American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
brand of
blended whiskey
A blended whiskey (or blended whisky) is the product of blending different types of whiskeys and sometimes also neutral grain spirits, colorings, and flavorings. It is generally the product of mixing one or more higher-quality straight or single ...
started by
Julius Kessler Julius Kessler (August 4, 1855 – 10 December 1940) was the founder of Kessler Whiskey.
Kessler was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1855. He came to America to make his fortune. He founded Kessler Whisky in the 1870s in Leadville, Colorado. In the e ...
in 1888. It is known for the slogan, "Smooth as Silk". The brand is currently owned and produced by
Beam Suntory
Beam Suntory, Inc. is an American-founded, Japanese multinational company that produces alcoholic beverages. It is a subsidiary of Suntory, based in Osaka, Japan.
It is the third largest producer of distilled beverages worldwide, behind Diageo ...
.Beam Inc. whiskey brands page /ref> Beam claims it is the number-two selling American blended whiskey.
Kessler started selling whiskey in
Leadville, Colorado
The City of Leadville is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorad ...
, in the late 1870s. In the early days, Julius Kessler went from saloon to saloon selling the whiskey. Kessler's company quickly became profitable, in part due to the higher prices the whiskey commanded in remote areas. Kessler retired from the business in 1921 at the age of 65."Whiskey Names"
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
, August 26, 1935
Around 1935, Kessler Whiskey was acquired by The Seagram Company. In 2000,
Pernod Ricard
Pernod Ricard () is a French company best known for its anise-flavoured pastis apéritifs Pernod Anise and Ricard Pastis (often referred to simply as ''Pernod'' or ''Ricard''). The world’s second-largest wine and spirits seller, it also produ ...
acquired Kessler Whiskey, then eventually sold the brand to Jim Beam (then part of Fortune Brands) in 2005, which was then purchased by Suntory Holdings in 2014.