Beam’s 1795 – Trendy Isn’t Always Cool

Yesterday I read on Chuck Cowdery’s blog about the controversy brewing over the similarities between Jim Beam’s 1795 limited edition bottle and the familiar 1792 Ridgemont Reserve bottle. Chuck provides all the important details  and addresses whether or not this is a case of out-right copyright infringement. I’ll let his article take the lead on that issue.

What I wanted to point out and get folks thoughts on is that no one appears to be complaining about the fact that Jim Beam elected to only offer this bottle overseas (I know several brands due this already) and that their charging a staggering $178 for an eight-year old bourbon. I like a cool looking bottle as much as the next person but there’s no way it’s worth the premium they’ve put on this bottle.

Sure. I understand that the law of supply and demand drives a brand’s ability to price something.  And I realize that it gets compounded in foreign markets where supply is extremely limited but come on folks, this is crazy.

I’ve touched on it before when I polled people about barrel-strength bourbon and I’ll say it again. I hope that bourbon distillers don’t lose sight of those who have been faithful drinkers over the years before bourbon became trendy. Give us something that reminds us that we still matter and that chasing trends won’t be taking up all of your product development efforts. You’ll not only be rewarded now but in the future when bourbon is no longer the apple of the drinking public’s eye.