Squeezing the Barrel, and the Public Purse

Yesterday was goodie day at the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA), where several well-known small-government conservative Republican distillery owners and wanna-bees lined up with their hands out. Toyota was the greatest beneficiary of taxpayer largesse ($145 million), but several bourbon companies also got a taste.

Among them was Maker’s Mark, which got $100,000 in incentives to support its $8.2 million plan to “extract additional gallons” from its barrels by introducing “a state-of-the-art rinse process” in a new facility at the distillery, according to the Courier-Journal.

Angel’s Envy, through one of its many cross-owned affiliate companies, won approval for as much as $800,000 in incentives for up to 10 years, and also $72,000 in state sales tax rebates, according to Business First.

Previously approved incentives for Michter’s and Wild Turkey were extended.

From Maker's Mark we get squeezing but from Angel's Envy, all we get is teasing.

According to its KEDFA filing, Angel's Envy estimates that within its first three years of operation, it will make a total investment of $10 million in building materials and capital equipment. The project is expected to create 40 new jobs with an average hourly wage of $25 and a total estimated payroll of $1.5 million. The proposed distillery will include a column still, bottling line, grain-handling equipment, and barrel storage, according to the Lexington Herald Leader.

The Herald Leader spoke to Chris Poynter, spokesman for Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, who would not name a specific site but said that the city and the state have been talking to Angel's Envy about a project that would be part distillery and part visitors center for the Main/Market corridor in what is historically Louisville's Whiskey Row area, now under redevelopment.

Angel’s Envy has been teasing the distillery project for about three years, with company representatives typically saying they expect to make an announcement "soon" or in "30 to 60 days." They did it again a week ago and, as of today, have missed yet another of their own deadlines. A Louisville architecture firm has proclaimed itself the winner in a competition to design the new facility, but the company remains silent about its intentions.

Last week, a published rumor identified the site as the old Vermont American factory on Main Street opposite Louisville Slugger Field.

The Hendersons are well-liked and everyone is pulling for them, but fans need to curb their enthusiasm. Remember Willett/KBD? They resumed distilling about a year ago, but only after 20 years of promising it would happen "soon." No one wants Angel’s Envy to become the next "Distillery That Cried ‘Wolf.’"

In related news, Poynter also told the Herald Leader that there are more whiskey attractions on the way for Louisville. "We have most of the major distilleries looking at some sort of presence in downtown,” he said.

Maker's Mark has not given details about its 'new process,' beyond the KEDFA filing, but parent company Beam Inc. has been squeezing Jim Beam barrels for a few years now to produce its Devil's Cut bourbon.

Distillers have always rinsed barrels to get a little more whiskey out. Jack Daniel's was the first to take it further. Several years ago, they built a facility where they take freshly dumped barrels, fill them about 1/3 full with water, then store them for about two weeks before dumping them again. Beam took it a little further by heating the water and using a device like a paint mixer to shake the barrels. This probably accomplishes the same thing storing does for Daniel's, without the huge warehouse Daniel's had to build just for its 'super rinse' operation.

Obviously, the amount of additional alcohol extracted more than justifies the expense.

When asked if the Beam process makes the barrels less desirable for the scotch makers who get them next, Fred Noe replied, "I don't really give a fuck what scotch makers think."

What About the Maker's Mark Origin Story?

Marjorie and Bill

In the early days of Maker's Mark, when Bill Samuels Junior was telling all those great stories about his parents and how Maker's Mark began, he always did it with his tongue firmly placed in his cheek. Samuels Junior officially retired last year and while he doesn't seem to be slowing down, Maker's Mark will have to get by with less of his unique personal style going forward. As he recedes and parent company Beam Inc exerts more control, the new storytellers need to be careful not to take themselves too seriously.

Which brings us to the Maker's Mark origin story and the part about Bill Samuels Senior, bored in his early retirement, discovering the virtues of wheat while baking bread.

The story is an allegory, in which characters and events represent or symbolize ideas and concepts. In this case, the idea is that as rye bread differs from regular (i.e., wheat) bread, so rye-recipe bourbon differs from Maker's Mark.

This does not mean Bill Samuels Senior 'discovered' wheated bourbon. He did not. His friend, 'Pappy' Van Winkle, had been making wheated bourbon at his Stitzel-Weller Distillery since the 1930s, decades before Samuels started to think about re-entering the whiskey business.

Van Winkle didn't invent wheated bourbon either. His recipe came from the Stitzel family. They and many other distillers had used wheat in bourbon recipes over the years. It was nothing new.

What Samuels Senior did was decide to make a wheated recipe instead of the more common rye recipe, because he thought it tasted better. That was just one of many bold decisions he made on the way to creating his unique bourbon whiskey.

See, the factually true story is every bit as good as the allegorical one.

The difference between the two recipes is not so much about substituting wheat for rye as it is about simply removing the rye and letting the corn and oak sweetness take center stage. Wheat, compared to rye, has a mild and slightly nutty flavor, whereas rye is very fruity, spicy and earthy.

