Campari’s Wilderness Trail Brand Faces Lawsuit Over Missing Barrels of Whiskey

Wilderness Trail is facing a lawsuit from a Seattle hedge fund company. (Photo: AP Photo/Mike Groll)

On Feb. 22, WDRB reported that Wilderness Trail, the Campari-owned Kentucky whiskey producer, is being sued by a Seattle company called Washtucky Holdings. According to the news outlet, Washtucky Holdings is connected to a hedge fund that views bourbon casks as an “alternative investment.”

WDRB reported that Washtucky signed a contract to purchase up to 40,000 barrels of whiskey from Wilderness Trail over four years. The deal was expanded by an additional 13,500 barrels at the price of as much as $758 a barrel, counting storage fees.

The whiskey brand filled a minimum of 7,500 barrels for Washtucky, according to the lawsuit, but in 2022 the distillery allegedly failed to provide the final 2,500 barrels for the year. Washtucky cited wrongful termination of the contract by December 2022.

WDRB reported that Shane Baker, a co-founder of Wilderness Trail, cited Wilderness Trail’s partnership with Campari as the reason Wilderness Trail could not continue making barrels for Washtucky.

Campari acquired a 70% stake in Wilderness Trail for $420 million in October 2022. The brand announced in January 2023 that it would intend to double bottling production, thanks to machinery upgrades.

WDRB reports that even though Campari was not mentioned as a defendant in the lawsuit, the brand potentially “wrongfully interfered” with the Washtucky deal.

Though cask investment can be a risky endeavor ending in legal battles, it appears to be wildly popular. Whisky Magazine claims that the red hot market is driving prices higher and thus affecting casual drinkers.

“It’s going to be like the housing boom — it’ll collapse,” Director of cask investment firm Whisky Broker, Mark Armstrong, said to the outlet.

The lawsuit claims that Washtucky lost $21.8 million in profits after factoring in the appreciation rate of the bourbon.

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