StateWays is the only magazine exclusively covering the control state system within the beverage alcohol industry, with annual updates from liquor control commissions and alcohol control boards and yearly fiscal reporting from control jurisdictions
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29 StateWays Q www.stateways.com Q September/October 2014 further innovation at Beam," he says. "Since Red Stag we've seen Devil's Cut, which has been huge. It's up 49 percent in the last year." And the 2013 launch of Jim Beam Maple has had similar momentum in the category. "Jim Beam Maple is the eighth most success- ful innovation in all of spirits in the last year," Cohen says. Although Jim Beam has been recognized as a whiskey leader for decades, the brand never had a single barrel offering. "We knew that it was time to release a single barrel," Cohen explains. "We know that Fred Noe, our Mas- ter Distiller, has said for years that everyone has asked him when he's going to release a sin- gle barrel product for Jim Beam. Fred wanted to launch one now; he felt the timing was right to come out with a hand-crafted, really unique, old style, traditional Bour- bon that's a fi rst ever for Jim Beam." Beam put a lot of love into its Single Barrel Bour- bon, which is hand-selected from barrels that have been individually bottled and hand-numbered. Only one percent of Beam's barrels even qualify for this bottling. The result is a 95 proof product that hon- ors the fi rst Jim Beam barrel from 1795 and retails for $34.99. To coincide with this launch, Jim Beam introduced a contest where consumers could share their whiskey statements with a chance of their statement appearing on the Single Barrel bottle labels. Now fans have the opportunity to be part of the craft-making process. Age Isn't Just a Number W hile there has been a growing trend to remove age statements from whiskey bottles, Heaven Hill Distilleries spent the year adding age statements to some of theirs. From its introduction in 2005, Heaven Hill's Bernheim Original Straight Wheat Whiskey never carried an age state- ment on its label. "Countering the trend in the American straight whiskey category, which is to remove age state- ments, we've actually added a 7-year age statement to Bernheim," Kass says. This year its label was redesigned to carry a promi- nent "Aged 7 Years" statement as well as the term "Small Batch," which appears next to the age statement on the bottle label. "With the success and critical acclaim we have been seeing with Bernheim since its introduction nearly a decade ago, we think the change to a new label with a prominent age statement will continue to lift the brand profi le," says Susan Wahl, Senior Brand Manager for American Whiskeys at Heaven Hill. September marks the release of the next limited edi- tion of Parker's Heritage Collection. "This year we're going to be doing a 13-year-old wheat whiskey," Kass says. "It's actually the very fi rst batch of what became our Bernheim straight whiskey product, but we're releasing this very aged batch under the Parker's Heritage Collec- tion." This marks the fi rst time that the Parker's Heritage Collection annual release is not a Bourbon. "We're seeing a lot of traction for these non-Bourbon American straight whiskeys because I think consumers and mixologists are discovering a lot of great variety and slightly different tastes and fl avors that you can get from these other American whiskeys," Kass says. Other New Releases T he Bourbon slush, traditionally a frozen mix of Bour- bon, sweet tea, lemonade and orange juice, is embod- ied in the latest fl avor expression Evan Williams is testing. Evan Williams Kentucky Slush, the only Bourbon-based pre-mixed cocktail, combines Evan Williams Bourbon with the natural fl avors of lemonade, orange juice and sweet tea for a spirit that can be served frozen, poured or blended. The 25 proof product comes in a 1.75 L PET bottle—perfect for freezer storage—and has a retail price of $14.99. With its summer release, Heaven Hill is testing the product in 11 markets with hopes of rolling out to more markets next summer. This release comes after Evan Williams opened 2014 with the announcement of its 19th annual edi- tion. In January, the brand began shipping Evan Williams Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey's latest vintage, the 2004 edition. These editions have collector's item written all over them: the Single Barrel Bour- bon has received numerous awards over the years and the packaging notes the date that it was placed in oak and bottled and the serial number for the single barrel it was drawn from. This 86.6 proof Bourbon retails for $26.99. "The Evan Williams franchise has been a great success story for us," Kass says. As it has since 2011, Jack Daniel's will end the year with a limited edition holiday release created by Master Distiller Jeff Arnett. But unlike the last three edi- tions where a single taste or style has been highlighted, the 2014 season marks the fi rst single barrel selection of Holiday Select. "Our distiller has gone into the warehouses and selected the honey barrels, or the angel barrels, that are the best example of our single barrel whiskey," Blevins explains. "That's an annual series that we look to con- tinue." Available at the end of September, the 96 proof Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Holiday Se- lect is specially bottled in approximately 8,400 6-pack cases. Packaged in a gift box, each uniquely numbered bottle retails for $64.99. Investing in Expansion W hile other companies made plans to expand their distilleries and visitor experience cen- ters, Jim Beam's parent company, Beam Inc., was Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Holiday Select Evan Williams Single Barrel Evan Williams Kentucky Slush