Distiller magazine

fall 2020 | 131 You've come to the right place. Since 1943 Grain Processing Corporation has supplied the beverage industry consistent, high-purity grain neutral spirits. And of course we offer a full complement of sensory, analytical and customer service to back up every order. You can rely on GPC for quality and value with delivery that's on time and hassle-free. U.S. Produced | Gluten Free For more information, call 563.264.4265 or visit us at grainprocessing.com/alcohol © 2019 Grain Processing Corporation sition period when there was a lot of negative press about sourced juice." Even getting it placed was initially an uphill battle. "At the time, liquor store owners and bar owners were saying, 'Oh, it's sourced? It's from MGP? We don't want it.' And where it did get in, it just sat. And then all of a sudden, one day it was cool to drink MGP again and everybody fell in love with it." at sudden popularity came just as Blaum Bros. was preparing the launch of its own flagship whiskeys. "A lot of people said we should just use the same label to keep that brand recognition. It was a big discussion," says Blaum. "We could've used the same bottle and design and just changed the name from Knotter Bourbon to Blaum Brothers Bourbon. But at the end of the day, we wanted them to be two separate things and we wanted our distillate to stand on its own two feet." e distillery's extreme transparency paid off. "Because we were really slamming it in people's face that Knotter Bourbon was sourced, people started to pay attention and say, 'Okay, why is that?' And then they learned that we're making whiskey the hard way. Big barrels, long aging time and doing it our own way. And that led people to jump on board and follow the ride. We really started to acquire quite a fan base." e distillery's customer base tends toward highly edu- cated whiskey consumers, which is just how the Blaum brothers like it. "It goes in line with who Mike and I are. We were both whiskey fanatics and appreciated the craftsman- ship and work that went into them. So when we decided to open our own distillery, that's where we were coming from. e people who are a little more educated on whiskey and appreciate the work that goes into it are people after our own hearts. It's really gratifying now that we're at the point that the bourbon and the rye are both flying off the shelves, because it means we did something right along the way." ere's no single right approach to sourcing whiskey. But distilleries that have seen success have a few things in common: ey have specific goals and an understand- ing of how sourcing can get them there; they implement a long-term plan to reach those goals and they adjust or pivot from the plan as circumstances change and oppor- tunities arise. And, critically, they are not only transparent about sourcing, they take a sense of ownership in it. "We aren't ashamed of our sourced releases. Sourced brandy is part of what we stand for," says Joe Heron of Copper & Kings. "We blended them. We aged them. We nursed them into being. It's like adopting a child or rescuing a dog. It may not have been yours originally, but you have the same intensity of love for it." END

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