The government shutdown is creating serious ripple effects across many industries, including whiskey. Departments are being disbanded, some employees have been furloughed, and others in critical positions are working temporarily without pay. The political heat is rising on both sides of the aisle. But beyond the headlines, this shutdown is impacting something closer to home for whiskey lovers: it’s affecting nearly every bottle on the shelf, especially the new and exciting ones.

Now, this is not as crucial as folks losing their jobs and going without paychecks. But it does go to show you the ripple effect of such a situation, and how it goes beyond government employees.  Let’s hope there is a quick resolution for everyone involved.

You might be thinking, ‘What does the government have to do with my bourbon?’ Well, it all comes down to one agency: the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or the TTB. The TTB is the gatekeeper of the American alcohol industry.

The TTB is Closed for Business

During a federal government shutdown, the TTB is deemed a ‘non-essential’ agency, and almost all its staff get furloughed. The only people who stay on are a skeleton crew to process tax revenue, so yes, they still collect your taxes, but all the important regulatory work stops completely.

This is a massive problem for distillers. Every single new whiskey that a distillery wants to bring to market, whether it’s a new single barrel or a brand new expression, needs three things from the TTB:

1. Permit Approvals: If a distillery is trying to open a new facility or even make a significant change to their existing operation, they need a new or amended permit. Those are now paused.

2. Formula Approvals: For anything that’s not straight whiskey, think flavored whiskeys, spirits based RTDs, or spirits that use non-traditional ingredients, the formula must be approved. That’s also paused.

3. Label Approvals (COLAs): This is the biggest hurdle. No matter what the spirit is, the label (Certificate of Label Approval, or COLA) must be approved by the TTB before the product can be bottled and sold. With the TTB closed, no new labels are being approved.

The Bottleneck Effect

The immediate impact is that any distillery, large or small, that was planning a fall or holiday release, which is a massive time for new whiskey, is now stuck. They have a product ready to bottle, but without that COLA, it can’t go to market. This is particularly harmful for craft distilleries that rely on limited, specialty releases for cash flow.

If this government shutdown lasts for a while, we’re not just talking about a two week delay. When the government reopens, all those pending applications, thousands of COLAs, formulas, and permits, will flood the TTB’s inboxes. The agency will face a massive backlog, meaning that a few weeks of shutdown could easily lead to months of delays before new whiskey products finally hit the shelves.

So, while your favorite bottle is safe, the cool, experimental, limited-edition new whiskey you were hoping to see this holiday season? It might be late, and that delay is a direct hit to the industry’s bottom line. It’s a frustrating situation, and a great reminder of the complex, behind the scenes regulatory world that brings us all our favorite spirits.

For many, many reasons, let’s hope this shutdown is short lived and gets resolved soon.