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Pom' Pilot
Hiram Walker Gives Bartenders Pomegranate Schnapps
Many are familiar with the story of Hiram Walker, a figure of great historic importance in the realm of American spirits. And those who carry on with his name today keep alive his innovative inclinations.
In the early 1800s, Walker purchased land across the Detroit River from Detroit, just east of what was Windsor, Ontario, and established a distillery on the banks of the river. He began selling his whiskey as Hiram Walker’s Club Whiskey, which became so popular that American distillers were angered and lobbied the U.S. government to pass a law requiring that all foreign whiskeys state their country of origin on the label. This move backfired; Hiram Walker’s Canadian Club Whiskey became more popular.
Walker even established and maintained the company town that sprang up around his distillery. He had a big hand in planning every facet of the town, from public works to police, fire and religious services.
From Classic to Contemporary
Cut to the 21st centrury, when Pernod Ricard acquired Hiram Walker as part of its purchase of Allied Domecq.
“It’s now a core brand in the Pernod Ricard organization, so there’s a lot of growth expectation and a lot more focus for the Hiram Walker brand,” says Ron Zussman, brand director for Hiram Walker. “We have three components of our business. The most important is our schnapps — which is are flavor components
like sour apple, tangerine and peppermint, used to flavor drinks. We
have what we call bar essentials, which are crèmes, Sambuca, Amaretto, those types of products and (then) flavored brandies.
“What sets us apart is we use all natural flavors,” Zussman says. “Our flavors are really true to nature. We have real fruit taste and not a candy profile. Wine Enthusiast magazine just gave five of our schnapps flavors highly recommended ratings.
“What we’re seeing is two parallel trends. One is consumers really getting in the cocktail culture with flavored Martinis. We have 10 schnapps flavors to help come up with creative drinks. The other trend is consumers going back to classic cocktails. That’s where our bar essentials line comes in.”
Do it Right
Its name firmly meshed in the schnapps marketplace, Hiram Walker watched pomegranate become the hottest flavor going but identified what it believes was a glaring gap in pomegranate offerings for making stellar cocktails.
“We are extremely thrilled to be offering our newest flavor, which is the first pomegranate schnapps in the marketplace,” Zussman says. “(It has) phenomenal flavor and color and all natural ingredients.
“There’s a huge trend toward pomegranate … but there aren’t good choices out there to bring that to the on-premise. What you have are fruit juices and syrups or very expensive, high-end pomegranate liqueurs. There’s nothing really for an everyday Pomegranate Martini. Yes, there’s pomegranate juice out there, but that’s not the best way to make a pomegranate drink.”
Schnapps in general, Zussman says, is the link between a half-hearted attempt at a cocktail and the real deal.
“There’s no doubt that schnapps is going to continue to be a very important ingredient in bars,” he says.
“Cocktails today are about robust flavors, and it’s really the schnapps that flavor the vodka, rum and tequila.”
With backbar space increasingly featuring flavored vodkas and rums, Hiram Walker still believes that schnapps make the drink. “If you ordered a Mango Martini and were poured a glass of Mango-flavored vodka, that’s very different from vodka with mango schnapps,” Zussman says.
“We really did our homework and talked to a lot of bartenders throughout the country, and the one thing they kept saying over and over is that there’s an underlying demand for pomegranate-flavored cocktails. Some of the more forward bartenders were inventing it with what was available, and others were saying, ‘If we had something, we’d love to be able to make pomegranate cocktails.’ So we really took our cues from on-premise people.”
Next on deck from Hiram Walker? Look for Tangerine and Mango. NCB
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