None of this is meant to say that you can't have fun, especially if you like to bake, messing around with the constituent grains of bourbon. The obvious thing would be to make a loaf that is 75 percent corn flour, 15 percent wheat flour, and 10 percent barley flour (roughly the Maker's Mark mash bill) and another one that is 15 percent rye instead of wheat.

Unfortunately, they probably wouldn't have enough gluten to rise and hold together, but you get the idea. 

The Genealogy Of Beam Yeast

The post earlier this month, in which Sam Cecil briefly outlines the careers of the many Beam family distillers, raised a question about the yeast all of those Beams were using, not just at Jim Beam but at Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Yellowstone, Maker's Mark, Barton, Stitzel-Weller, Early Times, and many others.

The specific question: Jim Beam's yeast has a reputation for imparting a 'foxy' taste, a characteristic not associated with any other producer, despite having Beams in their lineage. How come?

Historically, 'yeast making' meant propagating a strain from a wild source. Although the Beams all started from the same place, with the same yeast mash recipe, and were all taught the same organoleptic standards, each distiller in each generation would have made his own subtle adaptations after years of practice, and would have passed his way of doing things on to his son.

I say 'son,' knowing that some Beam family distillers were trained by their grandfathers more than their fathers.

Either way, the genealogy of the yeasts is essentially that of the yeast makers.

David Beam (1802-1852) had three sons who became distillers. If you're a fan of Underworld, think of them as the three sons of Alexander Corvinus.

The youngest, Jack Beam, started Early Times and although his only son followed him into the business, there was no third generation. That line died out. It's unknown if that strain was preserved and passed on to the people who revived Early Times after Prohibition, but it seems unlikely.

The other two were Joseph B. Beam and David M. Beam. Those two traditions split more than 150 years ago, and there have been many other subdivisions since.

Each of them had two distiller sons. Joseph B. had Joseph L. (Joe) and Minor Case, and David M had the famous Jim Beam and his brother, Park.

We know from Booker Noe, Jim Beam's grandson, that the Jim Beam yeast was 'caught' by Jim on his back porch in Bardstown as Prohibition was ending and he prepared to build a new distillery.

When Park's son, Earl, left the Jim Beam Distillery in 1946, he took the Jim Beam yeast with him to Heaven Hill, replacing the Joe Beam yeast Joe's son Harry was then using. Under Earl Beam, Heaven Hill's bourbon had a reputation for being oily, but not 'foxy' like Beam.

I should note that, to me, the 'foxy' yeast characteristic is only noticeable in the white label Jim Beam expression.

It's hard to say what changed at Heaven Hill. It may have been the water. Yeast can change for very subtle reasons -- different water, different atmospheric conditions, different airborne microorganisms, different mash temperature, a different amount of back set, etc. The loss of the 'foxy' characteristic may have been deliberate, or an accidental by-product of different practices in a different place.

In addition to training his sons Joe and Minor Case, Joseph B. Beam may also have trained Will McGill. Will was a friend of son Joe, who married Will's sister, Katherine McGill.  Will must have been a good student because he became Pappy Van Winkle's master distiller at Stitzel-Weller after Prohibition.

It is likely Joe and Will also learned from Joe's older brother, Minor Case, who was 11 years Joe's senior. Minor had his own distillery at Gethsemane, which made the brand Old Trump, and which eventually merged with the nearby Yellowstone distillery. Joe and Will worked together at many different distilleries during their early careers, including at the Tom Moore distillery, today's Barton.

So the Stitzel-Weller yeast that made its way to Maker's Mark would have originated with Joseph B. Beam and probably went through Minor Case to get to Will McGill, and from him into the hands of Elmo Beam, Joe's firstborn, who would already have been familiar with his father's version.

That Pappy gave the yeast to Bill Samuels Sr. is known, but what Elmo actually used is not, at least not by me. Sam Cecil probably knew, since he followed Elmo at Maker's Mark.

Among his many feats, Joe Beam restarted Four Roses (then in Shively) after Prohibition, and employed some of his seven distiller sons there, as well as some of their sons. Seagram's bought Four Roses during WWII and Roy's son, Charlie, spent most of his career with Seagram's, where he developed the Eagle Rare Bourbon brand before finishing his career at Four Roses in Lawrenceburg.

Minor's son, Guy, was a distiller or master distiller at several different distilleries, including Heaven Hill, Fairfield, and Cummins-Collins. During Prohibition he was a distiller in Canada. Guy had two distiller sons, Burch and Jack. A third son, Walter, who was better known as Toddy, operated a liquor store in downtown Bardstown that still bears his name.

Jack worked for Barton. The two brothers who recently started the micro distillery Limestone Springs in Lebanon are descended from Guy.

Nobody is catching wild yeast these days and if distillers want to tweak their yeast, they do it in the lab, not on a back porch as Jim Beam did.

