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ask-artsy-oncie · 6 years ago

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The Rabbit Bugs Bunny, the linchpin of the Looney Tunes, has been called everything from "classic" to "perennial" to "an American institution" to "one of our national heroes"--and "wascally wabbit," "long-eared galoot," and a lot of other things besides! But most of us just like to call him Bugs. Now he's starring in Space Jam, Warner Bros.' first original feature film graced by Bugs in a leading role--opposite Michael Jordan, no less! Producer Ivan Reitman and director Joe Pytka head a team of filmmakers including producers Joe Medjuck and Daniel Goldberg, executive producers Ken Ross and David Falk, and screenwriters Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick and Timothy Harris & Herschel Weingrod to bring this ambitious and precedent-setting project to life. Starring with Bugs and Michael Jordan are Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle and the voice of Danny DeVito. Heading the bill in Space Jam with one of the sports world's most entertaining players is a natural opportunity for the venerable Warner Bros. character. After all, Bugs was voted the most popular in the entire short-subject field in the United States and Canada for the year 1945, and then stayed in the Number One spot for the next 16 years straight. Today, in 1996, Bugs continues to draw a crowd--in fact, a recent survey showed him to be the most popular animated character in the world! When Bugs' classic cartoons were being made and regularly released to theaters in the 1940s and 1950s, it was his stardom in short subjects that skyrocketed his studio to prominence in the animation field. Part of Bugs' great achievement had been to establish a strong personality who can exist for 7 minutes at a time, show us a facet of his personality, disappear for weeks, months, maybe years at a time, then reappear and still be recognizeable and entertaining. His possibilities were not exhausted by any single episode. The trick was not to sustain seven minutes, but to live for 50 years. And once you've sustained 56 years of amazing popularity with one generation after another all over the world, it's hardly likely you're going to have much trouble sustaining a 90 minute feature. Michael Maltese, one of Bugs' writers, remembered that in the old days, a theater's marquee had to say no more than "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" for people to plunk their money down--forgetting what features or other short subjects were playing, forgetting that the "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" would be over in 15 minutes--and, most of all, forgetting their troubles. "After a while, Bugs Bunny was so well loved by the audience that he could do no wrong," said Maltese. "They loved the rabbit, and what he stood for." Friz Freleng, one of the leading directors of Bugs' classic shorts, once remarked, "The cocky characters, for some reason, the public seems to like. They don't like those kinds of people in real life." Mel Blanc, who first provided The Rabbit's voice, believed that "Bugs Bunny appeals to the rebel in all of us. Everybody loves a winner, and Bugs Bunny always wins." There's a moment in A Hare Grows in Manhattan when Bugs dives into a manhole to escape the bulldog pursuing him, and between the time the dog leaps in the air and the time he reaches the manhole, Bugs has managed to resurface, grab the manhole cover, and pull it into place--turning the dog's face into something resembling a waffle. It's a simple enough gag, but the point is that there is a look of such total delight on Bugs' face as he performs the act, that he turns the whole business into something else altogether, a conflict of viewpoints rather than a physical conflict between two animals. Bugs is Puck reborn; he enjoys the scrapes he gets into because he knows he'll win eventually. This goes a long way toward making him the irresistible character he is: he holds out the possibility that the Battle is winnable, that we can vanquish the foe and have fun doing it, that every setback can become another challenge, another excuse for high spirits. This is possibly the critical factor of what we love about Bugs: that he will not only make us laugh but make us feel victorious and triumphant. There are heroes and there are comedians; rarely do the two meet. This made him a difficult character to write for, but it's what gave him that special spark that made him the phenomenon that he has been. From the time he first asked Elmer Fudd "What's up, Doc?" right up to the release of Space Jam, Bugs has been both sophisticated and naive, innocent and guilty, Child of Nature and Street-Tough Smart Guy, fool and hero, one of the most rounded and all-around characters in the history of film, a multi-faceted gem. A Wild Hare and Beyond The hardy hare has been delighting fans of every age, nationality, and persuasion for longer than the majority of his youthful fans probably realize. Most of the current crop of screen heroes were not even born when Bugs first rose casually from his rabbit hole, chewing on a carrot, peering down the barrel of a gun, and cracking a cool "Eh-h-h-h-What's up. Doc?" out of one corner of his mouth, in a cartoon called A Wild Hare, directed by Tex Avery and released by Warner Bros. in July of 1940. Bugs, like most characters, inspires that insistent question, "Who created him?" A simple answer is expected. But no simple answer works. The clearest family line reaches back to Tex Avery, who gave The Rabbit his famous personality. When asked how Bugs came into being, the soft-spoken Texan was laconic. "Oh," he said, "it just came out of a cartoon. We decided he was going to be a smartaleck rabbit, but casual about it, and his opening line in the very first one was `Eh, what's up, Doc?' And, gee, it floored `em! They expected the rabbit to scream, or anything but make a casual remark--here's a guy with a gun in his face! It got such a laugh that we said, `Boy, we'll do that every chance we get.' It became a series of `What's up, Docs?'." "We didn't feel that we had anything until we got it on the screen and it got quite a few laughs," Avery recalled. "When we saw that on the screen, we knew we had a hit character," Freleng remembered. "He was the most timid of animals, yet he had courage and brashness. The whole gimmick was a rabbit so cocky that he wasn't afraid of a guy with a gun who was hunting him." But the new character had no name at first. Jack Rabbit, or Jack E. Rabbit, was the personal choice of Avery himself, since he had spent so much time hunting jackrabbits and since "I thought it would please my Texas friends." But another of the Warner cartoon directors, Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was "Bugs," had already asked designer Charlie Thorsen to create a rabbit for an earlier cartoon, and when Thorsen had submitted the model sheet, he'd labeled it "Bugs' Bunny." Now, with this model sheet circulating the studio, and with a search for a good name underway, publicist Rose Horsely jumped on the label "Bugs Bunny" as "so cute!" It wasn't "cute" to Tex Avery. "That's sissy," he said. "Mine's a rabbit! A tall, lanky, mean rabbit. He isn't a fuzzy little bunny." But Horsely had the ear of Leon Schlesinger, who produced the cartoons for Warner Bros. Schlesinger thought a moment, then said, "O.K. Bugs Bunny. We'll go with it." "We were always very proud of what we were doing there," says Phil Monroe, one of the Warner animators. "We thought our pictures were funnier than anybody else's. We were all geared for humor--the animators would be asked to submit gags for pictures, and a lot of them were used." A new style was developing: most of it was Avery's doing, most of it was taking place right there at Warner Bros., and most of it was focused on The Rabbit. Finally the directors realized you couldn't look down on this character, the way you could with most cartoon clowns. You could only look up to him. It was at that point that Bugs came to life, individually, for each of the directors at Warner Bros., and, better than that, became a focal point for everything they saw as the best in themselves. Almost as soon as they started working with the character, the Bob Clampett unit, with McKimson in the lead, started giving Bugs less of an oval shape than the first model sheets called for, and his face began to look less ratlike. Then they started structuring the nose differently, and the teeth were naturally anchored to the same bone structure, in a more appealing facial design. By the time Clampett made Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid in 1942, he had arrived at what we might call the Classic Bugs Bunny. By late 1944 the same design was reaching the screen in the cartoons of the other units. Once Freleng made Stage Door Cartoon, released near the end of that year, the McKimson look was universal. "Bugs was gradually becoming a more complex character," Chuck Jones remembers. "The writers and directors were all beginning to realize that we had the potential of a brilliant and lasting star on our hands, a rambunctious, unbridled, and often balky baby Bugs that needed now to grow, to smooth out; we must find out how to harness that energy without destroying the spirit and how to guide the child without steering it. Bugs changed because he had to, not because we were brilliant." Bugs, madder than the March Hare and saner than Alice, knows he's in a cartoon. He always had a trick, and he always had the prop that was necessary to pull of that trick. Whatever it was--a sledgehammer, a stick of dynamite, an anvil, a cannon--he needed it, he got it? Where did it come from? Nobody wanted to know, they just wanted to see him pull off his fast one. Bugs was the cartoon version of the loud-mouthed but loveable Brooklynese smart-aleck who turns up in the cockpit, in the barracks, or on the battlefield in every World War II movie, as inevitable as the flag, and, apparently, just as effective in rallying the spirits of a beleaguered nation. The idea that the battle was winnable was a very popular one during World War II. "It was during those war years...that the Bugs Bunny cartoons...passed Disney and MGM for the first time to become the Number One short subject," Bob Clampett recalled. The studio received an offer from the Utah Celery Company of Salt Lake City to keep all staffers well supplied with their product if Bugs would only switch from carrots to their crunchy greens. Later the Broccoli Institute of America strongly urged The Bunny to sample their product once in a while. It never happened. Mel Blanc would have been happy to switch to any of these vegetables, since carrots made his throat muscles tighten and the words couldn't come out, but it was no go. Carrots were Bugs' trademark. The only concession they ever made was to move the carrot-crunching sounds and dialog to the last spot in the recording session. In the 1950s, with the post-war Baby Boom transforming his previous audience from rowdy kids in uniform to mature adults with responsibilities, Bugs found his new audience extended to include those "responsibilities." The nation was filling its nurseries and schools to capacity with children, and they were all becoming Bugs Bunny fans. By 1957 Bugs' perennial popularity had become as much a bewilderment as a source of pride. The theatrical short subject market had gone through a series of drastic changes, Bugs' contemporaries from the early `40s had largely faded from the scene, even Disney had phased out the one-reel cartoon, and television was posing new threats every year. The world of 1940 was becoming history. Didn't matter. Bugs went on being Champ, no matter what he did. © 1996 Warner Bros.

