The European Union can huff and it can puff, but tariffs it levies upon bourbon will have little impact on Sazerac Co., CEO Mark Brown told Bloomberg television.
“When bourbon took off in the U.S., we delayed our plans to develop the international marketplace so we could develop the U.S. market, he said. “It didn’t seem appropriate to be shipping large quantities out of the country if we hadn’t taken care of demand in the U.S.,” he explained.
Some other U.S. distillers may face different consequences, but Brown said he didn’t see much if any competitive advantage in the tariff battles.
“We’re anxious to see trade barriers come down,” he added. “We’re making whiskey today for 2025, so we could go through two changes in administration before that whiskey is ready to sell. The current tariff war seems to be a small affair in the larger scheme of globalization.”
Scotch remains the largest whiskey worldwide. But Brown noted that bourbon is catching up. “We’re all vying for a share of the current market and for expansion,” he said.
As for the recent warehouse collapse at the Barton 1792 Distillery which Sazerac owns, Brown said the warehouses are built very sturdily and he has no idea how it happened.