Virginia-grown White Oak trees are under threat — and so is the world's bourbon supply

The big picture: Jack Daniel's, Jim Beam, Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace — including its coveted Van Winkle line — all rely on barrels made from white oak trees to give their Kentucky-made bourbons their color and signature caramel and vanilla flavor, according to the brands.

• And America's white oak population, which grows best along the East Coast, is under threat due to climate change, land use, invasive insects and the decades it takes the trees to mature.
• The species will likely start to significantly decline in the next decade without some kind of intervention.
• That's according to a 2021 study by the White Oak Initiative, a group created by forestry and bourbon industry professionals who are trying to save the tree's existing population and ensure its future growth and sustainability.

Yes, and: It's not just climate change and bugs. Bourbon's pandemic-era surge in popularity is also a huge factor in the tree's dwindling numbers, according to experts.

• During the bourbon boom, as it's been dubbed, Kentucky distillers ramped up production, producing 2.7 million barrels of bourbon in 2022, up from 1.7 million barrels in 2018 and 1.15 million in 2015, per the Kentucky Distillers' Association.

Zoom in: That's why Sens. Warner and McConnell last week introduced the White Oak Resilience Act of 2025. The legislation would allow for greater federal resources to study and work to replenish the species, plus create a framework for land-grant university research the white oaks, per the Kentucky Courier Journal.

• Bourbon is a billion-dollar industry in Kentucky and Virginia has one of the highest concentrations of white oaks in the county, the senators noted in a news release.

What we're watching: There are signs that the bourbon boom is going bust, or at least cooling, according to industry publications.