Hi Folks. I'm the creator of Kansas Clean Distilled Whiskey. It's encouraging to see your discussion, especially so early in our infancy. We've only been in the market for six months.
Herein are a few thoughts you may wish to take into account in your discourse over our whiskey. We are indeed distilled in Kansas. We're bottled in Rochester, NY. Logistically it makes sense for us to do so. We're a spirit whiskey, a blend of aged whiskey and neutral grain. Many blended American whiskies and Canadian whiskies contains neutral grain. Spirit Whiskey is a category of whiskey defined by the TTB. It's not something we made up.
There are a couple of other spirit whiskies currently in the market, an excellent one in particular from the Texas Hill Country. I encourage you to try them all, if for anything to establish a benchmark. Inasmuch as you wouldn't compare a Single Malt to a Rye whiskey, I think its sensible and fair to compare spirits whiskies to other spirit whiskies.
I very much appreciate the one contributor to this thread who tried our whiskey and offered their candid response. If indeed others here are responding negatively to the brand, I suspect it's the marketing and advertising on our website, since there's not much else to respond to if you haven't tasted it. Here's the explanation behind the marketing. If you're on this site it's fair to guess you guys are whiskey fanatics. Like me. But the truth is, less than 23% of men who enjoy spirits enjoy whiskey--and that's an aggregate of ALL types of whiskey. The numbers are worse for women at around 7%. Typically people respond disfavorably to the taste. I think it's because we're asking people to dive off the high platform before even becoming acquainted with the water.
Most whiskey marketers know this, so they create branding and advertising that appeals to older, more educated, and frankly, time-worn pallets. Indeed the AVERAGE age of a whiskey drinker is 52. I simply think that's wrong. More people should enjoy it. And younger consumer shouldn't be deprived of the terrific taste experience whiskey has to offer. And thus I created Kansas, to welcome people to the possibilities of whiskey.
Our marketing is meant to speak to consumers to overcome their preconceptions. Preconceptions which, are in fairness to them, fully legitimized by all other whiskey marketing and advertising; old men, ships, game bird, etc., all of which are specifically targeted towards people who already enjoy whiskey, to convey heritage and tradition. Of all people, you guys know it's only chemistry and some artistry, and that labels have nothing to do with the liquid inside Kansas takes a different tact, poking a bit of fun at the industry and the billions spent marketing to older consumers.
If you do get a chance to try our whiskey, I'd surely like to hear from you. I think, I suspect, you may be pleasantly surprised. We're pretty proud of our product, having won a silver at the SF wine and spirits comp (blind tasting) and our recent Anthony Dias 92 rating in Tasting Panel.
Best,
Paul Goldman
Creator/President, Kansas Clean Distilled Whiskey
pgoldman@kansascleandistilled.com
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