David,

I don't have any hard data to support this, but it is crystal clear
that Crown Royal is the spirit drink of choice in the southern African
American adult male community.  I cannot identify another Canadian
whiskey of such popularity, but given the premium price of Crown Royal
it is likely that there is "spillover" attraction to Canadian whiskies
with similar identification.

I think the KY TN whiskey market has been very saturated over the past
decades, and I recall a very popular KY whiskey when I first moved
here, Rebel Yell, that curiously has seemed to practically disappear,
perhaps in concert with other social and demographic changes.  On the
other hand, "Jack" remains extremely popular, and I would guess it
ranks near or at the top as the liquor of choice for the hard drinking
UGA male student population.  "Jack and Coke" seems to be a southern
identification ritual among both males and females.

I am not in any way an expert on alcohol marketing and distribution,
but I have the impression that "white" spirits have become
increasingly popular.  This may include people who have shifted away
from bourbon and Tennessee whiskey.  I don't think the transition of
choice was to another "brown" liquor.  This may sound exaggerated, but
I cannot recall ever having seen a Caucasion southerner drinking
Canadian whiskey or any of the blended "rye" whiskies that are popular
in the north.  Scotch is of course another story.

I have lived in the South for 42 years, and my residence for the past
22 years has been in a rural community which has offered a lot of
opportunity for these observations.

Paul

On Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 10:01 AM, David Fahey <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I received a couple of questions from a journalist and had no answer.
> Can anybody help?
>
> 1) why Canadian whiskey is so popular in pockets of the South -- in
> parts of rural Arkansas, the drink of choice.
> 2) whether Southern loyalty to Kentucky and Tennessee whiskey is on
> the decline (or has been for a long while).
>
> Maybe my problem is that I haven't drunk Canadian whiskey, bourbon, or
> Tennessee whiskey in many years.  I am under the impression that the
> dark whiskies and rums have lost market share for a long time, so I
> don't think that I'm unique.
>
> --
> David M. Fahey
> Professor Emeritus of History
> Miami University
> Oxford, Ohio 45056
> USA
>



-- 
Paul M. Roman PhD
Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and Director, Center for
Research on Behavioral Health and Human Service Delivery
Institute for Behavioral Research
106 Barrow Hall
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
O 706 542 6090
F  706 542 6436
C 706 540 9426