Brand differences in the whiskey market are complicated and incestuous, but they are not generally "more marketing than product".
Jim Beam is massive in scope in ways that are fairly incomprehensible. Add mpg and micros & I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not true.
Also doesn’t account for the trick question which is jack daniels. With that one is their any chance your statement is true?
PS: this is the worst form of internet board pedantry. Thomas was talking about a mis representation of the whiskey industry & instead of reputing his point, which I agree with, I nerd sniped.
(Weird fact: MGPI distillate is all over the market, but they're not even close to the "biggest" still).
Here is the bet. Given a methodology chosen by ‘harryh I’m in on $500 to Blackstone Bicycle works against $500 to tptacek’s charity of choice.
american whiskeys like 4 roses, weird wild turkeys & japan only beams count as Americans.
I defer to harryh’ on the bet if you do.
It seems like someone needs to do some research to find a list of whiskey distilleries and their annual output?
In any case it became really clear really early that this bet devolved into 'does Jack Daniels outsell the rest of the American Whiskey industry by itself?'
Surprisingly, the answer is 'its actually close'. Here is an article that summarizes similar results to what I found: https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2018/06/world-whiskey-bra....
Dickel is the next biggest non-KY distillery that doesn't show up on this list. They are effectively .1 additional 9l cases combined. The crafts are .007.
In any case, I'll concede the bet. Let me know the charity.
Bourbon is still made by fermenting grains, distilling them (often in pot stills), and aging for a few years in new oak barrels. But bourbon is often sold to other labels and blended, which is what Frank-Lin does. A lot of the "heritage" is bunk.
Any single malt scotch, on the other hand, is produced at a single distillery, sometimes using the same methods and stills they've used for a century or two. Many of the distilleries let you visit and see the whole process.
I have been to several distilleries and witnessed the them distilling and aging whiskey, and I can say that this is completely false (at least with respect to whiskey). It may be true for vodka, but that's the reason vodka is always used in mixed drinks.
FYI your link to Frank-Lin describes a range of services including blending, and lists whiskey, bourbon and scotch. These may be created by fermenting and distilling grains, aged for years/decades in wood casks, and then finally sent to Frank-Lin for blending of multiple batches, but Frank-Lin isn't producing the liquor itself from ethanol. At least not in the case of bourbon or scotch.
Any idea the min quantity for an order?
They produce over a thousand brands, but there are only about a hundred different recipes. Much of the value added is from the bottle and label. The bottle factory is across the street. They make most kinds of booze, including wine. The alcohol is "food grade industrial alcohol."[2]
They used to make Skyy vodka, until Skyy was acquired by Campari. Skyy was just a marketing operation. Frank-Lin made the stuff under contract. You can have your own brand of booze made by them as a service. Selling it is your problem.
Brand differences in this industry are more about marketing than product.
[1] https://www.frank-lin.com/production.html [2] https://www.mgpingredients.com/other-products/food-grade-ind...