside employs there. Company officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. Speyside does not have a union.
“This layoff will be ending production of our second shift for all production operators and third shift for our maintenance staff and production will only be on first shift,” according to the letter.
The letter, dated Feb. 28, was marked as received Wednesday by Virginia’s Rapid Response Workforce Services Division. Companies are required by law to report mass layoffs and closings to the division, which provides career counseling, job search help and other services.
The letter does not elaborate on the industry slowdowns, but domestic sales of American whiskey fell 1.8% in 2024 to $5.2 billion, according to a February report from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, a trade association.
On Jan. 14, Louisville, Kentucky-based Brown-Forman, the parent company of brands including Jack Daniel’s and Woodford Reserve, announced that it would cut about 12% of its 5,400 jobs, affecting more than 600 employees, and also would close its cooperage by April 25, according to the Associated Press and other news media.
Furthermore, in early February, several provinces of Canada said that they would remove American liquor from store shelves in response to a U.S. tariff on Canadian goods, according to USA Today and other media.
Although the European Union announced on Tuesday that it plans to increase its tariff on American whiskey to 50%, effective April 1, in response to steel and aluminum tariffs enacted by the U.S., that announcement came after the date of Speyside’s letter.
Generally speaking, whiskey is aged in wooden barrels for several years. A cooperage manufactures those barrels. The length of time, type of wood used and other factors influence the spirit’s taste.
Last year, Jackson, Ohio-based Speyside Bourbon Cooperage announced it would open its fourth Virginia facility in Pittsylvania County, bringing 40 jobs there.
A company official told Cardinal News last summer that the Smyth County facility was undergoing upgrades with plans to begin increasing barrel production in 2025, and the Pittsylvania County facility would supply wooden staves for the barrels.
It’s unclear whether the Smyth County layoffs will affect the company’s plans for the Pittsylvania facility.
Besides its bourbon barrel cooperage in Smyth County, Speyside has stave mills in Bath and Washington counties and facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
The company is a division of Scotland-based Speyside Cooperage Ltd., which is owned by a French firm, the Tonnellerie François Frères (TFF) Group.