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Portland distiller Westward Whiskey filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this week, Thomas Mooney, Westward’s founder and CEO, wrote in an April 9 email to club members.
“This step is necessary as we explore financial and strategic alternatives to help our company thrive as an independent craft distiller,” Mooney wrote.
Mooney characterized the bankruptcy as one that “addresses short-term challenges, and also positions Westward Whiskey for future success.” He gave no specifics to the club on those short-term challenges, other than to say that market conditions for independent distillers like Westward are more challenging than ever.
According to the Chapter 11 filing, though, Westward faces “significant liquidity challenges” and a “great strain” on its finances caused by a post-COVID decline in alcohol demand and overproduction of its whiskey, as reported in trade publication The Spirits Business.
Wright Thompson is the author of Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon and the Things That Last about the family that produces the coveted Kentucky Bourbon whiskey Pappy Van Winkle. In response to the news of Westward’s bankruptcy, Thompson is not shocked that the Portland craft distiller faces liquidity issues.
“There has been a mostly unspoken but sometimes whispered fear in the whiskey world that the bubble might pop, that the tastes of the world might change,” Thompson says. “Whiskey sells best in times of comfort and nostalgia, and I wonder if Westward is by no means the last American whiskey company to run aground.”
Westward is based in Portland and was founded in 2004. Its footprint locally includes a tasting room at Portland International Airport, and a distillery and tasting room at 65 SE Washington St., which it remodeled in 2022. That was part of a $1.5 million expansion plan in town, fueled by rapid COVID-era growth that saw the brand doubling its workforce as its bottling capacity increased tenfold.
Mooney reassured Westward club members that nothing will change for them in the near future and the next club release is on schedule to ship for May. Westward is looking forward “to continuing to explore the world of whiskey with you in the years to come.”