Evan Williams Bourbon Responds to Accusations of 'Playing Politics'

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080506/CLTU018 )

Craig Beam, 7th generation Master Distiller at Heaven Hill, America's largest independent family-owned spirits producer, recently sent bottles of Evan Williams, America's second-largest selling Kentucky Bourbon, to Democratic Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and presumptive GOP nominee John McCain. Beam could not bear to see a repeat of "Crown Royal-gate", during which Sen. Clinton downed a shot of Crown Royal Canadian Whisky at a campaign appearance inIndiana.

The Jeremiah Weed website just "blasted Evan Williams" for sending bottles to the candidates. "Mr. Weed, or the blogger that assumes his identity, accuses us of trying to 'unfairly influence'Kentucky voters by 'trying to win the favor of Senators Obama and Clinton," commented Heaven Hill's Beam. "They fail to mention that we also sent a bottle of Evan Williams to Senator McCain, specifically to make the gesture evenhanded and bi-partisan. So clearly the only favor I'm trying to win is preventing the appearance of a bottle of Canadian Whisky on theKentucky campaign trail. This also all sounds a bit suspect, considering that the folks with Jeremiah Weed also sent bottles to the candidates, according to their spokesman in an April 17th article in Advertising Age."

Beam further noted that the Jeremiah Weed website, where the accusations were first leveled, appears to be embodied by a shadowy figure who claims to have "labored in obscurity for 25 years." "Well my family has been laboring at distilleries since the 1780s," Beam mused. "Even if Weed does exist, he is trying to blur the line between real Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, declared America's native spirit by a 1964 act of Congress, and a Bourbon Liqueur, which adds sugar and flavorings to the whiskey. It would be less insulting, I think, for the candidates to drink the Crown Royal here -- at least it's whiskey of some sort -- and lo and behold, the same company that owns Crown Royal also happens to own Jeremiah Weed. And on top of it all, Evan Williams is a product of a family-owned American company. Jeremiah Weed is owned by a British based company!"

Founded in 1934,Bardstown, KY-based Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc. (www.heaven-hill.com) is the nation's largest independent, family-owned spirits producer and marketer and the world's second largest holders of Kentucky Bourbon.

Heaven Hill reminds you to "Think Wisely. Drink Wisely."

SOURCE Heaven Hill Distilleries, Inc.

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Copyright © 2008, NewsBlaze, Daily News

Tags: Food and Beverages, kentucky

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