Bourbon Bigotry: Suntory/Beam Deal Brings out the Worst in Beam Fans

I was pretty unmoved by the big news that got the whiskey world humming yesterday.  If you've been sleeping under a whiskey stone, Japanese drinks giant Suntory is buying Jim Beam.  There were very good articles about the sale by Chuck Cowdery and Janet Patton.

I sympathize with many critiques of global capitalism as it's practiced these days, but one big multi-national corporation buying another big multi-national corporation just isn't that exciting to me.  It seems pretty par for the course in the world of business.  And, of course, I'm not much of a Jim Beam fan.  I even named them as a runner up in my Worst Whiskey Company of 2013 award.

These days, corporations don't really have nationalities in any real sense of the word. Both Suntory and Beam own multiple properties around the world.  Beam owns three Scotch distilleries including Laphroaig, the Cooley Distillery in Ireland, Canadian Club, Courvoisier Cognac and Sauza Tequila.  Suntory owns a number of Scotch distilleries, including Bowmore, along with its Japanese distilleries.  No big deal, money traded back and forth between really rich people.  And it's not like you can outsource bourbon.  It's a unique product of the United States that must be made here.

What I found surprising was the reaction of Jim Beam drinkers, at least as displayed on the Jim Beam and Maker's Mark Facebook pages.  A shocking outpouring of xenophobia was on display, complete with racial epithets.  As shouldn't be surprising, many of these folks were not too bright and clearly knew very little about Beam, Suntory, the whiskey industry or anything else.  Here are a few of the genius comments, all of which are copied verbatim.

• Yall got some nerve. Where are the american made products??? I vote to boycott every american made product that has sold out. Yall should be ashamed if yourselves. It is now a Japanese whiskey. Whiskey is an American drink! Now im switching to knob creek. They are still American! Everyone boycott with me until they bring great whiskey back to the states!!!! Sound off in the comments section. Oh and make known you'll be drinking Fukushima.liquid.

Whisky is an American drink?  It was invented by the Irish.  And I hate to burst your bubble, but Knob Creek is made by Jim Beam.

 

• who the hell wants to buy bourbon from Japan. i am disgusted.

 
I do!  It's called Four Roses and it was crap until it was bought by a Japanese company that cleaned it up.  It now makes among the best bourbon around.  Beam should be so lucky.

 

• Omg wth I just heard y'all sold out to the chinese I will no longer buy or drink jim beam. I'm am sorry cannot support china

I. am. speechless.

• Sell out! How could you sell out to a Japanese company! I am no longer supporting this product. You could have atleast kept in the states! I am truly disgusted!!!!!

This was on the Maker's Mark page. Before it was owned by Beam, Maker's Mark was owned by a British company, and before that, a Canadian company.  I don't remember a lot of outbursts about those sales.

 

• Maker's - now owned by the Japanese. unlike. Check out Bullet or Blanton's for tasty alternative burbons at a similar price point

USA! USA!  USA!  Oh, and FYI, Bulleit is owned by Diageo, a British company.  Blanton's is owned by Age International....a Japanese company.


In her excellent article about the sale, Janet Patton pointed out that Maker's had previously been British owned, to which one commenter responded, "At least the Brits were our allies."  Um, last time I checked the Japanese are our allies.  It's true that the we fought a war against Japan, a war which ended nearly 70 years ago, but I think we fought some wars against Britain too.  Oh, and Wild Turkey is owned by an Italian company...you know Italy, that country that fought with Japan in World War II.  It's funny, I can't recall any outcry at all a few years ago when Campari bought Wild Turkey. 

It's easy to make light of this type of idiocy, but I don't mean to make light of the sentiment behind it. A huge number of these comments referred to selling to "the Japanese" or "the Asians" as if a whole race were purchasing the company.  It is a disturbing "yellow peril" type of reaction that feels more like something from the 1940s than today. I guess I naively thought we were beyond this type of blatant bigotry, and it's jarring to have it so clearly on display.  I guess we still have a long way to go.

I think I'll drown my sorrows in some Four Roses...Japanese owned, American made, and delicious!

Why Does Brown Forman Suck So Much?

There are many mysteries in the world of whiskey, but this is one of the biggest for me. Brown Forman is a hugely successful company. Why does their whiskey almost universally suck? I'm generally not a fan of Jim Beam, the other huge player in US whiskey, but there are products in their portfolio that I can enjoy, such as Old Grand-Dad 114, and they put out some great Scotch from Laphroaig and Ardmore. But with Brown Forman, their whiskey is just terrible. What's the deal?

