Spirits giant Brown-Forman Corp. said Tuesday it's reducing its global workforce by about 12% and closing its hometown barrel-making plant in Louisville. The cost-cutting moves come as American whiskey producers face stiff challenges from changing consumer trends and renewed tariff threats.

Brown-Forman said on Tuesday it will lay off about 12% of its global workforce of 5,400 employees, as the Jack Daniel's maker looks to reduce costs amid weak alcohol demand.

Brown-Forman, the Louisville-based maker of spirits including Jack Daniels, Old Forester and Woodford Reserve, plans to cut 12% of its workforce.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville-based Brown-Forman announced a corporate restructuring that will cut 12% of its global workforce of 5,400 employees. In a news release Tuesday, the spirits company did not detail how many of those cuts were at the Louisville headquarters.

Jack Daniel’s owner Brown-Forman is reducing its workforce by 12% as it battles a slow spirits market and foreboding trends.

Brown-Forman, the Kentucky spirits company that makes Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and Woodford Reserve Bourbon, announced it will lay off 12% of its workforce and close its Louisville cooperage.

Brown-Forman named new executives and said it will cut about 12% of its global workforce, or roughly 648 jobs, as it undergoes a restructuring aimed to position the company for growth amid a choppy global spirits market.

Hundreds of employees at Brown-Forman will be laid off with closure of its cooperage