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Jack is quite different to me than Jim. I actually prefer Jack because of its heavy char taste and flavorings, and I think JB White feels younger and has thin legs for a Bourbon. JB Black is definitely a step better and I'll buy it when cornered by lesser stuff, but too sweet to be a regular pour. I'm not a fan of Knob either which is their older aged stuff.
I do like Bookers immensly though-which stands to be their Super Premium.
comparing Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam, while not an apples to apples comparison, is inevitable, at least in the minds of the masses (who don't understand that it's not really an apples to apples comparison). The two biggest kids on the block are gonna eventually fight, if only in the minds of the by-standers.
The question on my mind is who began to imitate whom. Or who's commercial bottle dress come first. And why do manufacturers (I'm thinking in a broader sense here) emulate their competition's packaging. I know they do It because it works, but why, from a sociological perspective, is it a successful strategy? After all, some pretty successfully add campaigns have played up a product's uniquenesses. 7-up used to call itself the un-cola, Wendie's had the "where's the beef" campaign. And while I'm on the subject, or drifting away from it, does the various poses of horse and rider on the Blanton's bottle stoppers as a marketing strategy remind anyone else of the 10, 12, 2 and 4 on the Dr. Pepper bottles from back in the 70's?
Jim Beam is a post-prohibition brand. The main brand sold by the distillery operated by Jim Beam and his brother, Park, pre-prohibition was called Old Tub. Taking in the marketplace after prohibition, Jack Daniel's was still owned by the Motlow family and while nothing like what it would become, it was a pretty successful and well-known brand. I suspect the decision to use Jim's name was inspired by Daniel's and a host of other brands, although the decision to use the name straight up rather than with an "old" prefix (i.e., Old Taylor, Old Fitzgerald) may have been inspired primarily by Jack. Also, it seems very likely that the square bottle was inspired by Jack.
I would not, however, consider Jim Beam a Jack Daniel's "clone." Those came later, after Jack really started to explode. There were many but the ones still with us are Evan William's and Ezra Brooks.
And of course Beam (or something like it) has been made the same way for 211 years....Quote:
Originally Posted by cowdery
so they keep telling us.......Quote:
Originally Posted by jburlowski
Scott
I tell myself that what they mean is that the Beam company is heir to a 200+ year family whiskey-making tradition, which is true. Break it down and you start to have problems, e.g., the Jim Beam brand didn't exist prior to Repeal.
Of course, they're now also the parent company of Maker's Mark and Bill Samuels claims an even older family whiskey-making heritage. He claims that an ancestor made whiskey for Washington's army.
And which family made whiskey for the Geico caveman?Quote:
Originally Posted by cowdery
Don't know about D.P. but the different stoppers also each have a letter. If you care to you can collect them all (which spells BLANTONS). Kinda cool.... Maybe mount them in a board or something.... I started doing that.... never finished the project.....Quote:
Originally Posted by ILLfarmboy
An aside, I wonder if, like many of these things, one letter is significantly more rare than another....?? Hmmm....
Ken