tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8409300927892850912024-03-18T01:03:25.894-05:00The Chuck Cowdery Blogamerican whiskey & other stuffChuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.comBlogger1609125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-83727548480728322372024-03-14T20:46:00.002-05:002024-03-16T16:57:51.879-05:00Can Whiskey 'Go Bad'?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpjHOC1byFCforfBRArJzByeQeaUzcdd_fF3hT2Nt-nDhTs9da-3IztueTvYobGKFGr4MUrkstzwD0V2Mb_Ig2jkX2Ii_cdDy4bo2wdPw9axmCiSUT0Sb9o0gDJzFQavfAlQDhAx4wAuv6VZ-xfXrF7ubv-X5E7PIWgtLtTcGk1SfgIcdLJd5-8gSLBu-/s1024/Bad%20Bourbon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxpjHOC1byFCforfBRArJzByeQeaUzcdd_fF3hT2Nt-nDhTs9da-3IztueTvYobGKFGr4MUrkstzwD0V2Mb_Ig2jkX2Ii_cdDy4bo2wdPw9axmCiSUT0Sb9o0gDJzFQavfAlQDhAx4wAuv6VZ-xfXrF7ubv-X5E7PIWgtLtTcGk1SfgIcdLJd5-8gSLBu-/s320/Bad%20Bourbon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image created with GPT-4</td></tr></tbody></table><div>Does whiskey ever 'go bad'? </div><div><br /></div><div>It is a commonly asked question and people usually don't get a satisfactory answer.</div>
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First, whiskey in the bottle is very sturdy stuff. It will remain unchanged indefinitely. It has only a few enemies.<br />
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'Go bad' usually means 'spoiling,' as in unpleasant bacterial activity changing some component of the product into something else. Wine becomes vinegar. Milk becomes sour. Meat becomes rancid. Fruit becomes mush. That doesn't happen with high proof spirits like whiskey because nothing can live in that much alcohol.<br />
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So no, whiskey can't 'go bad' in that sense. What whiskey can do is absorb too much oxygen, which makes it taste like somebody added way too much vanilla. This happens most often when someone leaves a small amount in the bottle for a long period of time and can be aggravated if the cork or cap isn't well seated.<br />
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The best solution is to finish the bottle. Don't leave that last quaff for a special occasion. Just drink it.<br />
<br />If you must save it, transfer it to a bottle appropriately sized.<br />
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Under some rare conditions you can get unbalanced evaporation, where some or all of the alcohol goes away leaving a very unpleasant-tasting brown water. An inadequate seal is always the culprit here, aggravated by high temperature. This is why you don't want long exposure to direct sunlight. Alcohol is volatile. We think of that as meaning prone to catching fire, but it actually means prone to becoming a vapor and just going away.<br />
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Some people think the solution is to store bottles on their side to keep the cork moist, like you do with wine. <b>This is a TERRIBLE idea with whiskey.</b> High proof alcohol is hard on corks and dissolved cork is hard on the flavor of the beverage so <i>do not store bottles on their side, or upside down, under any circumstances.</i><br />
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Some people will suggest that you wrap the bottle tops with paraffin tape. Some will recommend replacing whiskey when you pour it with marbles, or clean pebbles, something to keep the fill level high. This is a bit too fussy for most people and really isn't necessary. Just drink the whiskey in due course.<div><br /></div><div>After all, that's what it's there for.<br />
<i><br /></i><b>NOTE:</b> <i>A version of this post was published in August, 2015, hence the comments below from that period. Read them. Most of them are pretty good.</i></div><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-73716238739267843052024-03-05T19:17:00.002-06:002024-03-05T20:31:47.194-06:00The Genealogy Of Yeast<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2FNwBSFhHR-OvFarnmGqJ9jTHZGwXXss0gxb_UHcRmSlR9q9thRjnnxhAe8OT04bWUC_BvfPkgMvNxNrV4kyVk1fchz7iyz-_99kBd9HgtwdWUfDtwbc02HBUfYL8Ba17oUy-v6Zs3bo3BCIWrUiEktM5QDeDm3NePm4oGCbYtu6C2kDDyyM6ksnR8bU/s703/Joseph%20L%20Beam%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="435" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2FNwBSFhHR-OvFarnmGqJ9jTHZGwXXss0gxb_UHcRmSlR9q9thRjnnxhAe8OT04bWUC_BvfPkgMvNxNrV4kyVk1fchz7iyz-_99kBd9HgtwdWUfDtwbc02HBUfYL8Ba17oUy-v6Zs3bo3BCIWrUiEktM5QDeDm3NePm4oGCbYtu6C2kDDyyM6ksnR8bU/s320/Joseph%20L%20Beam%202.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Lloyd Beam, Master Distiller, Bardstown, Kentucky. <br />(date unknown, probably late 1920s)</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Yeast, and the different characteristics a particular strain can impart during fermentation, is a fundamental part of bourbon-making. </p><p>Today, most yeast is created in a lab and manufactured in a factory, but before Prohibition making yeast was a crucial part of a whiskey maker's skill set. Back then, "making" yeast meant mixing up a special mash and using it to catch and propagate a suitable strain from a wild source. Yeast is a living organism, a type of fungus. It thrives in a watery environment, eats sugar in liquid form, and metabolizes it into ethanol and carbon dioxide. All of the alcohol you can drink is made by yeast. Like all living organisms, yeast can mutate and change. When mutations render it unfit, it has to be replaced.