#The rabbit #archer pastry is troll kin

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dramstreet · 4 years ago

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In 1870, George Garvin Brown changed the spirits industry forever when he sealed and sold his whisky – Old Forester – exclusively in a glass bottle. Each bottle was adorned with his signature, a personal guarantee of the brand's quality and consistency. Today, 150 years later, Old Forester announces the upcoming release of Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon to commemorate his act of ingenuity, honor his legacy and celebrate the history of the First Bottled BourbonTM. Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon references George's original process, composed of three batches, unfiltered* and each presented at individual batch strength. The limited release is presented in an amber glass bottle, reminiscent of the hand-blown glass of George's day, and will come in a commemorative canister. It's planned for release in October 2020. "This special bourbon has been in the works for some time now, and while it is exciting for our family and colleagues, I hope the larger Old Forester family - the bourbon lovers and fans - will appreciate it just as much," said Campbell Brown, Old Forester President and Fifth-Generation Brown Family Member. "My great-great grandfather had quite the vision for his whisky. He was bringing something to the market that had previously not existed and today, we instill his legacy of ingenuity in everything we do - especially in the halls at Old Forester Distilling Co., in the same building George ran the business in the early days of the company." In the 150 years since George's started the company, the brand has endured 13 years of Prohibition, World Wars, changing consumer palates and industry consolidations. Today, Old Forester remains the only brand with an uninterrupted 150-year history, sold by the same family company before, during and after Prohibition. George's act of selling whisky exclusively in a sealed bottle was innovative at a time when most whisky was sold by the barrel and subject to adulteration prior to reaching the consumer. Predating any modern food safety acts, he helped lead an industry on the path to rigorous self-regulation that is still upheld today. In addition to being the first to exclusively sell whisky in sealed glass bottles, George was the first to commercially batch whisky to ensure a consistent flavor profile. At the time, he batched from three distilleries – Mellwood, Mattingly and Atherton – before eventually acquiring the Mattingly Distillery and distilling his own whisky. For the Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon, 150 barrels were chosen by Master Distiller Chris Morris and set aside for this limited-release product. At maturity, several barrels lost their full contents to the Angel's Share. The resulting aged liquid was personally and individually tasted by Master Taster Jackie Zykan and separated by-hand into three distinct batches, differing in proof and flavor profile. "We designed the expression to share our unique story," said Jackie Zykan, Old Forester Master Taster. "George Garvin Brown was an entrepreneur and an innovator. I have composed three unique blends to honor his process of batching from the three original distilleries. Each captures a distinct facet of the beloved Old Forester flavor profile, each upholding his highest standards of quality." Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon Batch Details and Notes from the Master Taster: Batch 01/03 - 125.6 proof/62.8% ABV, comprised of 46 barrels; fruit bomb Nose: maple syrup and perfectly ripe orchard fruits, apricot and plum Mid: açaí and black current Finish: graham cracker, subtle peppermint, long well-rounded spice, moderately dry Batch 02/03 - 126.4 proof/63.2% ABV, comprised of 48 barrels; sweet and spry Nose: cherry cordial and raspberry preserves Mid: French toast and chocolate malt Finish: brilliant and perky spice at the front of the palate, touch of cedar, mildly dry Batch 03/03 - 126.8 proof/63.4% ABV, comprised of 53 barrels; green and spice Nose: dill and bright orange peel, hint of light brown sugar Mid: sweetens in the middle to melon and pine Finish: medium dry, tingling green peppercorns, rosemary, grapefruit peel, and lingering anise A limited number of cases will be available nationally in October 2020 for a suggested retail price of $150. To learn where you can purchase Old Forester 150th Anniversary Bourbon, check out OldForester.com for a retailer near you. About Brown-Forman: For 150 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel's & Cola, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Fire, Gentleman Jack, Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, Finlandia, Korbel, el Jimador, Woodford Reserve, Old Forester, Canadian Mist, Herradura, New Mix, Sonoma-Cutrer, Early Times, Chambord, BenRiach, GlenDronach and Slane. Brown-Forman's brands are supported by over 4,800 employees and sold in more than 170 countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please visit brown-forman.com. About Old Forester Bourbon: Old Forester is Brown-Forman's founding brand, founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown. Brown believed Old Forester was so pure and consistent that he sealed it, signed it, and pledged, "There is nothing better in the market."

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jeramymobley · 6 years ago

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Jack Daniel’s Boldly Responds to Shifting Consumer Tastes

The Jack Daniel Distillery is the oldest distillery in the US, registered in 1866 and based in Lynchburg, Tenn. Today, the company keeps a sharp, bold edge through various ventures such as an NBA Legends Camp and an upcoming barbecue competition, as well as its ongoing relationships with members of the US military and LGBQT groups.

Its individual brands are Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey, Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire, Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select, Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Rye and Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails.

Jack Daniel’s Black Label Tennessee Whiskey is the flagship product of owner Brown-Forman Corporation, founded in 1870 by George Garvin Brown. Jack Daniel’s distinct character is a combination of natural fermentation, careful distillation, and use of the Distillery’s iron-free water from the Cave Spring that runs at a constant 56° F. The distillery ships out 15.3 million cases a year, selling to more than 165 countries.

Lynchburg. Home to 572 residents and a world’s supply of Tennessee Whiskey. #JackDaniels pic.twitter.com/KJFAOTpU5i

— Jack Daniel's (@JackDaniels_US) August 24, 2018

When you’re holding a bottle of Jack, you’re holding a part of Lynchburg, Tennessee. Every single drop is made right here. #JackDaniels pic.twitter.com/dETt7C7hHv

— Jack Daniel's (@JackDaniels_US) July 27, 2018

The company is boldly responding to challenges from shifting consumer tastes and smaller craft distilleries increasingly popular with trend-conscious drinkers.

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An example of its innovative social reach includes the 30th Annual Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue in October, attracting 100+ championship barbecue teams and 25,000-30,000 spectators from around the world to Lynchburg.

Teams compete in seven categories: pork ribs, pork shoulder/butts, beef brisket, chicken, dessert, cook’s choice (home cookin’ from the homeland for internationals) and Jack Daniel’s sauce. Winners receive more than $45,000 in cash and prizes.

An as part of it sponsorship deal with the NBA, the brand held an NBA Legends Camp, including a variety of experiential events for fans.

Jack Daniel’s has a new 100-proof version of its iconic whiskey honoring the Bottled-in-Bond Act, which passed by the US Congress in 1897, setting industry standards.

“Whiskey-making in the 1800’s too often produced a hodge-podge of sub-par, counterfeit and even dangerous spirits,” said Jack Daniel’s master distiller Jeff Arnett. “Whiskey drinkers at times weren’t sure of what exactly they were drinking or being served.”

Bottled-in-Bond, its latest release, is available only in airports in 1-liter bottles for a suggested retail price of $37.99. “This new offering replicates those rules that were set more than 120 years ago,” Arnett said.

Always original and fresh, the brand keeps a sharp, bold edge with commercials like this Jack Daniels Tennessee Fire Commercial.

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One marketing stunt—177 limited-edition matte-black 2018 Indian Scout Bobber Jack Daniels Edition bikes—quickly sold out.

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Among fans from the general population of drinkers, there’s a special relationship between America’s oldest registered whiskey distillery and the US military, as it buys the most barrels of the brand’s premium 94-proof Single Barrel Select Whiskey.

Jack Daniel’s helps bring troops home for the holidays with its “Operation Ride Home” program that helped 5,767 service members spend the holidays at home.

Jack Daniel’s Country Cocktails unveiled the first-ever projection mapping showtruck during the LA Pride Festival in West Hollywood in June. The mobile interactive art project, titled “#flavorsofpride” featured this video.

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The 2018 LA Pride Festival is Jack Daniel’s sponsorship debut at the annual LGBTQ event. “Celebrating individualism and living life on your own terms are hallmarks of the Jack Daniel’s legacy, which are also embodied by the mission of LA Pride,” said Fabricia da Silva, Brown-Forman Corp. Multicultural Field Marketing Manager, in a press release.

“As a first-time sponsor, we wanted to create something out of the ordinary that demonstrated our commitment to the LGBTQ community. We were inspired by the incredible diversity represented in the LGBTQ experience, which is colorfully represented through our #flavorsofpride project.”

Founder Daniel chose his signature square-shaped bottles in the late 1890s to convey a sense of fairness and integrity. His brand won the gold medal for finest whiskey at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

A careful watch of a complex process continues to yield a premium brand for Jack Daniel’s.

Keeping a watchful eye on the whiskey and the next move. Top circa 1940, bottom 2018. #TennesseeTimelapse #JackDaniels pic.twitter.com/r29CM5D1ZC

— Jack Daniel's (@JackDaniels_US) June 25, 2018

The post Jack Daniel’s Boldly Responds to Shifting Consumer Tastes appeared first on brandchannel:.

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marketerarena-blog · 6 years ago

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Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Is Helping Redefine Tennessee Whiskey

It’s becoming a bit more common to see new bottles of whiskey so well conceived that they’re capable of unseating the classics, and Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel is one such whiskey. Were it not a limited release of limited volume, it would be an obvious replacement for America’s best-selling whiskey. You should try to buy some anyway.

Heritage Barrel is amped-up Jack Daniel’s, if we’ve ever seen it, and it all starts with specially designed barrels. The so-called “Heritage Barrels” were slowly heated “to achieve a deeper, richer, toasted layer before being charred,” according to the brand. The whiskey was then put in at a lower entry proof (usually a denotation of higher quality) and placed near the top of one of the highest warehouses the brand owns.

39 Great Whiskeys You Can Actually Find at Your Liquor Store

What does all of this mean? A more deeply toasted barrel brings out more oak notes and baking spices (we got cinnamon, clove, and, yes, plenty of wood). Barrels put at higher elevations and on higher shelves tend to have particular traits as well. Essentially, higher elevation and higher positions are supposed to see to it that the barrel gets much hotter on long summer days. Hot barrels, by result, tend to produce whiskey with a higher proof, and a lot more flavor, in a slightly shorter time period.

The single barrel and barrel proof programs from Jack Daniel’s have been lovely experiences—so much so we’ve previously asked Master Distiller Jeff Arnett if we’ll see more such bottles in the future. Heritage Barrel may be his belated answer.

The 7 Best Whiskies for Guys Who Love Beer

We found this whiskey nutty and deeply flavorful, with hints of peanuts, burnt sugar, clove, nutmeg, toasted oak, and lots of vanilla. It’s a tasty Tennessee bottling, with the kind of complexity Jack Daniel’s does not often get enough credit for. And at 100 proof, it’s ready to drink as is, in our opinion, though a couple drops of water really make it pop.

If there’s anything critical to say about this bottle it’s that we’d have liked a cask strength version, non-chill filtered. It’s very, very good here—how great would it have been at that next tier, we’ll never know.

