Conventional Wisdom

[cowdery]

Like a lot of businesses, whiskey producers are very much influenced by what their customers say, do and believe. "Conventional wisdom" says you must do this and that, and avoid these and those.

One example is bottle shape. It struck me, in looking at the new Gentleman Jack bottle (attached), and considering as well the bottles for Woodford Reserve, Ridgemont Reserve 1792, Knob Creek, Bulleit and others, even Maker's Mark, that thirty years ago, if you would have proposed one of those bottles it would have been instantly rejected. In fact, it was said about the Maker's Mark bottle as well as the SW 'barrel' bottles used for many SW brands that they were, "too fat." That was the conventional wisdom. "Retailers don't like that." The reason is that fat bottles (i.e., wide bottles) take up more shelf space than skinny bottles.

Of course, they couldn't be too skinny, because then they would be too tall, and retailers don't like that either. You don't want your product to be on the special "too tall" shelf.

One reason for the use of square bottles, and for their success, is that it was the only way to create a "billboard" on the shelf that was stronger than a round bottle, while staying within the retailer's comfort zone. In other words, a square bottle with the same width as a round bottle's diameter shows a lot more "face" on the shelf.

What changed? Probably nothing. Retailers still want commodity products in standard bottles, but if a product has something special about it that allows stores to sell it at a profitable price, they don't care how the bottle is shaped. For American whiskey, Knob Creek probably is the brand that knocked down that wall, through which all the others have poured.

[Martian]

Marketing is always an interesting topic. I have always felt that traditional bourbon bottles and labels have a cheap look that turns me away. Most seem to like the new Sazerac Jr. bottle. I don't care for it. To me it says old and old tasting. I like the more modern bottle shapes and labels. The Bulleit label says 19th century to me, but I like the bottle shape. The OGD orange label looks cheap to me but I still buy the product in its traditional round bottle. I like the Woodford Reserve and Ridgemont Reserve bottle shapes and labels. They say quality and class to me. I also like the KC bottle shape but the label is a little funky. I realize that some products are marketed for export. Maybe the bottlers should use different bottle shapes and labels for the domestic and export markets. Again, interesting topic.

[MikeK]

If you look at the Vodka and Tequila markets, you see that the spirits producers realized that that the average consumer believes a fancy unusual bottle MUST mean a better product and tey can charge multiple times the price.

I hate fancy, strange shaped bottles, they are harder to store in my bunker. Give me nice square medium height bottles (like HH BIB bottles). I can put 12 of them in a box.

Cheers,

[MikeK]

I have always felt that traditional bourbon bottles and labels have a cheap look that turns me away.

Excellent point. Old Grandad looks like total white trash bottom shelf crap. Who on earth would know it is quite good, a real treasure. And before I knew better, Pappy Van Winkle labels turned me off. Who is this old geezer puffin on a stogie. Gross! Now that I know this history, it is most cool.

So I agree, all this superficial fancy bottle crap is probably neccessary to save and grow the bourbon industry.

[angelshare]

For American whiskey, Knob Creek probably is the brand that knocked down that wall, through which all the others have poured.

A very interesting marketing observation. Knob Creek's "billboard" shelf presence is probably still the most effective one, too.

Not sure if our bottle perceptions are representative of American whiskey drinkers in general, but viewing our visceral responses as consumers with a more objective eye:

1) We don't like bottle changes for brands we already know.

2) We are drawn to striking bottles for new/unfamiliar brands.

Consequently, we would probably try GJ in the new bottle if it were new to us, but might not restock as quickly with the changed bottle (acknowledging that we are in a minority here that would stock GJ at all).

Our picks for bottle styles in the last 10 years that grabbed our attention:

-Stagg/ER/Sazerac wine style bottle;

-Wathen's/Weller Centennial/ETL SB short square bottle;

-Benchmark SB tall square bottle