</p><p>At most legacy distilleries, those that started before the modern "bourbon boom," the yeast they use has connections to that earlier era. Therefore, the genealogy of yeast is essentially that of yeast makers. At distilleries such as Jim Beam, Heaven Hill, Four Roses, Yellowstone, Maker's Mark, Barton, Stitzel-Weller, Early Times, and many others, that meant one or more members of the Beam family.</p><p>Yeast mutates and humans adapt. Although the Beams all started from the same place, with the same yeast mash recipe, and were all taught the same organoleptic standards, each distiller in each generation made their own subtle adaptations after years of practice and would have passed their way of doing things on to the next generation. </p><p>Joseph L. "Joe" Beam was considered the dean of American whiskey makers on both sides of Prohibition. He was the son of Joseph B. Beam, whose grandfather was Jacob Beam, the ancestor from whom all whiskey-making Beams are descended. When Four Roses was revived after Prohibition, at a new distillery in Shively, they hired Joe Beam and bragged that he was bringing "the famous Beam yeast."</p><p>Joe Beam had seven distiller sons. Jim and Park Beam were his first cousins. His older brother, Minor, also a distiller, had several sons in the business. It's hard to find a distillery of that era that was not touched by a Beam. </p><p>We know from Booker Noe, Jim Beam's grandson, that the Jim Beam yeast was caught by Jim on his back porch in Bardstown as Prohibition was ending and he prepared to build a new distillery. That version of the Beam yeast is known for a "foxy" characteristic most noticeable in the brand's standard white label expression.</p><p>Jim and Joe Beam's uncle was Jack Beam, who started Early Times, and although his only son followed him into the business, there was no third generation. That line died out. It's unknown if the yeast strain they used was preserved and passed on to the people who revived Early Times after Prohibition. It is known that the yeast Brown-Forman used for Early Times was not the Old Forester yeast. </p><p>When Park Beam's son, Earl, left the Jim Beam Distillery in 1946, he took that Beam yeast with him to Heaven Hill, replacing the yeast Joe's son Harry had been using. Earl tweaked it, as did his son and successor, Parker Beam. They did not, apparently, like that "foxy" characteristic, which is not evident in any Heaven Hill products.</p><p>According to family lore, Joe Beam received most of his training from his much older brother, Minor, who also trained Will McGill, a friend of Joe's who became Pappy Van Winkle's distiller at Stitzel-Weller. As journeymen, Joe and Will worked at Minor's distillery at Gethsemane, today's Log Still Distillery. They also worked together at Tom Moore's distillery, today's Barton 1792.</p><p>The Stitzel-Weller yeast that made its way to Maker's Mark would have originated with Joseph B. Beam and probably went through Minor to get to Will McGill, and from him into the hands of Elmo Beam, Joe's firstborn, who would already have been familiar with his father's version. That Pappy Van Winkle gave the yeast to Bill Samuels Sr. is known, but what Elmo actually used is not. No doubt he had his own ideas about such things.</p><p>His brother, Charlie, was distiller at the Pennsylvania distillery that became Michter's. Charlie trained Dick Stoll, who made the bourbon that became A. H. Hirsch Reserve.</p><p>After Joe Beam restarted Four Roses it was sold to Seagram's. His grandson, another Charlie, spent most of his career with Seagram's, where he developed the Eagle Rare Bourbon brand before finishing his career at Four Roses in Lawrenceburg. No company did more for whiskey yeast than Seagram's, which archived more than 300 different strains.</p><p>Minor's son, Guy, worked at several different distilleries, including Heaven Hill, Fairfield, and Cummins-Collins. During Prohibition he was a distiller in Canada. Guy had two distiller sons, Burch and Jack. A third son, Walter, who was better known as Toddy, operated a liquor store in downtown Bardstown that still bears his name. Jack worked for Barton. Steve and Paul Beam, who run Lebanon's Limestone Branch Distillery, are descended from Guy.</p><p>I once asked Craig Beam, Parker's son and successor, if he thought anyone in the family could make yeast the old-fashioned way, capturing it from a wild source. He knew he couldn't, he said. His grandfather, Earl, taught him how to propagate Heaven Hill's yeast, to make enough for the fermenters, but not how to make it from scratch. When Heaven Hill moved to Bernheim, they switched to dry yeast rather than add a yeast room, which the rebuilt distillery did not have. </p><p>Craig said he thought if anyone could make it from scratch, it would be Baker, but when I asked Baker, he just laughed.