Study: Craft distillers see sales evaporate amid pandemic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — For five months, no rum has flowed for visitors at Jaime Windon’s distillery in Maryland. That’s dried up a crucial part of her revenue stream as her tasting room remains shuttered by the coronavirus. Like other craft distillers, her Windon Distilling business relied heavily on sales from people who ventured in to sample the products and take home a bottle or two. A new study says the small, independent producers have been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. It says craft distillers have seen an estimated 41% of their sales evaporate since the pandemic hit.