If you're not familiar with the company, Brown Forman is one of the biggest selling whiskey producers in the United States. They own three whiskey distilleries (Brown Forman, Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's). They also own Canadian Mist, Finlandia Vodka, El Jimador and Herradura Tequila and Southern Comfort.

They clearly know spirits and marketing, so why does their whiskey suck so much? It's easy to reflexively answer that they are just too big, but Diageo is an even bigger company, and it owns some distilleries that are making excellent whiskey.

The three Brown Forman whiskey distilleries are very different. Jack Daniel's is their cash cow. I can understand it sucking, and I don't complain about it. It doesn't need to taste good because it sells on its well crafted mystique. Rock stars, bikers and hipsters all agree that the black bottle of Old No. 7 is cool, and they'd like a t-shirt and some barbecue sauce to go with it. I've never met a Jack product I liked, but given the role the brand plays, that's okay.

Woodford Reserve is the polar opposite of Jack. It's a small distillery making pot still whiskey which does a limited experimental release each year. It's essentially a corporate owned microdistillery. The only problem is, their whiskey runs from mediocre to terrible. Experimentation is all well and good but if you don't start with good whiskey, you aren't going to end up with good whiskey. Garbage in, garbage out.

The eponymously named Brown Forman distillery is mid-way between Jack and Woodford, an industrial distillery but not one that produces on anywhere near the scale of Jack Daniel's. This is where they make Old Forester, a mediocre mid-range bourbon and Early Times, a lower end American Whiskey (bourbon stored in used barrels) which now also has a bourbon label. These whiskeys are boring, boring, boring. Some whiskey fans do like the annual Old Forester Birthday Bourbon. While that is undoubtedly the best bourbon that comes out of Brown Forman, I've never been as excited about it as some others. It just never seems that distinctive.

While Brown Forman has some special releases, one notable thing is that they never seem to release anything at barrel strength. In fact, their only regular higher proof offering is the Old Forester Signature at 50% abv (last year saw a Jack Daniel's special release, the Holiday Select, also at 50%). I'm not one of those people who thinks nothing under cask strength is worthwhile, but I am suspicious about a distillery that never releases anything at cask strength. It's as if they don't believe in the quality of their whiskey in its purest form.

The tragic thing is that Old Forester used to be lovely stuff. For last week's Dusty Thursday, I tasted a bottle from the 1970s that was just wonderful, with more complexity than anything they are doing today. I've had bottles from the 1950s that have an intense, chewy, cigar butt note that reminds me of a well aged Zinfandel. It saddens me that this once great bourbon is a shadow of its former self.

I suppose there is no use in encouraging one of the most successful whiskey companies in the country to change its game, but success is more than balance sheets. I want to see Brown Forman do more than succeed. I want to see them make whiskey worth drinking.

Whiskey Wednesday: Emancipate Yourself from Kentucky Whiskey - Redemption Rye

After prohibition, when the great rye whiskey tradition of the mid-Atlantic died out, Kentucky became the de facto capital of rye whiskey, but rye always played second (or maybe third) fiddle to Bourbon. For decades, rye lovers had only a few choices, all of them afterthoughts from the big Kentucky distilleries: Jim Beam, Old Overholt, Wild Turkey. About ten years ago, rye started making a comeback, but it was still largely Kentucky-based. Brands like Sazerac (from Buffalo Trace) and Rittenhouse (from Brown-Forman) started making waves. Ryes targeting a more upscale market were released by Wild Turkey (Russel's Reserve) and Jim Beam (rī)¹.

But in the last few years, a new and somewhat unlikely state has come into the rye game with a new, kicked up, rye flavor. Suddenly, Indiana rye is all the rage, or as we might call it in LA, Kentucky-adjacent whiskey.

The only whiskey distillery in Indiana is Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI), located right across the Ohio River from Kentucky. Formerly the Seagram's distillery, LDI was acquired by Pernod Ricard when Seagram's broke up and then sold to Angostura (the bitters people).

The interesting thing about LDI is that while they make Bourbon, corn whiskey and rye, as well as gin, they don't bottle any of it under their own label. All of it is sold to independent bottlers or blenders. Therefore, we don't always know when we are drinking LDI whiskey, though we have some clues. (See a list of their products and mashbills here).

Templeton Rye, bottled in Iowa, admits that it uses LDI rye. Cougar Bourbon and rye, an export brand bottled by Foster's for the Australian market, is also bottled by LDI. The speculation is that High West gets its whiskeys from Four Roses, but that the rye was originally distilled at LDI, back when both it and Four Roses were part of the Seagram's empire.

