Monday, February 8, 2016
Accident Whiskey: a Stupid Genre
Diageo recently released its latest whiskey in the Orphan Barrel series, the Gifted Horse, in which a young corn whiskey and bourbon were "accidentally" mixed with some older bourbon. Wow! How lucky for the largest spirits company in the world that some corn whiskey (which usually sucks) was poured into a 17 year old bourbon...and now it's $50 a bottle.
Unfortunately, the "accident whiskey" seems on the way to becoming a genre of its own. First came Serendipity, a blend of Scotch in which someone poured young Glen Moray into old Ardbeg. How...serendipitous. Then Wild Turkey introduced Forgiven, in which someone dumped rye into the bourbon.
Just like those old Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercials in which someone eating a chocolate bar collides with someone eating a jar of peanut butter and makes a delicious discovery, the Accident Whiskey backstories are silly and seem implausible. (Who the hell walks around eating peanut butter right out of the jar?) Then, the company bottles it and gives it a name like WTF Whiskey which emphasizes the accidental nature of its creation.
The prevalence of these Accident Whiskeys would lead one to believe that either these stories are marketing fluff or whiskey distilleries are run by total idiots who randomly dump barrels together. The whiskey companies can let me know into which category they fall.
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11 comments:
Come on, it's no more implausible than a distillery (or more likely a NDP) suddenly finding a bunch of 53 gallon barrels that were 'misplaced'. And surprise, surprise, the 'lost' bourbon is really rare and really good from a famous distiller! What are the odds?!?!
"Hey Martha - look what I found under the bed!"
They must think all the consumers are brain dead.
Sadly all consumers are brain dead. Discerning customers notice when someone is trying to make a consumer out of them.
If it were craft distillers I'd option for incompetence.
If anyone thought that the 21st century would put an end to the "buyer beware" era" they were as wrong as wrong gets.
How do you think this compares to the "fake origin story" for level of Obvious Marketing Gobbledygook (OMG). And does it differ much from Farcical Factual Statements (FFS) like filtered over diamonds? We should create a hierarchy of nonsense statements.
Hi there,
they use a stolen legend.
In the area where they make Cognac and in Normandy where they make Calvados apple brandy they tell the same lengend.
In all the cases someone mixed something together accidently to create something new.
The Cognac makers mixed Cognac with grape must and voila Pinneau was born.
The Calvados makers were as stupid and accidently mixed Calvados with apple must and voila Pommeau was born.
The Armagnac makers in Gascony did not want to be left behind so they created an accident where Armagnac was accidently mixed with grape must... it is called Floc de Gascogne.
and so on.
Greetings
kallaskander
"(Who the hell walks around eating peanut butter right out of the jar?)"
Well, as a matter of fact, I've enjoyed a dollop of chunky peanut butter on a soup spoon since I was a kid. Never mixed it with anything else, though, accidentally or otherwise.
As for the accident whiskies, they can keep their stupid blends, which is all they are.
And also jim bean has been putting penut buter in his borbon for a long time, he should of copy righted it
Randall
These "accidental" specials always make me think of something my dear departed Daddy said to me (more than once)....
"Please, don't stand there peeing on my leg while trying to convince me it's raining".
Just sayin'.....
I don't care about the story. I care what it taste like.
I enjoy this blog.
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