* CNN.com allows about a quarter of the content free online. I read it in print.
Clay Risen, The Billion-Dollar Bourbon Boom. How did American whiskey get so damn hot” Here’s the inside story. Fortune, Feb 24, 2014 (available now).
money.cnn.com/2014/02/06/news/companies/bourbon-boom.pr.fortune/
Quote:
“In absolute numbers, the bourbon industry's $8 billion in global sales is relatively modest. (The Coca-Cola company alone has 16 drink brands with annual sales above $1 billion.) What's extraordinary is the growth * * * According to Euromonitor, domestic whiskey sales have soared by 40% in the past five years * * * Things are even better abroad. In 2002, American distillers exported just $376 million in whiskey; by 2013 that number had almost tripled, to $1 billion, according to numbers released this month by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Growth is particularly strong in the so-called super-premium category--that is, the brands that cost about $30 or more, like Maker’s Mark
“Whiskey is unlike most spirits--or most any consumer good, for that matter--in that production cycles are measured in years, not days or weeks. No matter how efficiently a distillery mills its grain or ferment its mash, a four-year-old bourbon has to sit in a barrel for at least four years. That means production levels are based on projections far into the future. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the [US] whiskey industry predicted endless growth. * * * Then the bottom fell out. Like everything else in America, consumer taste in alcohol went through a paradigm shift in the 1960s and early ‘70s. Between 1960 and 1975 whiskey’s share of the liquor market dropped from 74% to 54%, while the ‘whites’--vodka and unaged rum and tequila--climbed from 19% to 35%. * * *major distilleries were closed or sold off, including Old Taylor [in Kentucky; closed] and Stitzel-Weller, which was founded by Julian ‘Pappy’ Van Winkle. (Old Taylor went dark in 1972; Stitzel-Weller held on until 1991.)
“THE ROOTS OF today’s bourbon renaissance go back to 1984, when Elmer T Lee, who manned the radar in a B-29 bomber during World War II and later became the master distiller at the George T Stagg Distillery--now called Buffalo Trace--created Blanton’s, the world’s first single-barrel bourbon. (In a single-barrel whiskey, each bottle contains whiskeys from just one barrel, thus making it a purer expression of the distiller’s skill.) * * * In the Whiskey equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, Lee bet that a super-premium whiskey could reverse bourbon’s downward-spiraling image, much in the same way that single-malt whiskey had recently made Scotch such a hot commodity. Other [American] distilleries followed.
“whiskey has taken off among craft distilleries. In 2004 there were just 24 craft distilleries across America; today there are more than 430, the majority of which make or are planning to make whiskey. Their entry is in turn, driving innovation among the big players. ‘They’re breathing life into the American whiskey industry,’ says John Hansell, the editor of Whiskey Advocate. Among those innovations are flavored whiskeys, which have opened up corners of the consumer market, like Hispanics and women, long overlooked by whiskey distillers.
“It also helps that other spirits, like vodka, seem to have run their course. Though the [US] market for vodka is more than three times larger than that for bourbon, its growth has slowed in recent years.
“Plus, unlike Scotch--which is made with malted barley [not corn] and is often distinguished by a heavy smokiness--bourbon is made for more than sipping. ‘It’s a very versatile product [for sipping on the rocks, mixing into cocktails, pairing with food]’
“The bourbon boom isn’t just a domestic phenomenon. For years American whiskey, led by Jack Daniel’s (technically not a bourbon but a closely related ‘Tennessee whiskey’), had a small hold on global consumers, concentrated in developed markets like Fermany and Australia. [Yet the demand for bourbons are around the world.] * * * In Japan, where bourbon has been a big seller since it hit the country’s bars during the postwar American occupation, exports have nearly doubled in 10 years. * * * Demand is growing even faster in developing countries
Note:
(a) There is a graphic in print:
(i) The top panel:
“VALUE ($14.99 and below): +47.2%...............HIGH END PREMIUM ($20 TO $28): +75.1%..........................SUPER-PREMIUM ($29and above): +253.8%
US sales growth, 2003-2013”
(ii) The bottom panel showcases bourbons and their price tags, the last being “PAPPY VAN WINKLE 20 YEARS OLD $1,390* *NOTE: ESTIMATE BASED ON SECONDARY-MARKET PRICES.”
(b) The surname Noe (English, German, Dutch, French (Noé, Noë), Spanish (Noé), Catalan (Noè)): “from the Biblical personal name Noach ‘Noah,’ which means ‘comfort’ in Hebrew.”
Dictionary of American Family Names, by Oxford University Press.
(c) Today “is everywhere, from Mad Men to the wet bars of C-level office suites, feeding a global ecosystem of tourism, whiskey bars, cocktail competitions, and craft distilleries. The most coveted drink on Wall Street is no longer a Screaming Eagle Cab or a 40-year-old Glenfiddich, but the 23-year-old bourbon from Pappy Van Winkle, which is so rare that it can retail for up to $3,500.”
(i) “C-level office suites”: The “C” stands for “chief.” such as CEO, CFO.
(ii) “Screaming Eagle Cab” is short of “Screaming Eagle Cabernet.”
(iii) Screaming Eagle Winery and Vineyards
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screaming_Eagle_Winery_and_Vineyards
(a California wine estate producing limited amounts of varietal wine [qv]; due to the small quantities produced and high prices commanded, their wines are considered cult wines)
(iv) Glenfiddich distillery
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenfiddich_distillery
(“a Speyside single malt Scotch whisky distillery owned by William Grant & Sons in Dufftown, Scotland. Glenfiddich means ‘Valley of the Deer' in Gaelic, hence the presence of a stag symbol on Glenfiddich bottles”)
(d) Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Van_Winkle%27s_Family_Reserve
(section 1 History)
(e) Elmer T Lee in now Buffalo Trace “created Blanton’s, the world’s first single-barrel bourbon. * * * In the Whiskey equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, Lee bet that a super-premium whiskey could reverse bourbon’s downward-spiraling image, much in the same way that single-malt whiskey had recently made Scotch such a hot commodity”
(i) Buffalo Trace Distillery
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Trace_Distillery
(located in Frankfort, Kentucky; It has historically been known by several names)
Its namesake:
Buffalo Trace (road)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Trace_(road)
(ii) whiskey
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey
(section 4 Types: Single malt whisky [different from single-cask, or -barrel])
(iii) single malt whisky
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_malt_whisky
(typically associated with single malt Scotch)
(f) “Jack Daniel’s (technically not a bourbon but a closely related ‘Tennessee whiskey’ * * * Brown-Forman, which owns Jack Daniel’s, is spending $100 million to expand itsdistillery in Lynchburg, Tenn”
(i) Bourbon whiskey
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey
("The name "Bourbon" was not applied until the 1850s, and the Kentucky etymology was not advanced until the 1870s. While the liquor may be made anywhere in the United States, it is strongly associated with the American South in general, and Kentucky in particular")
(ii) Tennessee whiskey
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_whiskey
("is straight bourbon whiskey produced in Tennessee. However, most current producers of Tennessee whiskey disclaim references to their products as 'Bourbon' and do not label them as such on any of their bottles or advertising materials”)
(iii) Jack Daniel's
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Daniel%27s