Redemption Rye is a new rye whiskey on the market bottled by Strong Spirits, a bottler located in Bardstown, Kentucky. The whiskey doesn't explicitly say who distilled it, but the bottle states that it was made in Indiana, which means LDI.

The intriguing thing about LDI's rye whiskey is that the mashbill they use is 95% rye and 5% malt, which is an extremely high rye content with no corn, which makes it quite different from the Kentucky ryes. They also make a bourbon with a 99% corn mashbill, but I don't know if it's ever been bottled on its own (as opposed to being blended with other whiskeys.)


Tasting

Redemption Rye, aged over 2 years, Batch 2, 46% abv ($27).

The nose has lovely, soft, fruity spice notes followed by some herbs and grassy notes. The first thing that strikes me on the palate is that it tastes young; it has that bold, overly herbal/medicinal quality that is typical of young rye. The spice is there, but it's still in a very raw form, though more of it comes out on the finish. This one needs to spend a few more years in the barrel to round it out and take the edge off.

File this one under "has potential but needs work" or maybe, "None but ourselves can age our whiskey."

Whiskey Wednesday: Mad (Whisky) Men

Those of us who are consumers would do well to remember that whisky is a business and that, for the most part, whisky companies think in terms of target audiences, demographics, sweet spots and all of that other business jargon.

I was painfully reminded of this while, when Googling, I came across an old communications plan for Johnnie Walker Blue.

The ten year old plan by the Vandy Meares consulting and graphic design firm is a fascinating look into how the commercial whisky machine works and includes a number of interesting insights as well as quirks.

• JWB (or this consultant) apparently sees their clientele as exclusively male. There are a number of references to males, but not a single reference to females nor even a single photo of a woman.


• The plan highlights exclusivity and social status as ways to market JWB but not quality; that is, the recommendation is clearly to sell the brand to make people feel a certain way about themselves, not to offer a great tasting whisky (but I guess we knew that).


• The spellings whiskey and whisky are both used without any reasoning behind the use of one or the other.


• JWB seems to view its competitors as Chivas, Macallan, Glenfiddich, Glenlivet, and strangely, Jack Daniel's and Maker's Mark, the latter two of which are repeatedly referred to as "Scotches."

It's no secret that Diageo and every other company are in the business of business, but it's interesting to peek behind the curtain and see how they talk about consumers in the board meetings.

Whiskey Wednesday: Knob Creek and the Greatest Drought That Never Was

It was with great fanfare that Jim Beam announced last week that the great Knob Creek drought of 2009 was finally over. What? You never heard about the Knob Creek drought? How could you possibly have lived through this tragic moment in whiskey without realizing it?

For those of you who are living in a bubble, I will explain. In early July, Beam announced with great fanfare that there was a shortage of its Knob Creek Bourbon. Knob Creek is a popular, nine year old Bourbon made by Beam as part of its overhyped "small batch" collection. In announcing that it had not made enough Knob Creek to meet orders, the company press team sent out T-Shirts saying "I survived the drought" and empty bottles to customers and the press (not to me, I might add). Undoubtedly, the tongue-in-cheek freebies were aimed at encouraging articles about the shortage, to make sure people would, um, know that this dire shortage existed.

If you didn't see one of these articles, chances are, you never knew there was a "shortage" of Knob Creek. Most stores in my area carried healthy quantities of Knob Creek the entire time. Last week, Beam announced that the drought was finally over.

Now, while I appreciate the humor that Beam used in this ploy, it was one of the sillier marketing campaigns I've seen. Admittedly, my own cynicism may be enhanced by the fact that I live in Southern California, and when we hear about droughts, it tends to mean something a bit more serious than a slight production blip in your favorite Bourbon.

Even had there actually been some sign of depleted stocks or limited availability, I highly doubt that there is any person so committed to Knob Creek that they couldn't live with it for two months. After all, most of us Bourbon geeks wait all year just to get our hands on the latest Buffalo Trace antique collection or other limited editions, so a few months gap in a pretty standard Bourbon, just doesn't impress me.

So chalk one up to marketing silliness and let's all hope that the H1N1 vaccine shortage is as artificial as Beam's Knob Creek shortage.

Whiskey Wednesday: American Independent Bottlers

Over the last two weeks, I have been providing lists of American whiskey distilleries and their brand names. If you peruse those lists, though, you will find that there are many brands that aren't listed. The reason is that these brands are not released by the distillery but by independent companies.

The phenomenon of independent bottling is well known in Scotland, where there is a long tradition of bottling companies buying casks of single malt Scotch and selling them under their own labels. Unlike in the US, however, in Scotland, the bottlers usually say on the label where the whiskey was distilled. For instance, a bottle of Signatory whiskey will clearly state that it is a Signatory product distilled at Laphroaig (or wherever).

