Westward Whiskey Founder and CEO Tom Mooney knows the beverage industry landscape is radically different in 2025 than it was in 2015. As things stand, it’s tough being independent during times of economic uncertainty, where even the biggest of brands appear to be tightening their belts.
Westward made headlines in early April with its Chapter 11 filing, sending shockwaves through the industry. The Oregon brand appeared to be doing well, by all circumstances, with its critically acclaimed American Single Malt releases and monthly membership club. Despite the filing, Westward maintained it would remain open, and this was not the end for the brand — it was simply a matter of restructuring to protect Westward’s future. In some ways, it signified a new beginning.
“I’ve learned over the last ten days since our filings became public just how misunderstood and sometimes misused the concept of a bankruptcy protection filing is,” Mooney said over the phone during an interview. “I see it in every headline that says, ‘files for bankruptcy.’ What you are filing for is actually protection to prevent bankruptcy, and I know it feels like semantics but it means two different things.”
Mooney went on to describe that the filing was by no means a goodbye from the brand, though many customers have been “panic-buying” since the news.
“Thank you everyone who did that, you don’t need to panic, but we appreciate the buying,” Mooney said with a chuckle.
Westward Whiskey is a 21-year-old company, yet the last five years have posed more than a few challenges for the premium whiskey brand. That news isn’t particularly surprising, considering the last half-decade was shaped by a Pandemic, tariffs, inflation and shifting consumer preferences affecting the whiskey industry at large.
As for Westward’s situation, Mooney shared that a few factors such as rising interest rates and a major shift in partnerships appear to be what led Westward to its current position. One of which involved the brand’s involvement with the major supplier, Diageo and its Distill Ventures accelerator program.
Diageo Scales Back, Leaving a Lasting Impact
“It is no secret because we were very public about it. Diageo invested in Westward in 2018, and it would stand to reason that if they did so, it was with the intention that they would one day have the opportunity to own the brand,” Mooney explained. “So now we’re in year seven following that investment, and so many of the investments we made over that period of time had to do with steeling up the company and getting it ready for the possibility of that future and being big enough as a brand, but also big enough operationally and in terms of inventory and other factors to make that transition.”
Mooney went on to share that it was common knowledge that Diageo had stopped funding brands through the Distill Ventures program. In March, The Spirits Business reported that Diageo revealed it would no longer be bringing new brands onto the accelerator program, which led to job losses, according to the outlet. The culling of brands from Diageo’s Distilled Ventures program appears to have had additional fallout with independent brands like Westward Whiskey.
“I would definitely not make the claim that this was sprung on us and we could have never seen it coming,” Mooney shared in reference to Diageo’s cutting ties with Westward. “I think Diageo is making decisions that they feel they need to make for their overall business, and I think it makes a lot of sense that they need to focus their attention and resources on their larger brands. None of this surprised us, and we’ve done our best to manage this transition.”
“I Didn’t See That Coming”
Although Diageo’s departure was not surprising, another factor leading to Westward’s filing was. Mooney shared a particular challenge for Westward before its filing had to do with the economic climate.
“I would have never guessed that we had the kind of interest rate exposure that we actually had, I would have never seen that coming.” Mooney lamented. “If you look at our Nielsen numbers last year, we actually grew. More people went into stores to buy Westward than the year before. So you’d think we had a great year. But then when you look at our distributors, our depletions into the trade, they didn’t grow, they were actually down double digits.”
Mooney explained that even though consumers were buying more Westward Whiskey than ever before, stores and distributors weren’t.
“When you look at our own sales to distributors, we were down 50%,” Mooney explained. “We lost half our sales last year when people bought more Westward in stores. I didn’t see that coming.”
Though Mooney maintains he doesn’t want to make the distributors out to be “the bad guy” he knows the three-tier system has plenty of pitfalls, especially for smaller brands like Westward.
“[Distributors] are just responding to the market as it is,” Mooney said. “If you’re a large distributor and you have literally thousands of items, you can’t go into every store and sell every one of your thousands of items. So the system that we have forces smaller brands through a channel that isn’t really welcoming of smaller brands, but also creates enormous nightmares for distributors who understandably want to participate in the fact that a lot of growth is in innovative independent brands and they want to have those brands, it just creates a logistical and inventory nightmare for them. So, I think we’ve created a system that perfectly lets everybody down, and I would love to see a more productive conversation conversation about how to make market access a reality for independent spirits producers and how to build a system that genuinely works for everybody.”
Embracing Independence and Moving Forward
As for what the future looks like for Westward, it appears the brand is embracing its independence. Mooney shared that he was “immensely proud” of the team for navigating these uncharted waters.
“What we’ve been doing over the last few months and over the last couple of weeks since our filing is some of the best work we’ve ever done,” Mooney said. “We’re really busy, we’re about to start a massive order for a buyer in Australia that’s going to be fantastic and it’s going to basically get all of us working on it in one way or another. So it’s good because busy is good and I think we’ve been really heartened by the responses we’ve received from our club members, from our visitors, from our friends, from the people we do business with who genuinely wish us well and want to support us.”
Mooney shared that Westward’s strategy going forward is going to be all about embracing its smaller size and independence which involves “prioritizing all direct-to-consumer options.” Tasting room experiences and any opportunities where the team can engage directly with the public appear to be heavy points of focus for Mooney as he attempts to restructure and strategize for Westward’s future in shaky times.
“You can go to a Westward event and the person who will be there, who you’ll spend time with, is somebody who’s actually from Westward, who’s actually involved in making the product and thinking about where we want to evolve our innovation program,” Mooney explained. “And so we represent ourselves. That may not be scalable to a million cases, but that’s not what we need to be a financially successful company. So, to spend more time engaging with the public, and make the most out of those opportunities to again to spend time directly with consumers. That will make all the difference.”
Mooney went on to use the success of Westward’s whiskey membership club as a prime example of direct-to-consumer engagement. The club now has over 3,000 members and is “really foundational” from a business aspect.
“You’ll see us really lean much more heavily into all these opportunities to engage with the public and to do things that are unique,” Mooney said.
As for fans of Westward who are looking to support this brand during challenging times, besides purchasing a bottle of Westward — of course — Mooney simply wants fans to “keep the faith.” He went on to share that though Westward’s situation is public, they’re far from the first independent whiskey brand facing headwinds.
“Every single thing I’ve said about Westward and what brought us here is true about dozens of my friends,” Mooney shared. “But this is an especially important time for anybody who appreciates the value of independent producers and what they bring to the industry. Everybody needs the support, right? So as much as I want you to choose a bottle of Westward for that home bar, support independence because many of us are in the same situation.”
Mooney shares that in spite of the setback, he’s learning a lot from the experience and as a whole it’s been “really interesting” and a “very productive process.”
“The team’s working hard, and we’re doing the things we need to do to win.”
One response
Great article. I fell in love with Westward from a Lost Lantern Westward finished in Port that r/bourbon selected in 2022 that I got from Seelbach’s (could I drop any more names?).
From that bottle (January 2023 Seelbach’s case deal), I was hooked. Became an Expedition Club member and shortly thereafter upgraded to the Founders Club. I look forward to each release, counting down the days until the next quarter.
I also find myself reaching more for Westward than any other bottle in my small collection of 500 or so bottles.
As a lawyer, I know how the process works and I have no doubt that Westward will come out of bankruptcy stronger than ever. Keep on fighting Westward, you have a customer for life.