You probably come here for the content in this column, but it's the stuff in the column to the right that supports it. There are books, such as Bourbon, Straight and The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste. There's the newsletter, The Bourbon Country Reader. And there's also the one-hour documentary, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky."
The reason these are being brought to your attention today is that there have been some changes made that will interest you dear readers who reside outside the United States. The prices for all of these items, for delivery outside the USA, have been recalculated in light of postage rate changes but also due to the way we now manage our e-commerce. While the prices of some items have gone up, a few have gone down. For instance, the price for subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader sent to non-U.S. addresses has gone down, from $28.50 USD, to $25.00 USD, only $5 more than the domestic price.
Again, these changes are only for delivery outside the USA. Domestic prices haven't changed, although they probably will have to the next time postage rates are increased.
Here are a few tips for saving money. Some of these apply to domestic shoppers too. Both books and the DVD are available from Amazon. Because they often will be shipping from inside your country, their prices may be lower for you shoppers outside the U.S. Also, sometimes Amazon does deals and sells below the prices here.
Another way to save money is via Amazon Sellers. This only applies to Bourbon, Straight, but we always have some books that are slightly damaged (and we do mean slightly) available through our Amazon Sellers store at a reduced price. Look for Made and Bottled in Kentucky as the shop name.
Please note that books bought through this web site can be signed by the author, if you wish, at no additional cost. Look for a fill-in space on the order form that says "inscription." Please write exactly how you would like the book inscribed. Please remember that it's the author signing the book, not you. He can't write "All my love, Mom," although he might be willing to write something like "your mother sends her love."
Another suggestion for saving money on the books, especially for The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste, is the e-book option. The e-book edition of Best Bourbon costs about a third of what the print version does. Both books are available for either Kindle or Nook. You can use a Kindle book on virtually any platform (i.e., i-book for Apple devices) except Nook, and you can use a Nook book on virtually any platform except Kindle.
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Thank you for accommodating this advertising message. We try to keep this sort of thing to a minimum and we hope you appreciate that we don't clutter up the page with Google Ads or other advertising. We appreciate your support.
Friday, May 17, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
A Standards-of-Identity Brain Teaser
Riddle me this, Batman. When is whiskey not whiskey?
Arguably, when it's sorghum whiskey.
Queen Jennie Sorghum Whiskey is a product of the Old Sugar Distillery in Madison, Wisconsin. The rules say whiskey is "an alcoholic distillate from a fermented mash of grain." The U.S. Grains Council describes Sorghum bicolor, the species in question, as the "fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world."
So no problem, right? Sorghum is a cereal, i.e., a grain, so sorghum spirit is whiskey. The Federal regulators obviously agree, because Old Sugar got its label approved and is selling the product now.
But Old Sugar's product, like other distilled spirits made from sorghum, is not made from the plant's seeds--as is the case with whiskeys made from corn, barley, wheat, rye, etc.--but rather from a sweet liquid derived by squeezing the plant's stalk, much like sugar cane.
Sugar cane, it should be noted, is also a grass, like corn and the other cereals, but spirits made from its sugary juice are classified as rum, not whiskey. Phil Prichard, he of the Tennessee distillery that bears his name, has argued that sorghum spirit should be classified as rum. Unfortunately, the rule for rum is explicit. The source must be sugar cane.
But since the sorghum plant's seeds are not used to make sorghum spirit, it's clearly not made from "a fermented mash of grain," and so shouldn't be classified as whiskey either.
Old Sugar follows the rules. Their sorghum whiskey is aged in charred oak barrels. It's not clear if those barrels are single-use, as required for bourbon, et al, but let's assume they are. It certainly is a legitimate distilled spirits product, but is it whiskey?
All spirits made from grain go through a process in which enzymes are used to convert grain starches into sugar, so fermentation can take place. Sorghum juice is sugar already, like cane, and so doesn't go through that process. The resulting liquor tastes more rum-like than whiskey-like, so someone expecting whiskey characteristics might be disappointed.
So, what do you think? The Batputer fried its circuits on this one.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Louisville's Evan Williams Bourbon Experience Joins the Kentucky Bourbon Trail
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer made the announcement at the downtown site on historic Whiskey Row where Heaven Hill is building its multi-million dollar artisanal distillery and immersive tourism experience, scheduled to open this fall. (Pictured here in an architectural rendering.)
