Archive for the ‘Jim Beam’ tag
Nine-Year Aging Requirement Amidst Robust Demand Causing Knob Creek Supply Shortage
Nine-Year Aging Requirement Amidst Robust Demand Causing Knob Creek Supply Shortage. Batch produced in early 2000 depleted from barrels & bottled; next batch maturing, ready in November.
Batch produced in early 2000 depleted from barrels & bottled; next batch maturing, ready in November
CLERMONT, KY, June 22– Booker Noe, the sixth-generation Beam family distiller who first hand-selected Knob Creek® for production, invented more than a singularly rich, sweet, full-bodied Bourbon. In requiring nine-year, four-char barrel aging, Noe set the standard for an entirely new category: super-premium Bourbon, today among the nation’s fastest-growing spirits.
With double-digit growth fueling demand far exceeding early 2000 forecasts, that same nine-year pledge has now caused a temporary shortage of Knob Creek – today, the nation’s top-selling Super Premium Bourbon, with a fiercely loyal customer base. The next batch of Knob Creek, aged to perfection and true to its founder’s ideals, will be readily available again starting this November.
What’s the magic in nine years, a number nearly unheard of in American whiskey? It’s fast evident in this complex Bourbon, at once woody and sweet, with a long, glowing finish – at a full-bodied 100 proof, rich and complex, with distinct vanilla, oak and caramel flavors, from those nine years spent in four-char barrels. Copper to medium amber in color, to the nose, Knob Creek says maple sugar, toasted nuts, grain and oak.
“We could bottle the next batch of Knob Creek a tad earlier than nine years to satisfy demand, but that just wouldn’t be right. Much as we want to keep product available, like Booker Noe, we would never compromise on quality, or bottle at lower proof to fill a short-term gap,” said Bill Newlands, president, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, U.S.
“In many ways, a Knob Creek batch running out is the full realization of Mr. Noe’s dream to elevate the spirit he so loved,” said Newlands. “We have to thank our growing ranks of Knob Creek fans for making it so, and to ask their patience while the next batch fully matures to age nine.”
Noe family members today describe that dream as Booker’s quest to craft Bourbons reflecting a master distiller’s highest artistry, and watch them grow as spirits fans came to understand and embrace their rich and full character.
About Knob Creek Bourbon
Knob Creek is aged nine years at a sophisticated 100 proof or 50% alcohol by volume, and is named after the small town in Kentucky where President Abraham Lincoln was born. The intriguing taste of Knob Creek and unique flask shaped packaging has driven this brand to become the number one super-premium Bourbon in the world. Knob Creek is part of The Small Batch Bourbon Collection®, credited with driving growth in the Bourbon category at the high-end. Today, these ultra-premium Bourbons continue to grow at a faster pace than premium Bourbons. For more information on Knob Creek and the Whiskey Professors, visit www.knobcreek.com.
About Beam Global Spirits & Wine
Inspiring conversations around the world, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. is building brands people want to talk about. Consumers from all corners of the globe call for our brands, including Jim Beam® Bourbon, Sauza® Tequila, Canadian Club® Whisky, Courvoisier® Cognac, Maker’s Mark® Bourbon, Laphroaig® Scotch Whisky, Cruzan® Rum, Larios® Gin, Whisky DYC®, Teacher’s® Scotch Whisky, DeKuyper® Cordials and Liqueurs and Knob Creek® Bourbon. Beam Global Spirits & Wine is part of Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO), a leading consumer brands company recently named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune magazine. For more information on Beam Global Spirits & Wine, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.
Paula Erickson
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc.
(847) 948-8888
Sean Martin
The Dowd Agency
(212) 686-7777
· Jim Beam & Kid Rock Partner as Red Stag by Jim Beam Launches
· Jim Beam ‘Remake’ Winner Announced
Red Stag by Jim Beam: Bourbon for the Playful Spirit
Imagine the extreme pleasure and surprise that occurs when one opens a plain brown box to find a bottle of unreleased to the open market Jim Beam Red Stag. Undeniably my name did appear on the box and envelope contained within. I double checked. The goose bumps spreading across my torso and arms revealed the significance new spirits take on in the cocktail world in which I taste, experiment and create. Ridiculous? Possibly. For some the same rush of excitement occurs with chocolate, shoes, purses, NASCAR or the return of football season. Each of us has our own tidal wave of enthusiasm that runs parallel to some deep rooted interest. Mine happens to be the spirits industry and the multi-faceted aspects of cocktail culture. Jim Beam infused my senses with the flavor of Red Stag Black Cherry on a Thursday afternoon, invigorating my imagination with the possibilities lying in store for bourbon enthusiasts and those who may have never picked up a bottle of Jim Beam before the flavor infusion.
