Whiskey's Biggest Lie

 

In fact, their whiskey sucked.

Back in 2016, when Beam dropped the 9-year age statement from its Knob Creek bourbon, the brand's fans were outraged: "This is so unfair to the consumers and fans," "Flavor/Taste profile is a joke to justify keeping the same price using younger juice," "What happens to all the awards and medals that the real Knob Creek won?"

When producers make changes, many drinkers balk reflexively. Why are we so unwilling to accept change? Because those very producers have told us for years that change is bad.

In 2005, when the company now known as Suntory Global Spirits created its first major TV advertising campaign for its flagship Jim Beam Bourbon, the theme was “true to our original recipe for 209 years.”

Bulleit Bourbon, a product created within the lifetime of most persons of legal drinking age, purports to be made from an ancient recipe passed down to Tom Bulleit from his great-great-grandfather, Augustus. Mr. Bulleit blushes when asked about this story. Like the Beams, he has no parchment to show you, just a ‘tradition’ passed from father to son, and who can argue with that?

The problem with these and every other claim about an ancient, unchanged bourbon recipe is twofold. (1) Bourbon today is much better in every way than what they were drinking in 1795 or 1830, and (2) the claims are untrue, because whiskeys, like most products, are constantly changing.

Mashbills*, for example, have always been flexible. Ingredients can vary based on cost and availability. They varied widely in the pre-Prohibition era. Today there is more consistency, but there are still variations. Different batches of grain can vary in significant ways. Often products are made by combining whiskeys made from different recipes at different distilleries. Changes to stills make a difference. When energy is costly, distilleries run a thicker mash to reduce energy costs. Wood characteristics vary from tree to tree. Today, all large distilleries are run by computers. The humans just watch. Every change, however small, makes a difference in the final product.

Because there are so many variables, producers don't rely on recipes, they rely on taste. Every distillery has a library of bottles that record in liquid form how different batches have tasted over the years. Every producer has a panel of tasters whose job is to compare each new batch to the standard for that product. If a new batch doesn't measure up adjustments are made, generally by adding whiskey that possesses the missing characteristic. 

They are limited in these efforts by labeling rules. If a product is age-stated, 9-years-old for example, no whiskey may be used that is less than 9-years-old even if the profile calls for it. If it is labeled as bourbon, it must be at least 51 percent corn, and so on.

Virtually all whiskey producers strive for consistency, as do most manufacturers regardless of the product. At the same time there is a seemingly-contradictory impulse to constant improvement. This varies with product type. Technology products have to improve or die. With other products, such as whiskey, long-term consistency seems the higher value.

Thirty to forty years ago, when America was awash with whiskey no one wanted, many producers routinely put 8- to 10-year-old whiskey into their standard NAS products. They didn't publicize it because they knew it was temporary and no law required disclosure. There were few complaints. Now, however, people taste those glut-era whiskeys and pronounce modern whiskeys inferior by comparison.

Until recently, rapid demand growth outstripped the industry's supply side. Because whiskey has to be aged, you inevitably over-produce or under-produce. It is almost impossible to get it just right. The challenge is always to meet as much demand as you can with the inventory you have, and to do it as profitably as possible.

Because of that demand growth, everyone was distilling as much whiskey as they could as fast as they could. It appears now that bourbon's crazy growth spurt is over. That shouldn't mean an inevitable decline, just slower growth. Producers are adjusting accordingly.

Marketers of all kinds know a lot about consumer behavior. With whiskey, there are two sure ways to piss off your most loyal customers, raise the price or change the taste, and between those two changing the taste is worse. Everything else, including label changes, has a lower priority.

So, producers will continue to like the "nothing changes" claim, but what you should hear is "we're doing everything we can to keep everything you care about the same." That may not be as snappy, but it has the virtue of being true.

* In a multi-grain whiskey, 'mashbill' describes what grains are used and in what proportions.