“I can’t think of a better way to celebrate National Travel and Tourism Week,” Fischer said. “This is a huge step to enhance the city’s Bourbon tourism efforts."
Heaven Hill executives and other leaders of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association, which created the Kentucky Bourbon Trail program in 1999, gave Fischer a commemorative barrel filled with whiskey from all eight distillery stops to mark the occasion.
“Today starts a great new tourism partnership for our signature industry and the city of Louisville that will pay benefits for years to come,” said Max L. Shapira, President of Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., the largest independent family owned and operated distilled spirits company in the United States.
“The skyrocketing success of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour has been amazing,” he said. “It is a world-class and much-celebrated attraction, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, all eager to spend and savor our unique Bourbon history.”
More than 2.5 million people have visited Kentucky Bourbon Trail distilleries in the last five years, including a record 509,292 in 2012, said KDA President Eric Gregory. That was the first time the tour broke the half-million mark in a single year.
Gregory called Louisville "a Kentucky Bourbon Trail anchor.” As Kentucky's largest city and business capital, Louisville has much to offer bourbon-oriented visitors. For years, it has offered its Urban Bourbon Trail, a collection of bars deemed hospitable to bourbon seekers. Earlier this year, it debuted "The Bourbon Classic," which is slated to become Louisville's annual bourbon festival. Louisville has many other visitor attractions, such as the Louisville Slugger Museum and Muhammad Ali Center, many great lodging choices, and a dynamic culinary scene.
The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, located at 528 West Main Street, may mark the beginning of a trend of brand welcome centers based in downtown Louisville. The Main Street neighborhood itself is historic for bourbon fans. Evan Williams' original 1783 distillery was located almost directly across the street from the new visitor attraction and that whole section of Main Street housed dozens of whiskey company offices and warehouses through the late 19th century.
The 'Experience' will offer guided tours where guests will travel back in time to see Evan Williams’ original distillery, Louisville town hall meetings, and wharf scenes and video renderings of turn-of-the-century Whiskey Row. The highlight will be a fully functioning artisanal pot still distillery, with gleaming copper pot stills that are a modern version of the same type of equipment Evan Williams used in his distillery more than 200 years ago.
One of the signature features is the façade of the building (pictured above). The five-story-high Evan Williams Bourbon bottle graphic will transform into a large, glass, flowing Bourbon fountain in the lobby. “We’re confident that this new attraction will continue the revitalization of Whiskey Row and bring the same kind of success that we’ve been fortunate to receive with our Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown,” said Harry J. Shapira, Executive Vice President for Heaven Hill.
Marcheta Sparrow, Secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, said the Kentucky Bourbon Trail program is “perhaps the most innovative and best example of private sector tourism development Kentucky has ever experienced."
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
God-Like, Robert Parker Conquers (His Word) Bourbon in One Fell Swoop
When you read wine guru Robert Parker's review of 29 bourbons and one rye, as posted by David Driscoll in Spirits Journal, you may wonder if it's not a wicked parody by David. It's not, or maybe it is, but the author is Parker, not Driscoll.
Naturally, people who write about bourbon more than once in a lifetime are not amused. "Scotch and Ice Cream" took the first swat. That was picked up and amplified upon by Clay Risen, he of the New York Times and with a new encyclopedic bourbon book on the way, who quickly posted, "Robert Parker and the Douche-ification of Bourbon."
For all true bourbonians, a sly smirk is probably the best response to all of this. No real harm is being done. Can the Van Winkle line get any more unobtainiumable?
And there is plenty in the review at which to smirk. Parker is a taster and his tasting notes are fine, perhaps even valuable, and generally on the mark. Famous for his 100-point rating system, he is also the prime underminer of same. His lowest score, for Hudson Baby Bourbon, which he describes as tasting "somewhat diluted, simple and harsh" and "over-matched by everything around it," is 82.
It's not a 100-point scale unless you use all 100 points. Here Parker uses an 18-point scale. That's worth a grin.
He also does not appear to know nor care that it's insane to compare Hudson Baby Bourbon to Pappy Van Winkle 23 just because they both have the word "bourbon" on the label. Would he compare a Pinot Noir to a Sauterne? Not without at least noting their inherent differences first.