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-1721019012378490732024-02-26T19:05:00.000-06:002024-02-26T19:05:27.531-06:00How Mushrooms Improve Whiskey<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsv7rW7gQGA8KLGdsDObQI0aKYZBc6mKCjEh1uPtQCQefendj61dLrv5KkiNvFlGrLD63MylGBTtxTXPZQBCygJib83cojGMP3DGSzl77jwurWN0DZTj1-tyMahTYlnAPPpmX8EfA-G18nWgC4eq3PyKb_BdYDhZBPiz5mU_ReQi_nthaaNpOJhqY0VjZ/s937/Marinated%20Mushrooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="937" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpsv7rW7gQGA8KLGdsDObQI0aKYZBc6mKCjEh1uPtQCQefendj61dLrv5KkiNvFlGrLD63MylGBTtxTXPZQBCygJib83cojGMP3DGSzl77jwurWN0DZTj1-tyMahTYlnAPPpmX8EfA-G18nWgC4eq3PyKb_BdYDhZBPiz5mU_ReQi_nthaaNpOJhqY0VjZ/s320/Marinated%20Mushrooms.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sautéed mushrooms, quickly cooked in butter and extra virgin olive oil, <br />then finished with a flambé of bourbon.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Mushrooms are tasty on pizza, battered and deep fried, or stuffed with crabmeat. Maybe you like grilled portabellas with polenta, or shiitakes in a stir fry. Or perhaps you'd enjoy a tasty side-dish like the one pictured above. Bourbon-flavored mushrooms? Sure. Mushroom-flavored bourbon? Maybe not. </p><p>But when white oak intended for whiskey barrels is seasoned naturally, mushrooms of a microscopic sort, usually referred to as fungi, play a vital role. Scientists call it fungal colonization. It is an early part of the wood’s natural decomposition process.</p><p>During seasoning, a succession of different fungal species send out roots <i>(hyphae)</i> that penetrate the wood structure and release hydrogen peroxide, a natural bleaching and oxidizing agent that helps break the wood down chemically, softening tannins and caramelizing hemicellulose among other salutary effects.</p><p>A fresh-cut oak is about 60 percent water by weight and needs to get below 18 percent for the coopers to do their thing. First in the pool is <i>Aureobasidium pullulans,</i> one of the species of common mildew, the same black stuff you clean off your shower tiles. As the wood dries it becomes inhospitable to <i>pullulans </i>which pulls out (okay, dies) and is replaced by another type that thrives in the slightly drier environment. One after another a succession of different fungal species <i>(eumycota)</i> and sub-species each have a go at it, including the one from which the medicine penicillin is made.</p><p>By studying fungal colonization in American white oak <i>(Quercus alba),</i> scientists proved the superiority of a traditional cooperage practice–air drying–that was widely abandoned in the United States after World War II in favor of kilns. Kilns remove moisture effectively, but they stop the biological processes, fungal and bacterial, that make many of the wood’s flavor components available for absorption by maturing spirit.</p><p>In the first stage of natural seasoning, if humidity and other weather variables are favorable, fresh-cut logs are simply left in the field for days or weeks. From there they go to a stave mill, close to the forest, where they are roughly broken down into staves and head pieces. From there they are shipped to the cooperage, where they are neatly stacked in the yard, fully exposed to the elements. There they will remain for anywhere from three months to two years, and in some cases even longer. Often wood that is given only a short time outside is finished via kiln.</p><p>As you can probably guess, it’s a cost issue. You pay a premium for long natural seasoning. A good question to ask when someone tries to sell you an expensive whiskey is, "How long were your barrel staves air seasoned?”</p><p>Don't be surprised if they have no idea what you’re talking about.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-53304750389016773602024-02-16T18:50:00.000-06:002024-02-16T18:50:08.984-06:00Latvia Is Russia's Whiskey Mule<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqTZXBc8Gd8mADqwO0rm0NhyphenhyphenBAntv-xmcxi1GmvXC8lunNPWZd4rlbvi9vjg2VHwXDg4FyZzkXicD1AHXbwKHsyOnmOcUqSLf5O_tbuQzvAY_PrsFiGPkXQBa09EF_uGsejkWljEH2IcWJTbVKLWpd6dWk0gBPBobznvPk4VA4HB4oNREmJRV9igzTASv/s1000/Russian%20Whiskey.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="459" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFqTZXBc8Gd8mADqwO0rm0NhyphenhyphenBAntv-xmcxi1GmvXC8lunNPWZd4rlbvi9vjg2VHwXDg4FyZzkXicD1AHXbwKHsyOnmOcUqSLf5O_tbuQzvAY_PrsFiGPkXQBa09EF_uGsejkWljEH2IcWJTbVKLWpd6dWk0gBPBobznvPk4VA4HB4oNREmJRV9igzTASv/s320/Russian%20Whiskey.jpeg" width="147" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Russia has its own whiskey, but they want ours.