Brown-In

A Fresh Look at the State of Whiskey

By Charles K. Cowdery

Unlike some other categories, whiskey doesn’t change much or, at least, it doesn’t change rapidly. Anybody who tells you about a “hot new whiskey” is just trying to sell you something. There are trends in whiskey consumption, but they are glacial compared to drink-of-the-week cocktails and other trendy products that keep your head spinning.


Whiskey drinkers aren’t trying to catch the next wave and aren’t counting their carbs. You will continue to receive lots of orders for Jack (Daniel’s) & Coke, and your servers will continue to fumble when a patron asks, “What bourbons do you have?”


Interest and Knowledge


The major trend that is occurring crosses a couple of different categories, including whiskey. It is interest in and knowledge of fine spirits generally, whether it be American whiskey, imported whiskey, imported vodka or even high-end tequila. The customer who drinks straight spirits of any kind, either neat, with water or on the rocks, but without mixers, and who isn’t just shooting them back, tends at some point to become interested in all of them. It is not uncommon for this customer to drink vodka usually but then want to try a single-malt scotch or a small-batch bourbon.


If the server initially is befuddled by this customer, that’s not so bad. Most know enough to ask the bartender, but someone behind the bar better be informed, equipped and ready for the enthusiast customer.


I hasten to point out that if all you ever sell is Jack & Coke, Johnny Walker rocks, Seven & Seven, Irish coffee and Grey Goose Martinis, then don’t worry about this trend. It probably won’t affect you. But if you have 10 exotic vodkas and 10 exotic tequilas on your backbar, and you are selling some Maker’s Mark or Knob Creek neat, or some Glenlivet, Talisker or Ardbeg, or maybe even some Black Velvet Reserve, you have among your patrons what we call enthusiasts. And what the enthusiast wants is variety.


What they want is not necessarily something new, but something that is new to them, something they haven’t tasted before.


Answering the Call


One way to provide this variety without overbuying is to select a suite of maybe 30 products, of which you will have at least 10 on the bar at all times (adjust your numbers as necessary). Maybe you will have a small-batch bourbon “hole,” into which you can rotate five different products.

Likewise, have a single-malt scotch hole, a premium Canadian whisky hole and maybe even a single-malt Irish hole –– yes, single-malt Irish whiskey, like Redbreast or Connemara. Single-malt Irish is still pretty esoteric. However, if esoteric works for you, you might want to try a Japanese whisky such as Suntory Yamazaki.


I am not suggesting that you need some $150 bottle of single-malt scotch on your backbar, from now until the end of time, just in case somebody asks for it. If you normally don’t offer high-end single-malts, don’t start now. The good news is that many “enthusiast” products, especially among the North American whiskies, are not particularly expensive. The idea is to have an answer for the spirits enthusiast who is looking for something he or she has not tasted before. Rather than just another vodka in a fancy bottle with a funny name, why not make it a whiskey?


Here, for example, is something you normally would not do, but it can be the right tactic with this kind of customer. The customer asks what single-malt scotches you have and is lukewarm to your choices. Suggest an Irish or a bourbon. Rather than have the customer default to a beer, you make a call brand spirit sale, and the customer is happy, because he or she got the variety that really was the goal.


Other Trends


Classic cocktails continue to appeal, and the Manhattan is the premier whiskey cocktail. A good Manhattan can be made with bourbon, rye, Canadian whiskey or American blended whiskey, even Tennessee whiskey. The “default” varies by region –– it’s Canadian in the upper Midwest, bourbon in the South, blended whiskey in the Northeast –– but nothing beats offering your customer a choice, or even making a recommendation, “How about a Knob Creek Manhattan? They’re really great.”


Although I said whiskey isn’t trendy, here’s a new product that wants to prove me wrong. It’s called Phillips Union, and it combines bourbon with Canadian whiskey, then adds a flavoring –– either cherry or vanilla, but there is an unflavored version as well. The customer is the same person we’ve been talking about –– the one who has tried flavored vodkas and maybe a small-batch or two. This is a little of both.


After decades of decline, sales of American whiskey in the United States are trending solidly up. For the last decade or so, the small-batch segment has grown, but the American whiskey category overall was either flat or shrinking. Now, American whiskey is growing across the board.


What’s coming ahead? Look for micro-distillery American whiskey, whiskey from New Zealand and whiskey from grains you haven’t considered, like straight wheat. It could happen. NCB


Charles K. Cowdery is the author of Bourbon Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. Find out more at his Web site: http://cowdery.home.netcom.com.