Looming Trade War Threatens Virginia’s Catoctin Creek

More craft distilleries are joining Kentucky’s big liquor companies in complaining that retaliation against President Trump’s steel tariffs are endangering their business. The latest is Virginia’s Catoctin Creek, a favorite among rye enthusiasts for their Roundstone Rye. According to a report by area WJLA, the proposed EU bourbon tariff would add at least $11 to a bottle of their whiskey in European markets. That price hike would potentially derail their plans to expand distribution to Italy, Germany, Holland, and the UK, plans that have been in the works for five years. According to Catoctin Creek, that would effectively freeze the company’s growth for the foreseeable future.