Lessons of the Barrel: Bourbon and Branding (Part 2)
In the first part of this series on bourbon and branding, we discussed how Blanton’s, the first commercial single-barrel bourbon, helped America’s native spirit stand out on the global stage at a time when the bourbon industry was flagging. But once “Big Bourbon” had staved off its creeping demise, individual brands would still need to find ways to stand out, not only among other spirits but among rival bourbons as well.
Of course, this game wasn’t new to the post-single barrel world that Blanton’s ushered in. As long as people have been selling products for profit, marketing experts have been branding those products to help them carve profitable identities. In the 1950s, bourbon giants Old Stagg and Brown-Forman began a tug-of-war in the press for the “biggest brand in bourbon” title, and a slew of celebrity-led endorsements, from Sean Connery to Matthew McConaughey, have ensued in the following decades. These examples are but a drop in the barrel of the history of bourbon branding.
Arguably the most iconic branding ploy in bourbon’s complex history is nothing more than a simple dip of red wax. The beautiful, shiny red seal that jealously protects Makers Mark bourbon under its cork, is itself famously protected with the intensity of a thousand angry lawyers. Not only has this branding move remained one of the most effective in the crowded field of spirits to this day, but it is also widely remembered as a crucial spark that would reignite the world’s burning passion for bourbon. Possibly even more so than the aforementioned emergence of Blanton’s single-barrel bourbon. Blanton’s itself has not rested on its haunches since establishing itself as a legend in the ’80s. Right out of the starting gate, Blanton’s added considerable horsepower to its visual identity by placing a gold horse and jockey atop every bottle’s cork. In 1999 they took this branding angle to the next level and introduced a collectible series of eight distinct horse and jockey designs, with each racing pair in varying positions to reflect different stages of the race. To boot, each stopper is outfitted with a single letter, so that when the collection is completed, they will spell the word Blanton’s.
Not every branding decision in the history of bourbon has been a trifecta winner. In 1971, spirits conglomerate Brown-Forman introduced Frost 8/80, a Pennsylvania-born bourbon that had been aggressively distilled of all its color and as a result, nearly all of its smell, flavor, and capacity to elicit pleasure in its drinker. In essence, they had distilled away all of the things that make bourbon bourbon, while adhering to the technical guidelines to retain that title.
Truly, Frost 8/80 was a liquor for the letter of the law, but lacking in the spirit. Brown-Forman was left with a vodka competitor that wasn’t quite a bourbon and wasn’t quite a vodka. Just enough flavor hung around to make the spirit an unsuitable mixer for vodka-based drinks, but not nearly enough was present to please the discerning bourbon lover’s palate (or anyone’s palate, for that matter). While the Frost 8/80 debacle was technically a distilling decision, it was clearly one borne of an “Us too” marketing mindset in which desperate bourbon-ites were searching for a means to grab a share of the clear spirit craze. As such, Frost 8/80 will sit on the bottom shelf of history next to Crystal Pepsi and those clear telephones all the teenagers had in the ‘90s, and the rest of us are left with two important lessons: Let brown drinks stay brown, and cover your telephone’s wiring.
Today, one glance at any bourbon aisle is enough to provide a small but potent picture of this ongoing branding tale. From the audacious, pot-still-shaped bottle of Willett Pot Still Reserve, to the cherubic curve of the Angel’s Envy bottle, branding in bourbon shows just how many ways there are to capture lighting in a bottle.