Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/101724
THE MESSAGE A Come-Back for Four Roses PHOTO: ANTHONY HEAD Celebrating a Milestone "T he whisky business sounded a lot more interesting than banking or insurance," laughs David Stewart, Master Distiller for The Balvenie as he recalls what brought him to the company in 1962. Though he started off doing clerical work, 2012 marked Stewart's 50th anniversary at the company, making him the longest-serving Malt Master in the Scotch whisky industry. "It's been a great career for me, and I've had a unique role in the industry," admits Stewart, who is estimated to have nosed 400,000 casks of whisky in his career. PHOTO: RACHEL BURKONS Four Roses Master Distiller Jim Rutledge. T alk about a turnaround! The Master Distiller for Four Roses Kentucky Straight Bourbon, Jim Rutledge, joined TASTING PANEL at Haddingtons in Austin's Warehouse District to detail the history of this long-lived American brand. First crafted in the 1860s, it grew immensely popular through the turn of the century. Four Roses survived Prohibition because its distillery was one of the few in the country licensed to manufacture whiskey for "medicinal purposes." "Four Roses quickly emerged in the mid-1930s as the number-oneselling bourbon in the country," Rutledge said, adding, however, that the good times eventually had to end. "Seagram bought the Four Roses brand in 1943. Despite the fact that we were the number-one bourbon, in the 1950s [Seagram owner] Sam Bronfman made the decision to pull us off the market. By 1960, our bourbon disappeared from the U.S. entirely." Although Four Roses bourbon continued to be a top-seller in Japan and many European countries, Seagram appropriated the Four Roses name for inexpensive, blended "light whiskey" for the U.S., which led to declining sales and reputation. A generation of Americans either knew nothing of Four Roses or—worse—heard that it was just bottom-shelf booze. Rutledge began working for Seagram's Research and Development in 1966; in 1994 he became Four Roses' Master Distiller and the turn-around truly began. He improved the quality of the Yellow Label and pushed to get the bourbon back into the stores. In 2004, Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon was introduced and became the top-seller in its category in Kentucky. In 2006, Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon premiered to great acclaim, including taking Double Gold at 2009's San Francisco World Spirits Competition. "Seagram's destroyed the brand, and we had to overcome that perception. In a way it's been fun, but in a way it's been a challenge," Rutledge said. "This year our sales will be up over 50 percent. But the main thing I'm concerned with is what goes in the bottle." —Anthony Head 18 / the tasting panel / january 2013 Sailor Jerry Rum National Brand Ambassador Rachel Furman (an admitted "Balvenie superfan") joined The Balvenie Master Distiller David Stewart in celebration of his 50 years of service. To commemorate this milestone, The Balvenie has released 88 bottles from a single cask of 1962 Balvenie, the year Stewart began at the distillery. "It's been a magical 50 years," he said humbly, and from what we hear at THE TASTING PANEL, The Balvenie 50 is rather magical indeed. —Rachel Burkons