Jim Beam Is Up 11%, Single Oak Project Has 6th Release, And The KDA Has New Digs.

Here's a little news round-up from Bourbon Country.

Beam Inc. has reported its second quarter results. Sales are up and bourbon is why. In worldwide sales, Jim Beam itself is up 11 percent for the year, Knob Creek is up 9 percent, and Maker's Mark is up 29 percent. That's pretty incredible, but there is another Beam bourbon that is doing even better: Basil Hayden, up 33 percent.

Almost everything in Beam's portfolio is up. Effen Vodka is one notable exception. When Beam bought Effen Vodka from Sazerac three years ago, I said it was a mistake. Sure enough, Effen sales are down 14 percent, probably because Beam has lost interest in it since Beam now has Pinnacle Vodka, a much bigger brand and one that is not based on a vulgarity.

This month, Sazerac's Buffalo Trace Distillery will releases the sixth round of Single Oak Project bourbons. Twelve of these experimental bourbons are released each quarter. With release six, therefore, the score is 72 released, 120 to go.

Each release has a theme. This time, all twelve bourbons in the set are from Warehouse L, a masonry warehouse with concrete floors that many Tracians consider their best. The other common feature is low barrel entry proof (52.5% ABV). Since most bourbons go into the barrel at close to the legal maximum of 62.5% ABV, low entry proof is of great interest to distillers and aficionados.

The Kentucky Distiller's Association (KDA), of which Sazerac is not a member, is 132 years old but never has had a physical home. It now occupies a portion of Frankfort Barracks, a 141-year-old building that housed federal troops stationed in Frankfort between 1871 and 1876. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The address is 614 Shelby Street, Frankfort, KY 40601.

In addition to offices for KDA's staff, which has ballooned to three people, it will also serve as information center and gift shop for the Kentucky Bourbon Trail tour.

A Weird But Cool Career Milestone.

Although I generally don't practice, I am a lawyer, so it is both weird and cool for me to be cited in a Federal Appellate Court opinion, the Sixth Circuit's ruling in Maker's Mark v Diageo, a trademarks case.

It begins with Justice Hugo Black's famous statement (written in dissent) that, “I was brought up to believe that Scotch whisky would need a tax preference to survive in competition with Kentucky bourbon.” Justice Black grew up in Alabama.

After that there are several pages of American whiskey history, which is where I come in. It's easy to read, not at all legalistic, and very accurate. The legal point of it is that issues of brand identity and product integrity are of unique importance to whiskey producers due to events in the industry's history, and past Federal involvement going back more than 100 years to the Pure Food and Drug Act and subsequent Taft Decision.

The rest of this decision, where they get into the fine points of trademarks law and some of the specific claims and counterclaims of the case, gets pretty dense. It's hard slogging for a lawyer let alone a layperson. If, however, you are tempted to spout off about how "ridiculous" the decision is, force yourself to actually read and understand the opinion before you do. Trademarks law can be very complicated precisely because the courts go to great lengths to provide appropriate protection to intellectual property owners without overreaching.

The case involved the Maker's Mark red wax drip and a Diageo Jose Cuervo brand tequila that Maker's felt infringed. The trial court found for Maker's and the appellate court affirmed that decision.

For me, this represents a cool but weird milestone in my career. I'm cited five times by name, both to Bourbon Straight and to The Bourbon Country Reader, more than that if you count all the ids, op cits, and supras.

Appellate courts mostly cite to themselves and each other, so it's nice to get a word in edgewise. 

The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts in the United States federal court system. There are 13 of them. The Sixth Circuit covers Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, and Tennessee. It is located in Cincinnati.

Double Your Pleasure.

It's not a great picture, nor is it a very attractive thing. What is it? Something you rarely see, yet it separates fine bourbon whiskey from mere alcohol.

It is a doubler. Specifically, the doubler at Maker's Mark.

Although not required by law, most bourbon whiskey is double-distilled. The first distillation takes place in a column still. When you visit a distillery in Kentucky and they show you the still, that's what they show you. It looks like a column. They're typically five feet in diameter and two stories high. Every couple of feet there is a porthole-like thing.

That's where the first distillation occurs. When the distillate leaves that still it goes to the one pictured here, the doubler. A doubler is a type of pot still. There are two types of doublers. One is the conventional doubler, the other is the thumper. For a conventional doubler, the distillate is condensed into a liquid before it enters the doubler. For a thumper, it's introduced while still a vapor, and the introduction of hot vapor causes a thumping sound, like when a cold radiator pipe gets hot.

Distillers say the purpose of the doubler is to polish the spirit. It's all about flavor. Certain congeners just can't be gotten at any other way.

As bad as that picture is, most doublers look worse. Most don't have copper on the outside. Most look about the same as any of the other tanks that are everywhere in a distillery.

