Beverage Dynamics is the largest national business magazine devoted exclusively to the needs of off-premise beverage alcohol retailers, from single liquor stores to big box chains, through coverage of the latest trends in wine, beer and spirits.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/379477
24 Beverage Dynamics • September/October 2014 www.beveragedynamics.com A Taste for Classic Americana 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 Master Distiller, has said for years that everyone has asked him when he's going to release a single 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 Bourbon that's a fi rst ever for Jim Beam." Beam put a lot of love into its Single Barrel Bourbon, 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 honors 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 While 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 statement on its label. "Countering the trend in the American straight whiskey category, which is to remove age statements, we've actually added a 7-year age statement to Bernheim," Kass says. This year its label was redesigned to carry a prominent "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 intro- duction 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 edition 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 Collection." This marks the fi rst time that the Parker's Heritage Collection annual re- lease 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 dis- covering 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 The Bourbon slush, traditionally a frozen mix of Bourbon, sweet tea, lemonade and orange juice, is embodied in the latest fl avor expres- sion 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 stor- age—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. Evan Williams Kentucky Slush Buffalo Trace Double Barreled Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Holiday Select Heaven Hill's Bernheim Original Straight Wheat Whiskey Bulleit Rye Evan Williams Single Barrel Heaven Hill's Bourbon Heritage Center.