In the US, independent bottlers almost never say where their whiskey is from. They market it as an independent brand and many even imply that they distill it themselves. These are practices which I have long condemned and I renew my call for American bottlers to openly state that they are bottlers and tell us where they got their whiskey.

Please understand that this is not a criticism of the whiskey in the bottle. As with independent Scotch bottlers, there are independent Americans who are fully capable of putting out great whiskey. I just wish they were more honest about how they came to acquire it.

With all of the brands out there, it gets very confusing. I consider myself a very knowledgeable whiskey consumer and I still had many challenges in putting together this list and trying to find out the straight dope about who was making what brand and who was really distilling. I sent emails to bottlers, and I perused the writings of experts like Chuck Cowdery and other authorities for hints and theories.

Nearly all bottlers concentrate on Kentucky Bourbon and Rye. If you read our list of Kentucky distilleries, you know that there are a limited number of sources for Kentucky whiskey. So where does all of this whiskey come from? Heaven Hill is known to be a major supplier of independents as is Tom Moore/Barton Brands. In addition, some of the independents have old stock from closed distilleries such as Michter's or Stitzel-Weller. But, alas, in most cases, we won't get too far in this guessing game and will just have to accept that we don't know who makes this stuff.

In addition, some of the brands listed below are brand names held by one company that contract with a bottling company to acquire and bottle the whiskey, so they are actually twice removed from the distillery.

Another phenomenon in the independent bottling world is that many of the new microdistilleries which want to release whiskey but don't have any of their own yet are releasing whiskey purchased from other distillers, usually the big Kentucky distilleries. Some of the micros are forthright about this, but others imply that they, themselves, are distilling the whiskey.

Unlike my distillery list, the list below is not exhaustive. There are many independent brands, and I'm sure that some have been left off, but it's a good start. If you see any that I missed, please let me know. And as with my other lists, all brands refer to Bourbons unless otherwise stated.


Chatham Imports: This company sells Bourbon and rye under the Michter's label, which is bottled for them by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (see below). Michter's was a Pennsylvania distillery, the last of whose Bourbon is owned and bottled by Preiss Imports (see below). This Michter's brand has nothing to do with that distillery except that Chatham now owns the name.

Conecuh Ridge Whiskey: This Alabama bottler uses Kentucky Bourbon for its Clyde May's Conecuh Ridge Whiskey.

Diageo: The world's largest spirits corporation owns the George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey distillery, but they don't own any Bourbon distilleries. To get into the Bourbon game, they released Bulleit Bourbon, which is made for them by Four Roses.

High West: This Utah company is planning to distill rye whiskey; for now they have released Rendezvous Rye, which is a blend of two rye whiskies distilled elsewhere.

Kentucky Bourbon Distillers: I shudder everytime I read the name of this bottler which shamelessly refers to itself as a distiller. KBD is the big daddy of Bourbon and Rye Bottling, using all of the following brand names, many of which are popular and have garnered positive reviews:

Black Maple Hill Bourbon and Rye
Classic Cask
Corner Creek
Johnny Drum
Kentucky Pride
Kentucky Vintage
Michter's Bourbon and Rye (bottled for Chatham Imports, see above).
Noah's Mill
Old Bardstown
Pure Kentucky XO
Rowan's Creek
Vintage Bourbon and Rye
Willett

Luxco: Luxco sells Bourbon under multiple brands, including Ezra Brooks, Rebel Yell, Rebel Reserve and Yellowstone.

McCormick Distillery: Unlike some of the entries on this list which call themselves distillers, this Missoui producer is an actual distillery. For years, this distillery made Platte Valley Corn Whiskey at their Missouri plant. McCormick still owns the brand but apparently isn't making the whiskey anymore. No one seems to know for certain who produces it, but given that Heaven Hill is the only macrodistillery producing corn whiskey, they are a pretty safe bet.

McLain and Kyne Distillery: There's the dreaded D-word again. McLain and Kyne bottles Bourbon under the brands Jefferson, Jefferson Reserve and Sam Houston.

Old Pogue: Bottlers of Bourbon under the Old Pogue label.

Preiss Imports: Preiss imports is a bottler and importer that bought up the old stocks of A.H. Hirsch from the closed Michter's distillery in Pennsylvania. (The Michter's name is now used by Chatham Imports to bottle unrelated whiskey). They are bottling the last of the old Michter's Bourbon as A.H. Hirsch, but they are also using the Hirsch name on a variety of whiskies, including a Canadian whisky, a rye and an "American whiskey," none of which appear to have any relation to A.H. Hirsch.