Back when the American whiskey industry was crashing in the 1970s, many producers joined in a race to the bottom and some stopped doubling to cut costs. Eventually, they all resumed the practice. As the distillers say, you can make alcohol without doubling, no problem, but you can't make fine bourbon whiskey.

We're only talking about the major bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey distilleries here. Micro-distilleries do their own thing and many do not feel double-distillation is necessary.

When I'm in a distillery, and think of it, I usually ask to see the doubler. That's what happened when this picture was taken about two years ago. It's usually in the basement, so there is stair climbing involved. I've never been shown one routinely on a tour.

A few years ago I was at Jack Daniel's and there was a rumor going around that Jack Daniel's doesn't double. I asked the then Master Distiller Jimmy Bedford that question while we were on the tour. He said yes so I asked to see it. I should say 'them.' Jack Daniel's has five column stills, and five doublers.

Bourbon For Christmas.

What bourbon is good for Christmas? Well, heck, they all are, but here are a couple of thoughts.

You can make egg nog with bourbon. Evan Williams has a ready-to-drink version. So, no doubt, do some other brands. You can substitute bourbon for the more traditional brandy or rum, or mix them 50/50. Martha Stewart's recipe calls for all three.

When Maker's 46 came out, many of the reviews described it as "rich in Christmas spices," so why not make that your official Christmas bourbon?

Goose Island Brewery here in Chicago changes its Christmas Ale every year, but at least once they made a version they conditioned in bourbon barrels.

Make bourbon balls. They aren't specifically a holiday confection, but they're really good. Recipes abound on the web.

Here's a simple Christmas cocktail using bourbon. It was developed by Paul Abercrombie. 

Ingredients

Handful of organic cranberries, picked over and rinsed
4 ounces organic cranberry juice
2 ounces bourbon

Directions

In a pint glass, muddle the cranberries until crushed (make sure not to pulverize the cranberries so much that you release the seeds' bitter taste).

Add a large handful of cracked ice, the cranberry juice, and bourbon. Stir.

How Maker’s Mark Was Made.

Most histories of Maker’s Mark Bourbon mention an early ad campaign, typified by the one above. “It tastes expensive…and is,” was always the headline.

Bragging about how expensive your product is can be a risky tactic, but Maker’s made it work. To understand how, it helps to understand the context.

The first barrel of Maker’s was laid down in 1954. The first bottle was sold in 1959. They were a true independent then, owned and operated by the Samuels family. They were tiny, starting from scratch. They grew slowly but steadily, almost entirely in Kentucky.

Bill Samuels Junior, whose father started the company, has said it is a good thing they were family-owned and independent then because it didn’t make much sense as a business and any real business would have shut them down.

It took, after all, 25 years.

Price was always an issue with retailers, especially in rural Kentucky, who couldn’t imagine why someone would buy an unknown bourbon for $7 a bottle when there were plenty of good bourbons for $6 and less. In the cities, where people routinely paid $7 or more for a bottle of good whiskey, it was scotch they were buying, not bourbon.

Bourbon was the working man’s drink. No one could imagine a bourbon competing directly with scotch or Cognac.

Maker’s was clearly swimming against the current. Because they were so small, they didn’t have much of an advertising budget. But they did have a story, a good one, one that they believed in. They also had a good advertising agency, Louisville’s Doe-Anderson.

Ads like the one above weren’t full-page or color. They were one-quarter page or less, in black and white. The message had to be clear and pertinent. It had to ‘move the needle.’

The “It tastes expensive…and is” ad campaign, launched in 1966, was successful because it under-promised and over-delivered, in an almost back-handed way. The ads said Maker's was expensive, but it wasn't. It was a little pricier than other bourbons but less than most good scotch or other things people might be drinking. The first time you looked at it in a store you were prepared by the advertising for it to be more expensive than it was. Perfect!

With price resistance thus overcome, they could get to sampling, and Maker’s sampled well because it had a different flavor. It genuinely was not a typical bourbon. It had a milder, sweeter flavor, even compared to scotch. It made an excellent first impression, regardless of the taster’s previous drinking experience.

After 1969, whiskey sales collapsed and the rest of the industry was in a race to the bottom. Maker’s stood apart even more. No one in the business believed you could sell bourbon with a quality claim. That was true when bourbon sales were growing and became carved in stone when sales nose-dived. No one took Maker's Mark seriously. It was still a tiny, Kentucky-owned brand.

Ultimately, Maker’s Mark was 'made' by a 1980 article in the Wall Street Journal, which described how it had been discovered by traveling businessmen, who began a word-of-mouth campaign, which led to surging sales and a chronic shortage that persists to the present.

The WSJ article told how Maker’s was making all the right moves, so it’s likely they would have succeeded anyway, but the article sure helped. It can also be said to mark the beginning of the present bourbon revival. Once it was okay to think of bourbon as a quality product, anything was possible.