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Despite sanctions intended to deprive Russia and Russians of any Western goods they may want, many things are getting through, including scotch and bourbon. The mule satisfying Russia's whiskey jones is our NATO ally, Latvia.</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/how-latvia-became-russias-big-booze-supplier/a-68247426" target="_blank">According to DW</a>, the German public broadcaster, in the first nine months of last year, Russia imported almost €244 million ($266 million) worth of whiskey products. Three-fourths of that came through Latvia, according to figures published by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti. In second place was another Baltic country, Lithuania, which sold Russia €27 million worth of whiskey.</p><p>Latvia also has become Russia's largest source of wine.</p><p>According to the Latvian government's official statistics portal, its exports to Russia were worth more than €1.1 billion last year. More than half of that was for alcohol and vinegar.</p><p>Latvia and Lithuania have small, domestic beverage alcohol industries, but most of what they ship to Russia comes from Western companies registered in the Baltics. </p><p>What about sanctions? The head of a Russian spirits importer says it merely required a paperwork change. "While documents used to say that imports to Russia simply went through Latvia or Lithuania, now the Baltic states appear as the destination of the export, " he told the news agency. "Deliveries to Russia are then made from there."</p><p>Some observers say selling whiskey to Russia does not technically violate sanctions. Routing shipments through the Baltics, with Baltic companies handling all the of re-shipment to Russia, is mostly about Western companies concealing their Russian business to protect their reputations. </p><p>According to the London-based Moral Rating Agency, Pernod Ricard is one of the largest suppliers of alcoholic beverages to Russia. Pernod owns Chivas Regal, Ballantine's, Royal Salute, The Glenlivet, Aberlour, Jameson, Powers, TX Whiskey, Rabbit Hole, Smooth Ambler, and Jefferson's. Pernod says it is trying to get out but, as just about everyone involved in this bemoans, it's complicated.</p><p>Latvia was admitted to NATO in 1999, along with Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, all states formerly dominated by Russia. They and other former Russian satellites, such as Poland, tend to be the most enthusiastic supporters of Ukraine, but many, such as Latvia, also have large Russian-speaking populations and many business and cultural connections to Russian entities. It's ironic, but also complicated. </p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-17339117359871288852024-02-09T18:10:00.001-06:002024-02-09T18:10:34.460-06:00Bulleit's New American Single Malt Is Sourced Whiskey<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjys15Pa3fS45suhVecsDQsByQt5VNULmfGIbGqKqxDipGGb9bFshHNvEfJMGttK1QfSApIJEzvWrmCUN8prQhecdR1MciNbROPgSjpNE1ToFNxrcJ-xekuj6oYTHTkJ3VskNWzhsnSTehFaQ-n6R-c60-xsEwZxLS36Ef4vvicwMhcvqYPRqoFU20iqoos/s11456/Bulleit%20ASM%20Lifestyle%20(tif).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="8736" data-original-width="11456" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjys15Pa3fS45suhVecsDQsByQt5VNULmfGIbGqKqxDipGGb9bFshHNvEfJMGttK1QfSApIJEzvWrmCUN8prQhecdR1MciNbROPgSjpNE1ToFNxrcJ-xekuj6oYTHTkJ3VskNWzhsnSTehFaQ-n6R-c60-xsEwZxLS36Ef4vvicwMhcvqYPRqoFU20iqoos/s320/Bulleit%20ASM%20Lifestyle%20(tif).jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bulleit American Single Malt Whiskey is bottled at <br />90° proof (45% ABV). MSRP is $60 (750 ml).</td></tr></tbody></table><p>Are you excited to try the new Bulleit American Single Malt? Well, here's a hot tip.</p><p>Bulleit didn't make it.</p><p>Diageo, which owns Bulleit, is the biggest distilled spirits maker in the world. They operate two large Kentucky distilleries and one in Tennessee, but they bought this whiskey from someone else.</p><p>They won't say from whom.</p><p>Here is what they will say, but only if you ask.</p><p><i>Fitting the American Single Malt category guidelines, Bulleit American Single Malt was distilled by 1 distillery in Kentucky. </i></p><p><i>Due to contractual obligations with our supply partners, we cannot share specific details, but as has always been the case, we work very closely with our distilling partners to ensure that Bulleit is made to our exacting standards and specifications.</i></p><p><i>For further detail, we factor in working in partnerships with local distilleries to meet the growing demand for our whiskey that cannot be serviced by production at our distilleries in Shelbyville, KY or Lebanon, KY. Our distillers work closely with our distilling partners to ensure that Bulleit whiskey is made to our exacting standards and specifications. </i></p><p><i>When we were first exploring Bulleit American Single Malt, the Lebanon, KY distillery was not operational and our Shelbyville, KY distillery was just getting started producing our signature Bulleit Bourbon at full capacity so we looked to an outside contractor to distill this product to our exacting specifications. </i></p><p><i>We look forward to distilling and aging Bulleit American Single Malt at one of our world class facilities in the near future.