Heritage Barrel is a limited release of just 200 barrels worth of whiskey, and placed at that high elevation, we doubt there was a ton of it left. It’s on shelves now for $65 and it’s worth the price.

https://askfitness.today/jack-daniels-heritage-barrel-is-helping-redefine-tennessee-whiskey/

#fitnessblog

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livingthelifemedia · 7 years ago

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OWN A JACK DANIEL’S SINGLE BARREL

DO YOU WANT TO OWN A JACK DANIEL’S SINGLE BARREL? WHAT USED TO BE A PRIVILEGE RESERVED ONLY FOR JACK DANIEL’S MASTER DISTILLER JEFF ARNETT IS NOW AVAILABLE TO CONNOISSEURS AROUND THE WORLD. JACK DANIEL’S SINGLE BARREL COLLECTION IS DEBUTING ITS PERSONAL COLLECTION PROGRAM. THIS NEW PERSONAL COLLECTION IS ENHANCING DISTILLERY’S BARREL OFFERINGS. Barrels start at around $10,000 USD plus varying local taxes. The new program will offer a more special and personalized experience for its customers. Buyers will now have several ways to make their barrel selections, making the program even more accessible. Participants can have the barrel selected for them by the Master Distiller, receive samples based on flavour profiles, or they can travel to the distillery in Lynchburg and select their barrel with the help of Master Distiller or his team of Master Tasters. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel launches Personal Collection Jack Daniel’s has also created premium collectibles and experiences to be enjoyed with every Personal Collection selection including a custom barrel head and framed barrel certificate as well as a unique purchase certificate, luxury decanter and glassware. In addition, purchasers will also receive a personalized Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel bottle with their name or special message. Participants will be commemorated with their name in the Barrel Recognition Room in Lynchburg, TN – an exhibit honouring past barrel purchasers and new buyers, and a part of the tour that nearly 400,000 people take every year. Lastly, the new program will offer a series of touch points to keep customers updated on their selection as well as a Barrel Concierge who will be dedicated to each buyers Personal Collection experience. By the Barrel was originally launched in 1998, following the introduction of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel, the first iteration of the craft whiskey family. Jack Daniel’s has continued to expand on its crafted Single Barrel offerings, releasing Single Barrel Barrel Proof in 2015 and, most recently, Single Barrel Rye in February 2016. Read the full article

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sentrava · 7 years ago

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The Urban Distillery Takeover of Tennessee

When we started the Tennessee Whiskey Trail, I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea it would double as a history lesson. Nor did I have an inkling of an idea of how diverse 26 distilleries truly could be. How many times would we be able to learn about how to turn a fermented grain into a highly refined spirit? Plenty, it turns out.

And then we started tackling it, slowly—slower than most, as we’re doing it deliberately, taking the time to meet the distiller and the brains behind the operation, to interview the staff, to get a (literal and figurative) taste for the product—and it was immediately apparent that no two distilleries tackle production the same way, nor do any two whiskeys taste the same.

There are just too many variables to corner any whiskey into a box: mash bills, production volume, equipment, philosophy, and simple things like how to keep a business in operation that spans a minimum of five years before a viable product will hit the shelves are all things that impact the decision-making and end product that we’ll all enjoy poured over a pile of ice in a rocks glass.

Our experience highlights a truism that is inherent in any long-term business, particularly distilled spirits in one of the strictest regulatory environments in the country: build it and they will (might) come. Each and every one of these scrappy distilleries must find a way to build a client base, produce a marketable product in the short term while keeping an eye on a long-term plan for legacy status.

The Tennessee Whiskey Trail is designed so that you can tackle it in any way and in any order you please. We’ve analyzed the geography of our sprawling state with a tourist in mind to create easily digestible segments of each part of the trail in the hopes that if you’re only here for a short period that you’ll be able to at least eke out a significant bit of sight-seeing and tourism in the state proper but that you’ll also be able to experience some of the liquid magic being produced in our pretty backroads by passionate advocates of distilled spirits.

Only have three days and spending that whole time in Nashville? Cool. You can easily tick off a solid eight stops—maybe even more. Flying into Knoxville for a business engagement and wanting to get a stamp on your passport between meetings? Perfect. You can get two.

We, however, wanted to attack the trail in geographic order, from west to east, which took us to the far western corner of Tennessee to kick off our project for the Tennessee Distillers Guild.

MEMPHIS

You can’t even mention Tennessee to an outsider without them thinking of music and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. While country music and Middle Tennessee’s Nashville tend to dominate the current musical zeitgeist, countless stars originated in western Tennessee, and Graceland, the former home of Elvis, is a pilgrimage to many. Lucky for you, there’s just one distillery in Memphis, so you’ll have plenty of time to explore the Bluff City’s other cultural offerings.

Old Dominick Distillery

Old Dominick Distillery is a high-end, multi-million dollar property right smack on the river in downtown Memphis. While it may seem more like a venue that makes booze than vice versa, don’t let that fool you: The building is a gorgeous, airy, metal, glass and wood affair situated in a prime location in a once decrepit neighborhood on the banks of the Mississippi River. An expansive greenway extends along the waterfront just steps from the distillery while some of the most pivotal moments in American history are contained just down the street with museums galore, as well as Beale Street—with its rocking honky-tonks, kitschy storefronts and historical theaters—the biggest tourist draw.

Where to Stay in Memphis

The Peabody Memphis is always my go-to when in Memphis. It’s chock full of history, with the original location built nearly 150 years ago, plus it has its own whiskey tie-in: It has a single barrel of Jack Daniel’s on site in the Corner Bar, plus some of its duck residents have gone to live out their days in retirement at the Lynchburg distillery. If you’re passing through Memphis, even if just for a day, a viewing of the daily Peabody Duck March is a must; at 11am each morning, they’re paraded down from their penthouse loft to the lobby, where they swim in the fountain during daylight hours, and at 5pm each night, they’re shepherded back to their roost for the evening.

I got a major surprise on my most recent visit and was asked to come up as the HDM—that’s Honorary Duck Master, for those not in-the-know—and got to accompany (Actual) Duck Master Anthony Petrina on his daily march. It was 100 times more fun than I ever thought it might be. (Watch the video below for a look at that special occasion!)

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Don’t Miss These Memphis Attractions

A BBQ feast at Central BBQ

National Civil Rights Museum to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

A mosey down South Main for the shopping and dining

A night out on Beale Street

NASHVILLE

Ahhh, Nashville. The city I claim as my home, as I grew up just an hour down the road. You need a good weekend to even scratch the surface, though a week is more ideal. Of course, if you’re wanting to hit all four distilleries (five, if you include Corsair’s two locations), then I recommend staying as long as your time allows you. You won’t get bored, that’s for sure!

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery

Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery is one of our favorites in Nashville, with legit real people running the show, an awesome tasting room, large event space and barrel houses that are in the midst of an expansion into adjoining spaces in the industrial-cool Marathon Village. Nearly a decade ago, Andy and Charlie Nelson unearthed a whiskey heritage while on a day trip to Greenbrier with their dad, then committed to reviving the brand their great-great-great-great-grandfather launched that later died just before Prohibition; they opened their doors to the public three years ago next month. They continue to make their signature Belle Meade Bourbon, but have ventured into new products like a handful of cask finishes (madeira, cognac, sherry) and have a gorgeous brick and mortar to boot.

Pennington Distilling Co.

Pennington Distilling Co. has a number of brands that are housed beneath the SPEAKeasy Spirits corporate name, including their debut Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream and various flavors of Picker’s Vodka, but we’re most excited about their newest product, the Davidson Reserve Tennessee Straight Rye Whiskey, which sends SVV into a tizzy of delight. Their location, in the booming Nations neighborhood, is undergoing a complete revamp with the addition of more than 28 large shipping containers fashioned into tasting rooms, event spaces and a rooftop bar overlooking downtown Nashville. Owners Jeff and Jenny Pennington, who both formerly worked for competing distributors, are hyper-focused on efficiencies in the process and use fascinating methods of recycling waste heat that could shake up the industry. And let me just reiterate: Their brand new rye, OMG, you need it in your life.

Nashville Craft Distillery

Nashville Craft has an excellent location, a gorgeous mid-century inspired building with high ceilings and plans to build an outdoor space to capitalize on the recent liquor-by-the-drink legislation, which allows all distilleries to serve up cocktails on-site with their own product. Bruce Boeko uses scientific techniques learned from years of running a DNA laboratory but brings a bit of artistic flair to create his booze and is just now releasing an aged whiskey to the general public. His sorghum whiskey Naked Biscuit or the Crane City gin are popular examples of his clear liquors that reflect his scientific attention to detail. Bruce is on speed dial for many, many distillers in Tennessee because of his expertise and willingness to share secrets.

Corsair Distillery

Corsair Distillery has long been a favorite of SVV after he received a bottle of their Artisan Gin for our housewarming party years ago. Highly experimental as a base corporate philosophy, Corsair makes incredibly interesting booze by integrating flavors from various grains like quinoa, buckwheat, oats, spelt, barley and triticale (I had to look that one up, too). The hardest part about visiting either of their two Nashville locations is choosing which samples you want to try from their exhaustive inventory. They also do craft cocktails made from their product so even if you’re not interested in the tour, you can pop in for a drink.

Where to Stay in Nashville

Nashville hotels are expensive, man, which is why I always tell friends to book an Airbnb. My favorite locations to stay in are Music Row, Germantown or 12South. Coming to Nashville and looking for a listing? Message me and I’ll send you my playlist of favorites!

Don’t Miss These Nashville Attractions

Nashville hot chicken, my favorite being Hattie B’s

A show at the Grand Ole Opry

Eating everything in Nashville, period

An afternoon at Cheekwood botanical garden

A night out on Broadway (touristy, but a must-do for a first-timer)

CLARKSVILLE

Clarksville is an hour north of Nashville and an easy enough drive to make it there and back in an afternoon. It’s also home to Austin Peay State University, but the big draw is its impressively massive distillery that just turned one year old.

Old Glory Distilling Co.

Old Glory Distilling Co. was built from the ground up by the Cunningham family and features an elegant event space with indoor seating for up to 375 people adjoining a working distillery. Like many of Tennessee’s smaller cities and towns, Clarksville has a booming revitalization effort going on downtown and is worth the trip up I-24. Old Glory is one of the few operations in the state that has the ability to produce high-proof liquor for vodka, which they do with a Tennessee twist by filtering the final product through sugar maple charcoal. Their first whiskey is due out in December 2017, and we can’t wait to taste their two-year-old product. They also make an excellent rum and a wheat-based moonshine, both of which you can sample in the tasting room along with a couple of cocktails on the menu.

