American single malt distillery Westward Whiskey has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Under Chapter 11, a business can continue operations in control of its business, while allowing it to restructure to improve its success.
Owned by House Spirits Distillery, which trades as Westward Whiskey, the Portland, Oregon distillery was founded in 2004. Westward is well-known in the whiskey industry for its single malt whiskeys; it is a founding member of the American Single Malt Whiskey Commission (ASMWC).
The Commission recently celebrated the official ratification of American single malt whiskey as a category, a change which further raised the profile of American single malt producers like Westward.
In a statement released last week, Westward CEO Thomas Mooney commented: “Earlier this week, Westward Whiskey filed for Chapter 11 (Subchapter V) bankruptcy protection, a mechanism designed to allow small businesses to restructure for success in the future. Though consumer interest in Westward grew last year, this is a necessary step as we explore financial and strategic alternatives to better position our company to thrive as an independent craft distiller. Throughout this restructuring process, we will continue to operate as usual and bring our world-class whiskeys to our growing consumer base.
“The need for this restructuring process is driven by numerous challenges that have put a significant strain on our business: a decline in demand for bottled spirits in general; the rising cost of goods and services due to inflation that will only accelerate with tariffs; market access constraints that make it difficult for independent craft spirits producers to reach consumers; large obligations that we entered into, at a different time and under different circumstances; and significant investment toward increasing production and inventory.”
In a document filed for the case by Mooney, Westward indicated that it had filed under Chapter 11 due to “significant liquidity challenges caused by a range of factors.”
The document added that “atypical events” over the past years had contributed to the strain on Westward’s finances, including a “decline and softening of demand for alcohol and spirits products post-COVID”, overproduction of whiskey resulting in unsold inventory, overcapacity, and “increased cost and inflation stemming from the overall global economy”.
Westward went on to says that despite management acting “diligently and aggressively” to address the financial issues, the situation has worsened, leading the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as “the best opportunity to preserve the business as a going concern through value preservation efforts.”
Westward said that it is prepared to make changes to its business plan and eliminate “burdensome contracts”. It plans to file a “plan of organization”, which it believes will allow employee jobs will be preserved and the business to “continue as a going concern”.
Despite the liquidity challenges it currently faces, Westward stated in the document that its “mission is to become the most celebrated luxury American whiskey, and a top 10 American whiskey over $75 per bottle”. It said it was still “well-positioned to achieve these goals”, pointing to its whiskey inventory, scalable sales opportunity, and awards in support of this. Westward also indicated its value as a contract distiller for spirits; the company created Aviation gin, which is now owned by Diageo and has backing from actor Ryan Reynolds.
The news of Westward Whiskey's Chapter 11 filing reflects a series of financial challenges in the whisky industry over recent month. Stoli Vodka's US arm, whose portfolio includes whiskey brand Kentucky Owl, filed for Chapter 11 in late 2024. Elsewhere, Ireland's Waterford Distillery went into receivership in November, while Scotland's Glenglassaugh, owned by Brown-Forman, implemented a shared-production model with Benriach earlier this year, making production staff redundant.
Nevertheless, Mooney concluded his statement by reiterating his belief in Westward’s future success, saying: “We have chosen to embark on this process because we are confident that Westward has a bright future, and restructuring will position us to compete and win in the marketplace as it exists today, not as it was in the past.”