He also doesn't care much for Woodford Reserve. It's the only Brown-Forman product he tasted. The only Beam product he tasted was Maker's 46. Each got 88 points. Heaven Hill did a little better. They got two on the list, Parker's Heritage Collection 2012 Mashbill Blend (92 points) and Evan Williams 23-year-old (95 points).
Products of the three largest producers of American whiskey only merited four places on a list of 30, according to Parker the Conqueror.
Let's go around the horn to the other distilleries. Four Roses, two; Wild Turkey, none; Barton 1792, none; George Dickel, none; Buffalo Trace, 11 (including Van Winkle and A. Smith Bowman).
Predictably, Parker's loves him some Van Winkle. The 20 gets a 95. The 23 gets 100. Yes, Pappy 23-year-old is the perfect bourbon, sez Robert Parker.
The rest? A couple micro-distilleries and a lot of non-distiller producers. Seven places on the list are taken by direct or indirect products from Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, which brokered and bottled the whiskeys reviewed, but made none of them.
Parker seems oblivious to the distinction. He does not, he says, know much about Black Maple Hill, except that it "comes from the Black Maple Hill Distilling Co. in Bardstown, KY," which he apparently does not know is an entirely fictional distillery.
And he gives it a 96, one of his highest scores.
Perhaps it's appropriate that Parker loves the product of a fictional distillery, since he freely admits that his foray into bourbon was inspired by his enjoyment of the TV series, "Justified," which is set in Kentucky and whose characters drink improbable amounts of Van Winkle bourbon.
We can only hope Robert Parker doesn't become enamoured of "The Walking Dead" next.
Naturally, people who write about bourbon more than once in a lifetime are not amused. "Scotch and Ice Cream" took the first swat. That was picked up and amplified upon by Clay Risen, he of the New York Times and with a new encyclopedic bourbon book on the way, who quickly posted, "Robert Parker and the Douche-ification of Bourbon."
For all true bourbonians, a sly smirk is probably the best response to all of this. No real harm is being done. Can the Van Winkle line get any more unobtainiumable?
And there is plenty in the review at which to smirk. Parker is a taster and his tasting notes are fine, perhaps even valuable, and generally on the mark. Famous for his 100-point rating system, he is also the prime underminer of same. His lowest score, for Hudson Baby Bourbon, which he describes as tasting "somewhat diluted, simple and harsh" and "over-matched by everything around it," is 82.
It's not a 100-point scale unless you use all 100 points. Here Parker uses an 18-point scale. That's worth a grin.
He also does not appear to know nor care that it's insane to compare Hudson Baby Bourbon to Pappy Van Winkle 23 just because they both have the word "bourbon" on the label. Would he compare a Pinot Noir to a Sauterne? Not without at least noting their inherent differences first.
He also doesn't care much for Woodford Reserve. It's the only Brown-Forman product he tasted. The only Beam product he tasted was Maker's 46. Each got 88 points. Heaven Hill did a little better. They got two on the list, Parker's Heritage Collection 2012 Mashbill Blend (92 points) and Evan Williams 23-year-old (95 points).
Products of the three largest producers of American whiskey only merited four places on a list of 30, according to Parker the Conqueror.
Let's go around the horn to the other distilleries. Four Roses, two; Wild Turkey, none; Barton 1792, none; George Dickel, none; Buffalo Trace, 11 (including Van Winkle and A. Smith Bowman).
Predictably, Parker's loves him some Van Winkle. The 20 gets a 95. The 23 gets 100. Yes, Pappy 23-year-old is the perfect bourbon, sez Robert Parker.
The rest? A couple micro-distilleries and a lot of non-distiller producers. Seven places on the list are taken by direct or indirect products from Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, which brokered and bottled the whiskeys reviewed, but made none of them.
Parker seems oblivious to the distinction. He does not, he says, know much about Black Maple Hill, except that it "comes from the Black Maple Hill Distilling Co. in Bardstown, KY," which he apparently does not know is an entirely fictional distillery.
And he gives it a 96, one of his highest scores.
Perhaps it's appropriate that Parker loves the product of a fictional distillery, since he freely admits that his foray into bourbon was inspired by his enjoyment of the TV series, "Justified," which is set in Kentucky and whose characters drink improbable amounts of Van Winkle bourbon.
