To Jim and Jack

The American South is Republican country, so not much changes there, because, unlike the aam aadmis, the wealthy don’t like their traditions trifled with. Which is why you will find that it retains its image of fast horses and pretty women, though some say that, actually, it is the horses that are pretty and the women that are fast. 

But there is another legacy that has remained unchanged for centuries: that of making and drinking bourbon. This is corn whiskey country and you might be mobbed for preferring scotch to bourbon. Even though some might find it strange that an American whiskey first created by a priest should be named after a French dynasty, bourbon is almost a religion here.

Nor is there a shortage of bourbons; American families split hairs over the finer whiskeys but, as in India now, the choice is really between two gentlemen — Jack and Jim, also known by their initials, JD and JB — and ne’er shall the twain meet. Jack Daniel’s started its colourful life in 1866 in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and is recognised as the oldest registered distillery in the US. Jim Beam claims a much older history though, given the fact that the distillery has remained with seven generations of the same family in Kentucky since 1795. Even so, JD is the largest selling bourbon in the world — even though some prefer to call it by its geographically correct nomenclature of Tennessee whiskey.

Bourbon, typically, is made of barley, malt, rye and at least 51% corn and is aged for at least two years in new charred oak barrels to earn that lofty label. 

Jim Beam, for instance, ages its brews for twice that period — four years — and claims that 25% of its sour mash comes from the previous batch, giving it a DNA that has remained consistent. While bourbons can be made anywhere in the US, the lineage is restricted to Kentucky. The sweet water of the American South, iron-free and rich in calcium, is supposed to be the other ingredient that adds to its flavour. The corn gives the whiskey its sweetness, the charred barrels its smoky flavour, and the extra ageing adds a mellow smoothness that is deep within the heart of any good bourbon.

Yet, you’ll rarely hear of Americans asking for a bourbon ‘neat’, the way you might order a single malt or scotch. Mostly, it has to do with the way the Americans like their whiskey — with Coke (and we thought the Chinese strange for drinking their scotch with orange juice). Indians abhor drowning their fine whiskies in anything sweet, preferring soda — a colonial hangover — or, increasingly, asking for it on the rocks. So if the bourbon market has been increasing significantly — and we have first-mover Jack Daniel’s to thank for it with its marketing promotions and club nights — then it is on account of young Indians who studied in the US and got used to asking for their ‘JD and Coke’ at the local bar. 

And though that market has been increasing — up 24% CAGR in 2013 alone — it is built on a small base. Competition from the scotches and malts remains very high but both Jack Daniel’s and, more recently, Jim Beam, are holding their own, perhaps because whiskey cocktails are more easily associated with bourbon than scotch — and never, ever (blame me for being a purist), with a single malt.

That said, even bourbon manufacturers are feeling the need to fill up increasing slots in the market, so JB alone has added bourbons that are aged longer, or are rye-flavoured, while others are made in smaller batches for a select audience. Last year, it launched its Honey and Ghost additions and appointed actor Mila Kunis as its brand ambassador. JD has had little requirement for such ambassadors, having had Frank Sinatra as its unofficial one, with Ol’ Blue Eyes calling it the ‘nectar of the gods’ and toasting his audiences with a glass of JD and Coke at his performances. No wonder JD returned the tribute last year when it launched a specially aged JD called Sinatra Select. Priced at ₹22,000 in duty free and select stores, it is probably the most expensive a bourbon can get.

The author is a Delhi-based writer and curator