</i></p><p>So where was Bulleit American Single Malt distilled and aged? Likely suspects include Beam Suntory, Sazerac, Heaven Hill, and Bardstown Bourbon Company. Another possibility is Newport's New Riff, which has been making malt whiskey since 2014 and released its own single malt last year. It seems unlikely any of Kentucky's smaller distilleries is the source, as they wouldn't be able to produce enough for Diageo's needs. </p><p>Malt whiskey is not something American distilleries normally make, so the list of suspects is limited.</p><p>Diageo's statement mentions Shelbyville and Lebanon, but what about Cascade Hollow (AKA George Dickel) in Tennessee? Nicole Austin, distiller there since 2018, made malt whiskey in Brooklyn for King's County and at the Tullamore Distillery in Ireland. Capacity may have been an issue, as Cascade is now producing rye whiskey in addition to Tennessee whiskey, but if they really were "first exploring Bulleit American Single Malt" several years ago, as they claim, kicking that assignment to Austin seems like a natural. </p><p>Diageo likes to sing the "made to our exacting standards and specifications" song, but it seems more likely they sought out and found whiskey that was ready to go when they decided to enter the American Single Malt space. Once again, Diageo is playing catch-up with a me-too product in a space, American malt whiskey, that all the bigs are suddenly barreling into, lest they let crafts get a leg up. Diageo is, of course, also the world's #1 scotch producer, a fact they are <i>not</i> touting.</p><p>Since when does America make malt whiskey? Are we at war with Scotland now?</p><p>Once again we are left with this <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/02/who-makes-bulleit-bourbon.html" target="_blank">guessing game</a>. Bulleit Bourbon itself has been sourced whiskey since its <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-bulleit-story.html" target="_blank">inception</a>, distilled initially by Four Roses, and later by others, always with oodles of obfuscation. Only recently has Shelbyville's Bulleit made its way into bottles. Lebanon is still a few years out. Bulleit Rye has been sourced from Indiana's Ross & Squibb Distillery (AKA MGP) since day one. Diageo may be the world's largest distilled spirits producer, and the world's largest whiskey producer, but when it comes to American whiskey, <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/03/where-is-bulleit-distilling-company.html" target="_blank">they are mostly a non-distiller producer (NDP)</a>. A follower, not a leader.</p><p>The last paragraph in their statement says they intend to make the single malt themselves "in the near future." That wording suggests they are not distilling malt whiskey at any of their American distilleries right now, which means Bulleit Single Malt will remain NDP for at least the next five or six years. </p><p>As I <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/03/where-is-bulleit-distilling-company.html" target="_blank">wrote here</a> almost exactly ten years ago, "There is no shame in being a non-distiller producer and if the actual producer won't let you reveal their identity, that's understandable too. The shame is in not being honest about it."</p><p>So, if you're interested in American Single Malts, maybe find a craft distillery near you that is actually making one, from scratch, in a still, like a real distillery.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-19400364304788297362024-02-07T08:00:00.136-06:002024-02-27T18:20:01.805-06:00My Louisville Beginnings, Part Two<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ue1QpcUXmYEUZsXE979fq1zl-UXWwNSHWcKDQMX17rwR0ls0QbEjAvpXFcJ3_lFgRUipCWDgMSdVZ3dRtk2e42fm5FCuYsNvzOutYnZLf3_sAs6VUU5vBKbykSFPQaIRKCHAviG3VDvKA6ehP3WeetlGnCbiDG1X-NFRkWAB4F1_eM3TM4WMDFVx10rg/s831/Ollie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="831" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ue1QpcUXmYEUZsXE979fq1zl-UXWwNSHWcKDQMX17rwR0ls0QbEjAvpXFcJ3_lFgRUipCWDgMSdVZ3dRtk2e42fm5FCuYsNvzOutYnZLf3_sAs6VUU5vBKbykSFPQaIRKCHAviG3VDvKA6ehP3WeetlGnCbiDG1X-NFRkWAB4F1_eM3TM4WMDFVx10rg/s320/Ollie.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The building across 3rd Street from Ollie's is now the Republic Academic Center, part of Spalding University.</td></tr></tbody></table>I never intended this to be a two-parter, but the <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2024/02/my-louisville-beginnings.html" target="_blank">original post</a> got me feeling nostalgic about that time and place, now 46 years ago. That got me thinking, wondering, and Googling.