We can only hope Robert Parker doesn't become enamoured of "The Walking Dead" next.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
How Craft Is the New Jim Beam Signature Craft Series?
About 20 years ago, Jim Beam came out with a bourbon called Jacob’s Well, named for family patriarch Jacob Beam and the spring at his first Kentucky distillery. In advertising, they said it was, "the First Micro-Distilled Bourbon."
It wasn't.
Jacob’s Well Bourbon was made in the same big stills at Jim Beam as white label and everything else. Maybe you could call it ‘micro-bottled,’ because they never sold very much of it, but calling it ‘micro-distilled’ wasn't just an adroit turn of phrase, it was a lie. They could, conceivably, have made it on a small still, but they didn’t. There was nothing ‘micro-distilled’ about it.
Someone took to the then-very-small online bourbon community, on a service called Prodigy and another called CompuServe, and blew the whistle. Beam was very angry at the whistleblower, who was estranged from Deerfield for many years. Today, everyone who was there then is gone. By their nature, big corporations have short memories. It’s better for business.
A few years ago, Beam was suddenly bitten by the new products bug. Beam recently unveiled its Global Innovation Center near the Jim Beam distillery at Clermont, Kentucky, where they develop new Beam company products for the world. Two such products for the U.S. market were announced last month, although they won't be in stores until late summer. They represent the debut of an ultra-premium Jim Beam line extension called Jim Beam Signature Craft. (Previewed here in February.)
Much as the word ‘micro-distilled’ was used 20 years ago to remind people of the then-nascent micro-brewing industry, the word ‘craft’ is meant to evoke the currently-nascent craft distilling industry. This time, Beam isn’t being so clumsy. You don't have to be little to be craft, they argue. Big producers can do ‘craft’ projects too.
So how craft is Jim Beam Signature Craft?
The first two products in the new line are a 12-year-old, 43% ABV straight bourbon, and a 43% ABV straight bourbon finished with Spanish brandy. As ultra-premiums go they're a good value at about $40 a bottle. Both are to start appearing in stores in August. Assuming it sells, the 12-year-old will be a permanent product while the brandy-finished bourbon is a one-off. The plan is to debut a different one-off in August of 2014, and so on. The ‘signature’ of the title is Fred Noe’s.
Noe and company have done an excellent job choosing and managing the barrels they reserve for the 12-year-old. The whiskey is not a bit over-wooded. It is right where a 12-year-old bourbon should be, wood dominant on just the right side of the tipping point; rich with caramel, vanilla, and oak; but without much soot or smoke. Here the ‘craft’ is primarily in wood management and barrel selection, both of which are done exceptionally well.
The brandy-finished bourbon is unusual because it is not, as one might assume, brandy barrel finished. It is finished by the addition of a very small amount of actual brandy. Beam has long sold a product in Australia that is a bourbon finished with port. This is the same idea. It works very well. Much like the wood finish used for Maker’s 46, the brandy provides a grace note. Although it is an added flavor, it doesn't overpower the whiskey like the cherry flavoring in Red Stag arguably does. The craft here is in the finish itself, selecting the brandy and adding just the right amount, and in selecting the best bourbon for the pairing. Again, it’s a job well done. The stuff is delicious.
Beam got the packaging right too. The bottles are very sensual in the hand and I commend Beam for going with a simple plastic screw cap instead of cork. Corks have become ubiquitous in high-end spirits, even though they confer not a single benefit and are inferior in terms of seal, plus they can break down and taint the whiskey. Corks and high proof spirits just aren't a good combination, but there will be dopes who will complain that Beam ‘cheaped out’ by going with screw caps. They'll be wrong. It is a bold, elegant, and appropriate choice.
Beam also deserves credit for saying, in their promotion materials, that both products should be enjoyed neat or on-the-rocks. They declined to provide any cocktail recipes. They can't hold out forever, the cocktailian pressure is too great, but we appreciate the sentiment.
Another iconic Kentuckian, Muhammad Ali, famously said that, "the man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." Wise man. Whiskey fans love whiskey because it’s real. It has real flavor and real history, and it’s a sturdy enough platform to support wild experimentation. Marketers will always find reasons to spin. They just have to remember that bourbon drinkers are (mostly) grown-ups. We can handle the truth.
It wasn't.
