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On the cocktail list at the smart new Mezzanine bar at Terence Conran's Mezzo restaurant you can find three bourbon cocktails - Old Fashioned, Bourbon Sour and Kentucky Lemonade. It's a reflection of the growing popularity of a drink that has always been eclipsed by its bigger brother, Scotch.
Over the past five-and-a-half years American whiskey sales have climbed steadily in the on-trade. According to market research company STATS MR, sales are up 95% since January 1990 and up 15% in the past year alone (compared with equivalent increases of 71% and 4% in the off-trade) Over the same five-and-a-half-year period sales of Scotch have declined 18% in the on-trade - down 6% in the past year.
Although the term "bourbon" is used loosely for all American whiskeys, it is only those which are made to certain exacting standards which are strictly entitled to bear the name. Most come from Kentucky, but it is a whiskey from Tennessee - Jack Daniel's - which is easily the biggest seller. The drinks companies are cagey about market share but industry estimates are that Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam together hold about 85% of the UK market.
Two things make bourbon distinctive: its sweetness, which comes from the high proportion of corn that is used (a statutory 51%, though most brands generally use between 65% and 75%); and its pronounced vanilla flavour, which comes from ageing in heavily charred new oak barrels. The other ingredients are generally rye and barley malt, or (in Maker's Mark's case) wheat.
All bourbon has to be aged for at least two years, but premium brands are aged for six years or even longer. That sounds relatively young compared with Scotch, but in the hot, humid climate of the American Midwest, whiskey matures much faster than it does in the cool, damp glens of Scotland.
The growing market is being built on street-smart, young city drinkers who find the image of Scotch boring and irrelevant. "The core market for Jack Daniel's is youngish men, aged 24-28, who consume their alcohol largely in bars and pubs," says IDV public relations spokesman Jean Crossley. "The kind of drinker who enjoys Jack Daniel's is the kind of guy who likes going out and having a good time."
"Jack Daniel's is like a liquid version of Levis. It has achieved cult status and in doing so attracted a lot of younger drinkers," says Patrick O'Driscoll, marketing manager of Campbell Distillers, which imports the Wild Turkey brand. "But we're now beginning to see a growing number of consumers who have realised there is a serious side to bourbon and are discovering high-quality brands such as Wild Turkey and Maker's Mark.
Bourbon, says O'Driscoll, appeals to a generation of drinkers who wouldn't be seen dead drinking Scotch. "Its origins are rooted in post-prohibition America. It's seen as honest and not pretentious. And it enables people to enjoy the taste of whiskey without having to take on board the baggage that comes with Scotch."
Both Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey have been working hard to get their products into influential bars such as Mezzo, Flamingo, R Bar and Salsa. Barmen are being encouraged to run special promotions offering the product at shop prices. Duncan Smith, manager of Salsa, which is part of the My Kinda Town group, says they can get through 10-15 bottles a night when they have a brand on promotion. "Most people drink bourbon with coke. Actually, they don't even ask for bourbon, they ask for Jack and Coke. But once they try a premium brand neat they can really taste the difference. It has a lot more character and it's a lot more exclusive. It's like having a fine Armagnac compared to a basic brandy."
In the US there's a growing interest in single-barrel and small-batch bourbons (bourbons that are blended from a limited number of casks). Philip Harris of Eaux de Vie, which imports a range of specialist bourbons, believes the UK will follow suit. "In the past six months we've had a lot of interest in our older and higher-strength bourbons. There are definitely people out there who are looking for something different.