The independence that had been such a large part of Maker's story was gone in less than a year. People often mistakenly believe small privately-owned companies sell out because they've hit a bad financial patch. Usually it's the opposite. They sell out because they can't afford to finance the growth their success has made possible without help. In 1981, Maker’s Mark was acquired by Canada’s Hiram Walker and Sons.

Now part of the new Beam Inc., Maker’s Mark has become the first super premium bourbon to break the one-million-case sales barrier. Its success has been built on a perfect convergence of smarts and luck. Bill Samuels Jr., since 2010 the company’s hardest-working retiree, has often said that his primary guiding principle has been, “don’t screw it up.”

So far, so good.

Beam Unveils New Logo And Names New Bourbons Boss.

Yesterday was a big news day at Beam Global. They unveiled a new corporate logo (above) and named Christopher G. Bauder as the Bourbon Category Business Team (CBT) General Manager.

Bourbon whiskey is Beam’s largest and best-performing category. Beam is the world’s largest producer of bourbon. The company’s flagship brand, Jim Beam, sells six-million cases a year. Maker’s Mark sells more than one million.

In the past two years, Beam has also innovated within the Bourbon category by introducing new products such as Red Stag by Jim Beam, Maker’s 46, Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve and, most recently, Jim Beam Devil’s Cut.

“With his extensive global brand building and sales experience, Chris Bauder is positioned to take our Bourbon portfolio to the next level,” said Bill Newlands, Beam president, North America. “Bourbon is our number one, single largest category at Beam, and I’m confident that with Chris’ leadership we’ll continue to revolutionize within our portfolio and drive other industry trends.”

Before joining Beam, Bauder served as S.C. Johnson’s Vice President Marketing, International Markets. He was 17 years at Johnson. Bauder has a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from Duke University and a Master of Business Administration from Marquette University.

While I’m disappointed that such an important position is going to someone with no bourbon experience, that’s pretty typical of the way Beam hires and promotes. Beam is now the world’s fourth-largest premium spirits company, with 10 of the world’s top-100 premium spirits brands in its portfolio. The fact that it is primarily an American whiskey company is good for American whiskey enthusiasts.

The new logo reflects this. It also reflects the fact that people have always called the company “Beam” regardless of its actual name. The new name and logo will take effect as soon as the separation from Fortune Brands is complete, sometime in the new few months.

The new corporate logo is based on Jim Beam’s actual signature. This has more historic significance than the company may even know. Late in the 19th century, when brands were first becoming important in the American whiskey business, legal protection for trademarks was very weak. Legal protection against forgery was much stronger. Starting with Hiram Walker, many producers reproduced their personal signatures prominently on their labels, and encouraged their customers to look for the signature to ensure authenticity.

Producers who followed Walker’s lead included George Garvin Brown, E. H. Taylor and James E. Pepper. Unscrupulous producers could copy a name or label with impunity, but not a signature.

The Beam family has no significant ownership stake in the company and there are no Beam family members in senior management. “Our new corporate identity is simple, authentic, memorable and is the perfect reflection of our commitment to the Beam family’s pioneering vision established more than 216 years ago,” said Matt Shattock, Beam president and CEO.

Meet Bill Samuels, Jr.

This summer, recently retired Maker's Mark Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels, Jr. will conduct the bourbon tastings that conclude the Kentucky distillery's free public tours. He won't appear at every tasting (they do 39 a week), but his schedule will be posted on the Maker's Mark web site and Facebook page, so you can plan to be there when he is.

(The schedules don't appear to be up yet.)

For those of you who don't know, Bill Samuels, Jr. is a master showman, a true character. Time spent with him is never dull and always entertaining.

The tour takes visitors step-by-step through the bourbon-making process, including the milling, cooking and fermentation of grains; distillation; aging; and a look at Maker’s Mark’s unique dipping line, where every single bottle of bourbon is hand-dipped and sealed in red wax.

Each tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and concludes with a tasting of Maker’s Mark and Maker’s 46. Visitors also have the chance to dip their own bottle of Maker’s Mark at the gift shop.

Bill Samuels, Jr. retired earlier this year after 35 years as president of Maker's Mark Distillery. His father, Bill Samuel's, Sr., started the distillery in 1953. Maker's Mark is owned by Beam Global.

The Maker's Mark Distillery is part of the Kentucky Distillers Association's Kentucky Bourbon Trail.

A Lifetime of Success -- Kentucky Distillers Honor Bill Samuels Jr. with Prestigious Title.

Note: I usually don't just reprint press releases but this one is good and pretty much says it all. -CKC

LORETTO, Ky. – The world-renowned members of the Kentucky Distillers’ Association (KDA) today installed Bill Samuels, Jr., as a “Lifetime Honorary Member” of its prestigious Board of Directors, a title bestowed to only four other people in the group’s storied 131-year history.

Mr. Samuels, who is retiring Friday as the iconic President and CEO of Maker’s Mark Distillery, is the longest-serving member of the KDA Board since its founding in 1880. He joined in 1968 as the distillery’s alternate Director under his father, T. William Samuels, Sr.