<div><br /></div><div><a href="https://burgerbeast.com/ollies-trolley-louisville/" target="_blank">Ollie's Trolley</a> used to be a chain. Launched in Louisville in 1973, it grew to 300 locations but never truly became successful. Most of the shops closed in the 80s. There are three left, one in Cincinnati, one in Washington, D.C., and this one in Louisville. It's a unique burger, heavily spiced. The same spice mix goes on the fries. That's pretty much the menu. Many Louisville friends eat there from time to time, so it comes up regularly in conversation. I feel a special connection because of my history at that intersection and because it's a very tasty burger.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ollie's Trolley was the brainchild of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Y._Brown_Jr." target="_blank">John Y. Brown Junior</a>. Brown was a politician, Kentucky's governor during the first part of my Kentucky tenure. He was a businessman before he was a politician, best known for buying Kentucky Fried Chicken from Colonel Sanders and building it into an international fast-food powerhouse. He also owned the ABA Kentucky Colonels professional basketball team. He died in 2022, 88 years old. </div><div><br /></div><div>From 1979 to 1998, he was married to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_George" target="_blank">Phyllis George Brown</a>. In 1975, she became co-host of "The NFL Today" on CBS, becoming one of the first women to hold an on-air position in national TV sports. When she was Kentucky's First Lady, I worked with her on projects for a local museum she supported and also met the governor. I liked them both. She died in 2020, age 70. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>The Cosmopolitan Building is now known as <a href="https://therecordnewspaper.org/spalding-university-announces-campus-expansion/" target="_blank">The Republic Academic Center</a>, part of Spalding University. It marks the southeastern corner of their growing, urban campus. The renovated building contains offices, labs, and classrooms and houses Spalding's School of Nursing and School of Social Work. <a href="https://spalding.edu/" target="_blank">Spalding</a> is a private, not-for-profit, liberal arts university. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in various fields such as business, health sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and education. Spalding was established in 1814 by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now more than 100 years old, the building was built as the D. H. Ewing & Sons Creamery. In 1930, it merged with the Grayson Von Allman Dairy Company to form Ewing Von Allman Dairy. By 1941, it was producing 90,000 cases of canned milk a year. The front section was always offices and the whole building was converted to offices in 1953 when the dairy moved out. That's when it became known as the Cosmopolitan Building. FS&M Advertising (my employer) started in the 50s, so they may have been an original tenant. Before my time they had several clients in the dairy products industry. </div><div><br /></div><div>When I was ensconced there, FS&M occupied the third floor. The second floor was the offices of a convenience store chain that was one of our major clients. I forget who was on the first floor. That may have been the convenience store chain too. Many convenience stores began as retail outlets for dairies, so perhaps it was all connected.</div><div><br /></div><div>In 1982, the building was listed in the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/index.htm" target="_blank">National Register of Historic Places</a>. The architect is unknown. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://brokensidewalk.com/2010/cosmopolitan-building-up-for-auction/" target="_blank">In 2010, it was sold at auction</a>. Its value was estimated as $745,000. Spalding acquired it in 2012.</div><div><br /></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWamDyhCmVqGnK-EWnS-8EldZyEy0z6gji64EsOyxEfRtYMWMv_qq596UIFB_i5qNEezQ7WLwDlFKVcaIvdxT-NgTTe6XlWardEHAFv-CTvRR4_OQW55EoJXhJ-ujiozNl1XuvYe7wYAF4Q9mC7-q6aCrKqojlWEg0OOYMfz3RaHmc1877Fqrqp_OiGtM/s650/cosmopolitan_bldg_sale_02.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="650" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWamDyhCmVqGnK-EWnS-8EldZyEy0z6gji64EsOyxEfRtYMWMv_qq596UIFB_i5qNEezQ7WLwDlFKVcaIvdxT-NgTTe6XlWardEHAFv-CTvRR4_OQW55EoJXhJ-ujiozNl1XuvYe7wYAF4Q9mC7-q6aCrKqojlWEg0OOYMfz3RaHmc1877Fqrqp_OiGtM/s320/cosmopolitan_bldg_sale_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photograph from the building's 1982 National Register application. My Pontiac may be in the parking lot.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-91900469952355275382024-02-05T07:00:00.001-06:002024-02-05T07:00:00.340-06:00Remembering David Beam and the Michter's Stills<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCPWS1ZXFHLMUe-BpsEjJrARYjA8tHIVACSpYzIFbxk5lTozMgcNMvdn6ojS0CxDf8YLC3pOHmoouT5OQMzswMOCw0yVN64vCZA8fW9LGGWMPHfQrsV4E9bAQ4Js5xnAMtRLkILw_rJbWq-FNKRI2Mpc9xhFSxt2VPpKXfLoXHRBpNvvKja8Q47Fubebr/s5472/David%20Beam%20-%20smiling.