Non-Distiller Producers; Make The Brands, But Buy The Whiskey.

By Charles K. Cowdery

There are two kinds of American whiskey producers, those that distill and those that don't. If a company sells whiskey but doesn't distill it, they have to buy it from someone who does, so all American whiskey comes from one of the distiller producers originally. The producers who distill some or all of the whiskey they sell are Barton, Beam Global, Brown-Forman, Buffalo Trace, Diageo, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, and Wild Turkey. Maker's Mark isn't mentioned because it is now part of Beam Global. Diageo is mentioned because although it buys some of the American whiskey it sells, it also makes a lot at its George Dickel Distillery.

Non-distiller producers are either rectifiers or marketing companies. Rectifiers, although they don't distill, occasionally age at least some of the whiskey they sell, do certain processing, and usually bottle the product. Marketing companies strictly market. All of their production is done by contractors.
There is nothing wrong with non-distiller producers. They are an important part of the marketplace. Non-distiller producers were responsible for creating the market in very old bourbons which sparked much of the recent enthusiasm for American whiskey in general. They also serve as a safety valve for distiller producers by taking their excess inventory. They create and price the market for bulk bourbon and other whiskey. But for American whiskey enthusiasts they can be frustrating, because they usually won't reveal who distilled the whiskeys they sell, let alone provide details such as mash bill and distillation proof.
Plus, some of them make things up, like non-existent distilleries, master distillers, and historic pedigrees. In this they aren't alone. Distiller producers make things up too, but at least when they talk about 'their' distillery it really is theirs.

The main non-distiller producers who market American whiskey products are:

Castle Brands

Through its McLain & Kyne, Ltd. division, this New York marketing company sells bourbon under the Jefferson's, Jefferson's Reserve and Sam Houston brands. It does not disclose the source of its bourbon.

Chatham Imports

Chatham is a marketing company, based in New York City. It has rights to the Michter's name, but its whiskey is made in Kentucky (the exact source is not disclosed), not at the long-silent Michter's plant in Pennsylvania. They offer several straight bourbon and straight rye expressions under the Michter's name.

Conecuh Ridge Distillery

This Alabama company is based on the heritage of Clyde May. According to the company's founder, May's son Kenny, Clyde was a legendary unlicensed distiller-a moonshiner-whose "life's passion was making the very best whiskey." The company's Conecuh Ridge Alabama Style Whiskey is distilled for it at an undisclosed distillery in Kentucky.

CVI Brands

CVI is a California company that markets the Black Maple Hill line of straight bourbons and straight ryes. It does not disclose the source of its whiskey. Frank-Lin Distillers Products, Ltd.
A bottler and rectifier based in California, Frank-Lin sells bourbon under the Joshua Brook, Potter's and Bourbon Club brand names. The source of its whiskey is not disclosed.

INFINIUM Spirits

This California marketing company is behind Corner Creek Reserve Bourbon and Templeton Rye. Although Templeton has a small distillery in Iowa, the rye whiskey it is selling by that name was not distilled there. The company does not disclose the source of its whiskey for either brand.

Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. (KBD)

Operating out of the old Willett Distillery in Bardstown, right across the road from Heaven Hill, KBD has been promising for about 20 years to resume distilling, and has taken some steps in that direction. In the meantime, it acquires whiskey where it can, often from its nearest neighbor.
The site has warehouses and some aging is done there, but mostly it is a bottling plant. KBD produces many of the brands sold by the marketing companies on this list, in that it obtains bulk whiskey and bottles it on the customer's behalf. Its own brands include Noah's Mill, Rowan's Creek, Pure Kentucky, Kentucky Vintage, Johnny Drum, and Old Bardstown. Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd. is owned by the Kulsveen family, which is related to the Willetts by marriage.

Luxco

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Luxco gets its bourbon from Heaven Hill and markets it under several venerable brand names such as Ezra Brooks, Rebel Yell and Yellowstone. They also make blended whiskey (combining straight whiskey with neutral spirits), which they sell under a variety of regional brand names. They are a bottler and rectifier. McCormick Distilling Co.
This distillery in Weston, Missouri (near Kansas City), has a fascinating history but it has not distilled whiskey for many years. It is a bottler and rectifier. The source of the American whiskey it sells is not disclosed.

Old Pogue Distillery

The Pogue family operated distilleries in Maysville, Kentucky, from about 1869 until Prohibition. A few years ago, a new generation of Pogues decided to re-launch the Pogue brand using whiskey sourced from Heaven Hill through KBD.