Don’t Miss

Poking around the historic downtown

Having lunch (and a pint) at Blackhorse Pub and Brewery

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Thirsty now? Fellow lover of Tennessee whiskey? Then meet us in the Smokies on Nov. 4 for the annual Grains & Grits whiskey fest!

This post is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Tennessee Whiskey Trail.

The Urban Distillery Takeover of Tennessee published first on http://ift.tt/2gOZF1v

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miamibeerscene · 8 years ago

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Vanilla bean, bourbon Orpheus Abandon All Hope releases today

Orpheus Abandon All Hope, a barrel-aged imperial stout with vanilla beans, debuts on February 22nd.

This release is actually the fourth iteration of this stout. The road to the final release has been paved with various blends of the Atlanta brewery’s imperial stout stock, with other beers like The Ferryman, or YE Who Enter Here.

The most popular blend, and imperial stout aged in bourbon barrels with vanilla beans, has been chosen for Abandon All Hope. The beer has been aging in a blend of bourbon barrels for 12 months, with twice the amount of vanilla as previous blends.

Abandon All Hope is an overwhelming bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout. Rich notes of chocolate and oak on a pillowy blanket of vanilla come from a year spent in Woodford Reserve Double Oaked, Heaven Hill 10 year, and Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select barrels and aging on fresh vanilla beans.

Orpheus Abandon All Hope is available in 22 ounce bottles and draft. Extremely limited.

Style: Imperial Stout (w/ Vanilla Beans, Dark Candi Syrup. Barrel Aged. Bourbon.) Hops: Apollo Malts: 2 Row, Munich, Chocolate, Beechwood Smoked Malt, Special B, Roasted Barley, Black Patent, Honey Malt

Availability: 22oz Bottles, Draft. Limited Release Debut: 2/22/17

13.9% ABV

The post Vanilla bean, bourbon Orpheus Abandon All Hope releases today appeared first on Beer Street Journal.

The post Vanilla bean, bourbon Orpheus Abandon All Hope releases today appeared first on Miami Beer Scene.

from Vanilla bean, bourbon Orpheus Abandon All Hope releases today

#Vanilla bean #bourbon Orpheus Abandon All Hope releases today

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jamiekturner · 8 years ago

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Interesting Alcoholic Drinks Package Inspiration – 87 Examples

Package design has attracted in the last period more and more attention.

People in the advertising industry attach significant importance to package design because of its impact on purchasers.

Its presence at the crucial moment when the purchase is made and consumers’ high level of involvement when they actively scan packages in their decision making.

People tend to be fans of certain alcoholic beverages (let’s not say addicted) and any means must be used in order to influence the decision of buying a new product. The most interesting one is package design. If it’s looking good, it must taste the same, doesn’t it?

The alcoholic drinks industry is enjoying high investments manifested by their interest in creating attractive package designs to lure people in buying their products. Based on the economic idea that you can’t earn money without spending some, that looks like a wining strategy and, of course, it is.

Complicated or minimalistic, these package designs are a pleasure to look at to draw inspiration from them.

In this article you will see some of the best package design examples for alcoholic beverages.

Klar

Klar in German means ‘Clear’, Zurich Switzerland lies at 47 degrees latitude on the map. Klar 47 is distilled from only the finest organic ingredients. Imported from Zurich, Switzerland.

Harem Sultan

Harem Sultan is a premium wine brand that is only sold at duty free shops in Turkey targeting foreign tourists. The brief was to design a packaging that would create conversation on the table when people go back to their countries. Something that foreigners would love to buy not only as wine but as a “Special Souvenir from Turkey”.

Neige

Chez Valois, Montreal based branding & design agency, created special edition discovery gift set packaging for Neige Ice Ciders.

With its mirror-like backing, the set attracts the consumers attention. This one piece packaging, made with no glue has a complementary tasting note form slided in the back.

Mixed Emotions

The idea of this project is to sell emotions through a product. The designer selected a mix between a concoction and vodka.

The concoction is a fruit blend that contains emotions such as love, sadness, happiness, fear and anger. The Mixed Emotions cocktail evokes an emotion and changes your attitude according to your preference.

Sea Cider

Playful, colourful packaging for a UK-based cider company, Hearts Cider Makers.

Fusion Beer

“Young and trendy”. This is the idea which gave the designers a push to draw their first sketches.

As the upcoming product was to be gender mainstreaming, they faced a matter of some difficulty, for statistically men and women in Mongolia almost do not have numeral superiority in the beer consumption.

Balvenie Ambassador Case

A hand-crafted leather case for The Balvenie Ambassador to present the Balvenie story from barley to bottle.

The case contains bespoke boxes which are individually tooled to hold ears of barley, a miniature copper still, cask samples, miniature barrels and tasting bottles

Budgens

Harry Pearce and his team have been commissioned to redesign the complete own brand range for Budgens and Londis stores.

The own brand range has three levels, Good, Better, and Best, and many of the redesigned Good Value range have already hit the shelves with Pentagram’s designs for Good Value Jaffa Cakes and Good Value Assorted Crisps winning the Quality Food Awards 2009.

Balblair

This is a concept for the restyling of the Balblair Whisky bottle. The main goal was to give a taste of Scotland to the costumer, from the bottle to the taste of the whisky.

They wanted to create a mix of tradition and modernity, so they mixed old traditional materials such as cork and wool with some new hi-tech look materials like aluminum details.

Klein Constantia Grappa

Klein Constantia didn’t know what to do with the grape skins that were left over from the production of their award winning wines.

In the past they had fed the skins to their cows, but they decided to produce a limited edition grappa, as a gift to the people that were important to their business.

Brujeria

This is Brujeria (the Spanish word for witchcraft) from Misfits Wine Co. A Soul Retrieval Nostrum. Ancient arts and dark fruits forged through toil to respond to clichéd and lifeless marketing department wines. Formed whole in light and dark to strike fear into drones and hex the elitist wine types.

Inspiration draws from Latin witchcraft posters. This release from Misfits Wine Co has been created to stand out and tie into their ethos; the rejection of the conventional.

Lucifer’s Elixir

Lucifer’s Elixir is a self-promotional piece that I produced and handed out to colleagues and confidants. Each swing-top bottle included a vintage skeleton key and a booklet explaining symbology, numerology and other “secrets of the universe”.

It was meant to invoke an initiation into a secret society a la the Freemasons or Skull & Bones. What better to ponder the meaning of the universe than some nice bourbon whiskey!

Kraken Rum

The Kraken Black Spiced Rum has introduced 3-D labels designed by London based STRANGER & STRANGER. The 3D kraken will adorn the 750mL bottles and will be available for purchase online.

My World Wine

They created a series of hand drawn maps for this wine package design colored by aquarelle embracing each box, accompanied by a series of illustrations highlighting what is unique about each country.

Adirondack Whisky

Brand concept and packaging design for a fictional single malt whisky (spelled with no ‘e’, Scotch-style) and distillery based in upstate New York.

The bottle is tall and slim with broad shoulders; coupled with the contour lines used on the labels and the cylinder, it hints at the height and shape of the mountain range that it is surrounded by. Labels are set in muted brown and silver tones to highlight the strength of the whisky’s color.

The brand name ‘Adirondack’ is printed vertically on the bottle’s front, transposed over the rear label graphic, adding depth and movement. All facets of the packaging honor the geography of the area it comes from while still presenting the simple, classy image popular with younger consumers

Naked King

Margarita Mix

Breuckelen Distilling

Breuckelen Distilling is an artisan distillery located in Brooklyn, New York. They handcraft delicious gin from organic New York grains entirely within their Brooklyn location. Breuckelen is a tiny fraction of the size of typical distilleries but their production methods create products of the highest quality.

Votrys

A series of boxes that contain one, two and three wine bottles each. Each box can accept two different sizes/forms of bottles of the same capacity.

The three sizes are either combined together or separately and by stacking them a wine-rack is formed. Even a big wine-rack could be produced in this way.

The shape of the box was chosen because it is sympathetic to the shape of the bottle and it also looks like a grape from one side when stack. The box has a handle and can be carried like a bag without the need for additional packaging.

The use of Oak plywood as the main material was chosen because it makes references to the Oak barrels the wine matures in. The client logo appears on the box and on a label on the handle which also explains the concept and the way to reuse the box.

Kotton Beer

Beer for the hard working tough guy. With no doodles, gold platings, any insignificent items whatsoever. Tough as an army boot.

Jack Daniel’s

Down Under

Mercier

Pretty cylindrical packaging for this champagne’s 150th anniversary.

Torque

They created a packaging of locally distilled vodka for their clients to show them some other work they are capable of (outside of traditional print/web work).

The bottle design is based on their branding and overall look and feel. They have titled themselves as “Concept Mechanics”, which speaks to their handwork and conceptual thinking. The spring top is a metal spring that serves as a cap.

Gin Mare

The bottle design combines straight and curved forms with hints of blue and white that suggest a synthesis between sea and sky, water and foam.

A unique cap saw all the neck of the bottle thereby reinforcing its premium character. Mare Gin has been created with the highest quality botanical (Arbequina olive, thyme, rosemary and basil), selected in Mediterranean areas.

Made by hand in a still single, has a base of barley and distilled Premium macerated with each independently botanical ingredients to create a unique blending. A new generation of gins.

Black & Gold Elk

Black Elk is a premium vodka from the Finnish Lapland. The goal was to create a young looking and innovative brand. The shape of the bottle is simple but elegant and the graphics really modern style. Gold Elk is the ultra premium version of Black Elk

Bitter Sisters Cocktail Mixer

Auténtico Tequila Alacrán

Auténtico Tequila Alacrán (ATA) – Authentic Scorpion Tequila. This is not a brand or some product created by a transnational corporation.

Instead, it was made by a group of friends in Mexico City, who rebelled against the status quo and created this unconventionally pure white spirit concealed within a matte-black bottle.

The special and rubbery (some say velvety) “Soft Touch” finish is a unique texture, never before applied on a tequila bottle, or any other that we know of. The shape was inspired by a canteen crossed with a liquor flask and Its rugged skin makes it the ultimate urban trend. The tequila is absolutely delicious by the way

Bols

Bols 1575 Amsterdam (aka the inventors of gin and the oldest distillery brand in the world!) asked Mash to assist them in revamping their Bols Vodka Bottle.

