Almost 20% of Scotland's distilleries are facing significant or critical financial pressure, according to a December 2025 report from restructuring firm BTG. That's 69 distilleries in Scotland alone, a 40.8% increase in just the final quarter of 2025.
A further 217 distilleries across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are also struggling.
The causes are familiar to anyone watching the broader spirits market: post-pandemic demand has fallen away, production costs have climbed, and tariff uncertainty in both the US and China is making exports increasingly difficult. Scotch exports to China dropped more than 30% last year, and there are real questions about whether 2025 US orders were inflated to beat incoming tariffs.
This isn't only a Scotch story. It's part of a wider recalibration across premium consumer categories. From whisky and tequila to luxury goods, the post-lockdown spending surge has cooled. Rising living costs and more cautious discretionary spending are reshaping how people buy across the board.
For Australian whiskey drinkers, the takeaway is nuanced. Softening global demand can sometimes open up access to bottles that were previously impossible to get. But it also puts real pressure on the producers and independent bottlers behind the whiskey we love. More than 10,000 jobs in Scotland depend on this industry finding its footing again.
Periods like this tend to reward brands that focus on quality, authenticity and long-term value over short-term hype. That's something worth paying attention to, no matter what you're drinking.
Source: The Spirits Business
