WalMart / ASDA own brand Bourbon

[moby]

I live in the UK where sadly a 700ml (a fifth) of Jim Beam costs around UK£15.75 or US$28, I usually stock up when travelling and I can purchase duty free. However, lately I have been drinking ASDA's (WalMart's) own brand "Kentucky Straight Bourbon" and I'm pleased to report that it is pretty good considering the price is about UK£8.68 or US$15.50 for 700ml. Does anyone know who makes this for ASDA (WalMart), I would assume that WalMart having such huge purchasing power would have struck a deal with one of the major distillers. Any information gratefully received.

Moby

[ratcheer]

Apparently, nobody has any idea how to answer your question, so they are talking smack about something else.

Tim

[Joe_Blowe]

Apparently, nobody has any idea how to answer your question, so they are talking smack about something else.

Tim

Good one!

Moby,

If I were a bettin' man, I'd wager that the Asda bourbon is a Diageo product. Check the link...

[barturtle]

I'm not familar with Wal-mart selling a bourbon, but if you can send as much info as is on the label, I'll look into it and see what I can figure out.

A distillery # or bottler would help as well as any other info that may be on the label would help many of the members of this board at least make an educated guess

[BobA]

This thread seems to have (appropriately) been split up. But I'd like to know just how many states allow spirits to be sold in stores such as Wal-Mart, drug stores, etc. I've spent some time in places with "state stores," but mostly in states with what I consider the "normal" arrangement; private liquor stores as the only place to get spirits, with beer and wine available in grocery and convenience stores.

Just how many places (in the US) can Wal-Mart sell its house brand?

Bob

[BourbonJoe]

Just how many places (in the US) can Wal-Mart sell its house brand?

Bob

Not in Pennsylvania.

Joe

[pbrian]

Just how many places (in the US) can Wal-Mart sell its house brand?

Bob

Not a direct answer to your question, but I remember reading this article a couple weeks ago and thinking that this can't be good for local liquor stores, or the liquor indusrty in general (but don't ask me why, I'm just skeptical about anything that Walmart does). Also, it appears that Walmart's biggest "partner" in the liquor business is Diageo, so I would assume any house brands would come from them. But does Diageo even own any bourbon brands anymore?

edit: removed copyrighted material from posting

[Joe_Blowe]

But does Diageo even own any bourbon brands anymore?

Well, Diageo's website only lists one bourbon brand in their "American Whiskey" category: Bulleit. However, I seem to remember past partnerships with Barton, or BF, or someone. I'll let one the "big dogs" take it from here...

[BSS]

Stores such as Wal-mart can sell in Kentucky, but I have never specifically seen a Wal-mart sell anything but beer. Rite-Aids and many drug store type of places sell liquor here.

[barturtle]

I know in Louisville, KY they have to have a seperate entrance. For example, one store I know of has double sets of sliding power doors and in between them is a door to the liquor store. This makes sense because they can only sell liquor, wine and beer during certain hours (they used to not be able to sell liquor and wine on sunday, but that changed a month ago). Another store has a seperate entrance off the sidewalk next to the main entrance.

Now in Louisiana, there are few liquor stores because the groceries tend to have a pretty good selection, and there seem to be no restrictions on when they can sell. I particularly remember being thrilled to be able to go pick up some whiskey and beer on sunday to watch the NFL with.

I used to live in Phoenix, AZ and the liquor stores were definately seperate (and had a crappy selection of bourbon)

[kbuzbee]

This thread seems to have (appropriately) been split up. But I'd like to know just how many states allow spirits to be sold in stores such as Wal-Mart, drug stores, etc. I've spent some time in places with "state stores," but mostly in states with what I consider the "normal" arrangement; private liquor stores as the only place to get spirits, with beer and wine available in grocery and convenience stores.

Just how many places (in the US) can Wal-Mart sell its house brand?

Bob

Not in Ohio.

[kbuzbee]

I particularly remember being thrilled to be able to go pick up some whiskey and beer on sunday to watch the NFL with.

Good news in Ohio. Restraunts have been able to sell beer, wine and liquor on Sundays. The package stores have not. They fought this as unfair to restrict their sales when the restraunts were not under the same restrictions. They won!!! If any store has a restraunt nearby which serves on Sunday, they can be open as well.

Ohhhh Yeeahhhh.....!

Ken

[gr8erdane]

In St Louis, all the major food chains sell liquor. Their top shelf items tend to be middle shelf in most dedicated liquor stores though. Outside the city though it's not so prevalent. Package liquor stores in most small towns are being replaced by the convenience stores who carry a limited selection. Regular Walmarts in the city don't carry liquor but Super Walmart Stores in the small towns carry a very limited selection. Not too long ago, the WalGreens drug stores carried liquor but they have discontinued that practice here. In some places, volume beverage retailers like Lukas Liquor Superstores are opening with huge volumes of wines, beers and liquors but few of what we consider top shelf brands. For the most part though, small package liquor stores are still around and will at least try to order bottlings they don't carry.

The nice thing about the grocery stores carrying liquor is that I can walk into a 24 hour Schnucks or Dierbergs at 8am and pick up a bottle of EWSB or WTRB and not bat an eye. Except on Sunday morning of course.

[moby]

Thanks for all of your comments with regard to the ASDA (WalMart) brand of Bourbon, we don't seem to be any closer to finding out who the maker may be, but the attached pictures of the label of a bottle I just bought may be of interest. Are there any clues on the label?

Moby

[moby]

And here is a picture of the label on the reverse of the bottle

Moby

[bluesbassdad]

Moby,

I can't help.

However, I am fascinated by the term "blended bourbon". I don't recall seeing it before.

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[moby]

Dave,

I imagine that it means the Bourbon comes from more than one distillery and blended for taste, as per most scotch's - the regular brands like Teachers, Bells, Cutty Sark, Johnnie Walker Red etc are all blends, unlike the more expensive labels such as Glenfiddich which are single malts from one source.

Moby

[Gillman]

Well as defined in the U.S., it would mean a blend of which 51% at least is bourbon (the rest neutral grain spirits or other non-bourbon). Kentucky Gentleman is put out in that iteration and called Bourbon: A blend on the label, but there is also an all-straight Kentucky Gentleman as Bobby Cox once pointed out on the board (see, Bobby, I'm solicitous for real whiskey too and noticed you pointed this out some years back ). But as used in the U.K., I am not sure what the term means, i.e., "blended bourbon" might be used in a different sense (e.g. a mingling of all-straight bourbon whiskeys).

Gary

[barturtle]

Well I can't be of any help here. Seems they don't have to conform to U.S. labeling laws as it is bottled in the EU.

However I do find the label quite interesting as it seems to break quite a few of those laws.

-Seems that you can't label anything that may be misleading as to the fact that it may be made by or with the support of the government or armed forces, and I'm quite sure that that eagle with the snake and sheaves is a rip-off of a symbol of the armed forces, maybe just a division, but still...

-must state the distiller (or whatever fictitious name they are using for the product) as well as the registered distillery number...(I think I need to check some of my bottles as I don't remember seeing numbers on all of them)

So while it is interesting to see a purely non-USA bottling, I can't tell you a thing about it. But I do find it interesting that without those label requierments, I would be wary of buying a lot of liquor there, as I couldn't find out anything about what I was drinking. This could be particularly problematic with scotch, as there are a lot more scotch distilleries than there are bourbon.

Of course there is always the option of just drinking whats best for the price and enjoying mindlessly. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.