Heritage Distilling Announces Closure of Tasting Rooms and Distilleries

Citing the impact of a slumping whiskey market and higher state taxes, Washington craft distiller Heritage Distilling announced that it will shutter all five of its tasting rooms in Washington and Oregon, effective December 31^st. Production at the distillery’s Gig Harbor, Washington, and Eugene, Oregon, distilleries is expected to end in mid-February. The move will cut operating expenses by more than $5 million.

Heritage plans to outsource its spirit production to other distilleries by year-end, and will continue to sell its products online and through some wholesale channels.

Heritage, founded in the small city of Gig Harbor on Washington’s Puget Sound in 2011, makes whiskeys including its Salute and Special Operations series, as well as Stiefel’s Select flavored whiskey. It also produces vodka and ready-to-drink cocktail products. The company, which announced an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq in the fall of 2024, is also noteworthy for its Tribal Beverage Network, a partnership program that aims to help Native American tribes develop their own distilleries. In 2023, that program saw the Tonto Apache Tribe announce the opening of its first distillery and tasting room in Arizona. Earlier this year, it announced a partnership with the Coquille Tribe of Oregon as part of the program.

Heritage will be hosting Last Call celebration events through the end of the year at its five non-tribal tasting rooms: Gig Harbor Waterfront, Roslyn, and Tumwater locations in Washington, along with its Whiteaker and 5^th Street locations in Eugene, Oregon.