Red Stag by Jim Beam extends the flavor of the original Jim Beam Whiskey through an exclusive, artisanal, natural infusion process in which black cherry flavors are gradually and expertly infused into the four year old Bourbon. The selection of black cherry flavor was not random, but rather chosen due to its complementary nature to highlight the flavors already present within Jim Beam Bourbon. This well thought out combination was two-fold in purpose:
· To produce a sophisticated, well rounded taste.
· The pursuit of fun.
Red Stag by Jim Beam Official Tasting Notes:
Aroma – Distinctively fruity, without disguising the familiar, rich nose of Jim Beam Bourbon
Taste – Corn sweetness and mellow oak accented by a hint of black cherry for smoothness and balance
Finish – Satiny and judiciously sweet, with a true bourbon warmth
My bourbon introduction began with the Small Batch bourbons which taste quite different than the original Jim Beam Bourbon. Jim Beam Bourbon is best described in comparison as a base from which the others begin. It is the foundation spirit. Jim Beam Bourbon comes across more raucous and rowdy than the rest, but then again Jim Beam Bourbon is the brand’s driving force. It paves the way; leads tradition.
Perhaps it is the spirit which surrounds Jim Beam as a brand and the loyalty of its followers that caused a bit of a stir when news of Red Stag by Jim Beam first leaked to the public months ago. Chuck Cowdery’s review began with, “This is either brilliant or insane, I can’t decide which.” But ultimately he gives his assessment of whether he enjoys the Red Stag or not. One online site went so far with their thoughts about the news of Red Stag by Jim Beam’s impending release that they had this to say:
“With the announcement of Red Stag, a black cherry flavor infused bourbon, Jim Beam has done something that really should not have been done…This marketing ploy needs to stop before we have as many different flavored bourbons as we do vodkas.” – My Wine Education
What came up as a repeated theme in many circles is this new product would be perfect as an ice cream topper, but many saw it as a far stretch from traditional bourbon. But that really is the point isn’t it?
Red Stag by Jim Beam is created using the base traditional bourbon, but it is another way of expanding the brand while enhancing one’s experience with Jim Beam. It is also another way to include nontraditional bourbon consumers into the fold, so they too can become introduced to the brown spirits with ease. Almost everyone dips their toe into the water before they dive directly into the pool. Quite a few people 
wade in first to warm up before going all the way under. Red Stag by Jim Beam gives consumers the opportunity to get acquainted with bourbon products in a way that has been extremely limited in the past.
Since feelings on the Red Stag have been a bit mixed it makes since to compare it to Original Jim Beam even though it is a bit like comparing, well, corn to cherries. The color is quite different. Original Jim Beam is straw color to golden. Red Stag contains a deeper hue with specific amber red tints. Original Jim Beam is thinner in viscosity by comparison and contains the deep bourbon warmth that could make your eyes water if you breathe incorrectly with that first swallow. The aroma of Red Stag gives this one away. It is candied cordial cherries with a chocolate element to it. The taste is significantly different from traditional Jim Beam. Red Stag is very sweet with vanilla, cherry cordial sweetness, cocoa hints and creamy smoothness. It contains the viscosity one would relate to thick liqueur. There is only the faint characteristic of original Jim Beam in the lingering finish of the Red Stag. The color, sweetness and flavor of black cherry are a dead giveaway that Red Stag plays more to cocktail culture rather than straight bourbon fans.
Thinking of the straight bourbon drinkers though I did want to sample a traditional Jim Beam Manhattan versus one made with Red Stag. The Jim Beam Manhattan is an inoffensive almost watery cocktail when 
consumed on the rocks. The sweetness is so faint it is barely there. The flavor of cherry is so indistinct it is decidedly non-existent with the exception of the one bite of maraschino garnish should one choose to actually eat it. It is easy to see why bourbon lovers consume this particular cocktail; to taste the bourbon rather than a flavored liqueur or something heavily soaked in sugar.
