AS AMERICAN AS
CRAFT
SPIRITS
BY KYLE SWARTZ
Death's Door
Distillery
A
merican craft spirits appear to be in a boom time.
Sales in the U.S. grew 4.1% last year, as volume in-
creased 2.3%. Products in the $20-$30 range were
up 7.1% in volume during 2015, while the $30-and-above
category expanded by 6.5%.
Consumers are trading up, buying more, and exploring
through styles. But all is not necessarily rosy. Just as the
recent rapid growth of craft beer threatens to oversaturate
that market, American spirits could be approaching a bub-
ble of their own.
The number of U.S. distilleries a decade ago was about
50. Today, it's approximately 800. This owes to a low bar-
rier of entry, plus broader consumer experimentation. But is
there really enough demand among drinkers?
"Craft beer drinkers will buy a different six-pack every
week. But it might take three weeks for someone to go
through a whole bottle of craft gin," says Dave Willis, co-
founder and head distiller at Bully Boy Distillers, a craft distill-
ery that opened in Boston in 2010. "It's a much slower burn.
The volume just isn't there to support all these craft distilleries."
And, he adds, spirits drinkers typically do not have the
same level of "promiscuity" as their beer peers. Whereas
someone who enjoys craft brews will drink IPAs, stouts,
sours, goses, ciders and even malt beverages, a vodka
drinker tends to stick with vodka. The same goes for whis-
key, rum, tequila, etc.
All of which begs the question: can American craft spir-
its continue to expand at such a high rate?
"I'M SEEING MUCH MORE OF
A BOOM-OR-BUST QUALITY TO
NEW CRAFT DISTILLERIES."
—Dave Willis, co-founder and head distiller
at Bully Boy Distillers
StateWays | www.stateways.com | September/October 2016
34
AMERICAN
MADE
AMERICAN
