90% of Irish Distilleries Paused or Cut Output in 2025. Most Are Back — But Changed.
If a single statistic defined Irish whiskey's year, it was this: as many as 90% of the island's distilleries paused or reduced production at some point in 2025, according to reporting by The Irish Times.
The Looming Shadow of Trump-Era Tariffs
The causes were interlocking — a post-pandemic hangover in the US market, surging costs for energy, glass, and packaging, and the looming shadow of Trump-era tariffs that made US-bound shipments an exercise in margin management.
The most prominent closures: Waterford Whisky entered receivership in late 2024; Killarney Brewing & Distilling Co., once Ireland’s largest independently owned beer and whiskey producer, shut with around 50 jobs lost; and Nephin Whiskey — the first new distillery in Connacht in a century — had a liquidator appointed. Dublin Liberties Distillery has been closed since May. Diageo’s Roe & Co. in Dublin extended its production pause with no confirmed restart date.
Pernod Ricard’s Midleton Distillery — home of Jameson, Redbreast, the Spots, and Powers — halted production in early April. The stoppage ran to roughly five months, critically pushing back the opening of Midleton’s planned new facility to 2027.
“I’ve been in the industry for 25 years. I don’t think I’ve seen as soft a market as you can see right now.”
— James Doherty, Founder, Sliabh Liag Distillers · VinePair, November 2025
The picture at year-end was nonetheless more stable. IWA director Eoin Ó Catháin confirmed in November that most distilleries that paused have since resumed — typically on reduced schedules. “Some companies have gone from being 24 hours to having 12-hour production shifts,” he said. The IWA also successfully lobbied the Irish government to defer new labelling regulations from 2026 to 2028.
Sources: VinePair (Nov 2025) · Inside.beer · Drinks International
