American whiskey has never been hotter, and that has made the man behind Beam an international celebrity. Noe is the great-grandson of Jim Beam and the seventh member of his family to serve as the companys master distiller. But while his forebears spent most of their time laboring over stills in Kentucky, hes as likely as not to be judging a cocktail competition in Moscow or meeting with executives in Beijing. That is something I never dreamed in my entire life, going to Russia or China, he says. Those might as well have been the moon. A decade ago, the American whiskey industry was flat on its back, having suffered decades of weak sales and underinvestment. Today, though, bourbon -- the corn-based, barrel-aged spirit that accounts for the vast majority of the whiskey made in America -- is everywhere, from Mad Men to the wet bars of C-level office suites, feeding a global ecosystem of tourism, whiskey bars, cocktail competitions, and craft distilleries. - Fortune Magazine [Paid Subscription]
Posted on: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 13:52:40 +0000