The KDA ceremony took place at the picturesque Maker’s Mark Distillery in Marion County, with all of the distillery’s employees, distinguished executives and legendary Master Distillers of Kentucky’s signature Bourbon industry in attendance.

"The only person more surprised than I am about receiving this great honor would probably have been my father, who I think always suspected that I might not be cut out for this business," Mr. Samuels said.

"I’ve enjoyed serving the Kentucky Distillers’ Association all these years while sharing Bourbon, an essential part of Kentucky’s culture, with the world. This is a signature industry for the Commonwealth and I’m proud of the work the KDA has done to keep the industry healthy."

In a spirited twist of fate, the last person to be prescribed a "Lifetime Honorary Member" was Mr. Samuels’ father in 1982 upon his retirement. The elder Samuels founded Maker’s Mark in 1953 and served on the KDA Board for 28 years. He died in 1992.

Other honorary members are:

• Dr. Frank Kraus was the first KDA Board member from Barton Distilling Company when it joined in 1963. Later an executive with Jim Beam Distillery, Dr. Kraus was named an honorary member in 1979. He died in 2004.

• Charles King McClure of Stitzel-Weller Distillery, who led the successful repeal of Kentucky’s production tax on spirits in 1966 as KDA Chairman. He served on the Board more than 25 years and was named a “Lifetime” member in 1968. He died in 1977.

• James Bigstaff O’Rear of Schenley Distilleries, who served on the KDA Board for 30 years, was hailed for his "untiring efforts" to benefit the industry upon his honorary recognition in 1965. He died in 1975.

KDA Chairman John Rhea called Mr. Samuels "the epitome of a Bourbon entrepreneur."

"His tenacity for quality, genius for marketing and undeniable business savvy is why Maker’s Mark continues to be a leader in growth for Bourbon," said Rhea, who is Chief Operating Officer at Four Roses Distillery.

"Plus, his skill as a Bourbon Ambassador has done more to move Bourbon back to its rightful place as 'America’s Spirit' than the rest of us could do in two lifetimes. And if that’s not enough, his philanthropic leadership has helped countless community and charitable causes.

"Bill Samuels walks the walk of Bourbon, talks the talk of Bourbon and does so to benefit the entire industry. We congratulate him today, thank him for a lifetime of success and look forward to many more years of his friendship and leadership for Kentucky."

The KDA, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1880 to protect the Bourbon industry from needless and obstructive laws and regulations. Today, the KDA is the state’s leading voice on spirits issues and operates the famous Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tour.

KDA members, which produce nearly 90 percent of the world’s Bourbon, include Beam Global Spirits & Wine (Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark), Brown-Forman Corp., Diageo North America, Four Roses, Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc., and Wild Turkey.

KDA President Eric Gregory called Mr. Samuels a "monumental leader, not only for Bourbon but for the Bluegrass as well."

"Many people don’t realize what Bill Samuels means to Kentucky. He is a champion for education, health care and business. He is a global Ambassador whose integrity and sense of humor and honor has won the world over. In a sense, Bill is our best export.

"We are proud today that he joins his father as a Lifetime member of our cherished industry, and we welcome his continued visionary service to the KDA and to our great Commonwealth."

Rob Samuels Named COO at Maker's Mark.

I learned about the naming of Rob Samuels to the position of Chief Operating Officer at Maker's Mark when a reporter called me yesterday for a comment.

Reacting off the top of my head I said a couple of things. Most of all I think it symbolizes Beam's intention to leave Maker's alone, at least so far as anyone can see. Rob is now in place to replace his father when that day comes.

That's all well and good, but the cynic in me wonders how meaningful a title like COO is when Maker's Mark is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beam Global, which is itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fortune Brands.

You'll notice that the announcement makes no mention of who really owns and operates the company. The words "Beam" and "Fortune" appear nowhere in the lengthy press release, not even in the "About" section at the end where such mundane background facts are usually revealed. It encourages the illusion that Maker's Mark is independent, owned and run by the founding Samuels family, which has not in fact been the case in nearly 30 years.

Part of the problem is title inflation. When I started in advertising each agency had one creative director. That was the title of the person who ran the agency's creative department. Today everyone with more than six months experience is a creative director and big agencies have hundreds of them. People seem to like the way big titles look on their business cards, even if they don't mean very much.

When the term 'president' became meaningless because so many presidents were really just division heads, the actual company heads started to be called the "Chief" something or other. Now that's pretty debased too.

This is nothing against Rob who I don't know. We've never met. Considering how long and how deeply I've been involved in this business, that may tell you something right there.

So is he really just a brand ambassador? A living link to the brand's heritage, like Fred Noe is at Beam? Not knowing Rob I don't know if his personality is anything like his dad's but I doubt it. Bill Samuels is one-of-a-kind. One hopes for his sake that Rob has been given a job that will make good use of his talents and experience, and not just his ancestry.