The packaging needed to have respect for the heritage behind the Lucas Bols brand which has been around since clogs. Mash designed a series of classic and elegant bottles based on vintage French perfume packaging.

Dapper Beer

The Smiling Skull

The Smiling Skull cabernet sauvignon. A retail direct private label designed to compete with California wines that have a similar quirky yet dark look and feel. Utilizes clear varnish and metallic inks.

Zubrowka

Design suggestion for Polish Vodka brand Zubrówka. Taking the brands history and origin into the design context with a medicine twist.

Blink

Beetroot design group based in Thessaloniki, Greece came up with this outcome for the branding and bottle design of Blink sparkling wine.

The graphic design of the bottle is characterized by the stripes. This way and along with the small use of the logo the bottle itself is defining the brand, creating a strong identity sticking out among other bottles. It is positioned in bars and clubs targeting mostly younger ages

Crosser Non Vintage

Crosser Vintage launched 25 years ago and has established itself as a premium Australian Sparkling.

Lion Nathan approached War to develop a Crosser Non-Vintage label that retained the equity of the Vintage brand whilst positioning the Non-Vintage at a lower price point to capture the fast growing ‘everyday sparkling’ market.

The design retains everything synonymous with Crosser but through the use of colour and finishes clearly identifies its role in the Crosser family.

BYO

Drink tea when you want it and where you want it. Packaged in a custom designed pouch that slides into a purse or a back pocket, BYOT offers an easy way to enjoy loose leaf tea throughout the day. Each BYOT package includes ten servings of tea as well as biodegradable pouches that conveniently steep into a perfect cup.

12 Bridges Gin

12 Bridges Gin is a small batch, hand-crafted gin made in Portland, Oregon, a city of bridges. The concept of “bridge” is echoed throughout the design, including the metal label (pictured) on the front of the bottle.

Buddy Mulled Wine

As a seasonal greeting to clients and friends Buddy designed and sent bottles of spiced mulled wine.

Their Christmas wishes were pad printed matte silver directly onto the glass of the bottle, the design being suggestive of measuring jug graphics. The concept therefore, the more you drink the merrier the message.

Charles Le Chat

The Malcolm

The Malcolm represents the super premium product under the Magpie Estate Brand. This product needed to sit separately from the other wines in the range.

The logo type remains consistent as a secondary element, however the bottle design and printing methods depart from the other Magpie Estate wines.

A beautiful imported French bottle was chosen, the bird illustration and text details were screen printed. No paper labels were used, even the back label details are screen printed.

Longview

The label takes its form from a doiley which is a reference to the types of food that are typically consumed with this variety of wine.

The delicate pattern of the doiley creates a sense of elegance and quality that appeals to the target audience and visually sets the wine apart from the competition.

Pravda Vodka

This package looks and feels ultra clean and the all-white bottle would be sure to stand out on a shelf in a bar.

The Optimist

The Optimist is a self-promotional holiday wine bottle. Each year Siquis shows their clients how much they care by designing a custom wine bottle label just for them. The label is always created by a different designer in their creative department.

This year’s graphic was designed to play on “is the glass half empty or half full” concept. Obviously, once the recipient rotates the bottle to fill their glass, the glass on the label becomes half full.

El Paso Chile Co.

El Paso Chile Co. is well known for their boutique brands of salsas and marinades. They also have some of the best margarita and cocktail juice blends available on the market.

With CSA’s help in packaging, they invented a novel way to bring their cocktail flavors to a wider audience by selling glass martini shakers that contain the mixings for finished martinis – just add ice and alcohol.

Burn Cottage

Something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time, the Burn Cottage wines have been released. The labels, thick uncoated stock with the branding imagery wrapping around the imported French glass, mirroring the poster cut up business cards. Oh, and the wine is just as tasty as the packaging

Helderberg Wijnmakerij

A new design the designers did did for a winery in Stellenbosch. The black is all high-build. Instead of filling the white space with a texture, they filled it with an embossed illustration of clouds above the mountain. Makes for an overall very visual and tactile design.

Hennessy V.S

Hennessy V.S Blending of Art celebrates the two as one, in a collaborative project that aligns the visually arresting with the sonically bold; the musically adventurous with the artistically free. An exclusive series of future thinking artworks that connect some of music’s most vibrant revolutionaries with visual artists and graphic designers that dance to the same beat.

Inspired by the Hennessy Artistry curation process, Hennessy has invited a posse of artists to express themselves around the iconic Hennessy V.S bottle with true creative freedom creating five new iconic bottle designs.

Blue Nectar No.1

Blue Nectar’s No. 1 is a limited edition ale designed by ourselves and brewed by one of their local brewery clients in the city of Derby, UK. The purpose of the ale was to produce a product that captures the essence of everything they do, creating compelling brands and putting them into beautiful packaging.

The self initiated brief required us to create a design that stood out from the current offering that is seen within the UK ales market, whilst making what is often perceived as a rather old fashioned product more contemporary.

Graham’s New Year Edition

Inspired by the upcoming Chinese New Year and the use of vibrant colors in the Asian culture, the Graham’s Port Asia New Year Edition packaging has been specially released to mark the celebration for this occasion.

Red, green and black were chosen to interpret: prosperity and happiness; harmony and balance; power and masculinity. These concepts are expressed through the detailing of the design in the wrought iron 1890 gate at the ‘Malvedos’ property in the Douro valley.

Lascala

New work from Spanish designer Eduardo del Fraile. If you’re new to Eduardo’s work be sure to check out some of his other amazing work we’ve showcased in the past.

Enigma

Sing the alphabet song, A B C D F, hang on something’s missing! Not anymore, Alpha Box and Dice have now released E (Enigma). Another letter in the ever increasing Alpha Box & Dice range of wines.

One day the whole alphabet will exist. If you have the complete collection you can sell up and retire to the Bahamas as this preschool lesson will become more collectable than Mark Rothko’s Grade 3 art-class drawing

Lakefront Brewery

Lakefront wanted a way to showcase their ever changing 22oz “Brewers Series” beers that they continually keep developing, which are normally sold one bottle at a time. With the Lakefront 88 (88oz of total beer) customers are able to try 4 different beers for a cheaper price than buying them each separately.

The logo for the “88” came from an overhead view of the 4 bottles in the package. The design in general is meant to be fairly simple and bold to create attention on the shelf and then let the beer speak for itself. Overall the design, the size and the weight of The Lakefront 88 gives it a pretty impactful presence among the other products in the beer cooler.

Christmas Absinthe

Espolón

Just in time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence from Spain, Espolón™ Tequila returns to the United States with the same award-winning liquid but with a whole new look.

The new packaging of this cult-favorite tequila pays homage to the brave men and women who fiercely fought to establish what is known as today’s “Real Mexico,” a country steeped in authenticity, history and tradition.

Rich in iconic imagery, Espolón Tequila’s unique labels celebrate Mexico’s storied culture as well as the iconic rooster – a symbol of national pride.

Siete Pecados

A Series of wines inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins. The design of the bottles reflect each one of the sins visually. Fall into temptation.

Lobo Apple Cider

Lobo, Spanish for wolf and a cloudy apple cider from the Adelaide Hills. Mash re-designed the existing Lobo packaging with a completely new approach and new level of sophistication for the apple quaffing connoisseur.

Working with LA illustrator Jason Holley, a new cunning wolf character was created. Rough hand painted text you might see on a farm shed forms the logo type in keeping with the hand made approach of this juicy cider.

The Measure

This is the wine label that they (The Measure) developed to give to clients and suppliers as a thank you present. The label features a mixed typographic approach and is printed in super slick gold foil.

As the label says “This one’s a keeper” referring to both the wine for cellaring and the studio for future projects.

Cavalierino

Cavalierino is a small winery in the beautiful high hills of Poggiano within a stone’s throw from the historical towns of Montepulciano and Pienza just south of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. 155 prime acres of vineyards, olive groves, woods and cypress trees are bathed in a soft, golden Tuscan light.

Glow

The design for Glow is modern and colourful, clearly flirting with the fashion pack among the target group.

Entente

Marisco Vineyards have had a long-standing relationship with international fashion designer Trelise Cooper, sponsoring many of her fashion shows etc. As a result of that friendship and business partnership an opportunity came up to involve Trelise in the design for a limited release wine.

Márton

Márton, a very small, family run winery approached me to create an attractive label design for their Christmas edition of selected red wines.

Samson

Bottle design and branding for New Jersey-based craft brewer Jeff Samson. Starting with the legend of Samson and the Lion most of us are familiar with and adding a beverage industry twist, these liter bottles are screen printed front and back and packaged in original repurposed beverage crates

Flitrini

Redesign of FLIRTINI cranberry wine package for Creative Wine Company.

Osječko pivo

The usual bottle label was printed in red color. This small intervention retained their identity while adding winter flair.

Spanish White Guerrilla

Spanish White Guerrilla is a collection of “revolutionary” wines created by Vintae. For the first time ever, the nine white grape varieties which enjoy the greatest international prestige have been cultivated in La Rioja.

Nine entertaining warriors, inspired by the origin of the grape which each represents, bring this unusual collection to life.

Kraken Rum 3D

The Kraken Black Spiced Rum has introduced 3-D labels designed by London based STRANGER & STRANGER.

Amarone Bottega

The renowned American designer Denise Focil has partnered with the award-winning Italian wine maker Distilleria Bottega to create a luxury and stylish wine: Amarone Bottega, Il vino Prêt-á-porter.

The bottle features a white leather label and is nestled in a white leather case embellished with debossed black lettering: a collectible piece that reminds of a vintage suitcase. The case is enriched with metal studs (the latest, hottest fashion trend) and with a metal plaque with engraved the Alpinestars by Denise Focil logo.

Nuevas Rias

A range consisting of three references, each one showing off a unique colour. The transparency plays an important role in the design due to the fact that it enables the different elements of the packaging to fuse together without minimizing its importance.

A strong branding consisting of typography of Gothic influences, brief text explaining the characteristics of the liqueur to the consumer and a cross symbolizing of the origin of these orujos. The result, a reinterpretation of the Galician classic codes that add impact on shelves and transmit undisputed quality.

Tuaca

TUACA’s Perfect Chill label features custom artwork by world famous tattoo artist Corey Miller whose signature also adorns the bottle.

The tattoo is printed with thermochromatic ink, a special dye that changes color when temperatures increase or decrease. When the TUACA bottle reaches the perfect temperature, the color activates to blue, but as the bottle resumes to room temperature, the original light silver color returns.

