Bad News: We're Facing a Whiskey Shortage

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bad news, whiskey lovers: It might be time to start hoarding bottles of your favorite spirit.

Due to the ever-increasing popularity of Irish whiskey, distilleries in Ireland might run out of juice to sell, John Teeling, father of the Irish whiskey boom, told the Irish Times.

“Soon there will be a shortage of Irish whiskey,” Teeling said. “What we are making now, you won’t sell for seven years. So we will have a shortage if the rate of growth continues at a cumulative rate over the next six or seven years.”

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In other words, Ireland doesn't have any aged malt—it was all used to keep up with booming demand in the past few years. Anything aging in barrels right now won't be ready to use for another six or seven years. And whiskey drinkers around the world want it right now.

The same holds for Japanese whiskey. Suntory recently announced it was pulling some of its best aged whiskies from the shelves due to shortage, like Hibiki 17. The distillery didn't set enough aside 17 years ago to age, and it can't keep up with demand now, so it's rationing its stock. We can't seem to catch a break.

Whiskey distilleries in Ireland are cranking out more products, and a flood of new distilleries will be introducing their first aged whiskies in the next couple of years, a spokesman for the Irish Whiskey Association assured the Irish Times. Plus, you've got the whole wide world of American whiskies to dabble in—there's not looming shortage in this hemisphere, at least not yet. But at some point we'll have to pay the price for loving booze so damn much.

This all comes on the heels of news that we're facing a massive tequila shortage as well. Anyone care for a G&T?