Former Jack Daniel’s Barrel Facility Shuts Down, Laying Off Over 70 Employees

(Photo: Kyle Dean Reinford/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

A barrel-making facility formerly owned by Jack Daniel’s is planning to wind down operations and lay off an estimated 71 employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed last week.

Independent Stave Company, which purchased the cooperage in February 2024, has confirmed that the facility will close within the next two months. The facility continued to produce barrels for Jack Daniel’s whiskey following its acquisition, alongside casks for other spirits, wine and alcohol companies.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to align production with current market demand, Independent Stave Company has made the decision to cease production operations at Alabama Cooperage in Trinity, Alabama effective September 14, 2026,” ISC’s marketing and communication director Teri Smith told WHNT.

“These actions ensure we are making the best use of our vast production network and the significant modernization investments we’ve made across our cooperage and mill operations which position us for long-term success and the ability to support industry growth.”

Cooperages are an essential, though famously costly step in the whiskey supply chain. Facilities source fresh-cut oak, prices for which have risen since the COVID pandemic; spend months drying out residual water; expose them to the elements, then toast and/or char the barrels at temperatures up to 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. For Jack Daniel’s, the process takes around three and a half years from start to finish.

Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman began feeling the bloat. The company has sold cooperages in Alabama, Ohio and Tennessee to Independent Stave Company, and recently let go of a Louisville cooperage responsible for producing nearly half of the barrels for Brown-Forman’s portfolio of brands.

The site in Trinity, Alabama, produced around 1,300 barrels per day in 2020, according to reports published at the time. The facility was opened in 2014 as the Jack Daniel’s Cooperage, and was later renamed the Alabama Cooperage when the Independent Stave Company took over operations.