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Jacob’s Pardon reframes light whiskey
Small Batch #3 capitalises on a high-proof trend consuming whiskey, while elevating the forgotten style of light whiskey.
F. Paul Pacult is a member of the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame and The Keepers of the Quiach, and in 2019, he joined Palm Bay International as the master blender of Jacob’s Pardon.
Pacult sources whiskey for Pardon and has released three Small Batch expressions thus far, each different from the last. Small Batch #3, released in July 2023, is an 18-year-old American light whiskey made from a mash bill of 99% corn and 1% malted barley. It is bottled at 71.25% ABV and priced at US$195.
“I’m always trying to do something different with the small batch releases,” Pacult said. “This one showed enough character on its own, unadulterated, that we could release it at 71-plus percent.”
Distilled at MGP, Batch #3 captures a recent fascination with super high proof, or hazmat whiskies, one that Pacult thinks is nearing its run.
“I really believe this whiskey is best enjoyed unadulterated, not so much that I felt it was in keeping with a trend,” he said. “But I do believe that trend is going to level off. I think we will start going back [to lower proofs, with] the spirits industry, especially the whiskey industry, being so cyclical.”
Light whiskey
If Pacult is catching the high-proof trend on his way out, he is hoping to spark a renewed interest in light whiskey, an underloved style that is distilled above 80% ABV off the still, and has no grain requirements. The category was created in 1968 in an attempt to win over vodka drinkers, but has next to no market recognition, as consumers associate “light” with diet culture.
“I believe that light whiskey suffers from its name,” Pacult said. “I think that people need to learn more about light whiskey, and that may take some time, and I think the biggest detriment is the name.”
Small Batch Recipe #3 isn’t the first time Pacult has worked with light whiskey either. Recipe #1 blended 15-year-old MGP-distilled light whiskey with eight-year-old Tennessee whiskey.
“I’m appreciating light whiskey more than I ever have because I’ve been exposed to it more,” Pacult said. “But I don’t necessarily think it’s a defining factor in Jacob’s Pardon.”
Instead, he is buying the whiskey that’s available on the wholesale market, looking for styles and pockets that provide plus value.
“I want to look at wheat whiskies, which we’re going to be purchasing. I also want to release a Jacob Pardon Bourbon for a reasonable price,” he said. “I’m looking at a Jacob’s Pardon rye. So we’re looking at a lot of different possibilities.”
Jacob’s Pardon was launched in 2020 by father-and-son duo Marc and Jake Taub. The brand name references brothers Jacob and Abner Taub, who bootlegged their own whiskey during Prohibition. In 1929, they were arrested, but six years later, President Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned both men. Decade’s later, Mark and Jake discovered the pardon.
In addition to Jacob’s Pardon, Palm Bay International also has Drumshanbo Irish gin in its portfolio.
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