Earlier this year I coined the term "Potemkin Craft Distillery" to describe companies that pretend to be little craft distilleries when they're selling a product they didn't even make. This isn't quite the same thing -- Maker's Mark bourbon is still made at the Maker's Mark Distillery -- but I wonder if this feigned independence will ultimately undercut their credibility.

If I catch you trying to mislead me about something, I have to assume you are willing to mislead me about everything.

Moves At Maker's.

Greg Davis is the new Master Distiller at Maker's Mark, succeeding Kevin Smith who is taking a new job with parent company Beam Global, as reported today by Maker's Mark President Bill Samuels in an email to Maker's Mark Ambassadors.

When Davis left Sazerac's Tom Moore Distillery ten weeks ago to take the job of Director of Distillery Operations at Maker's Mark, reporting to Smith, something about it didn't seem right. Davis is young (40) but he was Master Distiller at Barton/Tom Moore for almost ten years and I just couldn't see him being somebody's assistant for very long. For ten weeks, as it turns out.

Smith is mum about exactly what his new job will be at Beam's flagship distillery at Clermont, Kentucky, but I'm sure that shoe will drop soon.

New Maker's 46 Looks Like A Hit.

The largest and most active bourbon discussion site on the web is StraightBourbon.com. Most of the participants there are passionate and knowledgeable, and more than a few of us are committed skeptics.

As I wrote last month after I had an early sample of Maker’s 46, the new expression from Maker’s Mark, “it totally works.” I was sold from the first sip and said so, but at that point only a few people had tried it. Most had to wait until now and many were suitably dubious.

During the last two weeks it has been found at retail in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Tennessee.

Here are some of the reactions:

“Definitely different from the standard MM. But the differences are subtle and understated. Nicely done but no wow factor.”

“I’d pick it over regular MM every time.”

“I must say, this is pretty good stuff. I like it!”

"A nice amount of oak finish without becoming overbearing (and) a finish that's actually interesting to the palate.”

"The nose is wonderful, like oaky vanilla caramel corn.”

“I’m impressed.”

"I was, and am, extremely impressed.”

It’s hard to imagine a tougher test audience but so far most of them love it.

One nice thing about Maker’s 46 for Maker's is that they can make more of it almost like turning on a spigot. Not exactly, but a finish takes weeks, not years, and although regular Maker's is on allocation too, I'm sure they won't hesitate to rob Peter to pay Paul, since "Paul" is more profitable.

I also suspect cannibalization is expected. Cannibalization occurs when a new product gets too much of its sales from current customers. Normally cannibalization is considered a bad thing (you can kind of tell that from the name) but for Maker's it's a good thing, since one of their objectives is to give Maker's drinkers who want more variety in their drink choices another possibility from within the Maker's family.

If cannibalization occurs that will take some supply pressure off regular Maker's, allowing them to pump out more 46.

So don't fret if you haven't been able to get any yet.

You will.

Bill Samuels Is Going To Russia, Czech Republic.

Bourbon industry icon Bill Samuels, president of Maker’s Mark, will be the featured speaker at two upcoming American whiskey seminars in Russia and the Czech Republic. They are July 13 in St. Petersburg and July 15 in Prague.

The St. Petersburg event will be hosted by acting U.S. Ambassador John Ordway. The Prague event will be hosted by U.S. Consul General Sheila Gwaltney. The Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) is putting them on to educate key local hospitality industry executives about the taste, style, and heritage of American whiskey while showcasing the characteristics that make American whiskey unique.

Samuels' presentation will include a tasting of assorted American-made whiskeys (not just his). Following Samuels’ presentation, guests will discover the style and sophistication of cocktails prepared with American Whiskey during a mixology demonstration by renowned local bartenders.

The events are partially supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Maker's Mark 46 Likely To Ship On Schedule.

The glass has arrived!

The bottles for Maker's Mark 46 have arrived at the distillery and bottling of the new product is underway. Maker's Mark 46 should begin to arrive in stores around July 1. I'm anxious to hear what you think of it.

Maker's Mark Reverses Policy, Readies New Line Extension.

In September, 2009, Malt Advocate publisher John Hansell hosted a webcast at the Maker’s Mark Distillery with Master Distiller Kevin Smith and John Campbell, Distillery Manager at Laphroaig. (Beam Global owns both distilleries and sponsored the event.)

Because Campbell brought three different Laphroaigs, Hansell asked Smith if there would ever be another Maker’s. Smith gave his usual answer. Maker's is a small distillery and struggles to make enough Maker's Mark without trying to make something else too.

When he said that, he knew it was about to change.

Next month, Maker's Mark will release its first new product (a few bottles at different proofs notwithstanding) since the distillery was founded more than 50 years ago.

The new expression, Maker's Mark 46, is a finish, meaning it is the standard product with an extra twist. Whiskey finishes typically take a fully-aged whiskey and transfer it to another kind of barrel for a few additional months. The prototypical example is a single malt scotch finished in sherry casks.

