The Big Man of Jim Beam

Chapter 13Booker's Bourbon

Booker's True Barrel Bourbon was a hit with its target audience. Across the board, the feedback from distributors and retailers was very positive. Where did this come from? How come you've never sent this out before? Who is this Booker guy again? Is he that big guy we saw at the sales meeting? The guy with the cowboy hat? Can we have more? And most importantly, can we sell this stuff? Clearly, Jim Beam Brands was on to something.

The reaction, though limited to a relative handful of people, led to the logical next step: In addition to once again giving away the product to key distributors around the holidays, the company prepared for selling Booker's in small quantities at retail.

There were some hurdles to clear first, some issues to resolve. One of them was the proof of the whiskey. Some at Beam thought it was too high and argued for it to be reduced to a more conventional level. Booker refused to budge. This was his whiskey. This is how he drank it. They might be able to push back on other whiskies, but not this one.

In a carefully constructed and widely circulated memo to corporate he wrote:

I can't agree with bringing the proof down to 95–100. Dilution to 95 takes away ¼ of the body and character of the whiskey. It just tastes different. The rich color of barrel whiskey is lost and you won't get enough nose. The nose is very important to the enjoyment of fine whiskey.

Let me know what you think.

The memo made its point. The proof would remain ...