Green River cuts head distiller role
Aaron Harris, who was head distiller at Owensboro-based Green River Distilling, has left the Kentucky-based American whiskey company.
Addressed on his LinkedIn page, Harris has changed his employment status to ‘open to work’.
He wrote: “Everyone! I’m seeking a new role and would appreciate your support. If you hear of any opportunities or just want to catch up, please send me a message or comment below. I’d love to reconnect. #OpenToWork.”
Harris joined the distillery in August 2022 as distillery operations manager and head distiller, taking his time with the company to three years and eight months.
Harris also wrote on LinkedIn that he has started a spirits consulting entity called Harris Beverage Solutions. He said it would “provide industry best practices to build world-class spirits programmes”.
“Cask maturation best practices, mash bill management, distillation troubleshooting, sensory analysis, and KPI tracking are just a few of the services I can provide,” he wrote. “I look forward to hearing about the issues you may be experiencing in your operations. Objective, unbiased and kind – I believe that’s the best place I can start. I appreciate your support.”
Said to be the 10th oldest distillery in Kentucky, Green River Distilling was acquired by Bardstown Bourbon Company in 2022, which has since seen the two brands exist together under the Lofted Spirits banner.
Beyond producing for its own brand label, Green River also does contract distilling for Bourbon and whiskey as part of the Lofted Custom Spirits business.
The brand cut a quarter of its workforce in April last year, but maintained the move was not because of tariffs on American whiskey, rather due to the “market correction that our industry is going through”.
Scaling back
Regarding Harris’s departure, a spokesperson for Lofted Spirits said in a statement: “Like much of the American whiskey industry, we are scaling back certain production activities to meet current demand for contract whiskey.
“While this is a sensible and necessary business decision, a small number of production roles will be eliminated. These decisions are never easy; we have taken great care to do so with respect for those impacted.
“The Green River brand is healthy and growing, and the distillery remains operational and open to the public.”
Green River’s distillation and ageing is being overseen onsite by director of operations David Carroll.
Despite the layoffs at Green River, Lofted Spirits is expanding its main facility in Bardstown. The expansion will double the site’s footprint and triple its bottle capacity.
The Bardstown facility currently has 80 employees, with five or six roles expected to be added with the expansion.
The company is also currently facing a gender discrimination lawsuit, of which it denies all allegations.
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