Manhattan
1-3/4 ounce Jim Beam Bourbon
3/4 ounce Sweet Vermouth
Dash Bitters
Cherry Garnish
Build over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with cherry.
A Manhattan built along the same guidelines with Red Stag does not match up to a traditionalist’s standards. A traditionalist will typically reach for Jim Beam Bourbon and possibly use Red Stag as the cherry flavor accent…maybe. Red Stag is powerful and its flavor rings predominant in the Manhattan cocktail at different ratios. For bourbon purists the Manhattan will never be slighted with the likes of Red Stag. However, the beauty is in exploration and transformation. Cocktail culture is a beautiful thing built for fun, much like the Red Stag, and Red Stag by Jim Beam is not about following the herd, but forming new tracks.
Red Italian – created by The Intoxicologist
1-1/2 ounce Averna
1/2 ounce Red Stag by Jim Beam
Brut Champagne
Lemon Twist (zested into the glass)
Combine Averna and Red Stag in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a champagne flute. Zest a lemon twist over the champagne flute so the essential oils spray into the mixture. Place the Lemon twist as garnish on the champagne flute. Top off with champagne.
Red Italian updates the bourbon cherry cola from corner beer bar status to cocktail couture. This creates an elegant cocktail that brings bourbon to the flute, the girl to the bourbon and the traditionalist to their knees wondering ‘what just happened to my bourbon and cola?”
Black Cherry Truffle – created by The Intoxicologist
3/4 ounce Red Stag by Jim Beam (chilled)
3/4 ounce Godiva Original Liqueur (chilled)
Layer chilled Godiva and Red Stag in a shot glass. Shoot.
If you love smooth as silk chocolate covered cherries, you will love the Black Cherry Truffle even more. More of the bourbon shines through with the Red Stag in this as the chocolate seems to bring out the flavor by playing off the cherry notes. I tried this with Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur as well. The flavor was creamy, rich and decadent and extremely sweet, but not nearly as wonderful as the Godiva Original Liqueur turned out in the Black Cherry Truffle recipe.
Red Truffle Silk – created by The Intoxicologist
1 ounce Red Stag by Jim Beam
1 ounce Godiva Original Liqueur
1 ounce Half & Half
1/4 teaspoon Valrhona Cacao Nibs Garnish (found at Whole Foods)
Combine liquid ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Shake until chilled. Strain into a martini glass. Sprinkle cacao nibs on top as garnish.
Please, try to sip rather than gulp…it’s so much more attractive! What can I say?! Not only have I become a bourbon fan in the last year, but this cocktail could just possibly make me a chocolate convert, too. I’m not sure what the world is coming to. Usually I can’t really finish a chocolate cocktail due to its sweetness and well, the chocolate factor. However, I’m writing as I sip and this one is half gone already. Crunching the cacao nibs that act as garnish contributes to the ‘awe’ factor of this cocktail. Cacao is bittersweet rather than sugary. The texture is also a nice addition sort of like the crunchy toffee bits in a candy bar. The Red Truffle Silk truly is silky smooth with that added bourbon warmth that reaches the toes after a few minutes. This makes a great dessert cocktail or before dinner warm up. Heck, have one for the sheer pleasure of it. It just works.
Speaking of ‘just works’ – Red Stag by Jim Beam definitely paves the way to expand the horizons of consumers that until now may have been reluctant to venture into the realm of bourbon. Jim Beam carefully chose the flavor to complement traditional bourbon, but as the bottle says Red Stag by Jim Beam is writing its own exciting chapter in the story of Jim Beam. The Original Jim Beam will never be left behind. Red Stag is the continuing saga.
Copyright 2009 Cheri Loughlin – The Intoxicologist – All Rights Reserved
Jim Beam ‘Remake’ Winner Announced
Jim Beam(R) Announces Winner of ‘Remake’ Online Video Contest
‘The Ant Party’ creators get hooked up with $25,000 and a trip for four to Las Vegas for spoofing Jim Beam commercial
DEERFIELD, Ill., May 18 /PRNewswire/ — In just 75 seconds, Jeff Schmale and Chris Gorman of Bel Air, Maryland tickled the funny-bones of thousands of voters with their spoof titled “The Ant Party,” taking home the grand prize in Jim Beam’s(R) “The Remake” online video contest.