Old Rip Van Winkle

From 1933 until 1972, the Van Winkle family owned the company that made and marketed the Old Fitzgerald and W. L. Weller bourbon brands, and others. When it sold that company, it retained rights to the family name. It would produce Old Rip Van Winkle bourbon using whiskey purchased from the family's former distillery. An old, silent distillery was acquired for its aging and bottling facilities.
In addition to Old Rip Van Winkle, the subsequent Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve, and other Van Winkle iterations, the new company also obtained whiskey and did packaging for other non-distiller producers.
The family's former distillery stopped producing in 1992. A decade later, as supplies of the whiskey produced there began to dwindle, the company joined forces with Buffalo Trace.
Today, the Van Winkle straight bourbons and straight rye are produced at Buffalo Trace but still selected and marketed by the Van Winkle family.

Phillips Distilling Company

This Minneapolis bottler and rectifier makes Phillips Union, a blend of bourbon and Canadian whiskey, as well as a conventional American blended whiskey and bourbon under the Phillips name. The source of its whiskey is not disclosed.

Prichard's Distillery

This small Tennessee distillery makes its own rum from scratch but the bourbon it sells is distilled in Kentucky (exact source not disclosed). Prichard re-barrels it for some additional aging and sells it as Benjamin Prichard's Double Barreled Bourbon.

Priess Imports

Priess, based in California, markets what remains of the legendary A. H. Hirsch Bourbon, which is whiskey made at the defunct Michter's Distillery in Pennsylvania. It also markets a straight rye under the Hirsch name.

Spirits Imports, Inc.

This Florida company markets various extra-aged bourbons under the Classic Cask brand name. The source of its whiskey is not disclosed. Strong Spirits, Inc.
This New York marketing company run by Michael Kanbar, nephew of Skyy Vodka founder Maurice Kanbar, sells a bourbon called 80 Strong. The source of its whiskey is not disclosed.

Twelve Stone Flagons

A marketing company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Twelve Store Flagons is known primarily for scotch but it produces a six-year-old bourbon called American Biker. The source of the whiskey is not disclosed.

Reprinted with permission from The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 10 Number 5 (September 2007). The Bourbon Country Reader is the only publication dedicated exclusively to American whiskey.
For subscription information go to http://bourbonstraight.com
=====================

Kentucky's new 'Bourbon Age'

A SPIRIT'S RENAISSANCE: AFTER DECADES OF DECLINE, BOURBON IS NOW APPRECIATED IN MORE WAYS THAN EVER.

