One of the nation’s premier spirits debates is hitting the road again in 2013!

Together with Beam Inc., JSH&A is asking whiskey enthusiasts “What is America’s preferred whiskey?” – American, Canadian, Scottish or Irish.  The Great Whisk(e)y Debate™ commenced this month in Charlotte, N.C. as more than 200 brand fans rallied together to show their support for Beam’s award-winning whiskey portfolio.  JSH&A’s very own Jim Kokoris moderated the debate as 7th generation Jim Beam Master Distiller Frederick “Fred” Booker Noe III pitted his award-winning Devil’s Cut™ Bourbon alongside Maker’s 46™ Bourbon, 2 GINGERS® Irish Whiskey, Laphroaig® Triple Wood Single Malt Scotch Whisky and Canadian Club™ Small Batch Classic 12.

Stay tuned for future events or follow #whiskeydebates on Twitter.

In production for two years, Hershey’s Great Chocolate Factory Mystery in 4D is a result of the combined efforts of Hershey’s Chocolate World, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop™ and Granaroli Design & Entertainment and features several industry firsts including:

• First Real-Time 4D Show: the direction of the show is determined in real-time through audience participation. There are over 100 different possible outcomes, so no guest will have to experience the same show twice.
• First Real-Time Characters in 3D: The characters are brought to life by the largest year-round team of digital puppeteers in the world, offering guests a responsive, real-time experience.

During the show audience members are invited to join their favorite characters Hershey®, Reese® and Kiss® as they embark on a mysterious adventure to find out the meaning behind suspicious activities taking place in Hershey’s Chocolate Factory. For more information on the new 4D show and to view a show trailer and behind-the-scenes video, visit www.pwrnewmedia.com/2013/HSY4DShow.

JSH&A leveraged a partnership with popular cookbook author & founder of Weelicious.com Catherine McCord to encourage families to cook wholesome, healthy meals together and ‘Make the Safest Choice’ while doing so. A press release and electronic press kit announcing the partnership with McCord was distributed at the beginning of the month followed by aggressive media outreach to various food editors at both short and long-lead publications. The press materials also included custom recipes from McCord featuring eggs as the star ingredient for quick, easy dishes perfect for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Go ahead, whip up an Egg Pesto Melt or Cottage Cheese Pancakes with your little one today!

The campaign generated more than 600 sweepstakes entrants, increased the rate of new Vault subscriber enrollment and received coverage in popular media outlets including Parents.com, Stores Magazine, Daily Chronicle and Lewiston Tribune.

“It is an honor to be named the Best Distillery Tour for the second year in a row by fans of Scotch whisky,” said John Campbell, Laphroaig Distillery Manager. “Our Distillery is more than just a production facility, it is a home to more than 500,000 Friends of Laphroaig, and we celebrate their passion for our brand each and every day. Our Visitor Center brings Laphroaig’s rich history and heritage to life while showcasing our unique whisky-making process from start to finish.”

“With more than 5,000 votes cast this year, from eight different countries around the world, the team at the Laphroaig Visitor Center has clearly put together an experience that resonates very favorably with the whisky enthusiast visiting distilleries,” said Doug Stone, Founder and CEO of ForWhiskeyLovers.com, which hosts the Drammie Awards.

The Laphroaig Distillery offers a range of experiences for those who visit, including:

• Traditional Distillery Tour – Learn about the Laphroaig^® Scotch whisky process while experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of the distillery. The one-hour tour concludes with a taste of an award-winning Laphroaig expression.
• Friends of Laphroaig^® Tour – Enjoy a self-guided walking tour, allowing Friends of Laphroaig to scout their personal plot of land.
• Flavor Tasting – Join an experienced Laphroaig host in the Friends of Laphroaig lounge for a whisky tasting. Matching familiar expressions with food, this interactive experience will showcase different flavors within each dram.
• Distiller’s Wares – Enjoy a guided tour of the unique Laphroaig production process.  After learning about the effects of maturation, taste the results straight from the cask and bottle your favorite. Guests sample whisky straight from a selection of casks in the warehouse room and bottle their favorite expression.
• Water to Whisky – The most involved whisky experience available. After meeting at the Distillery to put on wellies (provided), this experience starts with a walk to the water source for Laphroaig where you will enjoy a picnic lunch with a dram of Laphroaig cut with water straight from the source. A short drive will then take you to the peat banks where guests will be challenged to cut peat by hand before being awarded with the next dram. Back at the distillery, the malt on the floor will be turned and the fire stoked before visiting the rest of the distillery. Taste the whisky straight from the cask and take the opportunity to bottle your favorite. This experience lasts more than four hours and runs mid-week, March – September.

Visitors are welcome to drop by the center to see the on-site museum, relax in the Friends of Laphroaig lounge, or chat with the team over a dram at the bar. In 2012, visitors from 70 different countries made the pilgrimage to their No. 1 Islay Single Malt Whisky and collected the rent as a Friend of Laphroaig for a square foot of land that they own.

Laphroaig (Gaelic for “the beautiful hollow by the broad bay”) boasts an idyllic setting for a distillery, imparting the salty sea air and earthy peat into every bottle and putting the brand in a class by itself. So much so that His Royal Highness, Prince Charles, personally visited Laphroaig to give the legendary whisky maker his Royal Warrant, making Laphroaig the only Single Malt whisky distillery to have received such an honor.