Prichard's Distillery: This Tennessee microdistillery makes its own rum, but they also bottle a Kentucky Bourbon under the label Prichard's Double Barrelled Bourbon Whiskey.

Templeton Rye: This Iowa microdistillery aspires to make their own rye whiskey but for now, has bottled a rye from elsewhere.

Wathen's Bourbon: It's unclear to me who exactly is making this stuff or where they are getting it. They imply that it's made at the Medley distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky, but that distillery shut down years ago (though Chuck Cowdery reports that there are plans afoot to reopen it). An email to Wathen's went unanswered.


Now when you see these labels in the liquor store, I hope you will have a better idea of what they are, even though you won't know who made the whiskey in the bottle.

Next week, we will wrap up our series on American whiskey distillers and brands.

Whiskey Wednesday: Beyond Kentucky - Whiskey Distilleries in the Other 49

Last week we examined the nine distilleries in Kentucky. This week, we attempt to create an exhaustive list of every non-Kentucky whiskey distillery in the US. Unlike many of the Kentucky distilleries, most of these distilleries market their whiskey under their own name.

Looking at this list, it is amazing how the microdistillery category has grown. A couple of years ago, I gathered all of the microdistilled whiskey I could find for my American single malt tasting and ended up with four. The list below shows the explosion of these distilleries along with the diversity of whiskies they are producing, which includes nearly every recognized American whiskey category.

Outside of the Tennessee Whiskey distilleries, A. Smith Bowman and Lawrenceburg, Indiana, all of the distilleries on the list below are micros, and I only included those that are actually selling whiskey. There are many other projects that are just starting up or waiting to get their first bottles on the market. In fact, with new micros popping up all the time, this list was much harder to pin down than the Kentucky list. After a lot of work, though, I believe we've crated one of the few complete lists of microdistillery whiskey. If, however, you know of any that I missed, please drop me a line or a comment.

You may notice that many of these microdistilleries produce corn whiskey. That's because corn whiskey is the only type of American whiskey that does not have to be aged. This quality makes it attractive to start-up whiskey distilleries because they can put it right on the market while they are waiting for other whiskies to mature.


California

Anchor Distilling: The makers of Anchor Steam Beer in San Francisco opened one of the first microdistilleries, making single malt rye whiskey under the name Old Potrero.

C&C Shine: This Monterey area distillery is somewhat of a novelty line, making unaged rye spirit that is sold with a small barrel or a piece of oak for ageing. They don't label it whiskey, probably because it is unaged, but once you age it at home, whiskey is what you have. Along with their Monterey Rye Spirit, they make Clear Madness California Moonshine, a corn-based spirit.

Charbay: This Napa Valley distillery has issued limited releases at extravagant prices of a single malt and a hop flavored whiskey.

St. George: Like many of the micros, St. George makes vodka and brandies as well as a very nice Absinthe. They make a single malt which is probably the fruitiest whiskey I've ever tasted.

St. James: Located in Irwindale, California, St. James Spirits makes Peregrine Rock single malt.


Colorado

Colorado Gold: A new micro in Colorado's Western Slope, they are currently making barely aged corn whiskey and have plans for Bourbon.

Peachstreet Distillers: This Colorado distillery has recently marketed a two year old Bourbon labeled Colorado Straight Bourbon.

Stranahan's: One of the most well reviewed of the new microdistilleries, Stranhan's makes its single malt Colorado Whiskey from local barley.


Indiana

Lawrenceburg (Angostura/CL World Brands Ltd.): Angostura, of bitters fame, owns this Indiana distillery. While they don't market any of their own whiskey, the distillery produces Cougar Bourbon and rye for the Foster's Corporation. Cougar is an export-only whiskey market primarily in Australia. Lawrenceburg is also said to make the whiskey component of Diageo's Seagram's 7 Crown blended whiskey.


Kansas

High Plains Distillery: This Kansas distillery makes Most Wanted Kansas Bourbon and has also made a single malt, a rye and a wheat whiskey.


Massachusetts

Triple Eight Distillery: This Nantuckett distillery's single malt, known as Notch (i.e., Not Scotch) is the most expensive new American whiskey I know of at $888 (or triple eight, get it?). They also have made Nor'Easter Bourbon, though I don't know if that whiskey is still in production.


Michigan

New Holland Brewing Co.: Another brewery which has branched out to whiskey, New Holland makes Zepplin Bend Straight Malt Whiskey.