Tequila 29

Tequila 29 Two Nine is a Blanco and Reposado tequila made of 100% pure Agave, in “Los Altos” Jalisco. The Reposado is aged during 6 to 8 months in French white oak barrels previously used to age Whiskey.

Miller Coors

Beer package design concept for Miller Coors. 96 oz. of pressurized beer for the Nascar crowd. Drink it, spray it on your friends or wife, or light it on fire.

Spring Edition

Eno Wines

Eno Wines is a Berkeley-based, boutique winery producing small batches of Pinot Noir, Old Vine Zinfandel, Grenache, and Syrah from world class and undiscovered vineyards.

Floating Mountain

Floating Mountain owned by Dancing Water, Waipara, New Zealand wanted a revised label. They took it way further and the client loved it.

A black gloss foil embossed onto black matt printed white uncoated stock. They have also redesigned their Dancing Water wine labels.

Braufactum

The best of imported beers and high class self-made creations – that is what Braufactum is all about. The new gourmet label of the Oetker group introduces a unique collection that will establish a new style of brewing culture.

VS Wines

Belvedere Vodka

New wine packaging design by FeedbackMP Barcelona, for VS wines from Costers del Sió winery located in Lleida, Spain (Appellation of Origin: Costers del Segre).

The main marketing objective to FeedbackMP team was to reposition this range of products to make it more attractive to its target audience: mostly young people seeking a distinctive component in the product image, a quality wine, easy to drink and understand, with excellent value for money.

Graci

Harvey River Bridge Estate approached brainCELLS in early 2010 to work on a new premium cider range called Graci. Harvey Fresh are well known for their quality fruit so a range of cider with apple, pear and grape varieties seemed like a wise investment.

The packaging of the cider reflects the tradition and heritage of the Harvey orchards that have been operating for many decades in Western Australia. The traditional look was achieved with a scraperboard illustration and a visual palette of dusty colours and vintage typefaces.

The result is a cider package that will attract both experienced and in-experienced cider drinkers over the summer months. Graci is now available in liquor outlets across Australia.

Sigtuna Christmas Lager

Sigtuna is an up and coming micro brewery just outside of Stockholm, Sweden. They have recently received numberous awards for their beers and continue to reap success within the beer communities.

This years christmas lager needed a design that highlighted the premium characteristics of the beverage, while adding a new twist to the symbolism of the holidays.

The Handshake

In 2010 brianCELLS designed a new series of wine labels for a well respected West Australian Liquor merchant, Liquor Barons.

Ginself

Ginself is the result of the enthusiastic pursuit of the perfect gin by its four creators, and is the first 100% premium gin in Valencia Spain.

Lorem Wine

Lorem Wine is a very special project, because the author has designed it exclusively for designers. So dear designer, take a break, lay back and enjoy this wine

Midnight Moonshine

Few family recipes carry a jail sentence, but for the Johnson family it was a way of life; with the law on his heels, Junior ran the finest moonshine to the dry rural south.

Junior Johnson’s family recipe is a triple distilled, lower proof and a legal version than the original. As smooth as premium vodka, it’s grain neutral and virtually odorless. Drawing inspiration from the design of Johnson’s cars, used for running in the 1930s and ’40s the packaging was kept simple and bold.

The Kings Series

Vino Fino

Belancio created the new luxury wine brand Vino Fino. The branding included a hand crafted wood box finished in dark mahogany, with a solid platinum V attached to the surface.

Meteor Bright White

A simple design to showcase the wine in the bottle. The bright color of this bottle is a great contrast to the rest of the Meteor line.

Jeremy Wine Co.

The unique full wrap dieline forms the phonetic ” J ” for Jeremy, which also reads as a lowercase ” f ” alluding to the tagline “forty thousand hours in each bottle” when the wine is poured (invert the bottle).

Monteith’s Single Source

The new Single Source lager is a single minded brand that heralds its own craft process. A uniquely New Zealand batch-brewed beer, it is unswervingly true to the land and the people from which it originates. Like the resulting flavour, the design needed to embody its real character, integrity and undeniable class.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/interesting-alcoholic-drinks-package-inspiration-42-examples/

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

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Whiskey Makers Explore the Weird World of Alt Oak Species

There are some 500 species of oak trees around the globe, but in the world of whiskey, just one is predominant: the American white oak, Quercus alba. Used in bourbon and Tennessee whiskey, both of which require the use of new charred oak barrels, American white oak often enjoys a second life overseas, with millions of gently used barrels from Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Jack Daniel’s and other distilleries in the U.S. subsequently heading off to Scotland, Ireland, and other whiskey-making regions where they are put to a second (or third, or further) use.

But in recent years, a number of distillers have started using unusual, often local, species of oak to age their whiskeys, in a quest to give their spirits a more specific sense of place.

In Washington, Westland Distillery’s Garryana whiskey is partially aged in casks made from a local species, Quercus garryana, known as Garry oak. According to Westland’s master distiller Matt Hofmann, Washington State’s only native oak species offers a particular — and particularly strong — set of flavors, especially when compared to its ubiquitous cousin, Quercus alba.

Credit: Westland Distillery

“American white oak is everywhere, and the flavor profile from that oak is caramel, vanilla, coconut, baking spices,” Hofmann says. “Generally speaking, with Garry oak, the easiest way to describe it is like all of those flavor notes, but darker. So instead of caramel, it’s molasses. Instead of generic baking spices, it’s heavy clove.”

Not only does Garry oak bring more holiday spice to Westland’s Garryana, but it adds an unusual note that is more often associated with Missouri, Hofmann says, thanks to the presence of the smoky compounds called phenolics, which whiskey most often gets from peat-smoked malt.

“Garry oak has the most phenolics of any oak that I’ve ever seen, by quite some margin,” Hofmann says. “So you get like a savory smokiness, like a Kansas City-style barbecue sauce, if that makes sense to you. It’s just this really very flavorful, very dark, savory sort of oak that’s dramatically different from Quercus alba.”

“One of the tasting notes that was actually in here when we wrote the tasting notes was ‘burnt ends.’ Like barbecue burnt ends,” Hofmann continues. “Savory, but in a really good way.”

Credit: Mackmyra

In Sweden, Mackmyra’s Svensk Ek (“Swedish Oak”) whiskey includes spirits that were aged in barrels made from the European oak Quercus robur, which was harvested in southern Sweden and made into barrels in the town of Varalöv. For Mackmyra’s master blender, Angela D’Orazio, the characteristics offered by European oak differ substantially from those of American oak barrels.

“Generally, if you describe them, they are like a cigar box,” D’Orazio says. “They are like an oriental perfume. So you have a lot of exotic wood notes, sandalwood, cedar wood, peppery notes. You have tobacco leaf notes. You have ginger notes, cardamom, cinnamon. This oak has less sweet, vanilla tones and more rougher spices than the American oak.”

That classic American white oak is still an essential member of D’Orazio’s toolbox, however. Her goal? To use the two oaks, as well as former sherry casks and other barrels, to create a harmonious blend. In the end, roughly 10 percent of the Swedish-oak-aged spirit turned out to be the right proportion for Svensk Ek whiskey.

“The new American oak cask also has a beautiful influence that I wouldn’t like to be without,” D’Orazio says. “And the oloroso casks, spice casks as well. I wanted it to be like an orchestra playing together, like [the] Swedish oak being there, but not being the solo.”

Even a single oak species can have great variations in terms of the flavors it adds, depending on where it is grown, according to Brendan McCarron, head of maturing whiskey stocks at Glenmorangie in Tain, Scotland.

“With robur, European oak, in France versus in Spain, what you find is French oak is quite high in tannins, so you get lots of spice,” McCarron says. “But as you go from the north of France into the south of Spain, the tannin levels go up and up and up and up. It’s the same species, but it does change. We just recently worked with Hungarian oak, and Hungarian oak is Quercus robur, but it performs very differently because of where it’s grown, because of the climate, than it does in France.”

While especially visible among smaller, craft producers, unusual oak species are also used at large distilleries, often to create special releases. Glenmorangie has worked with a number of oddball oaks in recent years, McCarron says, including Garry oak, as well as the swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor, and the bur oak, Quercus macrocarpa. In 2017, Glenmorangie’s sister distillery Ardbeg released Kelpie, a whiskey that had been partially aged in an unspecified oak sourced from the Black Sea region.

Credit: The Rare Malt

At the moment, one of the most prized oaks for whiskey is Japan’s mizunara oak, Quercus crispula, known for being sweet and spicy with distinct sandalwood and incense aromas. Mizunara is said to be responsible for the house character of Japan’s beloved Chichibu whiskey, and has been used to finish limited editions of Chivas Regal, Bowmore, and other brands.

While there might be some 500 species of oak to choose from, there won’t be 500 differently oaked versions of Glenmorangie or Ardbeg for collectors to chase down. Many oak species are either extremely limited or extremely slow-growing. Mizunara is said to take 200 years — that is, two full centuries — before it can be made into a cask. And even if a certain species of oak can be made into a cask, there might not be anyone to do that in the region where that oak is found.

“It does come with its challenges,” McCarron says. “You’re literally walking into forests where there’s no sawmill or cooperage and trying to find someone in that country who’ll turn that wood into casks for you. That’s why these tend to be one-offs as opposed to permanently available products — because there’s no supply chain.”

Credit: Westland Distillery

Though working with new and unusual oaks might be part of whiskey’s future, it’s also a major component of human history. In “Oak: The Frame of Civilization,” author and arborist William Bryant Logan writes about the “basic sympathy” between oaks and humans, which could almost define the role of Quercus in the production of some of the world’s greatest spirits.

“And wherever we have gone, oaks have become central to our daily lives,” Logan writes. “We invented a whole way of living out of their fruit and their wood, and by that token, they too invented us.

The article Whiskey Makers Explore the Weird World of Alt Oak Species appeared first on VinePair.

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wineanddinosaur · 4 years ago

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A Bottle Hunter’s Guide to Fall’s Best Limited-Release American Whiskies

Autumn is almost upon us, and the season brings with it more than fall colors, Halloween, and cooler temperatures. For American whiskey fans, fall is the prime bottle-hunting season of the year, when most of the hottest names in American whiskey hit store shelves — only to disappear almost instantly. Enthusiasts call in favors, camp in liquor store parking lots, and sometimes drive hundreds of miles chasing tips, all to secure these scarce whiskies, which are then breathlessly posted to whiskey forums and Facebook groups.

