Explicit Canadian emails target bourbon maker as Trump's trade war intensifies

Standing next to half a dozen white oak barrels full of aging Kentucky bourbon, on the floor of his small Louisville, Ky., distillery, Victor Yarbrough holds up his laptop and starts reading his emails.

As the co-founder of Brough Brothers Distillery, he's visibly taken aback by what's landed in his inbox. And as a polite businessman, there's some of it he will not say out loud. 

There are roughly 50 emails in total, and most of them negative. Some of them are angry; a few are even explicit. 

"You are heading for a full recession in the states with these moronic tariffs and talk of the 51st state bullshit," says one email. "I'm just a farmer here in Canada but even I know this Canadian and probably world boycott could last four years."

Another reads: "Kentucky's problem is that people don't realize that when you vote republican [you] get f----d again," which seems to be some sort of play on U.S. President Donald Trump's slogan to Make America Great Again. 

The e-mails started shortly after Yarborough made appearances on both Canadian and American news outlets, talking about how the tariffs have negatively affected his business, Brough Brothers Distillery, the only Black-owned bourbon distillery in Kentucky.

"Ultimately I think from what I've seen — it's not really about tariffs, it's more about the sovereignty of Canada, I think is what's really coming through in these emails," said Yarbrough.

He calls the content shocking and hurtful, especially with years of fond memories of vacations to Toronto before he became a father. 

"I love Canada," he said. 

After Trump imposed tariffs on some Canadian goods, Canada retaliated with a tariff package of its own, and some provinces decided to pull American alcohol, including Kentucky bourbon, off of store shelves.

This happened as Yarbrough was in the process of negotiating a deal with New Brunswick to expand his sales into Canada. The goal was exporting roughly 10,000 bottles of bourbon into the province this year. Yarborough says the province put those negotiations on hold due to the ongoing trade war. 

"These are really strong emails that we get and, unfortunately … the negative implication for us is that, hey, we are the bad guys here," Yarbrough told CBC News during an interview at his distillery. 

"We're just stuck in the middle," he said. "I think tariffs aren't good for anyone."

Kentucky's alcohol industry was facing some troubles before the trade war officially began. In January, Brown-Forman — which produces well-known bourbon brands such as Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve and Old Forester — announced it would be cutting its global workforce by 12 per cent, which includes about 200 jobs at one of its Louisville plants that constructs barrels.