New York

Tuthilltown: Tuthilltown has recently expanded distribution of their line of whiskies which includes: Hudson Baby Bourbon, Hudson Four Grain Bourbon, Hudson Manhattan Rye, Hudson Single Malt and Old Gristmill Corn Whiskey.


Ohio

Woodstone Creek Distillery: A Cincinnati winery recently turned distillery, Woodstone Creek makes a Bourbon, a malt whiskey and a blended whiskey.


Oregon

Cascade Peak Spirits: This organic vodka distillery has released a rye whiskey and is also working on Bourbon and corn whiskey.

Clear Creek: This Portland distillery uses imported Scottish barley to make America's most peated whiskey, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt.

Edgefield: One of the earlier entries in the micro world, but still hard to find, this Oregon distillery makes Hogshead single malt and Devil's Bit rye whiskey.

Rogue: Following Anchor's lead, this popular brewery recently jumped into distilling with Rogue Dead Guy Whiskey, a four grain whiskey make in Oregon.


Tennessee

George Dickel (Diageo). The other Tennessee Whiskey, owned by liquor giant Diageo, is my favorite of the Tennessians.

Jack Daniel's (Brown Forman). Makers of the world's top selling whiskey, Jack Daniels is, for much of the world, the first and last name in whiskey, not to mention t-shirts, barbecue sauce and other trinkets.


Virginia

A. Smith Bowman(Buffalo Trace/Sazerac Co.): A. Smith Bowman is your source for Virgina Gentleman, the only Virginia Bourbon. This venerable distillery has been owned by Kentucky's Buffalo Trace since 2003.

Copper Fox Distillery: This Sperryville, Virginia distillery makes Wasmund's single malt whiskey and an unaged rye spirit; they are working on a rye whiskey.

Virginia Moonshine: Makers of Virginia Lightening corn whiskey and Kopper Kettle three grain whiskey.


West Virginia

Isaiah Morgan Distillery: A winery that makes an unaged rye as well as Southern Moon, an unaged corn liquor.

West Virginia Distilling Co.: Claiming the banner of legal moonshine, this Morgantown, West Virginia distillery produces corn whiskey to use in its Mountain Moonshine Spirit Whiskey.


Wisconsin

Death's Door Spirits: This distillery only recently started marketing its Death's Door Wheat Whiskey.


As far as I know, this list, combined with last week's list of Kentucky distilleries, constitutes an up to date list of every distillery in the United States that is currently distilling and selling whiskey. There will be more to come, as I know there are distilleries starting up, ageing whiskey and even planing releases in Maine, Texas, Utah and Washington state, among other places. Clearly, the American microdistillery movement is in full swing and there is lots out there to taste and experiment with.


In looking at the last two weeks of lists, you may ask, what about Black Maple Hill, Wathen's, Michter's and all of those other Bourbons I see on the shelf of my local liquor store? We will answer all of those questions next week with our list of Independent bottlers. Stay tuned.

Whiskey Wednesday: The Kentucky Distilleries

As as service to the whiskey-drinking readership, over the next few weeks, we will be doing our best to identify every American distillery which makes and sells whiskey as well as many of the brand names those under which those whiskies are sold. We will start today with the big boys, the Kentucky Bourbon (and Rye) distilleries. We will then proceed to cover the whiskey distilleries outside of Kentucky, including the growing category of microdistilleries, and then, we will list the major independent bottlers. Our goal is to make it easier for you to figure out where your bottle of whiskey was actually made.

Not all of this information is easy to come by and I'm grateful for the work that's been done by Chuck Cowdery and the good folks at the Straight Bourbon forums, Barturtle in particular, in revealing some of the harder to find tidbits.

Below is a list of the nine currently operating Kentucky distilleries, along with their corporate owner and their most prominent brand names. All of the brands are Bourbon unless otherwise stated. The list of brand names is not exhaustive as some of these distilleries produce regional brands, blended whiskies and other products; the aim was to cover the biggest brand names.


Brown Forman's Shively Distillery: Brown Forman owns three distinct American whiskey distilleries (Shively, Woodford Reserve and Jack Daniel's). Their Shively, Kentucky plant makes Old Forester Bourbon and Early Times Kentucky Whiskey. They also make rye whiskey for Heaven Hill (see below).


Buffalo Trace (Sazerac Co.): Formerly known as Ancient Age, the Buffalo Trace distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky is one of the most loved by whiskey aficionados. They market their whiskey under one of the most diverse collection of brands, including:

Ancient Age
Benchmark
Blanton's
Buffalo Trace
Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection
Eagle Rare
Elmer T. Lee
George T. Stagg
Hancock's Reserve
Old Charter
Rock Hill Farms
Sazerac and Thomas H. Handy Rye
Van Winkle and Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon and Rye
W.L. Weller


Four Roses (Kirin): Lawrenceburg, Kentucky based Four Roses only recently began bringing their Bourbon back to the US. Aside from their own Four Roses label, the distillery makes Bulleit Bourbon for Diageo.


