Finally, the New Reader Is Here

Where has the time gone? It has taken me five months to get this issue of The Bourbon Country Reader out. Sorry about that.

I hope the wait will be worth it. I'm doing something different with this issue, devoting the entire thing to a single subject: whiskey maturation.

In my many years of writing about American whiskey, it has struck me that maturation is often short-changed. Perhaps that's because so much of what is going on is invisible and quiet, with no moving parts. Fermentation and distillation are much more dramatic, with myriad sights, sounds, and smells. In contrast, a bunch of wooden barrels sitting in a nondescript building is a snooze.

But you only have to compare 'white dog' to well-aged bourbon to know something akin to magic is going on inside those white oak cocoons.

Current Reader subscribers should receive their copies in the next few days. New subscribers can get on the bandwagon by clicking here.

Founded in 1994, The Bourbon Country Reader is the oldest publication devoted entirely to American whiskey. It is a charming mix of news, history, analysis, and product reviews. Do you worry that advertising spending influences coverage in other publications? No chance of that here since The Bourbon Country Reader is 100 percent reader-supported. It accepts no advertising.

To experience The Bourbon Country Reader for yourself, you need to subscribe. Honoring history, The Bourbon Country Reader still comes to you exclusively on paper, in an envelope, via the USPS.

A subscription to The Bourbon Country Reader is still just $20 per year for addresses in the USA, $25 for everyone else. The Bourbon Country Reader is published six times a year, more-or-less, but your subscription always includes six issues no matter how long it takes. For those of you keeping track, this new one is Volume 19, Number 2.

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 want to catch up on what you've missed, bound back issue volumes are available for $20 each, or three for $50. That's here too.

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.