Wildfires that ravaged the Pacific Northwest in 2020 left winemakers in a dire situation, facing grape harvests marred by soot and acrid smoke. Responding with creativity, Patricia Green Cellars in Oregon transformed the damaged wine into brandy and innovatively blended the distilled product to create a new pair of whiskeys.

Patricia Green Cellars, renowned for its Pinor Noir and Sauvignon Blanc wines, teamed up with Oregon distiller Lynsee Sardell of Big Wild Spirits. Sardell, whose products include Witch’s Gin and The Wolf’s Whiskey, collaborated with lead winemaker Jim Anderson and associate winemaker Matt Russell to birth the unique spirits under the Patty Green Distillers label. Their aim was not only to repurpose the affected grapes and wine but to utilize locally grown heritage grain varietals to emphasize a unique sense of place, or ‘terroir’. “Said Sardell, “Whiskey, especially those derived from barley, are just as expressive of Oregon’s exceptional landscape as wine or any other cultivated plant we have here. Collaborating with winemakers is tremendously exciting—their skill, quality, and sense of place are infused into these one-of-a-kind whiskeys that distinctively represent the Pacific Northwest.”

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There were approximately 12,000 gallons of Pinot Noir that the winery considered undrinkable due to smoke taint. Fortunately, Sardell was able to distill it into a brandy that the winemaking team adored. The first pair of releases are blends of both whiskey and brandy. Multifarious, the first release, features a base distillate made from a medley of three distinct malted barley types: Lightning Malt, Purple Karma, and Full Pint. Overall, there were five barrels—two created from a tree harvested from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA and charred to levels No. 2 and No. 3, and the remaining ones which were previously used for aging Pinot Noir. For the latter barrels, the intention was not for a cask finish. Instead, these barrels were sanded, toasted, and charred to effectively eliminate any residue of the wine. The final blend is composed of 80 percent malted barley distillate and 20 percent brandy, resulting in a product with a proof of 98 that carries the flavors of dried fruits, earthen spices, molasses, tea, oak, and ginger snaps.

The second offering, Purple Karma Pinnacle, is substantially more exclusive and pricey. It owes its name to the barley grain type used in the whiskey mashbill, an antiquated Himalayan variant that, as per the winemaking team, possibly has never been utilized in whiskey production. Aged for 2.5 years in precisely two ex-Pinot Noir barrels (which were repurposed to eradicate wine traces), this expression also has a blend makeup of 80 percent whiskey and 20 percent brandy. Packed at a cask strength of 112 proof, it boasts fruity, tobacco, spice, and oak-infused sweet notes.

You can purchase both whiskeys—Multifarious ($80) and Purple Karma Pinnacle ($200)—directly from the Patricia Green Cellars website. If you want to try the brandy on its own, you can find that available for purchase as well. And if you’re in the mood for some wine that is absolutely not smoke-tainted, you can find the Pinot Noir available from websites like Wine.com.

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A well-known Caribbean rum has undergone a rebrand due to concerns related to its “hurtful” connections to slavery.

Maison Ferrand, a spirits manufacturer, altered the name of its rum from Plantation to Planteray. This month, bottles displaying the updated name will be distributed internationally.

The organization initially committed to renaming the beverage in response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which flared up following the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

Global demonstrations triggered broad-ranging debates on systemic racism and the ramifications of colonial history, leading to a slew of brands being scrutinized for potentially offensive affiliations.

But delays were caused by trademarking the new name in 120 countries, the company said.

Alexandre Gabriel, the rum’s creator and master blender, said at the time: “We understand the hurtful connotation the word ‘plantation’ can evoke to some people, especially in its association with much graver images and dark realities of the past.

“We look to grow in our understanding of these difficult issues and while we don’t currently have all the details of what our brand name evolution will involve, we want to let everyone know that we are working to make fitting changes.”

The new name comes from the word “plant” to reference the sugar cane origin of the rum and “ray” to refer to “the sun, being open to people, the heritage and savoir-faire of rum”, according to a post on the brand’s Instagram account.

It was revealed by the business proprietor in a media gathering at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados this month.

“Starting today, the transformation from Plantation to Planteray gets underway,” expressed founder Gabriel.

“Trademarking a name that embodies our brand philosophy in 120 countries was a drawn-out progression. Rest assured, our rum, which we’ve been creating with pride for over 25 years, remains unchanged. It will continue to be made with an equal level of proficiency, dedication, and attention, just under a new name – Planteray Rum.

“We sustain our firm commitment to producing the same notable rum from Barbados and the finest rum terroirs across the globe.”

Jim Beam and Jack Daniel’s have long been leaders in the American whiskey market. In terms of sales, there simply isn’t a touch on them. Last year, as reported by The Spirits Business, Jack Daniel’s sold 14.6 million cases, whereas Jim Beam sold 16.7 million, ranking them as the two top selling whiskey brands globally. This is a crown that one of the pair has held for a minimum of five years. However, this popularity doesn’t translate as strongly to the bar scene as it used to.

