whiskey

at a peak
Is American Whiskey
Better Than Ever?
By Jack Robertiello

T
he whiskey business breeds naturally happy
people, the kind who, even as the week
enters its 60th hour, like to reflect on their
good fortune. So, it’s never a surprise when their view
is sunny. But these days, despite overall economic
worries, those folks making bourbon and rye seem
especially pleased with their work.

“I think we’re making the best stuff that’s It’s a far cry from the dark days when vodka
Manhattan cocktail

ever been made,” says Harlen Wheatley, mas-
ter distiller for Buffalo Trace Distillery, home
of multiple whiskies, including Old Charter,
the Antique Collection (George Stagg, Eagle
Rare, Thomas Handy) and the Buffalo Trace
Experimental series. “And that’s not just us;
that’s everyone. Whiskies are better today be-
cause we have better control, consistency and
understanding of the processes. Basically, our
philosophy is that the best bourbon has not yet
been made and we are
constantly look-
ing for the best
ever.”
boomed and whiskies struggled to stay alive,
when the industry consolidated to the point
that you can now count on one hand the num-
ber of major American whiskey distillers. But
in the past few years, sales have surged here
and abroad; the quality of American whiskey
is so high, and the prices so low.
According to the Distilled Spirits Coun-
cil, American whiskey accounts for 11.2%
of total spirits market share in the U.S. and
American whiskey consumption is up 11.2%
since 2003. Within the category (since 2003),
high-end premium offerings are up 25.5% and
super-premiums have seen the most growth
(71.1%) in volume.  
 “We all make good bourbon now and
they are quite a bargain,” says Wild Turkey
master distiller Jimmy Russell. Russell cites as
an example his own Russell’s Reserve 10 Year
Old Bourbon, which retails for around $30,
the price of many super-premium vodkas.
The lower price point for super-premium
products allows an entry into the category for
new consumers. “If we weren’t made in the
U.S., we’d probably be asking twice the price
we’re charging today,” says Woodford Re-
serve master distiller Chris Morris. “The new
consumers coming into bourbon are being
introduced to the premium and super-premi-
um whiskies which are high quality products
– they are getting whiskies that are elegant,
highly flavorful and nuanced.”
NEW MARKET GROWTH
Prices have played a significant part in
American whiskey’s resurgence, but quality
has been the key. The changes in approach
that started with the introduction of spe-
cialty, small batch and single barrel bourbons
in the 1990s has helped renew interest and
excitement. This reawakening introduced
new consumers to the essential, richly flavor-
ful qualities of American whiskey, and even
led them to neglected styles, like rye, which
has recently escalated. The change has rees-
tablished old brands such as Rittenhouse Rye
and Four Roses, and helped smaller brands
like Bulleit ignite.
“The way Rittenhouse has taken off gives
credibility to other whiskies; they work hand
in hand,” says Heaven Hill’s director of cor-
porate communications, Larry Kass. And the
growth in new whiskies hasn’t been limited
to major cosmopolitan markets; even in the
traditional Kentucky market consumers are
welcoming the new premium products,
says Heaven Hill’s master distiller
Parker Beam.
As a result, whiskies at all price
points are doing well, and consum-
ers are rushing to try them, so much
so that many new products disappear
from retail and restaurant shelves
quicker than suppliers can make
them. Russell mentions that the Rus-
sell’s Reserve Rye introduced in 2008
was sold out before the year was over.
FROM 2003 - 2007:
25.5%
GROWTH
IN HIGH-END
PREMIUM VOLUME
11.2%
GROWTH IN TOTAL
WHISKEY
CONSUMPTION
Statistics for U.S. Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey
Source: Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.
Things are going so well, in fact, that
Whiskeyland is in the midst of a building
boom. Jack Daniel’s is installing nine more
fermenters at its Lynchburg, TN, facility;
Heaven Hill, maker of Evan Williams, Eli-
jah Craig and many other brands, recently
boosted capacity by 50% at its distillery in
Louisville; Wild Turkey is in the process of
expansions that will nearly double its capac-
ity in a few years; Maker’s Mark is preparing
for another growth spurt; and Jim Beam, the
world’s largest bourbon maker, is spending
$70 million on facility growth.
American whiskey makers may have re-
sponded slowly at first to the consumer move
to super-premium products, but opportunities
still abound with only about 5% of bourbon
volume at that rarified level. But they are cer-
tainly in the midst of a refocus there; Beam
Global’s new whiskey, for instance, called
, is being positioned as a modern alterna-
tive to traditional rye whiskies. “The packag-
ing was purposely designed to be modern and
sleek and present some intrigue to the brand
using none of the traditional whiskey cues,”
says brand manager Mara Melamed.
EXPERIMENTATION
BOOSTS INTEREST
Perhaps as much as price and quality, experi-
mentation has helped spur consumer inter-
est as well. Distillers like Wheatley, Morris,
Parker Beam and others have moved beyond
age and strength differences to play with
the basic elements of whiskey: changing the
grain mix, altering fermentation and distilla-
