To kick off a month of birthday celebrations honouring Jack Daniel's, the brand called on Media Profile to plan a noon-hour bottle signing by master distiller Jeff Arnett at the Summerhill L.C.B.O. and a V.I.P. birthday party for 150 guests at the Drake Hotel on September 1. "Every year in the month of September we celebrate Jack's birthday," Arnett said. "Because we don't know exactly what day in the month of September he was born, we made a monthlong celebration out of it. And, because he was born in 1850, this will be his 160th birthday, so we decided to commemorate that with a collector's bottle."
Arnett conducted a tasting and bottle signing at the L.C.B.O. to promote the brand within the Toronto market. "A lot of people prefer a distilled spirit when the weather turns a little cooler. We're hoping to position ourselves in people's minds," he said.
Arnett said the brand chose to launch the celebrations in Canada after Brown-Forman, which distributes the whiskey here, presented a plan to reintroduce the brand to Canadians. He also reported that the L.C.B.O. is a major purchaser of Jack Daniel's whiskey. "It's a very important market for us," said Arnett, who will participate in additional birthday events in Lynchburg, Tennessee, and overseas in Paris, London, and Manchester, England, later this month. A U.S. tour will also take place this fall.
For the bottle signing and tasting at the L.C.B.O., the brand called on local chef Ted Reader to create a variety of Jack Daniel's infused hors d'oeuvres for customers to sample. Attendees could also purchase a limited-edition bottle, available throughout September, and have a message etched into the glass.
For the V.I.P. party at the Drake, guests sampled Jack Daniel's cocktails and hors d'oeurves like Jack-marinated watermelon and shrimp skewers. Servers also offered up slices of a birthday cake, which was shaped like a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
The brand has also partnered with bars in cities across the country to promote the Jack 160th cocktail, made with Jack Daniel's, lime, bitters, and Old Jamaican brand ginger beer.