It’s more than just the whiskey diehards who chase these bottles, though. Pappy Van Winkle is a famous name, but the others are becoming known beyond the aficionados. And many casual drinkers enroll in raffles and lotteries just to see if they get lucky. Moreover, scoring one of these ardently sought-after bottles is often a matter not of choice, but of taking what is available (and affordable). Getting lucky at the liquor store means a buyer could very well go home with something they aren’t all that familiar with. Pappy Van Winkle is part of the season, with an October release, but there’s plenty more to explore. Going beyond Pappy, here’s the lowdown on everything else in America’s autumnal whiskey crop, with context for why people want those bottles so badly.

SEPTEMBER

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

When to expect the annual batch of Old Forester Birthday Bourbon has a pretty easy tie to remember it by: It’s pegged to the birthday of brand founder George Garvin Brown, Sept. 2. The series dates back to 2002, making it one of the best-established releases of the season. Every year, Old Forester’s top hands (these days those belong to master distiller Chris Morris and master taster Jackie Zykan) select several dozen barrels from a single day’s production and bottle it as a special offering, with age and proof varying from year to year.

It’s the top expression for Old Forester, but beyond that the long track record and special selection of whiskey stock give Birthday Bourbon that something extra. Mike Vacheresse, owner of Brookyln’s Travel Bar, says the annual Birthday Bourbon “makes for such a fun, insightful conversation with fellow bourbon enthusiasts, comparing memories of past releases and where the current release ranks in your personal view.”

Parker’s Heritage

Although Elijah Craig 18 Year Old is much sought after, Parker’s Heritage is usually seen as the top annual whiskey release from Heaven Hill Distillery, which functions as a showcase for all the whiskies the distillery makes. As far what makes it so prestigious, “It’s a noble experiment ,” says Kurt Maitland, who runs New York’s Whiskey Selections club.

On top of the fact that the proceeds go to fight ALS, it’s nice to see a bourbon distillery show off its vintage stock. Parker’s has come out with some releases over 20 years old, but they also try some new things, such as the 8-year-old malt whiskey and the recent Orange Curacao cask-finished release.

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Bourbon

Among bourbon fans, Four Roses has a special reputation, and this is due in large part to its 10 individual stocks of bourbon. These are made by fermenting batches with five distinct yeasts and two separate grain recipes. To create the annual Small Batch Limited Edition, the distillery draws on a handful of these stocks (some of them quite old), with each year representing a new composition. Steve Beal, a noted whiskey consultant and Keeper of the Quiach, describes it as the “perfect bourbon storm.”

“First, it’s in limited supply,” says Beal. “Four Roses also has a unique following of devoted fans who are ready to travel miles and spend a fortune to get their hands a bottle. It’s considered a collector’s item to some, almost to the point of obsession.”

Little Book Bourbon

A relatively new name among the fall releases is Little Book, which will see only its fourth batch this year. Maggie Kimberl, content editor of American Whiskey Magazine, attributes its popularity to the way “it plays off the popularity of Booker’s Bourbon by handing the reins to Booker’s grandson, Freddie Noe, whom he referred to as ‘Little Book.’ Booker’s and Little Book are similar in that they are special releases that are the labor of love of their respective namesakes, but the liquid inside is quite different. While Booker’s is always a small-batch bourbon, Little Book can be any whiskey it wants to be.”

The past iterations of Little Book included a combination of rye, malt, and bourbon whiskeys with a 13-year-old corn whiskey; a blending of Beam’s rye whiskey with two Canadian ryes, one of which was 40 years old; and a version that married Jim Beam’s traditional and high-rye bourbon recipes together.

OCTOBER

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

Also known as BTAC, the five whiskeys of this collection are almost as in demand as Van Winkle bourbons. The five releases consist of the George T. Stagg, W.L. Weller, and Eagle Rare 17 Year Old bourbons; and the Thomas H. Handy and Sazerac 18 Year Old rye whiskeys. Crowning this group is George T. Stagg, a cask-strength bourbon that is always at least 15 years old, and sometimes older. “George T. Stagg is easily one of the most sought-after bourbons I know of,” says Daniel Marlowe, owner of Lexington, Ky.’s Whiskey Bear bar. “It seems that almost all bourbon lovers I’ve talked to have a “Stagg Story” and a favorite [year]. To me, the mark of a great high-proof bourbon is in its balance, mouthfeel, and finish. George T. Stagg always nails it in those categories and I think that’s why it remains a crowd favorite year after year.”

Just behind Stagg in the pack is W.L. Weller, the cask-strength wheated bourbon that tops the ladder of Weller bourbons. Buffalo Trace distillery remodeled the Weller brand in 2016 and has built on it in the years since, adding more luster to Weller, but it was already pretty popular with whiskey fans. “This was because of the popularity of Pappy [van Winkle], which shares the same source barrels,” says Kimberl. Thus, the rule for many is that if you can’t get Pappy, get Weller instead.

As for the others, Eagle Rare 17 Year Old Bourbon and Sazerac 18 Year Old Rye both have high age statements, a point that always attracts buyers, while Thomas H. Handy is the only regular source for a cask-strength version of Buffalo Trace’s rye whiskey.

NOVEMBER

Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon

Speaking of high age statements, Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Bourbon is pretty much the oldest whiskey Heaven Hill releases with consistency. That makes it a crowning statement for the venerable Elijah Craig brand, and eagerly sought after by that brand’s legion of fans.

“It’s hard to call yourself a collector without one of these,” says Cary Ann Fuller, a whiskey blogger and Certified Spirits Steward. “These single barrels are a quintessential example of a properly (over-) aged bourbon, showing off the oak without the wood overpowering the characteristic rich vanilla and honey notes. Scoring one can be tricky at retail, but a few visits to Heaven Hill’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown should pay off.”

Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Tennessee Whiskey

This relative newcomer to the autumnal release scene comes from America’s top-selling whiskey brand, a brand that paradoxically didn’t get much attention from the enthusiast scene. “That is,” says whiskey blogger Bobby Childs, “until their release of Heritage Barrel.”

Childs boasts he has used Heritage Barrel to convert Jack Daniel’s haters into fans. “It’s Jack Daniel’s nod to making whiskey the old way. Slowly toasted barrels, lower entry proof, maturation on the upper floors of their highest elevated warehouses, and bottling at 100 proof. The result is a richer, more robust and nuanced version of Jack Daniel’s.”

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection

Experimental whiskeys are rarely thought of as prestige items, but Woodford Reserve built its top series around trying new things or reviving old practices. The distillery has brought out a different whiskey under this name every year since 2006. So it’s a showcase, but unlike Parker’s Heritage, it’s a showcase of what Woodford Reserve can do rather than what it is doing.

“I think what makes the Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection offers a great expression of Chris Morris’s mastery over mash bill and the flavor that can be achieved from it,” says P.J. Wagner, lead bartender at Guild Row in Avondale, Ill. “The use of the chocolate rye in last year’s release was fantastic and absolutely perfect for the American palette. When it comes to limited releases that are too good to sit on your shelf as a showpiece, Woodford Reserve’s Master’s Collection is one of the most consistently delicious yearly releases there are.”

The article A Bottle Hunter’s Guide to Fall’s Best Limited-Release American Whiskies appeared first on VinePair.

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isaiahrippinus · 4 years ago

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A Bottle Hunter’s Guide to Fall’s Best Limited-Release American Whiskies

SEPTEMBER

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

Parker’s Heritage

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Bourbon

Little Book Bourbon

OCTOBER

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

NOVEMBER

Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon

Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Tennessee Whiskey

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection

The article A Bottle Hunter’s Guide to Fall’s Best Limited-Release American Whiskies appeared first on VinePair.

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johnboothus · 4 years ago

Text

A Bottle Hunters Guide to Falls Best Limited-Release American Whiskies

SEPTEMBER

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon

Parker’s Heritage

Four Roses Small Batch Limited Edition Bourbon

Little Book Bourbon

OCTOBER

Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

NOVEMBER

Elijah Craig 18 Year Old Single Barrel Bourbon

Jack Daniel’s Heritage Barrel Tennessee Whiskey

Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection

The article A Bottle Hunter’s Guide to Fall’s Best Limited-Release American Whiskies appeared first on VinePair.

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wineanddinosaur · 5 years ago

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How Japan Created the Modern American Bourbon Market

It was 1975 and bourbon sales in America were tanking. The brown spirit had hit its peak just five years earlier, selling some 80 million cases in 1970 — but it all went downhill from there.

Baby boomers coming of drinking age were rejecting the stuffy-seeming whiskey their parents drank, instead favoring beer, cheap wine, and, most especially, clear booze like vodka and tequila. The American whiskey industry was reeling and running out of ideas.

“This was a daunting task since the market was totally Scotch-taste oriented,” William Yuracko, then head of Schenley International’s export division, told the The New York Times in 1992. Japanese people mostly drank Scotch — the country had lifted all restrictions on imported spirits in 1969 — or their own homegrown whiskey, which was likewise based on a Scotch flavor profile. “Bourbon was unknown and a total departure from the taste pattern,” he wrote.

Remarkably, within a few short years, Yuracko (who would would become Schenley president from 1975 to 1984) and others would create a frenzy for bourbon in Japan. In fact, the country’s desire for very well-aged, high-proof, premium-packaged, limited editions and single-barrel bourbons helped Kentucky survive when the American bourbon market was dead as disco.

The U.S. would, in turn, follow Japan’s lead and, as the world entered a new millennium, start latching onto these trends and introducing products that helped revive America’s fervor for the once-humble spirit, ultimately and unwittingly turning it into something now rabidly pursued by connoisseurs the world over.

A Critical Mass of Bourbon

Yuracko first started taking reconnaissance trips to the Far East in 1972 and quickly realized that getting Scotch-swilling Japanese old-timers to switch to bourbon would be nearly impossible. He decided to instead focus his efforts on Japan’s youth, the “post-college consumer,” he told The Times, “whose tastes were not yet formed and who was attuned to Western products and ideas,” like Coca-Cola and Levi’s.

“They were having their own youth revolution, [like] what we had gone through in the ’60s they were going through in the 80s,” explains Chuck Cowdery, author and bourbon historian. “Rejecting their parents’ generation, including what their parents’ generation drank. They were open to trying something new.”

