Step aside Amazon Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod, and all the rest—a new company is bellying up to the artificial intelligence bar. But its smart home device won’t tell you the weather, relay the score of the game, or play your favorite music. Instead, it will pour you a shot of bourbon whiskey upon demand. That’s because it’s a smart decanter put out by Jim Beam.
Featuring the distinctive voice of Jim Beam’s seventh-generation master distiller Fred Noe, the virtual bartender named “JIM” (obviously) was announced Wednesday morning and quickly sold out. “While modern smart devices have been known to retail upwards of $349, “JIM” will cost just $34.90,” noted the legendary bourbon company in its press release.
At that price it may seem like a bargain, but don’t get drunk on the gadget’s possibilities just yet. The product’s promotional video makes clear that JIM isn’t very good at small talk—unless you like talking about bourbon whiskey, then it’s the AI for you.
Still, don’t doubt JIM’s sincerity. Sure, he may be a smooth talker, but he’s 100% for real—just ask any of the people who bought last year’s bourbon-based innovation, the Jim Beam Apple Watch, which was totally real, too.