“It feels great to have won the contest,” said Jeff Schmale, grand prize winner. “It’s much more satisfying to have created something that was judged to be the best rather than winning a random sweepstakes-styled contest. It also makes me not look like such a fool for sitting in my kitchen for four nights playing with plastic ants.”
In January, the world’s No. 1-selling bourbon invited people across the country 21 years of age and older to enter “The Remake,” a consumer-generated video contest offering a grand prize of $25,000, a trip for four to Las Vegas, and a chance for the winning video to be showcased on www.JimBeam.com. Contestants could choose one of two categories:
· “The Remake” category challenged legal purchase age consumers to create and upload spoofed versions of three Jim Beam commercials - including “The Girlfriend,” which premiered in the U.S. on January 19 on sports networks like ESPN(R) and TNT.
· “Best Story” sought out the most creative individual who used humor and imagination instead of fancy video production equipment to create a successful commercial. Jeffrey Border of Reinholds, Pennsylvania, won the prize for “Best Story,” a Flip(TM) Mino video camera.
Nearly 300 video entries were received. All videos were judged based on creativity, use of humor and originality. The finalist videos were then uploaded to jimbeam.com for public voting. In a month’s time, more than 6,000 votes were cast, with “The Ant Party” receiving the top honors. The creators of the runners-up - “The Boss”, “The Culture Gap”, and “The Eco-Tragedy” - each received a Sony(R) HD Digital Video Camera.
“Every video submitted brought the Jim Beam brand to life,” said Kelly Doss, Senior Director of Bourbon and Whiskies, Beam Global. “The experience has definitely inspired us to create more campaigns that are worthy of such a savvy and funny audience.”
Contest showcases Jim Beam’s social media leadership in the spirits industry
“Jim Beam consumers - young men of legal purchase age - are living much of their lives online,” says Doss. “We know how important it is to relate to guys on their own terms, in their own environment. And this contest has proven how to be successful at it.”
“The Remake” has become one of the largest online video contests to be held without the direct support of YouTube. As contestants uploaded their entries, several of them also uploaded their submissions to other video sharing sites such as Metacafe(R), Dailymotion(R), and YouTube(R), garnering more than 3 million views.
The contest drove unprecedented traffic to Jim Beam’s main web site and related contest platforms: well over 200,000 unique visits to jimbeam.com and the contest microsite, with a million-plus contest-related page views since the contest began. The contest and the commercials that served as its inspiration generated more than 3 million views across the Web. As a result, according to the popular online ranking site Alexa.com, JimBeam.com surpassed its competitors in terms of online reach, rating among the top 80,000 web sites on the Internet.
Jim Beam credits part of this success in leveraging social networks such as Facebook(R) to promote the contest. Using shared links, communicating with Jim Beam’s Facebook fan group, and creating an application helped increase engagement among contestants and their followers. The Facebook community was the highest referring source of traffic to the contest.
Jim Beam is the first in the spirits industry to:
· Use micro-blogging through Twitter(R), attracting an estimated 20,000 viewers during the “Baja 1000″ for updates on Jim Beam-sponsored racecar driver, Robby Gordon.
· Create a website that allowed users to comment on subject matter, establishing Jim Beam as the first public “conversational” brand in the industry.
· Initiate a social media call to action through an online petition and viral widget urging fans to “Save Our Ballpark’s Name” in support of Wrigley Field.
For more information, please visit www.JimBeam.com/TheRemake or www.TheStuffInside.com/Press.
About Beam Global Spirits & Wine:
Inspiring conversations around the world, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., is building brands people want to talk about. Consumers from all corners of the globe call for our brands, including Jim Beam(R) Bourbon, Sauza(R) Tequila, Canadian Club(R) Whisky, Courvoisier(R) Cognac, Maker’s Mark(R) Bourbon, Laphroaig(R) Scotch Whisky, Cruzan (R) Rum, Larios(R) Gin, Whisky DYC(R), Teacher’s(R) Scotch Whisky, DeKuyper(R) Cordials and Liqueurs, and Knob Creek(R) Bourbon. Beam Global Spirits & Wine is part of Fortune Brands, Inc. , a leading consumer brands company with annual sales exceeding $8 billion. For more information on Beam Global Spirits & Wine, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine
Dan Cohen of Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc.
+1-847-444-7657,
Whitney Mares of Padilla Speer Beardsley Public Relations
+1-612-455-1748