To learn more about the Distillery tours, pricing or how to become a Friend of Laphroaig, visit Laphroaig.com. There, whisky enthusiasts can participate in a virtual Distillery tour hosted by Campbell.

About Beam Inc.

As one of the world’s leading premium spirits companies, Beam is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Pinnacle Vodka, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Teacher’s Scotch Whisky, Skinnygirl Cocktails, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC and DeKuyper Cordials.  Beam is focused on delivering superior performance with its unique combination of scale with agility and a strategy of Creating Famous Brands, Building Winning Markets and Fueling Our Growth. Beam and its 3,400 passionate associates worldwide generated 2012 sales of $2.5 billion (excluding excise taxes), volume of 38 million 9-liter equivalent cases and some of the industry’s fastest growing innovations.

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BEAM and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index.  For more information on Beam, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.

About The Drammie Awards/ ForWhiskeyLovers.com

The Drammie Awards – The Voice of the Whisk(e)y Enthusiast – is the “People’s Choice” awards of the whisk(e)y industry. Organized each year since 2010 by the publishers of ForWhiskeyLovers.com, the mission of the Drammie Awards is to put the power of “recognition” in the hands of the whisk(e)y enthusiast. In the last several years The Drammie Awards have grown in stature to become among the most important (and often most terrifying) means of recognition for those making a living in the whisk(e)y industry.

“As the world’s No. 1 Bourbon producer, Beam is committed to sustainable operating practices that minimize our carbon footprint and work in harmony with the environment,” said Steve Lutes, VP Technical Services. “We are proud of the strides we have made to protect our earth’s precious resources and make a difference.”

According to Lutes, Beam has a dedicated Environmental Management Committee that oversees improvement of its systems and processes worldwide.

“Each year, we challenge ourselves to find new ways to protect and preserve our resources. After more than two centuries in business, we understand and appreciate what the land, especially Kentucky water, has meant to our whiskey, so we take a diligent approach when it comes to protecting the environment,” said Lutes.

As part of that approach, Beam focuses on a handful of sustainability tenets including: water preservation, energy conservation and recycling.

“‘Reduce, reuse, recycle,’ are simple words we live by as a company,” said Lutes.

As part of its environmental commitment, the recent construction of the Jim Beam American Stillhouse:

• used 25 percent recycled materials;
• achieves 50 percent annual water savings due to the low-flow fixtures, faucets and flush valves in the American Stillhouse;
• has 100 percent controlled lighting in its facilities to save energy; and
• diverted 79 percent of its construction waste from landfills.

These measures mark the dedication that Beam has for sustaining the environment.

Nestled in the rolling foothills of Kentucky and steeped in rich 218-year history, The Jim Beam American Stillhouse construction honored that history during development and construction. From a welcome desk crafted from repurposed Cypress wood to concrete made with a high volume of fly ash from coal fired boilers to the use of the wooden entrance door and cast iron exterior staircase that were original to the Jim Beam distillery, the company’s overall commitment to natural resource conservation can be seen across multiple touch points along the tour. Even 100 percent of the white oak barrels used to age Jim Beam Bourbon are repurposed for everything from other distilled spirits to wood products.

Similar efforts are made daily at all Beam facilities worldwide. Just last year, Beam burned less coal and more natural gas at its Booker Noe plant in Boston, Ky., thereby reducing eCO2 produced by five percent while spirits production increased. The company also implemented a recycling system to allow for the co-mingling of certain recyclables such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.

For more information about Beam’s environmental and sustainability practices, visit www.BeamGlobal.com. To learn more about The Jim Beam American Stillhouse, visit AmericanStillhouse.com.

About Beam Inc.

As one of the world’s leading premium spirits companies, Beam is Crafting the Spirits that Stir the World.  Consumers from all corners of the globe call for the company’s brands, including Jim Beam Bourbon, Maker’s Mark Bourbon, Sauza Tequila, Pinnacle Vodka, Canadian Club Whisky, Courvoisier Cognac, Teacher’s Scotch Whisky, Skinnygirl Cocktails, Cruzan Rum, Hornitos Tequila, Knob Creek Bourbon, Laphroaig Scotch Whisky, Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, Larios Gin, Whisky DYC and DeKuyper Cordials.  Beam is focused on delivering superior performance with its unique combination of scale with agility and a strategy of Creating Famous Brands, Building Winning Markets and Fueling Our Growth. Beam and its 3,400 passionate associates worldwide generated 2012 sales of $2.5 billion (excluding excise taxes), volume of 38 million 9-liter equivalent cases and some of the industry’s fastest growing innovations. 

Headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, Beam is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BEAM and is included in the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI World Index.  For more information on Beam, its brands, and its commitment to social responsibility, please visit www.beamglobal.com and www.drinksmart.com.

Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs

In addition to being featured in the April issue of Better Homes and Gardens, JSH&A helped the brand score headlines in Prevention, Cooking Light and First for Women this month for a variety of their all-natural potato side dishes. To find Alexia’s premium, all-natural frozen appetizers, potatoes, breads and side dishes in a store near you, visit the store locator at AlexiaFoods.com. While you’re there, sign up for the brand’s Ambassador program to earn points towards savory rewards like coupons, gift cards and free kitchen gear: http://rewards.alexiafoods.com.