Jim Beam Sale

I’m no big flag waver but some things are so steeped in American tradition that they should be kept off limits. Kentucky bourbon is one of them. That’s why I find the sale of Jim Beam to Suntory of Japan disturbing. Suntory? What’s the first thing that comes to people’s minds when the hear the word Suntory? Bill Murray doing the Suntory commercial in Lost In Translation (“…make it Suntory time”) including the manic Japanese director, pronouncing ‘Suntory time’ like a Samuri on speed.

Suntory is a good company with good products. A long time a go I spent several months in Japan and drank Suntory beer and it was great. But that was beer, and that was Japan, not the ancient Bourbon County, Kentucky. It was surprising to see how much Jim Beam is worth to Suntory– 13.8 billion dollars. Money talks.

A few years ago I used to travel frequently to Nashville, passing through Kentucky near the old distilleries. It’s a unique, wild and timeless.

I read a quote where someone said, “Jim Beam must remain the ‘quintessential American brand’”. Guess what? That changed 180 degrees in a blink of an eye and a stroke of a pen.

As a writer I consume a reasonable amount of whiskey. It goes with the trade, but I’ll be making a few changes. Goodbye Jim Beam, hello to the old standard, Elmer T. Lee.