Heaven Hill: The last family owned distillery in Kentucky, Bardstown based Heaven Hill's diverse brand portfolio includes Bourbon, rye, Kentucky's only straight wheat whiskey and nearly all of the American corn whiskey brands. To make it more confusing, Heaven Hill's rye whiskies are actually distilled at the Brown Forman Shively distillery (see above).

Bourbon
Cabin Still
Elijah Craig
Evan Williams
Fighting Cock
Heaven Hill
Henry McKenna
Old Fitzgerald
Parker's Heritage Collection

Rye
Pikesville Rye
Rittenhouse Rye

Wheat Whiskey
Bernheim Wheat Whiskey

Corn Whiskey
Dixie Dew
Georgia Moon
JW Corn
Mellow Corn


Jim Beam (Beam Global/Fortune Brands): Jim Beam is the biggest name in Bourbon. The brands made at their signature operation, with facilities in Clermont and Boston, Kentucky, include:

Baker's
Basil Hayden
Booker's
Jim Beam Bourbons and Rye
Knob Creek
Old Crow
Old Grand-Dad
Old Overholt Rye
(rī)¹ (Rye One)


Maker's Mark (Beam Global/Fortune Brands): Simplicity reigns at this Jim Beam owned distillery in Loretto Kentucky. It makes only one brand - Maker's Mark.


Tom Moore/Barton Brands (Buffalo Trace/Sazerac Co.): Constellation Brands recently sold this Bardstown gem to Buffalo Trace. Beloved for their Bourbon in Kentucky and for their rye in Wisconsin but little known outside those states, they are the makers of:

Fleischmann's Rye
Kentucky Gentleman
Kentucky Tavern
Ten High
Tom Moore
Very Old Barton
Ridgemont Reserve 1792


Wild Turkey (Pernod Ricard/Campari): News recently broke that drinks giant Pernod Ricard is selling this venerable name in American whiskey to the Italian Campari company. Most of the Bourbons and rye whiskies made at this Lawrenceburg distillery carry the Wild Turkey name, though they have recently begun to market Russell's Reserve as a separate brand.


Woodford Reserve/Labrot & Graham(Brown Forman): Brown Forman's second Kentucky distillery in Versailles, Kentucky, makes Bourbon marketed under the Woodford Reserve brand.

Along with the big nine, there is a new microdistillery in Bowling Green called Corsair. As with most new microdistilleries, they are only marketing unaged spirits right now, so no Bourbon yet, but they do have something called Wry Moon Unaged Rye Whiskey, which is distilled from 100% rye. (Technically, if it wasn't stored in oak for some portion of its life, they cannot call it rye whiskey, so they must have done some minimal storage of the spirit if they are within the regulations). They have plans to make Bourbon and a regular rye whiskey.


Next week we will look at the whiskey distilleries outside of the Bluegrass State, including a complete list of whiskey producing microdistilleries.

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.

Whiskey Wednesday: Born in the USA Part 10 - Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

Well, we made it to number ten. The final (for now) whiskey in our Born in the USA series, which turned out to be mostly Bourbon. And for number ten, I've picked a Bourbon I had been wanting to try for sometime.

Since it's introduction in 2002, Old Forester Birthday Bourbon has been one of the most widely acclaimed Bourbons on the market. The Birthday in question is that of George Garvin Brown, founder of Brown-Forman, the liquor giant that now owns Jack Daniel's, Woodford Reserve, Korbel Champagne, Herradura Tequila and Finlandia Vodka as well as Old Forester.

This was the 2007 Birthday Bourbon, a thirteen year old which is still available at some on-line retailers, but the 2008 should be out any day now.

Tasting

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon, distilled Spring 1994/bottled 2007, 47% alcohol (owned by Brown-Forman), $38.99.



Beautiful aroma exuding toffee, honey and other sweet things with a bit of a floral scent, with water it becomes more of a Cognac scent. The taste is less sweet than you'd expect from the nose, though it definitely has an underlying sweetness, including some tropical fruit(pineapple). Almost Scotch, like; it has some of the rugged notes of a Dalmore, some real savoriness there that comes out more with water. On balance, a very nice Bourbon, but I would say it didn't quite live up to the high expectations I had for it. Very good, though, for the price range and certainly one that would make a find gift for a birthday or otherwise.

