Whiskey Business
Several trends are bringing newfound
respect to venerable American whiskeys
By Thomas Henry Strenk
A
merican whiskey is such big business on-premise that at
least one operator is buying the spirit by the barrel.
"We started our barrel program two years ago," says Brad
Miller, beverage director for Bellevue, WA-based Schwartz
Brothers Restaurants. The beverage director and his team go
directly to Bourbon distillers where they taste barrel samples
until they find the right flavor profile.
As of June the Schwartz Brothers' five upscale dinnerhouse
restaurants had run through 10 barrels of Bourbon, and Miller
was ready to buy four more. Beyond the barrel program, Miller
has increased the Bourbon selection at the three Daniel's Broiler
concepts from 30 to 70 during the past three years, and bumped
up the rye whiskey count to about 10.
Prices for American whiskeys at Schwartz Brothers range
from $8 to about $35 for a 2-oz. pour. "Customers are going for
the high-end whiskeys," says Miller. Another trend: Millennials
are getting interested in whiskey, accounting for part of the
growth spurt in Bourbon and American whiskey.
American whiskey is experiencing a Bourbon boom, with
category volumes and revenues growing at record levels. A new
generation of customers in getting into whiskey thanks to a
number of factors, including patriotism, price, cocktails and
new products and flavors.
Bourbon/Tennessee is the largest whiskey category, according
to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS), at nearly
17 million cases and $2.2 billion in revenue. Volume last year
rose a substantial 5.2% and revenue was up 7.3%. Tellingly,
much of that growth was in the superpremium sector, up 12.4%
in volume and 14.4% in sales.
The leading American brand was the venerable Jack Daniel's
Tennessee Whiskey, according to Beverage Information Group's
Liquor Handbook 2013. Most of the rest of the top 10 brands
were Bourbons, including numbers two and three Jim Beam
and Evan Williams, respectively. Maker's Mark in fourth place
www.cheersonline.com
among leading brands posted impressive gains of 14.4%, thanks
in part to the new Maker's 46 expression it released in 2010.
MADE IN THE U.S.A.
Why have Bourbon, Tennessee and rye whiskeys grown so
popular in the past few years? Part of the appeal is the made-inAmerica label: Why look abroad for brown spirits when top-quality
goods are being distilled right in our backyard?
A proliferation of craft distillers and new marques from
established producers have kept the brown spirit top of mind. Plus,
most Bourbons are a good value relative to other high-end spirits.
"This is America, we need to be drinking American whiskeys,"
says Mike Ryan, head bartender at Sable Kitchen & Bar in
A whiskey display wall at one of Schwartz Brothers Restaurants.
SEPTEMBER 2013 |
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