The bottom line: Beam bought this brand, started by one man, when it was only available in one state: Minnesota. This is a departure from the usual trajectory, of a conglomerate waiting until the new brand is selling regionally, and in the tens of thousands of cases a year before buying it.
For an Irishman, Kieran Folliard figured out the American dream
quickly. Invent a product. Market it well. Become a wild success. Get bought
out by a conglomerate for an untold fortune. Travel the country for weeks at a
time promoting said product in an Airstream.
That has been Folliard's unlikely trajectory during the last two
years with 2 Gingers Irish
whiskey. The inspiration, Folliard said, was
pouring phenomenal amounts of Jameson Irish whiskey at the bars he owned in
Minneapolis.
Yet, he wondered if he could do it better. Folliard began
contracting with a distillery in central Ireland in pursuit of the smoothest,
most mainstream Irish whiskey it could manage.
"Nonsnobby was my approach," Folliard said.
2 Gingers quickly became a Minnesota sensation, mostly because of
a cocktail that Folliard trademarked called the Big Ginger, which is composed
of 2 ounces of 2 Gingers topped with ginger ale and fresh squeezes of lemon and
lime. If such a cocktail sounds like a betrayal of all things whiskey, well,
neither 2 Gingers nor the Big Ginger is intended for you.
Folliard is candid about the fact that his whiskey is meant to
appeal to both men and women (as opposed to the usual whiskey target: men) who
prefer vodka and beer to whiskey. Hence, 2 Gingers is as easy to drink and
burn-free as whiskey gets — especially when topped with ginger ale and citrus.
"We're never going to win over the aficionados, and I'm not
sore about that, honestly," Folliard said. "The focus is absolutely
on converting nonwhiskey drinkers, both male and female."
That plan appealed to Beam Inc., the suburban Chicago spirits
giant behind dozens of brands that include respected whiskeys such as Maker's
Mark, Basil Hayden's and Booker's. It bought 2 Gingers in late 2012 and kept
Folliard as its face. Beam is expanding 2 Gingers' availability to all 50
states.
"An interesting piece to us … is that through the brand of 2
Gingers, he was able to convert people," said Chris Bauder, Beam's vice
president and general manager of whiskey and cognac. "It seemed different
than what was on the market."
Indeed, 2 Gingers threads a unique needle: It provides Beam an
opportunity to compete with Jameson with an accessible Irish whiskey while
appealing to people who don't even like whiskey much.
And for that reason, 2 Gingers deserves credit; it provides a
little heat on the tongue with hints of oak and citrus before reaching an
impressively smooth finish.
But from a straight whiskey drinking perspective, the flavor
peters out without ever quite becoming interesting. At $20 per bottle, it's
tough to recommend, especially when very good bourbons can be had for only
slightly more money
Then again, I'm not the intended audience. And that's just fine
with Folliard and Beam.
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