This is more of a Behind the Label suggestion than a question for @Mark here and now, but the latest episode touched on two aspects of US whiskey supply chain that surprised me: Canadian grain and Mexican bottles. I think most people know of the complex international supply issues with regard to cooperage, and I think it might be interesting to go into more detail on cross-border supply issues with whisky distilling more generally. Thinking specifically of inputs here, not distribution of bottled spirits. Where are bottles made? Corks & screw caps? Where are labels printed? Does yeast ever need to cross borders? And so forth. I think of book printing. Bibles, for example, are mainly printed in China these days, at least cheap Bibles (such as the made-in-China Trump Bible). Higher end Bibles though are often printed in the Netherlands and then bound in England, Italy, Switzerland, even Iceland. It can be a much more complex cross-border production akin to how autos often involve multiple cross-border steps during production. Anyway, this week’s episode got me wondering about the hidden international elements of distilling and bottling.

Posted by Scott Rogers at 2025-02-07 17:48:39 UTC