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
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/173064
Just released into the market is Beam's latest addition to its Red Stag flavored bourbon line, Red Stag Hardcore Apple Cider. whiskies with the Jack Daniel's label beyond the fully aged rye, Arnett says using different grain bills or finishes, and experimenting with barrels "speaks more to our historic process and intrigues us the most." The Flavor Train J ack Daniel's has already done exceptionally well with its Tennessee Honey flavor extension, as have other brands that have jumped on the flavored whiskey train. "Jack Daniel's is very well known brand and when people are kind of into the flavor of the month, brands like ours can look a little boring but Tennessee Honey generated a lot of excitement around Jack Daniel's." In fact, it's been so successful that the company hasn't been able to fulfill many international requests for expansion. Yet. Tennessee Honey has successfully gathered in more women and ethnic consumers to the Jack Daniel's brand. "We were clearly trying to use it to interest consumers who weren't already whiskey consumers, hoping to get The higher-end Knob some converts for sure. Jack Creek also recently Daniel's has always had a bit debuted a new flavor with its Smoked Maple more female followers than iteration. most whiskies but we've found a very high retention rate from new consumers when they try it." Flavor expressions are now rife throughout American whiskies. For example, Brown-Forman's Early Times introduced two flavored iterations in the past year - Early Times Fire Eater, a hot cinnamon flavored spirit sold in 19 markets, and Early Times Blind Archer, a spiced apple flavored spirit, sold in nine markets. Building off the success of Beam's Red Stag and Red Stag Black Cherry, the company introduced Red Stag Hardcore Cider, the fourth flavor in the franchise. Even at the more sophisticated whiskey end, companies including Beam are considering the value of added flavors. Earlier this year, Beam released two new expressions – Jim Beam Signature Craft, a small batch 86 proof spirit aged 12 years, and a 12 year old Bourbon finished with some Spanish brandy. While many experimental expressions have been released made with various used barrel finishes, adding another spirit is fairly unusual. StateWays I www.stateways.com I September/October 2013 Current Beam plans call for an annual release with a different finish or type of expression. On top of that, Beam's Knob Creek Bourbon has offered a new Smoked Maple iteration, rolled out regionally in September and expected to reach national distribution before the holiday season, backed by both an on- and off-premise push, targeting cocktail, afterdinner and dessert occasions. These innovations are mostly meant to bring new drinkers into the fold; meanwhile, creating longer aged or otherwise new expressions are what have kept current whiskey drinkers intrigued. By The Barrel A mong those programs are the retailer-focused "by the barrel" ventures. At the recent "Tales of the Cocktail" conference in New Orleans, Heaven Hill organized a seminar on barrel programs in which six on-premise accounts served cocktails made with their own Evan Williams barrels. The company currently offers four brands - Evan Williams Single Barrel, Elijah Craig Small Batch 12 Year Old, Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond and Bernheim wheat whiskey – in the format. "They've become amazingly popular and have become great tools for us, and it's a pretty cool brand building tool for us as well," says company spokesman Larry Kass. "There are a lot of accounts that are putting a good deal of effort into full barrel sales, not just retail but also on premise accounts." The Knob Creek "by the barrel" program has found some big fans – Noe says a restaurant in Minneapolis takes a barrel every month – and now even new whiskies are getting the barrel treatment. Until recently, the only Brown-Forman whiskey available in single barrel was Jack Daniel's, but the line extension of Woodford Reserve bourbon introduced last year – Woodford Reserve Double Oak – is the newest. "In the brief time it was out, we were inundated from off trade retail for a 'by the barrel" program,'" says Brown-Forman's master distiller Chris Morris. "So we just introduced a Woodford Reserve Double Oak by the barrel, single barrel in its own package." In July, the New Hampshire State Liquor Control Board bought their first barrel. "That shows how wide-spread the appreciation of this type of whiskey program is, when New Hampshire, which you would not call a bourbon market by the normal stretch of the term, is 29