Each year, Drinks International, a news platform for the liquor industry, surveys top 100 bars across 33 countries to discover the drink orders of consumers. The chosen bars consistently feature on renowned lists such as World’s 50 Best Bars and Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Awards. Following the survey, Drinks International publishes its conclusive Brands Report, providing an insight into the purchasing habits and trending brands in the world’s best bars.

Topping the list for the second consecutive year is Maker’s Mark, one of our beloved cost-effective bourbons, famed for its red-wax-dipped top. Jim and Jack, formerly the go-to brands for a “shot and a beer” or mixed drinks, have made room for slightly pricier counterparts. This shift indicates an openness among consumers to pay a little more for a superior pour, or the patrons of these surveyed bars are simply more willing to spend more.

Related: 2024’s Best Cheap Whiskies for A Budget-Friendly Bottle

Regardless, the titanic twosome of America’s whiskey finds itself in the seventh and eighth positions, in spite of their well-established reputation in the worldwide marketplace:

Maker’s Mark

Bulleit

Michter’s

Woodford Reserve

Buffalo Trace

Wild Turkey

Jim Beam

Jack Daniel’s

Rittenhouse

Four Roses

The growth of Maker’s Mark and other brands has begun to impact Jim Beam’s numbers, which sold about 300,000 fewer cases last year than they did the year before. It’s worth noting that Jack Daniel’s grew by 7.9 percent last year, but the brand has also stepped into the craft marketplaces with the release of an American Single Malt and the continuation of its successful, experimental Distillery Series. Maker’s Mark, meanwhile, sold 200,000 more cases in 2023 than they did in 2022, an increase of 5.3 percent, although it had a bigger 2022, growing 11.1 percent from 2021.

According to Drinks International’s annual American whiskey trends report, that trend should continue. Instead of relying on business data, this report is more subjective, since the bars themselves decide what climbs up the rankings. And while Maker’s might see competition from Michter’s, Jack and Jim don’t even make the list:

Michter‘s

Maker’s

Bulleit

Woodford Reserve

Buffalo Trace

Angel’s Envy

Blanton’s

Wild Turkey

Elijah Craig

Eagle Rare

Regardless, it seems like consumers are willing to spend a bit more on whiskey than they have in the past—and Jim and Jack are being left behind.

Related: 50 Best Whiskeys in the World 2024

Maison Ferrand changes brand to Planteray rum after acknowledging ‘hurtful connotation’ of old name

A popular Caribbean rum has been rebranded after concerns were raised that its name was associated with slavery.

Maison Ferrand, which markets itself as one of the world’s premier boutique producers of fine spirits, has changed the name of its Plantation rum to Planteray rum.

The original name was criticised in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020 for its links to the transatlantic slave trade. The change was promised in June 2020 and the company said trademarking the new name in 120 countries had caused delay.

The announcement was made by the Maison Ferrand owner, Alexandre Gabriel, at a press conference at the West Indies Rum Distillery in Barbados this month.

He said the new name “pays homage to sugar cane, the plant that gives birth to the rum, and the sun’s rays that are essential for sugar cane growth and ripening”.

The announcement did not address the racism complaints made about the original name, and there were no official social media posts about the rebranding.

The move was welcomed by Rachelle Ferron, the head of entertainment at ITV’s Good Morning Britain, who wrote a piece for the Guardian in 2022 in which she cited the brand in a critique of “businesses [that] still feel the need to use ‘plantation’ as a selling point despite its links to historic colonial exploitation”.

Ferron said: “This is a welcome advancement, and I am proud that I was integral to this long-overdue change, but there is still work to do and I would urge any company to remove associations with slavery from their branding. This was my own little protest but that’s how wider change often starts.”

A Maison Ferrand spokesperson said the company would not be commenting further on the rebranding.

Announcing the decision to change the drink’s name in June 2020, Gabriel, the rum’s creator and master blender, said: “We understand the hurtful connotation the word ‘plantation’ can evoke to some people, especially in its association with much graver images and dark realities of the past.

“We look to grow in our understanding of these difficult issues and while we don’t currently have all the details of what our brand name evolution will involve, we want to let everyone know that we are working to make fitting changes.”

In a 2022 interview for the magazine Drinks International, Gabriel said the inspiration for the original name was his childhood in rural France.

He said the word plantation was “a French farming term”and the name was chosen “without any malice and never with any intent to make anyone feel marginalised”.

This is not the first time a rum producer has changed the name of a product because of criticism about an association with slavery. Two years ago, the Danish company 1423 World Class Spirits rebranded its Ron Esclavo rum to Patridom after criticism of the original name, which means slave rum, and the firm’s claim that it was “an homage to the slaves who paid a high price in the history of sugar cane and rum”.

Ferron called on other rum producers to rebrand products linked to slavery. She criticised Diageo for retaining the Captain Morgan brand, named after Sir Henry Morgan, a privateer and plantation owner who owned more than 100 enslaved people.

A Diageo spokesperson said: “Captain Morgan rum was created around 80 years ago and acquired by Diageo in 2001, and there has never been any legal or financial link between the brand and Henry Morgan, who lived in the 17th century.”