Thursday, October 9, 2014

The New Bourbon Country Reader Is in the Mail


This space has been quiet for the last several days because we've been putting out a new edition of The Bourbon Country Reader. It is a few weeks late, dated October, 2014. For those of you keeping score at home, it is Volume 16, Number 3.

In this issue, we digest a few recent bourbon news items and interpret what they mean for bourbon makers and bourbon drinkers in a story headlined "How the Bourbon Boom Is Transforming the Business."
  • With producers operating at full capacity, and keeping most of that production for their own brands, non-distiller producers (NDPs) are struggling to find whiskey to buy. 
  • A major brand is dipping its toe into the coveted Indian market. 
  • Diageo, the world's largest distiller and quite possibly its largest NDP too, is finally going to make whiskey in Kentucky again. 
  • Rumors are rampant so we get answers from the source.
  • And we try to explain what it all means.
Since virtually all of the whiskey made in Scotland is aged in barrels that formerly held bourbon, we examine how each whiskey type uses American oak to craft a unique whiskey style.

Old Forester launched Brown-Forman in 1870. The brand is still made and widely distributed but it is not a big seller and has not benefited very much from the bourbon boom. We report on some of the ways Brown-Forman hopes to change that. (And, by the way. Old Forester is a terrific bourbon. You should try it.)

subscription to The Bourbon Country Reader is still just $20 per year (six issues) for addresses in the USA, $25 for everyone else. The Bourbon Country Reader is always independent and idiosyncratic and has no distillery affiliation. It is published six times a year, or thereabouts.

Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card, or for more information. Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format). Click here to open or download the free PDF document, "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)

If you prefer to pay by check, make it payable to Made and Bottled in Kentucky, and mail it to Made and Bottled in Kentucky, 3712 N. Broadway, PMB 298, Chicago, IL 60613-4198. Checks drawn on U.S. banks only, please.

6 comments:

scott said...

And if you haven't bought and read Chuck's new book Bourbon Strange you'd better get on it because it's hands down the best and most entertaining book on American whiskey available right now.
Keep 'em coming Chuck and thanks!

Anonymous said...

oh boy, I get to pay for more great insightful notes on the Bourbon Industry by an old fool who is clearly on the outside desperately looking in...

JSparks said...

Hey anonymous: why not identify yourself with your real name if you know so much?, Chuck does I just did and others do as well. Otherwise you are the fool that no one wants to be bothered with or hear from.

scott said...

Anonymous = fucking coward. Find a rock to crawl under worm eater.

Anonymous said...

There is no "outside" in the Bourbon industry, or for that matter in any industry of "consumables".

There is the "production side", the "consumption side", the "silent appreciation side" , the "vocal appreciation side", the "sales side", etc...

I had a good friend tell me once, "what you say about someone else, says more about you, then them".

I think that clearly applies to this string

Iakov Alenchik said...

Chuck, Thank you very much for the article on Old Forester. I enjoyed the article much. I like sipping Old Forester, it's a good whiskey at a good price, and it was great to read some back-story as to what's going on with BF.