Jacob’s Well Bourbon was made in the same big stills at Jim Beam as white label and everything else. Maybe you could call it ‘micro-bottled,’ because they never sold very much of it, but calling it ‘micro-distilled’ wasn't just an adroit turn of phrase, it was a lie. They could, conceivably, have made it on a small still, but they didn’t. There was nothing ‘micro-distilled’ about it.
Someone took to the then-very-small online bourbon community, on a service called Prodigy and another called CompuServe, and blew the whistle. Beam was very angry at the whistleblower, who was estranged from Deerfield for many years. Today, everyone who was there then is gone. By their nature, big corporations have short memories. It’s better for business.
A few years ago, Beam was suddenly bitten by the new products bug. Beam recently unveiled its Global Innovation Center near the Jim Beam distillery at Clermont, Kentucky, where they develop new Beam company products for the world. Two such products for the U.S. market were announced last month, although they won't be in stores until late summer. They represent the debut of an ultra-premium Jim Beam line extension called Jim Beam Signature Craft. (Previewed here in February.)
Much as the word ‘micro-distilled’ was used 20 years ago to remind people of the then-nascent micro-brewing industry, the word ‘craft’ is meant to evoke the currently-nascent craft distilling industry. This time, Beam isn’t being so clumsy. You don't have to be little to be craft, they argue. Big producers can do ‘craft’ projects too.
So how craft is Jim Beam Signature Craft?
The first two products in the new line are a 12-year-old, 43% ABV straight bourbon, and a 43% ABV straight bourbon finished with Spanish brandy. As ultra-premiums go they're a good value at about $40 a bottle. Both are to start appearing in stores in August. Assuming it sells, the 12-year-old will be a permanent product while the brandy-finished bourbon is a one-off. The plan is to debut a different one-off in August of 2014, and so on. The ‘signature’ of the title is Fred Noe’s.
Noe and company have done an excellent job choosing and managing the barrels they reserve for the 12-year-old. The whiskey is not a bit over-wooded. It is right where a 12-year-old bourbon should be, wood dominant on just the right side of the tipping point; rich with caramel, vanilla, and oak; but without much soot or smoke. Here the ‘craft’ is primarily in wood management and barrel selection, both of which are done exceptionally well.
The brandy-finished bourbon is unusual because it is not, as one might assume, brandy barrel finished. It is finished by the addition of a very small amount of actual brandy. Beam has long sold a product in Australia that is a bourbon finished with port. This is the same idea. It works very well. Much like the wood finish used for Maker’s 46, the brandy provides a grace note. Although it is an added flavor, it doesn't overpower the whiskey like the cherry flavoring in Red Stag arguably does. The craft here is in the finish itself, selecting the brandy and adding just the right amount, and in selecting the best bourbon for the pairing. Again, it’s a job well done. The stuff is delicious.
Beam got the packaging right too. The bottles are very sensual in the hand and I commend Beam for going with a simple plastic screw cap instead of cork. Corks have become ubiquitous in high-end spirits, even though they confer not a single benefit and are inferior in terms of seal, plus they can break down and taint the whiskey. Corks and high proof spirits just aren't a good combination, but there will be dopes who will complain that Beam ‘cheaped out’ by going with screw caps. They'll be wrong. It is a bold, elegant, and appropriate choice.
Beam also deserves credit for saying, in their promotion materials, that both products should be enjoyed neat or on-the-rocks. They declined to provide any cocktail recipes. They can't hold out forever, the cocktailian pressure is too great, but we appreciate the sentiment.
Another iconic Kentuckian, Muhammad Ali, famously said that, "the man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." Wise man. Whiskey fans love whiskey because it’s real. It has real flavor and real history, and it’s a sturdy enough platform to support wild experimentation. Marketers will always find reasons to spin. They just have to remember that bourbon drinkers are (mostly) grown-ups. We can handle the truth.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Former AMA Chair Calls Out CDC for Bad Science
Dr. Raymond Scalettar is a clinical professor of medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center, a medical adviser to the Distilled Spirits Council, and a former chair of the American Medical Association.