Source: Lexington Herald Leader

By Steve Lannen

It is a staple of any respectable bourbon tour: a visit to the rackhouse where the charred barrels sit for years aging the bourbon they hold inside. From the creaky wooden floors to the sweet stillness in the air, it's easy to feel transported back to a different age.
At the Maker's Mark distillery there is, of course, such a rackhouse painted black and nestled near a green lawn, but its storage space has been severely curtailed. In its place is a thoroughly modern room more like the lobby of a swank Manhattan hotel than rural Marion County. Dance music pulses from hidden speakers and a slick glass mural backs a tasting bar in a sunken lounge area.
The incongruity is not lost on visitors, who have spent nearly an hour learning about bourbon production on the bucolic campus.
Outside, it's the story of how bourbon is made. Inside the new lounge, "it's about how people enjoy bourbon now," said Bill Samuels Jr., president of Maker's Mark.
The setting is also a metaphor for the industry as a whole, which is transforming itself from a somewhat staid, sleepy business to a growing spirit category embracing a new generation of consumers and tourists.
From the brown signs popping up on Kentucky highways to the premium bourbons being poured in high-end bars and restaurants to the thousands of tourists who are spending time and cash at new distillery visitors centers in Central Kentucky, there is a buzz these days in the bourbon trade.
That interest and excitement will be on display this week in Bardstown, the epicenter of bourbon production and host to the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, a showcase for the industry that attracts more than 50,000 visitors and loads of journalists and creates a stage where distillers are treated like rock stars.
Not long ago, those distillers saw their product on a long, downward slide.
In the early 1970s, they produced more than a million bourbon barrels annually. But consumers' tastes shifted to vodka, gin and wine.
"Whiskey and cigarettes was what our parents did," said Chuck Cowdery, author of the book Bourbon Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey and publisher of a bourbon newsletter. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he said, there was a rejection of whatever was seen as part of the establishment, and bourbon fell on that side of the cultural schism.
By 1999, production had hit a low of 455,000 barrels, according to the Kentucky Distillers Association.
But then came the bounce. Already-strong sales in places such as Japan and Australia grew stronger, and there was a renewed interest on the domestic side. Sex and the City was on HBO, and young people with disposable incomes, who had already discovered martinis, looked to branch out. They discovered premium and limited-release bourbons that were of higher standard than in years before. Sales of higher-end bourbons, originally pioneered by offerings such as Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace's Blanton's, took off and remain strong today. People are craving something authentic, and bourbon can deliver, Cowdery said. But the growth in bourbon sales is not just in one category. Nearly all bourbons -- from top shelf to bottom, as well as new ventures such as rye -- are selling, said Ed O'Daniel, president of the distillers' association. For the first time in decades, barrel production is expected to top a million by the end of the year, he said. Now, some distilleries are talking about how to keep distributors happy during possible shortages. "The entire bourbon industry has turned around since the mid-'90s," said Jim Rutledge, master distiller at Four Roses. "Momentum is still building now." Rutledge should know about turning things around. He began working at Four Roses years ago when the brand made in Lawrenceburg was owned by Seagram's. In the 1940s and 1950s, Four Roses was the top-selling bourbon. Then, the company pulled its marketing, changed the recipe and more or less ruined the brand, Rutledge said. Sales remained strong in Europe and Japan. But in the United States, "rotgut blended whiskey" is what people thought of Four Roses, Rutledge said. After a sale to Japanese brewer Kirin in 2002, the handcuffs came off and Four Roses launched a new formula. The new Four Roses single-barrel won Whisky Magazine's "Best of the Best" award in 2005 for whiskeys under 10 years and by the end of 2006 it was the top-selling single-barrel bourbon in Kentucky. This year, Four Roses entered the New York and Chicago markets. It will be sold in Tennessee in a few weeks. "Everything we do is to counter the negative image we had for so long under Seagram's," Rutledge said. Other distilleries are doing their part to change bourbon's image. Along the Bourbon Trail, a concept launched a few years ago to promote tourism, several of the seven distilleries involved have expanded or plan to transform their gift shops into "visitors centers." In the year or so it has been promoted, about 500,000 have visited some portion of the trail. Tucked off largely rural roads, the Kentucky distilleries where more than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is made didn't always offer the visitor much. At best, it was a tour and some chocolate bourbon balls at the end. Now, visitors are showing up at places such as Heaven Hill's Bourbon Heritage Center. Opened nearly three years ago, the center houses a museum telling the story of bourbon. Walls are made of limestone, roofs are made of copper and the floors white oak -- all materials integral to making bourbon. The center averages more than 50,000 visitors annually and has welcomed people from 46 countries. The centerpiece is a tasting room in the shape of a barrel. Inside the barrel, in a room with tasteful paintings and lacquered bar made of white oak and lumber recovered from a distillery fire, visitors sit and sample two of Heaven Hill's bourbons, Elijah Craig and Evan Williams 18-year-old. A host talks about flavor profiles and encourages visitors to hold the bourbon in their mouths to taste the bourbon's finish. If it weren't for brown liquor in the glasses, visitors might think they were in Sonoma Valley. And that's sort of the point, said Lynne M. Grant, director of guest services. She designed the tasting program, which required seeking approval from the state and Nelson County to serve liquor. "It just makes perfect sense," Grant said. "Why wouldn't you want to taste your own product at your center?" A native of Scotland, Grant came to the United States in part because she saw huge potential in the bourbon industry. It is only recently that Kentuckians are discovering that same potential, she said. "They don't realize how great it is because they've known about it all their life," she said. That is the first challenge for people such as Stacey Yates, the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau's vice president for marketing and communications. The native Kentuckian didn't know until two years ago it was possible to tour most of the distilleries. Now, she's helping lead the charge proclaiming that the Bourbon Trail will be the "Napa Valley of the South." To supplement a $300,000 Web and print advertising campaign, 30-second TV spots will run during the UK-U of L football game on Saturday. Distillery bus tours departing from downtown Louisville will begin soon, she said. Samuels is confident the distilleries will see more tourism and success, but the already gregarious man becomes more excited when he talks about Kentucky's national image that has suffered at the hands of Jay Leno, among others. For people outside the state, "Bourbon is beginning to define the state of Kentucky," he said. "Of all the contributions to the state of Kentucky that bourbon will make, over the long haul, it will be transformation of image."

