On average, American adults drank nearly 15% more alcohol during the pandemic, and that rising demand was met by the same supply problems happening in every other industry. However, while some sectors have significant recovery since last year, alcohol shortages continue to trouble consumers in Vermont, New Jersey, and several other states.
"I don't think anybody saw the kind of demand that we're seeing right now - particularly in those high-end and super-premium products - coming," chief economist for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, David Ozgo, told NPR.
In states like Pennsylvania, officials have instituted alcohol rationing, with customers limited to purchasing two bottles of some types of alcohol per day. In Virginia, that limit is just one bottle.
The purchase limits, put in place by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, covers liquors including Hennessy Cognac, Buffalo Trace bourbon, and Patrón tequila. The board says that the limit will remain for the "foreseeable future". Many of the limits put in place have been on special editions and luxury brands.
Meanwhile, in North Carolina, customers might not be facing institutionalized rationing, but they are facing empty shelves and "out of stock" signs. In PA and VI, the state government can control the sale of alcohol, but in other states, any limiting will have to be done by store owners themselves.
According to Ozgo, liquor producers have been facing supply chain issues at every level, from skyrocketing import prices to shortages of the glass needed to make the bottles themselves. Staffing issues at liquor stores have also had a negative effect on the industry, according to a spokesperson for the PA board.
Liquor has never been a simple product to make: for many producers, the process includes growing the ingredients used to distill the spirits, then letting those spirits age for a set time. That long process means that producers can't react quickly to changes in demand.
"You can't go back five years and retroactively plant more agave," Ozgo said. "It doesn't work that way."
Buffalo Trace is investing $1.2 billion in an expansion of its production, but it doesn't expect the effects to come to fruition for "a few years".
"Buffalo Trace recognizes this is not the news it's fans want to hear for the next few years but making great whiskey does take time and the Distillery is not prepared to cut quality corners to increase short term supply," reads a press release from the company.
While other industries may be able to rebound relatively easily, the liquor industry will likely continue to flounder for some time to come.