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5472" data-original-width="3648" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoCPWS1ZXFHLMUe-BpsEjJrARYjA8tHIVACSpYzIFbxk5lTozMgcNMvdn6ojS0CxDf8YLC3pOHmoouT5OQMzswMOCw0yVN64vCZA8fW9LGGWMPHfQrsV4E9bAQ4Js5xnAMtRLkILw_rJbWq-FNKRI2Mpc9xhFSxt2VPpKXfLoXHRBpNvvKja8Q47Fubebr/s320/David%20Beam%20-%20smiling.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel David Beam, 1941-2015</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I just happened upon this happy picture. It's from 2014, I think. That smile belongs to David Beam, the last Beam distiller at Jim Beam. (The last one with the last name of Beam, that is.) The picture was taken at Tom's Foolery near Cleveland, with two fermenters from the Michter's Barrel-a-Day Distillery. </p><p>There is a lot to unpack in this simple picture.</p><p>David was the son of Carl 'Shucks' Beam, grandson of Park Beam. Park was Jim Beam's younger brother. When the Beams resumed distilling after Prohibition, Jim and his son, Jere, ran the business while Park and his sons, Earl and Shucks, made the whiskey.</p><p>David was born in the master distiller's house on the grounds of the Jim Beam Distillery at Clermont in 1941. He and his older brother, Baker, succeeded their father at the distillery, which ran on a 24-hour schedule. Baker had the day shift and David had nights. He worked there for 38 years, retiring in 1996.</p><p>Around the time he retired, David learned that the Michter's Distillery in Pennsylvania was being liquidated. He knew they had two nice Vendome pot stills, at 500 gallons and 350 gallons each, and associated fermenters and other equipment. It was a complete distillery capable of producing one barrel (53 gallons) of whiskey per day. </p><p>David decided he wanted it, though he wasn't sure why, so he went to the auction, bid on it, and won. Then he got his three sons and some buddies, borrowed a couple trucks, and trekked to Pennsylvania to bring it all back to Kentucky. He set it up in a shed at the My Old Kentucky Home Motel in Bardstown, which he co-owned and managed with his wife, Belle. He had an apartment there too, where he lived when he wasn't at his farm outside of town.</p><p>Although he and his sons talked about it, David never put the equipment to use. In 2011, he sold it to Tom and Lianne Herbruck and helped them set it up and operate it at their craft distillery in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. They made bourbon and applejack. This picture was taken during one of David's visits there. David's grandson, who the Herbrucks hired as an apprentice, was there too.</p><p>In 2015, the Herbrucks sold the Michter's equipment to the new Michter's (i.e., Chatham Imports), for installation at their Fort Nelson facility in downtown Louisville, where it has been ever since. The Herbrucks got another old still. They still make whiskey and applejack in Chagrin Falls. On June 29th of that year, David Beam died peacefully at his farm outside of Bardstown. He was 74.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-50132214792688875392024-02-02T07:00:00.005-06:002024-02-02T07:00:00.132-06:00My Louisville Beginnings<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLdw-_xnELLqHh-yA_H2pyxqdP7gMRSyu2qUfB7gHHtUZ5iHbkTvFuUcgkgvKIOhwtACGl2UPRDNMsacqmBMwOXeVusCyBXz2Zkhy1vkBrZ3ZRioNeZlbT7C1ThrOYgKPWnCJAHw7MJOGwr3I3Rc1AD3pATMhwk7RSuXgQ2aDBQ7sYYBPAN1BCmgbNHCe/s831/Ollie.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="569" data-original-width="831" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTLdw-_xnELLqHh-yA_H2pyxqdP7gMRSyu2qUfB7gHHtUZ5iHbkTvFuUcgkgvKIOhwtACGl2UPRDNMsacqmBMwOXeVusCyBXz2Zkhy1vkBrZ3ZRioNeZlbT7C1ThrOYgKPWnCJAHw7MJOGwr3I3Rc1AD3pATMhwk7RSuXgQ2aDBQ7sYYBPAN1BCmgbNHCe/s320/Ollie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first office in Louisville was on the top floor, left side. Right across the street was my favorite lunch place. Both are still there.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>My recent post about <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2024/01/what-becomes-legend-most.html" target="_blank">Five Brothers Bourbon</a> and the early history of the Heaven Hill Company brought to mind my own early history with the company and the Shapira family.</p><p>Early in 1978, with snow still on the ground from one of the worst winters in memory, I moved from Columbus to Louisville to take a new job. Although the job was supposed to take me on to New Orleans, that part fell through, but I liked Louisville and the company, Fessel, Siegfriedt & Moeller Advertising (FS&M). Ed Fessel was retired by then, but Fred Siegfriedt and Rudy Moeller became my mentors in business and life.</p><p>Like most Louisville ad agencies, FS&M had a bourbon client. In our case it was Heaven Hill. I didn't work directly on their business, but in a small agency you're exposed to everything. I don't recall ever meeting any of the founding five brothers, but Max Shapira, Ed's son, was in our offices usually several times a week.