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.
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American Made www.beveragedynamics.com September/October 2016• Beverage Dynamics 27 To meet the demand, production capabil- ities in Lynchburg have been expanded over the past several years and so far, none of the brand offerings are on allocation. Nor has the boom caught Beam Suntory's Jim Beam short, after many expansions of both facilities and brands, says Dan Cohen, public relations director at Beam Suntory. "Only the limited editions and some smaller batches are on allocation, and they are that way by design," he says. "We've seen an explosion across all types and styles and fi nd the whis- key consumer is very promiscuous these days. They love to discover and try new products. We know that with this much action and growth there is the risk of saturation, but we don't see that yet - consumers are still looking for new fl avor profi les and processes, which allows for a wide range of offerings." The Beam line was recently given a full packaging redesign to align the look of the various iterations, and the distillery launched in the U.S. in August yet another whiskey, Jim Beam Double Oak, fi nished in a new charred oak barrel after the standard four- year aging process. The second barreling allows the liquid to develop a deeper level of spiced oakiness and caramel, the com- pany says, with a price point of $22.99 (the same as Jim Beam Black, Rye and Devil's Cut). "Innovations like that one have played an extremely import- ant role in our growth in the last few years, across price point and within sub-categories, and that has driven a lot of our growth," Cohen says. Beam had its most successful product launch last year with Jim Beam Apple, and limited editions like Knob Creek 2001 and Booker's Rye disappeared swiftly. Cohen points out Nielsen data that says Beam brands are slightly outpacing the Bourbon category with some dramatic ex- pansion over a recent 52-week period - small batch Basil Hayden skyrocketed more than 30 percent, as did the range of fl avors - Kentucky Fire, Honey, Red Stag, Maple and Apple. For some distillers, being able to meet demand is still a goal, however. Numerous brands, especially those from smaller dis- tillers such as Buffalo Trace, have been allocated for some time. "We didn't get the memo eight or ten years ago that there was going to be such a surge," says Kris Comstock, Bourbon marketing director at Buffalo Trace. "Our premium brands like Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare and Blanton's are and have been on allocation, so I don't know what the true demand is. We carefully allocate them out monthly to established customers around the country, but based on the phone calls and emails we get, it's not enough. But we don't know how much would be enough. We are making quite a bit more each year, but when we make a LEADING BRANDS OF AMERICAN WHISKEY, 2014-2015 (000 9-LITER CASES) '14/'15 BRAND SUPPLIER TYPE 2014 2015p % CHG Jack Daniel's Brown-Forman Beverages Straight 4,887 5,030 2.9% Jim Beam Beam Suntory Straight 4,192 4,318 3.0% Evan Williams Heaven Hill Brands Straight 1,865 2,150 15.3% Seagram's 7 Crown Diageo Blended 2,130 1,978 -7.1% Maker's Mark Beam Suntory Straight 1,337 1,428 6.8% Bulleit Bourbon Diageo Straight 635 883 39.1% Kessler Beam Suntory Blended 730 686 -6.0% Wild Turkey Campari USA Straight 590 610 3.4% Early Times Brown-Forman Beverages Straight 531 520 -2.1% Jim Beam Small Batch Brands Beam Suntory Straight 420 470 11.9% Ten High Sazerac Straight 450 455 1.1% Old Crow Beam Suntory Straight 467 385 -17.6% Total Leading Brands 18,234 18,913 3.7% Total American Whiskey 23,670 24,875 5.1% $$$ Premium brands including Jack Daniel's, Maker's Mark, Wild Turkey and Jim Beam Black rose 6.8 percent and revenues were up 7.7 percent in 2015. Source: The Beverage Information & Insights Group. For more data, visit www.albevresearch.com. (p) Preliminary