1984
United States; Frankfort, Kentucky
The launch joined individual-barrel selection, warehouse provenance, distinctive packaging, high shelf pricing, and affluent-market promotion into a durable premium-bourbon model.
Publication boundary: do not call Blanton’s the first single-barrel whiskey ever made or the sole cause of premium bourbon. Attribute the U.S.-before-Japan correction to Guglielmi unless further independent launch records are added.
Blanton’s entered the U.S. market in 1984 as a deliberately positioned premium single-barrel bourbon.
What happened
Blanton’s entered the United States market in 1984 as a premium single-barrel bourbon built around selected barrels, named warehouse provenance, distinctive packaging, a high shelf price, and promotion aimed at affluent consumers.
Why it matters
The product is a concrete milestone in the late-twentieth-century premiumization of American whiskey. It shows that producers could differentiate bourbon through selection, provenance, design, and market positioning as well as through recipe.
Publication boundary
Do not describe the launch as the invention of single-barrel whiskey or as the sole cause of the premium-bourbon revival. The linked Claim contains the full evidence and citation boundary.