Whiskey aficionados thrive on discovery. Expanding their palates, experiencing new tastes quickly becomes a driving fascination. Whiskey is
a spirit of enormous depth, dimension and complexity. The large variety of ultra-premium whiskies allow people to make personal statements about what they drink and affords them the opportunity of becoming connoisseurs and aficionados of their own making.

Within each major category of whiskey—Irish, Canadian, Scotch and American—there is considerable growth in the top-end brands. Distillers around the world have kicked out all the stops and are producing super-premium versions of their trademark labels, essentially the epitome of their crafts. They’ve cracked open hand-selected barrels and bottled their best. As it turns out, their best is truly tremendous and has re-ignited consumer interest.

These superior, high-margin whiskies are catching on with several generations of pleasure-seeking Americans. In increasing numbers, people are sniffing, swirling and spitting their way to a new found appreciation of ultra-premium whiskey. The strategy is crystal clear—tempt your guests with new whiskey sensations and order more
bar stools.

Irish Whiskeys

Any discussion of whiskey must on its merit begin with those produced in Ireland. Whiskey was born in Ireland back in the six century.

At one point the country boasted of over 2,000
distilleries, today only a handful remain. The surviving distilleries produce about twenty different brands of Irish whiskey.

There are several significant differences between Irish and Scotch whiskies. The malted barley used in the production of Irish whiskey is dried in closed kilns, rather than over peat fires as is the practice in Scotland. Irish whiskeys therefore lack the peaty smokiness found in many of Scotch whiskies. Unlike Scotch, Irish whiskey is made from both malted and unmalted barley.

Irish distillers triple-distill their whisky, compared to the Scottish preference for double distilling—and prefer to develop the character of the whiskey in the vat, rather than post-distillation blending preferred by the Scots.

Ireland’s standards of quality are such that there is no such thing as a mediocre Irish whiskey. The marketing keys to increasing Irish whiskey sales involve three words—value, diversity and mixability.

The category is under priced and loaded value. You get a lot of whiskey for the buck with Irish. Connoisseurs also point to the category’s diversity, one replete with single malts and vintage-dated whiskeys. Finally, Irish whiskeys are typically so smooth that they are ideally suited to drinkmaking.

Irish Whiskey
5 Players To Watch

• Bushmills Single Malt — triple-distilled from malted barley and aged a minimum of 10-years in bourbon barrels and Oloroso sherry casks.

• Jameson Gold — traditional blend of pure pot still whiskies aged in both new and seasoned
oak casks.

• Knappogue Castle Single Malt — vintage-dated and double-distilled in small batches in copper alembic stills.

• Midleton Very Rare — vintage-dated whiskey aged between 12- to 21-years in “first fill” American oak bourbon barrels.

• Redbreast — triple-distilled in heavy copper pot stills and aged in oak for a minimum of 12-years in bourbon barrels and sherry casks.
American Whiskeys

The chant “Buy American” can now be heard in bars around the globe. It’s vivacious, satiny character and assertive bouquet are universally appealing, yet bourbons by nature are underst-ated, preferring rather to saunter through life without pretense or conceit. Even as they ascend toward stardom, bourbons remain accessible to all palates and priced for all budgets.

Bourbon whiskey must be double-distilled from a minimum of 51% corn, a figure that cannot exceed 80%. The remaining grain used in the mashbill is rye, wheat or malted barley or a mixture thereof. The difference between the great bourbons is, to an extent, determined by the composition of their mashbill.

By law, bourbon must be aged a minimum of two years in new, charred oak barrels.

Stocking bourbons on your backbar doesn’t guarantee they’ll sell themselves. Afford your guests the best opportunity to appreciate the refinements these bourbons embody. The whiskey should be served neat in a small tumbler, snifter
or a glass designed specifically for serving whiskey. Also provide your guests an opportunity to add a splash of mineral or distilled water into their whiskey. Most master distillers contend that water actually enhances the flavor and bouquet of bourbon by helping them “open up.”

American Whiskey
5 Players To Watch

• Blanton’s — the first single barrel bourbon aged approximately 10- to 12-years.

