Craft distilling fanning Bourbon innovation boom

The craft distilling boom is bringing a wave of innovation to American whiskey, a sector previously renowned for being set in its ways. Neil Ridley assesses the impact on the UK.

A spirit is born: Hudson is New York State’s first locally distilled Bourbon

If there’s one category seemingly destined to adhere to the classic “If it ain’t broke…” maxim, it’s Bourbon.

Rigorously regulated and steeped in tradition, Bourbon is all about big, bold but relatively invariable flavour profiles. However, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), US spirits sales reached over US$18bn in 2011, with revenues of $3.5bn in the super-premium segment alone.

With case sales in the US rising at a steady rate year-on-year across the last decade and the largest gains being realised in the high-end and super-premium categories, Bourbon and American whiskey producers are finding a greater need to look for innovative products to entice new and existing consumers.

So where does this leave the redoubtable all-American spirit in the UK? “Eighteen months ago we identified the UK as our key market,” explains Dan Priseman, brand ambassador for Four Roses, “as the rest of the world looks towards new trends here, especially the London bartending community. There’s currently a real fascination with classic cocktails and recipes dating back to the 1800s, which call for Bourbon or rye whiskey, which has definitely helped fan the flames.”

Why rye?
In line with this resurgence in the classics, consumers are responding well to a raft of more innovative products hitting the UK shelves from the US whiskey sector, not least in the rye whiskey category, something which has kickstarted a flavour revolution in the perception of US whiskey the past two years.

“Rye is undoubtedly growing in stature as a premium status product, with significant UK and worldwide growth,” notes Philip Wilson, director at UK spirits distributor Eaux De Vie. “This has led to the major distilleries having to allocate products, which of course raises the ‘stock value’ of rye. In particular, we have seen incredible fervour for both Rittenhouse Rye and Pikesville Rye.”

While both these whiskies are still produced in a traditional way (ie adhering to regulated mash bill recipes and maturation methods), their distinct flavour profiles represent a new challenge to an emerging group of whiskey-savvy drinkers.

Still innovating: Tuthilltown Spirits’ copper stills at its distillery in Gardiner, New York

Bourbon innovation
Likewise, the growth of mainstream distillers releasing higher-strength, limited edition, small-batch products and single barrel bottlings is more tangible than ever. Four Roses’ annual Single Barrel series and Woodford Reserve’s Master’s Collection have become highly regarded and undisputed hits with the UK Bourbon community, despite their scarcity in all but specialist retailers and their relatively high price points.

Both have helped consumers to nurture a solid understanding of Bourbon’s versatility. And, at the extreme end of the spectrum, more experimental projects have given curious palates even more to consider.

Buffalo Trace is widely regarded as having embracing innovation to its fullest with the Experimental Cask series, first launched in 1987 with around 1,500 experimental barrels of whiskey ageing in the warehouses of the distillery.

With experiments using unusual grain recipes, plus a variety of cask sizes and styles (from heavily charred casks to French wine barrels), the programme is designed to test the limits in flavour of American whiskey to their fullest, although legally the results are seldom called “Bourbon”, since they breach the Federal guidelines governing the spirit.

Experimentation
Master distiller Harlen Wheatley even went to the lengths of developing an entire microdistillery within the walls of Buffalo Trace. For Wheatley, the series has thrown up some interesting possibilities in terms of where new ground could be broken in American whiskey, including a brace of new releases earlier this year focusing on unusually large wine barrels (135 gallons) from 1989 and 1993.

“Both of these barrels yielded pleasant-tasting whiskeys, and we were surprised about the evaporation rate being so low. Evidently the large size helped retain more of the whiskey, while also imparting a well-rounded and full-bodied flavour,” explains Wheatley.

However, things haven’t always gone to plan. The distillery recently announced that it was to abandon research into using smaller-than-usual cask sizes (5- to15-gallon barrels) as the resulting whiskey was less than stellar in its flavour profile.

While Buffalo Trace has elected not to release the whiskey, the distillery feels it has highlighted some important findings in the process of innovation. “It’s as if they all bypassed a step in the ageing process and just never gained that depth of flavor that we expect from our Bourbons,” explains Wheatley. “Even though these small barrels did not meet our expectations, we feel it’s important to explore and understand the differences between the use of various barrel sizes.”

Jim Beam Honey  is attracting new consumers to the Bourbon category

Added flavour
Despite these failures, there is a persuasive argument that the experimental side of American whiskey highlights a growing willingness to move the category forward. It also demonstrates the distillers’ realisation that, to attract new consumers, they have to create a world around the spirit in which they have permission to play.

In the flavoured American whiskeys category, Red Stag by Jim Beam and Jim Beam Honey have been joined in the UK by perhaps the biggest game-changer in the marketplace, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, backed by a £2m first-year investment from distributor Bacardi Brown-Forman.

Meanwhile, Maxxium UK’s Eileen Livingston, who heads up the UK distribution for Beam products, is so far delighted with the consumer and on-trade reaction to this ambitious new category in American whiskey.

“Within its first five months, Jim Beam Honey achieved listings in over 400 accounts, a reflection of the on-trade’s enthusiasm for flavoured Bourbons and its recognition of their appeal and potential,” she explains. “Also reaction from 18- to 34-year-old target consumers has been very positive. These consumers, many of whom are new to the Bourbon category, are responding well to its gentle flavour profile, which gives an excellent introduction to Bourbon.”

So while the big guns have their eyes firmly on future consumers, what of the burgeoning craft distillation community back in the US?

A crafty community
Remarkably, there are now around 300 craft distilleries in the US, with a high percentage experimenting in different takes on US whiskey and other spirits. Whereas industry regulations inevitably limit what can and can’t be done under the banner of Bourbon, the same rules don’t apply to these self-proclaimed artisans – and whiskeys flavoured using highly unusual cereals, maturation methods and even infused with different types of smoke are not uncommon.

“Because whiskey is so traditional, it does not take much to make an alternative whiskey,” points out Darek Bell, founder of the Corsair distillery in Nashville and a short drive away from the established Bourbon heartlands. “The techniques and recipes are very conservative and traditional with most whiskey makers. So it does not take much to be different. We see a real opportunity for innovation and creativity. There is a lot of room to take whiskey to new places.”

Similarly, Chip Tate, owner of the Balcones distillery in Waco, Texas, is excited by the possibilities for the American whiskey revolution. “I suppose I’ve discovered how much broad and deep interest there is out there in tasting new things in whiskey,” he explains.

“There are a lot of large distillers out there making great and very traditional whiskey. At this point, that’s not our focus. I’m more interested in pursuing angles they haven’t tried – or can’t try. There are many hard things about being a small craft distiller, but we do have some advantages as well. I can have an idea on Monday and put it into production before the week’s end. I think that’s one of the reasons why innovation has become so strongly associated with craft spirits.”

The jury’s still out on whether the craft distillers are having any significant impact on American whiskey sales in the UK, but with more brands like Balcones and Corsair signing distribution deals for the UK and Europe, the word is certainly spreading.

However, their biggest impact is arguably on the more mainstream players, who seem eager to learn new tricks from the craft movement.