Manhattan\u2019s only whiskey distillery closed unexpectedly this month as US alcohol consumption hits record lows.<\/p>\n
Great Jones Distilling Co. \u2014 which cleared bureaucratic hurdles in 2021 to open the first whiskey distillery on the island since Prohibition \u2014 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 website.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 5 incredible years, Great Jones Distilling Co. Visitor Center<\/a> is closed until further notice,\u201d the website states.<\/p>\n 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 comment.<\/p>\n Great Jones Distillery closed after a five-year run and $21 million investment in building out the space. Great Jones Distilling Co.\/Instagram<\/p>\n It took six years to build the venue and clear the city\u2019s bureaucratic hurdles. Great Jones Distilling Co.\/Instagram<\/p>\n \u201cThe decision [to close Great Jones] followed a thorough review of the current beverage industry trends, market conditions, and overall company business strategy,\u201d a Proximo spokesperson told The Spirits Business<\/a>, a trade publication.<\/p>\n Great Jones will continue to sell its whiskey online and at retail stores, even as its $21 million investment in building out the distillery appears to have gone down the drain, according to Engineering News Record.<\/a><\/p>\n The closure follows a slew of negative headlines for the alcohol industry, including a new Gallup poll<\/a> in August showing that Americans are imbibing at the lowest level since 1939.<\/p>\n Also in August, the second largest distributor of wine and spirits, Republic National Distributing Company of Grand Prairie, Texas, filed for Chapter 11<\/p>\n Great Jones was the first distillery to operate in Manhattan since 1939. Great Jones Distilling Co.\/Instagram<\/p>\n Its largest creditor was Proximo \u2013 which is owned by Mexico\u2019s largest spirits producer, Becle, which was owed $94 million, according to court filings.<\/p>\n The alcohol \u201cindustry is going through a major reset,\u201d said Michael Correra, executive director of the Metro Package Store Association, a trade group representing wine and liquor stores in the New York Metro area. <\/p>\n \u201cThe business is imploding and I think you\u2019ll see liquor stores close as well because fewer people are drinking.\u201d<\/p>\n Great Jones is owned by the largest tequila maker, Proximo. Great Jones Distilling Co.<\/p>\n Last year, Jack Daniel\u2019s parent Brown-Forman laid off 12% of its workforce, or 650 employees, because of weak demand for its whiskies, which also include Woodford Reserve and Old Forester. Brown-Forman is among several Kentucky bourbon makers <\/a>who have been hit hard by declining sales because of trade disputes<\/a> and the fact that Gen Zers are not drinking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manhattan\u2019s only whiskey distillery closed unexpectedly this month as US alcohol consumption hits record lows. Great Jones Distilling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373272,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[8110,384,288,137468,75,84,83,57,9,24,63,123436,8114],"class_list":["post-373271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-alcohol","tag-bankruptcy","tag-business","tag-distilleries","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-tequila","tag-whiskey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}