In an op-ed to the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, Dr. Scalettar called out the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for opposing privatization of liquor sales in Pennsylvania using as evidence studies that do not support their claim that privatization leads to unhealthy overconsumption of alcohol. The specific offender is Robert Brewer, who leads the alcohol program in the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
The notion that privatizing liquor sales will have major negative health consequences is absurd on its face, which is probably why Brewer felt compelled to trump up evidence. Privatization is not deregulation. In the 33 'license states' in the U.S., private ownership of liquor retailers does not mean anything goes. Matters such as hours of operations, location of stores (e.g., near schools or churches), density of stores (how many in a given area) are all still determined by the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agency.
I'm sure the directors of those 33 ABCs will tell you that citizens in their state are just as well protected from alcohol abuses as are the citizens of Pennsylvania and the other 17 'control states.'
As Scalettar explains, Brewer cites a 44 percent median increase in per capita sales of alcoholic beverages within jurisdictions that switched from a state store system to private ownership. Brewer derived his figure by analyzing 17 studies, six of which showed no increase in consumption, and four of which showed only moderate increases. Brewer's own task force found no pattern of increased alcohol-related harms from privatization, though he implies the opposite.
In fact, the 44 percent figure is from studies of wine sales from 30 years ago. Between 1970 and 1981, six states privatized the sale of wine. The sale of wine increased significantly in those states but, guess what? The sale of wine increased significantly in the other 44 states too during that same period. Americans simply started to drink more wine in the '70s. It had nothing to do with privatization.
The privatization of wine sales was more likely the result of wine's increased popularity rather than the cause of it.
As Scalettar concludes, "The CDC has the imprimatur of a respected, science-based government organization. Brewer has the responsibility to honestly present research in an unbiased, forthright manner so the public and elected officials can make decisions based upon the best available evidence."
In an op-ed to the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, Dr. Scalettar called out the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for opposing privatization of liquor sales in Pennsylvania using as evidence studies that do not support their claim that privatization leads to unhealthy overconsumption of alcohol. The specific offender is Robert Brewer, who leads the alcohol program in the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
The notion that privatizing liquor sales will have major negative health consequences is absurd on its face, which is probably why Brewer felt compelled to trump up evidence. Privatization is not deregulation. In the 33 'license states' in the U.S., private ownership of liquor retailers does not mean anything goes. Matters such as hours of operations, location of stores (e.g., near schools or churches), density of stores (how many in a given area) are all still determined by the state's Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) agency.
I'm sure the directors of those 33 ABCs will tell you that citizens in their state are just as well protected from alcohol abuses as are the citizens of Pennsylvania and the other 17 'control states.'
As Scalettar explains, Brewer cites a 44 percent median increase in per capita sales of alcoholic beverages within jurisdictions that switched from a state store system to private ownership. Brewer derived his figure by analyzing 17 studies, six of which showed no increase in consumption, and four of which showed only moderate increases. Brewer's own task force found no pattern of increased alcohol-related harms from privatization, though he implies the opposite.
In fact, the 44 percent figure is from studies of wine sales from 30 years ago. Between 1970 and 1981, six states privatized the sale of wine. The sale of wine increased significantly in those states but, guess what? The sale of wine increased significantly in the other 44 states too during that same period. Americans simply started to drink more wine in the '70s. It had nothing to do with privatization.
The privatization of wine sales was more likely the result of wine's increased popularity rather than the cause of it.
As Scalettar concludes, "The CDC has the imprimatur of a respected, science-based government organization. Brewer has the responsibility to honestly present research in an unbiased, forthright manner so the public and elected officials can make decisions based upon the best available evidence."
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
MGP of Indiana Changes Its Whiskey Recipe Descriptions
MGP Ingredients, a big corn processor out of Kansas, bought the former Seagram's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, in 2011. Observing how they run and position it has been fascinating.
Although unique today, commodity producers like MGP of Indiana used to be a prominent part of the American whiskey landscape. Wild Turkey was a non-distiller producer (NDP) for the first 30 or so years of that brand's existence. It was made from whiskey purchased from commodity producers until Austin-Nichols acquired the Ripy family's distillery in the 1970s, the distillery we know as Wild Turkey today.
MGP's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, was acquired and rebuilt by Seagram's at the end of Prohibition. It made a lot of whiskey but all of it was used for Seagram's products. After the break-up of Seagram's by Pernod and Diageo, Pernod became its owner and began to sell bulk whiskey to Templeton Rye, High West, and others in a small way. They kept a low profile, as did their successor, Angostura (i.e., CL Financial), and as do the distilleries like Heaven Hill that operate a substantial contract distilling and bulk whiskey business along with their branded business.
