And you were worried about your local store running low on stocks of toilet paper and meats.
Well, wait until you try and swallow this: there is a shortage of bourbon and whiskey in the USA and it’s starting to hit bars and nightclubs around the country.
Jameson is in such short supply that New Orleans is in danger of running out of it on the eve of Mardi Gras. And just think about making it hard to get on St. Patrick’s Day!
The problem is the same as pretty much a number of consumer items: a shortage of truck drivers, a fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
It also doesn’t help matters that the price of bottles has skyrocketed, as has the cost of importing Irish and Scotch whiskeys. Rums and tequilas are facing the same issue.
“We still have Jameson but don’t rely on it for volume any longer,” Bailey Smith, co-owner of R Bar and Bud Rips, told NOLA.com. Instead he has switched to Tulley Irish whiskey but even that may run out soon. “As I understand it,” he said, “Tully is about to get scarce for a moment, too.”
Sarah Manowitz, general manager at Oz, which was planning a bartender’s event in the Big Easy, told NOLA.com, that “trying to get any type of tequila, Crown Royal and Maker’s Mark (whiskey) has been a feat.”
Another issue for bourbons and whiskeys has been an unexpected increase in demand for these spirits. Distilleries simply didn’t plan on this when bottling aged spirits, which age anywhere from one to 10+ years.
So you see it’s not just TP, groceries and tennis shoes that are having supply issues. It’s some of our favorite booze, too.
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