Dear Friends,

In April of 2005, I told Tina I would like to open up a Vodka factory. Tina did not say a lot, she asked a few questions then went to bed. The next day she came home from work with a book about vodka and I realized she approved.

Some of you started hearing about this venture a long time ago. A few of you may have wondered if this will ever happen. Well, it is happening.

Fifteen months ago we made the commitment to proceed with our little factory when I wired money to Germany for our still and chose New Richmond, WI as the location of our facility. A lot of work over many months occurred:

- Our distilling equipment was handcrafted, assembled, disassembled, and shipped here in one 40' and two 20' containers for us to reassemble

- A new road was built taking us to the site of our newly constructed steel building

- Months were spent with plumbers and electricians putting the process together (special thanks to Ted Schmelling)

- Six months of applications and anxious moments securing federal and state permits

- A year of designing artwork that satisfied our vision while working with the constraints of the French made bottle (special thanks to Allen Luke and Jeff Timm)

- Four months of product development (requiring much tasting) to create a Vodka worthy of bottling (special thanks to my Dad, Paul Sr's hard work and our many tasters)

- Over a year of getting the word out and finding the right distributors (special thanks to Scott Davis)

This September 15th we will be introducing 45th Parallel Vodka to Minneapolis at the Bryant-Lake Bowl Block Party, 5:00pm to 10:30pm. It will be the only vodka there. We hope you will be able to join us at this introductory event.

http://www.bryantlakebowl.com/

Cheers,
Paul & Tina Werni
45th Parallel Spirits, LLC
==================

Not long ago, distillers saw their product on a long, downward slide.
In the early 1970s, they produced more than a million bourbon barrels annually. But consumers' tastes shifted to vodka, gin and wine.
"Whiskey and cigarettes was what our parents did," said Chuck Cowdery, author of the book Bourbon Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey and publisher of a bourbon newsletter. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he said, there was a rejection of whatever was seen as part of the establishment, and bourbon fell on that side of the cultural schism.
By 1999, production had hit a low of 455,000 barrels, according to the Kentucky Distillers Association.
But then came the bounce.
Already-strong sales in places such as Japan and Australia grew stronger, and there was a renewed interest on the domestic side. Sex and the City was on HBO, and young people with disposable incomes, who had already discovered martinis, looked to branch out. They discovered premium and limited-release bourbons that were of higher standard than in years before. Sales of higher-end bourbons, originally pioneered by offerings such as Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace's Blanton's, took off and remain strong today.
People are craving something authentic, and bourbon can deliver, Cowdery said.
But the growth in bourbon sales is not just in one category. Nearly all bourbons -- from top shelf to bottom, as well as new ventures such as rye -- are selling, said Ed O'Daniel, president of the distillers' association.
For the first time in decades, barrel production is expected to top a million by the end of the year, he said.
Now, some distilleries are talking about how to keep distributors happy during possible shortages.
"The entire bourbon industry has turned around since the mid-'90s," said Jim Rutledge, master distiller at Four Roses. "Momentum is still building now."
Rutledge should know about turning things around. He began working at Four Roses years ago when the brand made in Lawrenceburg was owned by Seagram's. In the 1940s and 1950s, Four Roses was the top-selling bourbon. Then, the company pulled its marketing, changed the recipe and more or less ruined the brand, Rutledge said.
Sales remained strong in Europe and Japan. But in the United States, "rotgut blended whiskey" is what people thought of Four Roses, Rutledge said.
After a sale to Japanese brewer Kirin in 2002, the handcuffs came off and Four Roses launched a new formula. The new Four Roses single-barrel won Whisky Magazine's "Best of the Best" award in 2005 for whiskeys under 10 years and by the end of 2006 it was the top-selling single-barrel bourbon in Kentucky.
This year, Four Roses entered the New York and Chicago markets. It will be sold in Tennessee in a few weeks.
"Everything we do is to counter the negative image we had for so long under Seagram's," Rutledge said.
Other distilleries are doing their part to change bourbon's image. Along the Bourbon Trail, a concept launched a few years ago to promote tourism, several of the seven distilleries involved have expanded or plan to transform their gift shops into "visitors centers." In the year or so it has been promoted, about 500,000 have visited some portion of the trail.
Tucked off largely rural roads, the Kentucky distilleries where more than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is made didn't always offer the visitor much. At best, it was a tour and some chocolate bourbon balls at the end.
Now, visitors are showing up at places such as Heaven Hill's Bourbon Heritage Center. Opened nearly three years ago, the center houses a museum telling the story of bourbon. Walls are made of limestone, roofs are made of copper and the floors white oak -- all materials integral to making bourbon.
The center averages more than 50,000 visitors annually and has welcomed people from 46 countries.
The centerpiece is a tasting room in the shape of a barrel.
Inside the barrel, in a room with tasteful paintings and lacquered bar made of white oak and lumber recovered from a distillery fire, visitors sit and sample two of Heaven Hill's bourbons, Elijah Craig and Evan Williams 18-year-old. A host talks about flavor profiles and encourages visitors to hold the bourbon in their mouths to taste the bourbon's finish. If it weren't for brown liquor in the glasses, visitors might think they were in Sonoma Valley.
And that's sort of the point, said Lynne M. Grant, director of guest services. She designed the tasting program, which required seeking approval from the state and Nelson County to serve liquor.
"It just makes perfect sense," Grant said. "Why wouldn't you want to taste your own product at your center?"
A native of Scotland, Grant came to the United States in part because she saw huge potential in the bourbon industry. It is only recently that Kentuckians are discovering that same potential, she said.
"They don't realize how great it is because they've known about it all their life," she said.
That is the first challenge for people such as Stacey Yates, the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau's vice president for marketing and communications. The native Kentuckian didn't know until two years ago it was possible to tour most of the distilleries.
Now, she's helping lead the charge proclaiming that the Bourbon Trail will be the "Napa Valley of the South."
To supplement a $300,000 Web and print advertising campaign, 30-second TV spots will run during the UK-U of L football game on Saturday. Distillery bus tours departing from downtown Louisville will begin soon, she said.
Samuels is confident the distilleries will see more tourism and success, but the already gregarious man becomes more excited when he talks about Kentucky's national image that has suffered at the hands of Jay Leno, among others.
For people outside the state, "Bourbon is beginning to define the state of Kentucky," he said. "Of all the contributions to the state of Kentucky that bourbon will make, over the long haul, it will be transformation of image."
======================