tion methods, using unusual barrels to finish
the whiskey.
New iterations include the limited pro-
duction Woodford Reserve Masters Collec-
tion, the most recent being the Woodford
1838 Sweet Mash while Heaven Hill of-
fers the vintage Evan Williams and limited
 rye rescue
Around the country,
on-premise establishments
add rye to their mix
O
ne of the reasons that whiskey mak-
ers are so happy these days is that
bartenders across the country have
taken up America’s homegrown spirits – bour-
bon and rye – as their latest go-to liquor. In fact,
the cocktail revolution is responsible for the sal-
vation and resurgence of rye, according to Larry
Kass, director of communications for Heaven
Hill, which makes Rittenhouse Rye. Kass cred-
its spirits writer Dave Wondrich (“Imbibe!”) for
convincing makers to relaunch
the brand nationally after it
was unavailable for a cocktail
program Wondrich was work-
ing on in New York. Today, bar-
tenders there and in other cit-
ies fight to get their share.
The comeback of rye has
helped spur interest in bour-
bon as an ingredient as well.
Bartender Jamie Boudreau
recently overhauled the menu
at the Seattle landmark cock-
tail bar Tini Bigs, adding new
cocktails like the Choco-
lat Cochon (bacon-infused
Woodford Reserve, cherry, chocolate, amaro,
and bitters) and the Red Hook (rye, Punt e Mes,
and maraschino liqueur).
At Arlington, VA’s Tallula and EatBar, bar
whiz Gina Chersevani uses whiskey in her
seasonal house creations like the Alchemist
(rye, St.-Germain, Cointreau and fresh lemon).
Sometimes the drinks that make their way onto
menus have become so popular they’re hard to
dislodge; customers launched a blog revolt to
keep PDT in New York from shifting off their
menu the Staggerac (a Sazerac style drink
made with the high intensity, 140-plus proof
George T. Stagg, Angostura and Peychaud’s
Bitters and Edouard Absinthe).
Other drinks on PDT’s menu last winter
included the Harvest Moon (Wild Turkey Rye,
Lillet Blanc, Laird’s Bonded Applejack, Green
Chartreuse, bitters), and Benton’s Old Fash-
ioned (bacon-infused George Dickel Tennes-
see Whisky, grade B maple syrup, Angostura
Bitters). Quite a change from the days of bour-
bon and branch, but the whiskey makers seem
pleased with all the attention and consumption.
In the process
of making
Buffalo Trace
edition Parker’s Heritage Collection,
launched with cask-strength bourbon in
2007 and an extra aged marque in 2008.
Old Forester now offers a vintage Birth-
day Bourbon after launching a commem-
orative Repeal Bourbon late in 2008 and
Jim Beam released the limited edition
Distillers Series in 2008 cel-
ebrating seven generations of
distillers. The mad scientists at
Buffalo Trace, known for their
whiskey experiments, also
have released a Buffalo Trace
finished in Cabernet Franc
casks, and just introduced Old
Charter 101 proof.
The American whiskey
business has also started to
reap the benefits of the cock-
tail revolution. The bartend-
ing world’s response to Wild
Turkey’s introduction of Rus-
sell’s Reserve Rye, aged longer
than Wild Turkey Rye, has been “tre-
mendous,” says the brand’s global direc-
tor Andy Nash.
Russell credits mixologists for the rye
resurgence, and the overall respect that all
American whiskies are receiving: “What
they’re doing has really helped the in-
dustry. I’ve heard the phrase: ‘Everything
that goes around, comes around,’ and in
my younger days it was Bourbon Sours,
Old-Fashioneds and Manhattans….Now
we’re seeing a big turnaround in cocktails
using bourbon.”
Some consumers are simply looking
for real flavor in their beverage alco-
hol, says Bulleit Bourbon’s Tom Bulleit:
“People are coming to whiskey, Bulleit
and others, for the more sophisticated
palate. They want that great, aged palate
we offer.”
Undoubtedly, the personalities in the
whiskey business have helped cement
consumers’ interest in a product where
marketing and tradition aren’t at odds.
“Whiskies are
better today
because we have
better control,
consistency and
understanding of
the processes.
Basically, our
philosophy is that
the best bourbon
has not yet
been made.”
-Harlen wheatley,
Master distiller for
buffalo trace distillery
“I was at a tasting not long ago in
San Francisco and a fellow came up to
the table and asked me questions, lots
of questions, about our products,” says
Beam of Heaven Hill. “After a while he
looked at me and said, ‘You’re a real per-
son, aren’t you? I thought you were some
fictitious character that some marketer
thought up.’”
Younger consumers, so skeptical of
marketing ploys, have celebrated whis-
key personalities like Beam and Russell
for their contributions, especially at tast-
ing events, restaurant-hosted whiskey
dinners and when the distillers make
their way to bars and retailers.
And while much is made in the press
of the new experiments and expressions,
some of the strength of the category
surely comes from keeping the core prod-
uct the same, year in and year out, says
Russell. He recalls the bad old days of
the 1960s and 1970s, when major spirit
companies forced bourbon makers to cre-
ate so-called light whiskies to fight back
against the growth of vodka and gin.
The fact that no one seems to be seeking
out such aberrations today is reassuring,
but history probably also is a contribut-
ing factor in the mix that keeps whiskey
makers focused on crafting the best spir-
its they can. n