• Distiller’s Masterpiece — the current version is small batch Booker Noe Bourbon aged 20- years and finished in Geyser Peak port casks.

• Evan Williams ’93 Single Barrel — the first vintage-dated single barrel bourbon aged 9-years.

• Gentleman Jack — aged in oak barrels for 4-years and then mellowed twice in sugar maple charcoal, once before being put in wood and once again after.

• Maker’s Mark — the first small batch bourbon and one of only a small number of bourbons to include wheat instead of rye in its mash bill.

Canadian Whiskies

Canada has a long and storied history producing whisky. Scottish immigrants found conditions right for producing world class spirits. The country has ample supply of cereal grains and pristine water supply. By 1875, the Canadian government imposed strict regulation governing the production of whisky, at the time imposing the most stringent quality standards in the world. Canadian whisky also was the first to be marketed in sealed bottles, bolstering consumer confidence in the product.

Canada is renowned for having some of the smoothest, mellowest whiskies produced anywhere. Until recently, they were all made from blends comprised of cereal grains—corn, barley, wheat and rye—and aged for a minimum of three years. These blends are typically comprised of 20 or more whiskies in order to achieve the desired taste profile.

Educate your staff what makes Canadian whiskies among the finest and smoothest whiskies in the world. Conduct a tasting and let your staff experience them first hand. Their ability to speak competently about these whiskies is essential to the process of educating your clientele.

List the Canadians you stock on your various menus, again much in the same way that you market any top-end spirit. Providing the spark is often enough to become known as a “good
whisky bar.”

Canadian Whisky
5 Players To Watch

• Crown Royal Special Reserve — produced in limited quantity, Special Reserve is a blend of rare, well-aged grain and malt whiskies.

• Forty Creek Barrel Select — a small batch whisky distilled in copper pot stills, aged for 6-years in white oak barrels, then finished in sherry casks for two years.

• Canadian Club Sherry Cask — crafted by taking select whiskies aged 8-years in white oak barrels and then “double maturing” in sherry casks.

• Tangle Ridge — a blend of small grains and aged in oak casks for 10-years, then re-casked after blending.

• Pike Creek — a blend of grain whiskies and extended aged in port pipes used previously to age Cockburn port.

Scotch Whiskies

Scotch enthusiasts are different than your average spirits drinker. They’re more prone to try new releases and sample products from unconventional sources. The makers of the world’s finest whiskies appreciate these compelling desires because the same forces drive them. Of particular interest, the revival of the category is centered to a large degree with the 25- to 30-year old set.

Surveys suggest that younger consumers are attracted to Scotch because of their extraordinary diversity and large, bold flavors. The category affords young drinkers the opportunity of becoming connoisseurs and aficionados.

One reason for the category’s revival is the proliferation of single malt scotches. Where 20 years ago there were about a dozen in the market, there is now ten times the number of labels available today.

The term single malt Scotch is often misconstrued. It is a whisky made in Scotland, one produced at a single distillery using only malted barley with the addition of no other grain or fermentable material. Much of the appeal of single malt Scotch lies in its complexity, for nearly everything associated with its production greatly influences the finished whisky.

The key to marketing Scotch is to stock a balanced offering of whisky that represents the various whisky-producing appellations, namely the Highlands, Lowlands, Campbeltown and the islands. In addition, it is important to stock an adequate sampling of blended Scotches. As the name would imply, blended Scotch is comprised of various whiskies from an unspecified number of distilleries. The heart of any premium blended Scotch are single malt whiskies.

Scotch Whisky
5 Players To Watch

• Aberlour A’bunadh — a natural malt whisky bottled unfiltered, undiluted and at cask strength (121–proof).

• Auchentoshan Three Wood Lowland — a triple-distilled malt finished in three different types of oak casks—bourbon barrels, Oloroso sherry butts and sherry casks.

• Cadenhead — a collection featuring rare and
old malt whiskies bottled at cask strength, undiluted and completely unadulterated.

• Glenmorangie Claret Wood Finish — a 12-year old malt finished in Bordeaux first growth châteaux barrels.

• Springbank 35-Year — produced at Scotland’s oldest, family-owned distillery, this Campbeltown malt is aged 35-years.