2017 has been a phenomenal year for distilled spirits makers and dreamers. A quick look at the numbers shows there’s been roughly one new distillery opened every day for the past year. According to the most recent American Craft Spirits Association Data Project the number of active craft distillers in the U.S. grew by 20.8% over the last year to 1,589 as of August 2017. The same report showed that employment in the craft industry has seen substantial growth. In 2017 industry employment grew 47.8%, adding more than 6,000 jobs for a total of nearly 19,600 full time employees while investments in the craft spirits industry reached close to $600 million.
The Craft Spirits Future is Bright
With so much growth in the industry, some may look at all the new competition with concern while others look at it as affirmation that this industry is on a roll and growing to meet pent up demand for new and interesting locally produced spirits. We are big believers in the latter and think this is a welcome return to America’s distillation entrepreneurial roots as archaic state and federal laws written around the time of Prohibition are slowly but responsibly untangled.
The biggest news story of the year didn’t make the Top 10 list only because it occurred so late in the year but let there be no doubt that the best news of the year arrived on December 24, the day the President signed the new tax law that includes the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act. This new law that took effect January 1, 2018 is the largest distilled spirits victory in modern history. The new law helps to level the playing field for craft spirits makers with a reduction in Federal Excise Tax from $13.50 to $2.70 for the first 100,000 proof gallons. This additional cash will stay with the makers, allowing them to hire new employees, purchase new equipment and invest in the communities they serve.
The future for distilled spirits makers is quite bright! Without further ado, here are the Top 10 Stories made popular by the DistilleryTrail audience.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
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No. 1: What is Absinthe and is it Legal?
No. 2: It’s Official: Stoli Breaks Ground on $150 Million Disney-like Distillery for Kentucky Owl Bourbon
No. 3: Gov. Signs HB100 Re-Defining Kentucky Whiskey and Allowing Vintage Spirit Sales
No. 4: Tennessee Whiskey Trail is Officially on the Map & Open for Business
No. 5: Bourbon Pompeii: 59 Years After its Burial, Col. E.H. Taylor’s O.F.C. Distillery Opens to Public
No. 6: The Complete List: American Distilling Institute’s – 2017 Award Winners
No. 7: Newly Issued Patents Will Chemically Age Rum and Whiskey 20 Years in 1 Week
No. 8: Buffalo Trace Distillery Granted “Patent Pending” Status for Sour Mash Process
No. 9: The 4,700 Lb. Heart of the New Old Forester Distillery is in the House
No. 10: And the Winner is… American Craft Spirits Association Announces 2017 Award Winners
Bonus No. 11: What is the Angel’s Share?
Bonus No. 12: Castle & Key Distillery Rising from Ruins After Old Taylor Distillery Narrowly Escaped Wrecking Ball
As we look ahead, we hope to see you make a difference and appear in the 2018 Top 10!
“No one ever made a difference by being like everyone else.”
~P.T. Barnum, Founder of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
Related Stories
Distillery Trail’s 2016 Top 10 Stories, Vendors & Distilleries
DistilleryTrail’s Top 10 Stories from 2015
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