Brown-Forman To Start Brand New Bourbon Brand
By Richard Thomas
(Credit: Brown-Forman)
Brown-Forman, the American drinks giant behind Jack Daniels’, Old Forester and Woodford Reserve, is poised to launch its first new bourbon whiskey brand in two decades: Coopers’ Craft.
The last time the Louisville, Kentucky-based company started up a new bourbon brand, it involved the revival of the historic Labrot & Graham distillery as part of launching Woodford Reserve, and that was in the mid-1990s. The Master Distiller at Woodford Reserve, Chris Morris, led the team that helped develop the new Coopers’ Craft.
The new Coopers’ Craft will be a four to six year old bourbon from Brown-Forman’s Shively plant (located in suburban Louisville), bottled at 82.2 proof and priced at $29 per 750 ml bottle. The new whiskey is intended as an upscale, but entry-level and approachable product.
The rollout for the new whiskey is coming this summer, and will initially be limited to the states of Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Florida. Expansion to other markets will follow.