Business Opportunity:

Successful small distillery with 40K annual gross revenues and 450 case per year sales. Retail outlets in 100 out of 163 statewide stores. Product sells retail in mid-range for $12 for a 750ml 80 proof bottle. Eight year operating history. Proven system of production. Reliable supplies of component parts. No company debt. Company owns building where plant operates. Existing plant capacity is 20K cases per year.
Favorable regulatory environment in state permits on site retail bottle sales as well as tasting on premises. Brand only requires promotion and marketing only to increase sales. All licenses current, 6 months of inventory on hand. Current equipment capable of 20K cases per year.
Plant capacity with additional equipment would be 50K to 100K cases per year. The company is located in Morgantown, West Virginia, a vibrant college town and home of West Virginia University. The plant is located one mile from interstate 79 with easy shipping and receiving access. Seeking qualified buyer to grow company and continue business.

Price: 750K.

See company website at
http://www.mountainmoonshine.com/ Contact principal;

West Virginia Distilling Co., LLC
Attn: Payton Fireman
1380 Fenwick Ave.
Morgantown, WV 26505
Phone: 304-599-0960
=====================
a&j whiskey barrels l.l.c. is now selling new charred white oak whiskey barrels.cost of these barrels is 210.00 plus shipping.call 513 253 8591 or email us at ajwhskybrls@gmail.com anytime for orders and shipping quotes.delivery also availible.
=====================
1 Liter round Liquor Bottles, 28 mm screw top finish packed necks down in plain Kraft brown boxes 12 per case.
Originally purchased from Saint Gobain.
Mold number 9935034. $7/case takes all 28 pallets at 91 cases per pallet. Terms can be arranged.
Call Mike at (505) 440 8666
====================

To read back issues of DISTILLER newsletter?
Go to:
http://distilling.com/backissues.html
====================

===================
--To obtain a distilled spirits permit go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/index.shtml

===================
--To obtain TTB list of DSPs go to: http://www.ttb.gov/foia//err.shtml

=====================
--To obtain TTB statistics on distilling go to: www.ttb.gov then scroll down to "spirits" and then the "year".
=====================
--To obtain Distilled Spirits Laws and Regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/spirits_regs.shtml

=====================
--To obtain label regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam.shtml distilled spirits manual circular.
=======================