In Maker's case, heavily seared French oak pieces are placed in just-emptied Maker's Mark barrels, which are then refilled and returned to the warehouses. The result is an increase in several spice notes without the tannic bitterness that usually accompanies them.

It totally works.

The complete story is in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 12, Number 6.

Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.

Maker's Mark 46 is expected to be in stores after July 1.

WhistlePig and Other Tastes of WhiskeyFest Chicago.

Funny as I sit down and start to think about last Friday's WhiskeyFest Chicago, I recall more about the people I saw and the conversations we had that had nothing to do with whiskey. Blogs being already too self-indulgent, I'll refrain, although I did have a good time dishing like schoolgirls with Fred Noe.

The whiskey highlight may have been Dave Pickerell's WhistlePig Straight Rye Whiskey. Pickerell is the former Master Distiller for Maker's Mark. His current project is a found whiskey whose source is being kept secret (naturally) but we know it's Canadian and since the mash is 100 percent unmalted rye the list of possible suspects is short.

Canadian straight ryes are very rarely sold that way. They are made as flavoring whiskeys, to be just one component of a blend. Since the typical Canandian blend is mostly nearly-neutral blending whiskey, the flavoring whiskeys have to be potent and this one is. Pickerell does a little trick where he names some of the characteristic rye flavors while you're tasting and they jump out at you as he does.

People do this at guided tastings all the time. It doesn't always work, but it works like a dream with WhistlePig. Clove? check. Spearmint? check. Anise? check. Wintergreen? check.

As straight ryes go, this is in some sub-category all alone. It's not a typical straight rye, but it is good.

There also isn't very much of it so only Chicago, New York and L.A. will get WhistlePig, which is 100° proof (50% ABV) and 10 years old. It should be on shelves in a month or two and will sell for about $70 a bottle. At that price I hate to say this, but you really do need to get some.

There were more micro-distilleries at this WhiskeyFest Chicago than ever before. Jess Graber (Stranahan's), Scott Bush (Templeton), David Perkins (High West), and Robert and Sonat Birnecker (Koval) were all there, to name a few. With the exception of Stranahan's, they all featured either found whiskey or white whiskey. Props to Perkins, who put his oat distillate into barrels for exactly five minutes so he can legally call it whiskey.

The Legend of Maker's Mark.

Press releases typically end with a capsule description of the product or company. These short paragraphs are rarely printed with the release. They are there as background for the reporter or editor. They're usually pretty dry, but Maker's Mark being Maker's Mark, theirs get the tone right as well as the facts.

What you might call the Maker's Mark foundation myth has evolved over the years. Here is the current version, taken from the press release about the Cuervo lawsuit.

"In 1954, at a small Victorian distillery in Loretto, Ky., Bill Samuels, Sr., made the first 19 barrels of whisky, which six years later would herald the modern era of Bourbon. Using limestone water from the distillery’s spring-fed lake and a mash consisting of corn, barley and soft, red, gentle winter wheat, Mr. Samuels created a Bourbon that brought 'good taste' and 'taste-good' together for the first time. Today, Maker’s Mark continues to handcraft its bourbon exactly the same way, in small batches by passionate individuals who are committed to craft, heritage and tradition. Maker’s Mark Bourbon whisky is 45% alc./vol., and is distilled, aged and bottled by the Maker's Mark Distillery, Inc., in Loretto, Ky."

Fortune Brands Bests Diageo In Trademarks Battle.

Maker's Mark, a product of Fortune Brands, has won a judgment against rival spirits giant Diageo confirming that its distinctive and famous free-form red wax seal coating is a well-known and valid trademark. (In case you can't tell them apart, that's Maker's Mark on the right.)

The April 2, 2010, opinion by Federal Judge John G. Heyburn II, of the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, prohibits Jose Cuervo International, Inc., its affiliates and Cuervo's United States distributor Diageo North America, from the use of a dripping red wax seal on any Cuervo tequila product.

"We’re very pleased that a Federal court has ruled that our unique trade dress and bottle design are proprietary to Maker's Mark and off-limits to our competitors," said Bill Samuels, president, Maker's Mark.

"Maker's Mark is unique in many ways, starting first and foremost with our recipe and ending with our iconic red neck coating. We hand dip and personalize every Maker’s Mark bottle - this has been our signature trademark since my mom dipped our very first bottle and always will be. We were confident this would be the outcome, and the formal result is very gratifying."

In issuing an injunction against future use of any infringing trade dress by Cuervo or its distributor Diageo, Judge Heyburn found that consumers and others might be confused about the origin of Cuervo products bearing a device similar to the iconic red wax seal of Maker's Mark – even though the Cuervo product in question is tequila, while Maker's Mark is bourbon whisky – given that the red wax seal is an "extremely strong mark" associated with Maker's Mark Bourbon.