Enter bourbon. Then, as now, it was very hard for foreigners to make headway in Japanese business. Yuracko knew he’d need a local liaison, so he offered a distribution partnership with Suntory, the Japanese whiskey brand that already controlled 70 percent of the local market. Brown-Forman, another American whiskey powerhouse and Schenley’s best competitor, would eventually offer Suntory the same deal.

“I cannot overestimate the importance of the decision taken by Schenley management to place their most important brands in the same house with their major competitor,” Yuracko explained in a paper he wrote for the Journal of Business Strategy in 1992. “This would be tantamount to Ford and General Motors giving all their top models to Toyota to market in Japan.”

It was a major gamble for everyone involved. Suntory could, of course, intentionally torpedo all bourbon sales to assure Japanese whiskey would never again have a competitor; or it could favor one bourbon brand over the other. The fact was, however, neither Schenley nor Brown-Forman had much to lose. If they didn’t take the gamble, bourbon might not even exist by the end of the decade.

Suntory didn’t want to simply do a trial, either. According to Yuracko, Suntory wanted a “critical mass” of bourbon, “a product for every taste and price level … and each brand was given its own identity and market niche.” Schenley offered Suntory Ancient Age, J.W. Dant, and I.W. Harper. Brown-Forman handed over Early Times, Old Forester, and Jack Daniel’s.

Since most drinking in Japan was done outside of the home, Schenley and Brown-Forman together began setting up bourbon bars all over the country. The bars had “an unsophisticated atmosphere that would appeal to young people already attracted to American clothes, cars, and customs,” Yuracko explained, playing country music and serving American food like hamburgers and chili, and only pouring Suntory’s six bourbon brands.

Instead of buying single glasses of bourbon, young customers purchased bottles, stored in cabinets along the bars, each adorned with a neck tag denoting whose was whose. In an era before TikTok, it became a youthful challenge to see who could drink the most personal bottles. Thanks to heavy advertising from Suntory, one brand quickly began to rise above the others.

“I.W. Harper was the eye-opener,” explains Cowdery. A bottom-shelf product in America, it was naturally able to be sold at much higher prices in Japan, before Schenley eventually fully repositioned it as a premium, 12-year-old product. If it was only moving 2,000 cases internationally in 1969, I. W. Harper eventually became the largest-selling bourbon brand in Japan at more than 500,000 cases per year by 1991. Cowdery explains, “It was profitable to buy cases of I.W. Harper on [the American] wholesale market and privately ship them to Japan.”

Eventually, the U.S. had to take I.W. Harper off the market stateside in order to satisfy demand in Japan. Soon enough, other brands took notice and decided to see if they, too, could become “big in Japan.” By 1990, 2 million cases of bourbon were headed to the country every year.

More Brands Head to Japan

In a sleepy Osaka suburb, a three-story building that has been everything from a hotel to a brothel is now a bar styled like a western saloon. It serves American food like fried chicken, thumps Dylan and the Beatles on a vintage jukebox, and mixes up classic cocktails like the Mint Julep and another called the Scarlett O’Hara. This is Rogin’s Tavern in Moriguichi, a bourbon bar that opened in the 1970s that remains a shrine to Americana and its governmentally protected spirit, stocking more and arguably better bourbon than pretty much any single bar in America.

“I tasted my first bourbon in the basement bar of the Rihga Royal Hotel, a famous old place in Osaka,” claims Seiichiro Tatsumi, Rogin’s owner since 1977. He quickly became obsessed, reading everything he could about bourbon via literature provided by the American Cultural Center in Osaka. He finally visited Kentucky for the first time in 1984 and fell in love, driving its country roads, stopping at off-the-beaten path liquor stores, and acquiring numerous dusty bottles to bring back to Japan. He now owns a second home in Lexington.

Over the years, Tatsumi claims, he has probably “self-imported” some 5,000 bourbons from America back to his bar. “I stop at every place I pass, and I don’t just look on the shelves,” he says. “I ask the clerk to comb the cellar and check the storeroom for anything old. I can’t tell you how many cases of ancient bottles I’ve found that way.”

It wasn’t only Tatsumi. Japan gave these old bourbon brands a new lifeline. For example, Four Roses had long fallen out of favor with American drinkers by the 1970s. In 1967, Seagram’s turned the once-venerable brand into a dreaded blended whiskey, cut with grain neutral spirit and added flavoring.

“[B]y the time the ‘90s rolled around it was just an average blended whiskey,” the late Al Young, Four Roses’ former senior brand ambassador who worked at the company for 50 years, told VinePair contributor Nicholas Mancall-Bitel last year. But in Japan it was legitimate straight bourbon whiskey, packaged in sleek Cognac-style bottles with embossed silver roses, and it was a big hit. Just as Schenley and Brown-Forman had partnered with Suntory, in 1971 Four Roses struck up a partnership with Kirin, Japan’s top beer brand.

If brands like I.W. Harper, Four Roses, and Early Times were saved by Japan, others were specifically created for it. Blanton’s, for example, was spawned in 1984 by two former Fleischmann’s Distilling execs, Ferdie Falk and Bob Baranaskas. The two had acquired the Buffalo Trace distillery (then known as the George T. Stagg Distillery), as well as Schenley’s key bourbon, Ancient Age. Believing, like Yuracko, that the future of bourbon was overseas, they called their new company Age International.

“[T]he brand chased the profitable high-priced segment,” writes Fred Minnick in his book “Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey.” In this case, that meant introducing the world’s first commercial single-barrel bourbon, specifically designed for Japan, and packaged in a now iconic grenade-shaped, horse-stoppered bottle.

Blanton’s was such a hit in Japan that by 1992 Japanese company Takara Shuzo had purchased Age International for $20 million. It immediately flipped the actual distillery to Sazerac, while retaining the brand trademarks for Blanton’s.

Aged Bourbons Claim a Price

Accustomed to Scotch, once Japanese consumers “moved onto other types of whiskey, they already had these expectations built in for 12-, 15-, 18-year age statements,” explains John Rudd, an American who formerly lived in Japan and runs the Tokyo Bourbon Bible blog.

Bourbon in America had typically been released after about four years — it got too oaky if it aged much longer, it was believed at the time — and few consumers particularly cared about lofty age statements. Not so in Japan and, luckily, the glut in America allowed many bourbon distilleries to unload what they thought was over-aged junk.

“With a depressed market in America, lots of bourbon, especially extra-aged bourbon, was shipped to Japan where it could command a higher price,” Rudd says.

There was Very Old St. Nick, specially created in 1984 for the Japanese market, some as old as 25 years. There was Old Grommes Very Very Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, which in the late 1980s started sending Japan bottles as old as two decades. A.H. Hirsch, aged 15, 16, and eventually 20 years, landed in Japan as early as 1989, and is still some of the most coveted bourbon of all time (so much so that Cowdery wrote an entire book about it).

Heaven Hill, today the largest family-owned and operated distillery in the U.S., specifically bottled an Evan Williams 23 for the Japanese market and created new brands like Martin Mills 24 Years.

“Japan considered bourbon a prestigious, highly coveted consumer good,” says Jimmy Russell, Wild Turkey’s master distiller who started visiting Japan in the 1980s. Every year he returned with special bottlings from his company, some as old as 13 years, a lofty age that never existed in America. “Back then, you’d see private bottle programs at prestigious bars where high-level executives would have their own bottles of bourbon designated ‘my bottle.’”

Rogin’s Tavern, for one, started tapping distilleries for its own private, cask-strength bottlings. Willett provided a 25-year-old labeled “Rogin’s Choice.” Julian Van Winkle III, scion of the soon-to-come Pappy dynasty, offered a 12-year bottling. Van Winkle III, in particular, kept his nascent company afloat in the mid-1980s and onward by providing special bottlings, many under a name you could easily now call the entire Japanese whiskey marketplace: Society of Bourbon Connoisseurs.

Van Winkle III first released Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 20 Year in America in 1994; by the mid-2000s, Pappy had become the most coveted whiskey in the country, regularly selling for thousands of dollars per bottle.

“Bourbon became popular here [in America] again,” explains Rudd. “And people quit thinking it needed to be young.”

The American Bourbon Revival

America’s bourbon malaise would last nearly three decades, reaching its nadir in 2000, when a mere 32 million cases were moved stateside. Of course, it’s always darkest before the dawn, and, thanks to Japan’s example, things were already being put into place for bourbon’s homeland revival.

Like at Four Roses, where Jim Rutledge took over as master distiller in 1995 and made it his mission to get the company to start letting American consumers finally taste the high-quality bourbon Japan had been enjoying for decades. As Mancall-Bitel explained, however, “The bourbon was performing too well overseas and the company didn’t want to rock the boat — until it was rocked from within the company.”

Seagram’s collapsed and started selling off its assets. Rutledge convinced Kirin to buy Four Roses, and the eventual Japanese CEO, Teruyuki Daino, moved his offices from Tokyo back to the distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ky. By 2002, once again, Four Roses bourbon was sold in America. Today it’s one of the bourbon world’s most revered brands, introducing geek-friendly products like Single Barrel in 2004 and the Small Batch series in 2006.

Japan proved that well-aged, premium bourbon actually had a place in the world. Bourbon didn’t have to be Scotch’s economical, bottom-shelf brother. Blanton’s, when it was finally sold in America, was priced at $24 a bottle — then a massive price point — and was advertised in such upscale places as The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and Ivy League alumni mags. Around the same time, Japanese drinkers were gladly paying $115 per bottle.

Bourbon’s rebirth in America has caused many brands to pull back their products from the Japanese market and raise prices on the little still sent there. Japan’s taste for bourbon has dwindled. At the same time, American tourists were heading to Japan to clear shelves of old stock.

“It all corresponded with the American bourbon boom getting out of hand,” explains Rudd. He believes Japan is no longer the bourbon oasis that it once was, even as recently as 2014, when he lived near a liquor store that stocked rare bottles like Society of Bourbon Connoisseurs, gold wax A.H. Hirsch, Van Winkle 1974 Family Reserve 17 Year, and Buffalo Trace Antique Collection offerings from the early aughts.

Rudd says he’d buy a few bottles here and there, always resting assured that more would be there any time he returned. “Then one day, I went back to the store and nothing was left,” he says. “I asked the owner what happened and he told me, ‘Some American guy named Alex came by and purchased all of it.’”

The article How Japan Created the Modern American Bourbon Market appeared first on VinePair.

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