Are popular whiskey festivals a good gauge for bourbon’s ‘health’?

If you’ve never listened to the Bourbon Pursuit podcast, do yourself a favor and tune in to this most recent episode. In it, hosts Kenny Coleman and Ryan Cecil ask their community roundtable if the health of U.S. whiskey festivals reflects the overall wellness of the American whiskey industry. Per usual, the roundtable members’ comments were insightful, and in summary, as it relates to the recent and successful 2024 Kentucky Bourbon Festival (KYBF) in Bardstown, Ky., they view causation as correlation.

The podcast took place just days after Cecil and Coleman (also owners of Pursuit Spirits) reported what they experienced at the KYBF. Calling them excited about it is an understatement.

Cecil said he was “blown away” by the crowds and the number of bottles of Pursuit United whiskeys they sold there over the KYBF’s three-and-a-half days. They pointed to a solid amount of bourbon-centric education events on offer, as well as many opportunities to buy single barrels, rare bottles and hard-to-find allocated bottles.

One of them mentioned meeting attendees from Ireland and Australia—trips that Cecil estimated cost “thousands of dollars”—just to come drink, celebrate and experience bourbon.

I do some work for the festival, so I saw that happen up close. The sellout crowd of 7,000 people were clearly pleased to be there. On offer was an estimated 250 products poured by 62 participating distilleries, and bottle sales were strong. People who didn’t get a locker reserved willingly dragged around sacks full of glass-encased liquid the entire day. If you were there that weekend and not pleased about it, something is wrong with you.

But does such enthusiasm truly reflect the health of the bourbon category? Are events like the Bourbon Festival and WhiskeyFest and myriad other whiskey-centric events around the country truly indicative of the category’s health? Or are they mere micro-examples of the entertainment choices of hard-core enthusiasts only?

Believe me, the big picture subject broached often over the weekend was the general sales slump in the category. American whiskey is down, but so are sales (to a greater or lesser degree) of every other adult beverage. If you’re a regular reader of BourbonBanter.com, you’re probably still out buying like you did before Covid. But I agree with researchers who say average drinkers are still whittling away at their Covid-era booze stashes.

A recent report from the Distilled Spirit Counsel U.S. (DISCUS) claimed that “legal drinking age consumers aren't going out as much” because they’ve reduced their discretionary spending on alcohol. As any bar or restaurant operator and they’ll tell you this is true. And that leads me to view this as a more accurate perspective of the bigger picture health of the industry.

This year’s KYBF was a gathering of happy-happy people participating in a shared love of American whiskey, a gathering of strangers who made friends with anybody within reach. Whiskey is the tie that binds here, of course, but there’s deeper value when you get to share that with other humans. When whiskey gets social, whiskey is at its most enjoyable.

But are all those good feels really an accurate measurement of the health of the American whiskey category?

I’m a little skeptical, frankly, and skepticism is part of a journalist’s DNA. But if you listen to Cecil and Coleman’s excitement on the podcast, you may think otherwise. Be sure to check it out. You won’t regret it.