Two years after Independent Stave Company purchased a Trinity cooperage that made barrels for Jack Daniel’s, the Lawrence County facility has reached its scheduled closure date, affecting 71 workers.

Alabama Cooperage was scheduled to cease production Monday, Sept. 14, according to Alabama’s official WARN records. The state lists the action as a plant closure affecting 71 employees.

Independent Stave announced the decision in July, saying it was part of the company’s efforts to align production with current market demand.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to align production with current market demand, Independent Stave Company has made the decision to cease production operations at Alabama Cooperage in Trinity, Alabama effective September 14, 2026,” a company representative said in a statement provided to WAFF 48.

The company said it regularly evaluates its operations to ensure it is manufacturing efficiently while maintaining quality and reliable service. It also pointed to modernization investments across its network of cooperages and mills.

The Trinity plant’s connection to Jack Daniel’s dates back more than a decade.

Brown-Forman opened the facility in 2014 as the Jack Daniel Cooperage, where American white oak barrels were made for Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. The barrels were shipped to the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, where they were filled with whiskey and placed in barrelhouses to age.

The Trinity operation was producing about 1,300 barrels a day in 2020.

Brown-Forman sold the facility to Independent Stave in 2024, and it was renamed Alabama Cooperage. Under the agreement, the plant continued making barrels for Jack Daniel’s.

At the time of the sale, 256 Today reported that Independent Stave CEO Brad Boswell welcomed the Trinity employees to the company and said Independent Stave looked forward to continuing to manufacture barrels for Jack Daniel’s.

The outlook changed a little more than two years later when the company announced the Trinity closure.

Members of the Lawrence County Commission told the news outlet in July that the announcement caught them off guard.

Independent Stave did not identify which of its other plants would take over the production handled in Trinity, according to the Moore County Observer. Independent Stave said its broader manufacturing network would allow the company to continue supplying barrels after the Trinity plant closed.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.  You may contact her at [email protected].