Next Wednesday: Born in the USA Wrap Up

Whiskey Wednesday: Who Owns Your Whiskey - Edrington Group

In part 2 of our occasional series on who owns your whiskey, we present a brief profile of Edrington Group. Edrington is a British based spirits company which is focused almost entirely on Scotch.

Their profile includes the following:

Single Malt Scotch

Glenrothes
Glenturret
Highland Park
Macallan
Tamdhu

Blended Scotch

Cutty Sark*
Famous Grouse

Other Spirits
Brugal Rum (Dominican Run)

*Cutty Sark is jointly owned with British wine merchant Berry Brothers & Rudd which also is jointly involved in marketing The Glenrothes.

While their protfolio is nowhere near the size of Diageos, they have some very well respected and top selling whiskies. Famous Grouse, a blended Scotch, is the best selling Scotch in Scotland; The Macallan is the third best selling single malt in the world [2006 figures]; and both The Macallan and Highland Park are among the most critically acclaimed malts in the world. Of late, the company has made a concerted push to increase the market share of The Glenrothes, another Speysider with a somewhat lighter and less sherried profile than Macallan.

There are many more companies out there, so I will continue to occasionally profile these corporations. Next week, however, we will take a break for something a bit more hedonistic.

Whiskey Wednesday: Who Owns Your Whiskey?

For those of us who are whiskey freaks, whiskey is many things: a passion, an intellectual pursuit, a fitting end to the day (or beginning?) or maybe even an obsession. The truth is, however, that whiskey is also a business, and like communications, media and almost every other industry in the global economy, whiskey distilleries acorss the globe are being consolidated by a few large corporations. These corporations often own whiskies of mutiple origin (e.g. Bourbon and Scotch) as well as other beverages.

As with all industries, the issue of globalization and consolodation is complex and controversial, and while I have my own views on the subject, I don't intend to use this forum to promote them.

However, I think it behooves us all to know which companies own our whiskey and what they are doing with it. To that end, when I review whiskey in the future, I will include the owning corporation, and from time to time, I will profile a whiskey company and their portfolio.

We will start that process today with the elephant in any room discussing whiskey ownership: Diageo.

DIAGEO

Diageo is the largest alcoholic beverage company in the world. It was formed in 1997by a merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. It is publicly traded and headquartered in London.

Among its holdings are:

Single Malt Scotch (working distilleries):
Auchroisk
Benrinnes
Blair Athol
Caol Ila
Cardhu
Clynelish
Cragganmore
Dailuaine
Dalwhinnie
Dufftown
Glendullan
Glen Elgin
Glenkinchie
Glenlossie
Glen Ord
Glen Spey
Inchgower
Knockando
Lagavulin
Linkwood
Mannochmore
Mortlach
Oban
Royal Lochnager
Strathmill
Talisker
Teaninich

Single Malt Scotch (shuttered distilleries):
Banff
Brora
Coleburn
Convlamore
Dallas Dhu
Glen Albyn
Glen Esk
Glenlochy
Glen Mhor
Glenury Royal
Millburn
North Port
Pittyvaich
Port Ellen
Rosebank
St. Magdalene

Major Blended Scotch Brands:

Bell's
Black & White
Buchanan's
Haig
J&B
Johnnie Walker
Old Parr
Vat 69
White Horse
Windsor

Irish Whiskey

Bushmills

American Whiskey

Bulleit Bourbon
George Dickel Tennessee Whiskey

Canadian Whiskey

Crown Royal

Other Major Alcohol Brands:

Bailey's Irish Cream
Ciroc Vodka
Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
Don Julio Tequila
Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Gordon's Gin
Guinness Stout
Harp Lager
Red Stripe Beer
Romana Sambuca
Smirnoff Vodka
Tanqueray Gin/Vodka

In addition, Diageo has distribution rights for Jose Cuervo Tequila.

As you can see, this is a massive company with a very deep portfolio. Most people probably would not guess that Captain Morgan and Port Ellen share a common ownership, but there it is.

In terms of single malts, Diageo's greatest innovation has been the classic malts range, a special promotion of a selected whiskey from each Scottish region. The classic malts range allows a bar or restaurant to say that they have a wide range of malts by simply purchasing the range, all from Diageo. The precise malts in the range change from time to time, but the marketing of these "classic malts" has been laregely responsible for the US popularity of Lagavulin, Oban, Dalwhinnie and Talisker.

Interestingly, despite the popularity of the classic range, the one thing the Diageo profile lacks is a top-selling single malt. None of their malts crack the top 5 in sales.

In the future, I'll try to profile more whiskey companies and their holdings, just so you know who owns your favorite whiskey.