Report: American whiskey exports starting to rebound

By BRUCE SCHREINER
Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An industry group says American whiskey exports have started rebounding, but distillers have yet to fully recover. Spirits exports have been battered by tariffs and the pandemic. Exports of bourbon, Tennessee whiskey and rye whiskey rose 15% last year to reach $975 million. That’s according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Last year’s total was still down 18% from the record high, which was about $1.2 billion in 2018. A deal was reached last year to lift the retaliatory tariffs the European Union imposed on American spirits. The council says Tennessee and Kentucky are the nation’s leading spirits exporters.