MGP is taking a different approach, in part because they're a public company, but also because they want to make a name for themselves as a quality producer for the NDP community. Early last month, they announced the addition of six new recipes to their portfolio. As people began to look at that portfolio, it became apparent the distillery was using some odd and confusing naming conventions, probably inherited from Seagram's.
The naming convention for the ten bourbon recipes made at Four Roses, also a former Seagram's enclave, is similarly vestigial. It uses four letters, two of which are the same for every recipe and have no meaning that's relevant to their current application.
Unlike Four Roses, which pretty much leaves things like that alone, MGP has moved swiftly to correct its confusing names. Here's some of what yesterday's notice to its customers said:
"This is to notify you that effective immediately the names of four of MGP's beverage alcohol products are being changed. The previous naming practice varied as certain product names listed the percentage of the total small grains used in the mash bill while other names did not. Going forward, the product names will note the feature grain of the mash bill."
Here they are, with the new name first.
'Bourbon (21% Rye)' was called '25% Bourbon.' Mash bill is 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt.
'Bourbon (36% Rye)' was called '40% Bourbon.' Mash bill is 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% barley malt.
'Bourbon (99%)' was called 'Corn Bourbon Whiskey.' Mash bill is 99% corn, 1% barley malt.
'Corn Whiskey (15% Rye)' was called 'Corn Whiskey.' Mash bill is 81% corn, 15% rye, 4% barley malt.
The bourbons, of course, must be aged in new charred oak barrels while aging is optional for corn whiskey, but if aged the barrels must be used or un-charred. Take that corn whiskey recipe, put it into new charred wood, and it becomes a fourth bourbon.
Although unique today, commodity producers like MGP of Indiana used to be a prominent part of the American whiskey landscape. Wild Turkey was a non-distiller producer (NDP) for the first 30 or so years of that brand's existence. It was made from whiskey purchased from commodity producers until Austin-Nichols acquired the Ripy family's distillery in the 1970s, the distillery we know as Wild Turkey today.
MGP's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, was acquired and rebuilt by Seagram's at the end of Prohibition. It made a lot of whiskey but all of it was used for Seagram's products. After the break-up of Seagram's by Pernod and Diageo, Pernod became its owner and began to sell bulk whiskey to Templeton Rye, High West, and others in a small way. They kept a low profile, as did their successor, Angostura (i.e., CL Financial), and as do the distilleries like Heaven Hill that operate a substantial contract distilling and bulk whiskey business along with their branded business.
MGP is taking a different approach, in part because they're a public company, but also because they want to make a name for themselves as a quality producer for the NDP community. Early last month, they announced the addition of six new recipes to their portfolio. As people began to look at that portfolio, it became apparent the distillery was using some odd and confusing naming conventions, probably inherited from Seagram's.
The naming convention for the ten bourbon recipes made at Four Roses, also a former Seagram's enclave, is similarly vestigial. It uses four letters, two of which are the same for every recipe and have no meaning that's relevant to their current application.
Unlike Four Roses, which pretty much leaves things like that alone, MGP has moved swiftly to correct its confusing names. Here's some of what yesterday's notice to its customers said:
"This is to notify you that effective immediately the names of four of MGP's beverage alcohol products are being changed. The previous naming practice varied as certain product names listed the percentage of the total small grains used in the mash bill while other names did not. Going forward, the product names will note the feature grain of the mash bill."
Here they are, with the new name first.
'Bourbon (21% Rye)' was called '25% Bourbon.' Mash bill is 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% barley malt.
'Bourbon (36% Rye)' was called '40% Bourbon.' Mash bill is 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% barley malt.
'Bourbon (99%)' was called 'Corn Bourbon Whiskey.' Mash bill is 99% corn, 1% barley malt.
'Corn Whiskey (15% Rye)' was called 'Corn Whiskey.' Mash bill is 81% corn, 15% rye, 4% barley malt.
The bourbons, of course, must be aged in new charred oak barrels while aging is optional for corn whiskey, but if aged the barrels must be used or un-charred. Take that corn whiskey recipe, put it into new charred wood, and it becomes a fourth bourbon.
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