Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Whiskey Wednesday: Who Owns My Whiskey? -- Beam Global

We are back, again, to our occasional series, Who Owns My Whiskey? Since we've been drinking a lot of Jim Beam products lately, we will take a look at Beam Global, which is part of Fortune Brands, a large Illinois-based company which has divisions specializing in golf equipment and home hardware as well as spirits.

The namesake whiskey distillery of Beam Global, of course, is Jim Beam. The Jim Beam distillery makes not only Jim Beam but also Knob Creek, Baker's, Booker's, Basil Hayden, Old Crow, Old Grand-dad, Jim Beam Rye, Old Overholt rye, and the new (rī)¹ (Rye One).

In addition to the Beam distillery, Beam Global owns the following major whiskey brands:

Bourbon
Marker's Mark

Scotch
Ardmore
Dalmore
Laphroaig
Teachers Blended Scotch

Canadian Whiskey
Canadian Club

Other Spirits
Courvoisier Cognac
Cruzan Rum
DeKuyper Schapps
Gilbey's Gin/Vodka
Harvey's Bristol Cream Sherry
Sauza Tequila
Starbuck's Coffee Liqueur
Wolfschmidt Vodka

There are more spirits and whiskies, particularly a number of obscure Canadians, which I haven't listed here, but overall, Beam Global has an impressive portfolio. Even though they only have three single malt distilleries, they are very high quality, and Laphroiag and Dalmore have made huge in-roads in the US in the past few years, while Ardmore is just starting here. Jim Beam, itself, is of course the dominant player in Bourbon and Maker's is hugely popular among the premium Bourbon set.

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