Wine & Spirits - December 2013 - (Page 14)
SPIRITS
The Great Whiskey
Shortage of 2013
by Erik Tennyson
When I started working behind the bar in 2004, the Bourbons were dusty ornaments standing on a shelf only the tallest
bartender could reach. The lone bottle of rye was locked in a rusty cabinet next to a garbage can, behind other exiles like
Galliano and Tia Maria. These were the dark days of flavored vodka and Appletinis. That year, in an effort to make their spirit
more palatable, Jack Daniels lowered its alcohol level from 86 to 80 proof and the world yawned.
The amount of
whiskey that's
ready to bottle
isn't based
on the current
market, but on
what demand was
six-plus years ago.
Unless distilleries
were remarkably
prescient, their
supply simply
can't match the
demand.
14
WINE & SPIRITS
Times have changed. Bourbon's
now massively popular both at
home and abroad. The Distilled
Spirits Council reports that, over
the past six years, whiskey sales
in the super-premium category
(bottles that sell for above $15
wholesale) rose over 97 percent. In
February, Maker's Mark announced
that the company was going to
stretch out its declining stock of
whiskey by lowering the proof from
90 to 84-slightly diluting it with
water. The Bourbon drinkers of the
world united in rebellion, and the
social media sites of Maker's were
blitzed by irate patrons who prefer
to add water to their whiskey only if
and when they want to. In February
Maker's backed off, apologizing
to its loyal fan base. The whiskey
would live on unmolested.
Yet the problem remains, and
not just at Maker's Mark: More
and more people want Bourbon.
Kentucky has more Bourbon
barrels than people, but quality
Bourbon usually ages more than
six years to acquire its signature
oak-char character. So the amount
of whiskey that's ready to bottle
isn't based on the current market,
but on what demand was six-plus
years ago. Unless distilleries were
remarkably prescient, their supply
simply can't match the demand.
Tuthilltown Spirits, which
produces the Hudson whiskeys
in Gardiner, New York, offers
one possible solution. By using
barrels ranging in size from three
to 26 gallons (the standard is 53),
they increase the exposure of the
whiskey to the wood, imparting oak
character more rapidly.
Others have taken a more
radical approach to battle Father
Time. Cleveland Whiskey throws
six-month-old Bourbon into a
DECEMBER 2013
pressure cooker with oak staves.
The Terresentia Corporation,
meanwhile, uses a proprietary
process to introduce oak flavors
into young Bourbon, then blasts
the heated spirit with ultrasonic
energy. The company claims that
this process ages the spirit, ridding
it of cogeners and converting harsh
acids to smoother-tasting esters.
And if the spirit loses some of its
flavor in the process? There's a
"master blender" on staff to deal
with all flavor and color needs. On
a video on its website, Terresentia
assures consumers that they don't
add anything that isn't permissible
by the government, just "a little
sugar, or a little citric acid." But is
this whiskey or whiskey-flavored
vodka? And with the current
emphasis on all things organic
and artisanal, can this really be the
future of Bourbon?
Recently, the folks at Buffalo
Trace Distillery, makers of the longaged, elusive Pappy Van Winkle
Bourbons among other bottlings,
felt the need to address the whiskey
shortage in an open letter on their
website, informing consumers that
demand is indeed up and stocks
are down. For now, that means
the whiskeys will remain heavily
allocated and hard to find.
Kris Comstock, the Bourbon
brand manager at the Buffalo Trace,
says the challenge for the company
now is predicting how much
whiskey to produce for the future.
"I'm now making whiskey for
Pappy Van Winkle 2036," he says,
referring to the Pappy Van Winkle
23-year-old Bourbon. "No matter
how much we make, it won't be
right. 2036? Where are you going to
be in 2036?"
In the meantime, as the distillery
increases production to keep up
with the growing demand, the
distillers are investigating the
Bourbon aging process itself.
"We've done a lot of experiments
with wood and mash bills and
grains already. We have a new
research project to help us
understand how Bourbon ages,"
Comstock says. They're building
a new four-chambered warehouse
that will allow them to control
aspects of the aging process such
as temperature, humidity, sunlight
and airflow.
Currently Buffalo Trace is sitting
on more than 1,500 barrels of
experimental whiskies. They've
worked with smaller barrels, but
didn't like the results, finding that
they produced a whiskey that,
although full of the wood char
flavor of a traditional Bourbon,
lacked the wood sugar levels to give
it depth of flavor. They've even
been working with French oak
instead of the usual American. Last
year they released two whiskeys
that aged in 135-gallon French oak
barrels, a 19-year-old and a 23-yearold. French oak, too, seems to take
its sweet time. n
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - December 2013
Wine & Spirits - December 2013
Editor’s Note
Happenings
Contents
Fined & Filtered
Acid Trips
The Great Whiskey Shortage of 2013
Spirits
Gadgets and Gi
New Destinations
Where to Eat & Drink in Seattle
Turning Champagne into Wine
Barolo & Formaggio
Douro, No Apologies
Walla Walla Cabernet
The Best for $10 or Less
Overview
Champagne
US Sparkling Wine
US Cabernet Sauvignon
Alsace
German Riesling
2011 Vintage Port
Barolo & Barbaresco
Rioja
US New Releases
International New Releases
Wine & Spirits Top 100
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