</p><p>It wasn't much business, some small space magazine and newspaper ads for Evan Williams Bourbon, the occasional sales brochure, point-of-sale display, or label design. I recall when the art department started work on packaging for a new bourbon called Elijah Craig. </p><p>Heaven Hill's bourbon, I soon learned, did not have the best reputation, especially in Bardstown, where it was made. It was described as 'oily.' The current distiller, a member of the Beam family, was aware of the problem and in the process of correcting it, I was told, but these things take time. Although Max's father and uncles owned and ran Heaven Hill, the whiskey had always been made by Beams.</p><p>Heaven Hill made whiskey exclusively, bourbon mostly, a little bit of rye, and of course blends. I was in the room when the first label designs for Heaven Hill Gin, Vodka, and Rum were presented. All of the bourbon companies were being forced by changing market conditions to either sell or diversify into other, non-whiskey categories. The Shapiras had no interest in selling, so they diversified.</p><p>Fred and Rudy were terrific bosses, and I learned a ton from both of them. Fred had some amazing stories about his Army service in Europe at the end of WWII. I spent the most time with Rudy, often in the car driving to meetings with clients and prospective clients. That's where I got my first Kentucky education, as he told me what crazy thing happened in this or that house as we drove through various small towns.</p><p>Max Shapira, who was then in charge of marketing, went on to run Heaven Hill, only recently transitioning to emeritus status. </p><p>After a few years I left FS&M for another Louisville company with a distillery connection. This time it was Brown-Forman, where I worked on various brands but <i>not</i> Jack Daniel's which, although owned by Brown-Forman, was entirely run from Tennessee. </p><p>I left Kentucky in 1987 but by then the Commonwealth had its hooks in me. </p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-46283972431216411972024-01-31T15:41:00.006-06:002024-01-31T16:59:34.659-06:00What Becomes a Legend Most?<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZGUlm-KUwHHnUvT7bxLCRpt3AMwy8cLZPa35lB1qbko2-mFcubc7u7TmnZCxpa9Y5tg6afncU_pxzRIa2S34rIBiZ7-30Bn3Ng83c6NJdoWFXQOPorSXHsX66rxVmr0AJi6gSKirLrgCcqEqbGwHUo9vM8-3lC2-wUfyV4eXTBBI6mMbYjfWFqS70F20/s1048/5%20bros.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZGUlm-KUwHHnUvT7bxLCRpt3AMwy8cLZPa35lB1qbko2-mFcubc7u7TmnZCxpa9Y5tg6afncU_pxzRIa2S34rIBiZ7-30Bn3Ng83c6NJdoWFXQOPorSXHsX66rxVmr0AJi6gSKirLrgCcqEqbGwHUo9vM8-3lC2-wUfyV4eXTBBI6mMbYjfWFqS70F20/s1048/5%20bros.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="477" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkZGUlm-KUwHHnUvT7bxLCRpt3AMwy8cLZPa35lB1qbko2-mFcubc7u7TmnZCxpa9Y5tg6afncU_pxzRIa2S34rIBiZ7-30Bn3Ng83c6NJdoWFXQOPorSXHsX66rxVmr0AJi6gSKirLrgCcqEqbGwHUo9vM8-3lC2-wUfyV4eXTBBI6mMbYjfWFqS70F20/s320/5%20bros.jpg" width="146" /></a></p><br />Heaven Hill was named after the farmer, William Heavenhill, who originally owned the land where the distillery was built. The company's founder and first distiller was a member of the famous Beam family, Joe Beam. Joe's first cousin, Jim Beam, had already cornered the market on the family name, so the new company pulled names from the history books, Evan Williams and Elijah Craig, to christen some of its first brands.<p></p><p>Despite those facts, Heaven Hill's beginnings are primarily the story of the five Shapira brothers, David, Ed, Gary, George, and Mose. The brothers ran a chain of small department stores founded by their father. Called the Louisville Stores, they were mostly located in Kentucky's small towns (not in Louisville). They were a lot like today's dollar stores.</p><p>One day, the brother who ran the store in Bardstown was invited to invest in a new distillery there. He agreed, believing whiskey was a good investment now that it was legal again, but he expected to be a passive investor because he didn't know the first thing about the whiskey business. He wrote the check and went back to running his store.</p><p>Prohibition ended in the midst of the Depression and money was scarce. Soon the brother and his siblings were approached with a new proposal. The other original investors were all over-extended. They intended to sell the company if they could, close it if they couldn't. Would the Shapiras care to buy the whole thing?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUcFp6auDMS1zHFt_AClF0n2Lb-xFHBlnzXcEGDxi5QDJqxpcyTah-P-gnJ8y6ODsp9N5F-ygnqU28Y6C25PGe4BL30LEjRPcK8uJU4dUca4DzEs7JEIG-0gHjEfcKXYLrRCyUt2UAT917gAsNC6gWhHenhPxIvHzFYZQkR3NiaySJcYYyATPO4w9HcrV/s500/5%20bros%20CU.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="500" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOUcFp6auDMS1zHFt_AClF0n2Lb-xFHBlnzXcEGDxi5QDJqxpcyTah-P-gnJ8y6ODsp9N5F-ygnqU28Y6C25PGe4BL30LEjRPcK8uJU4dUca4DzEs7JEIG-0gHjEfcKXYLrRCyUt2UAT917gAsNC6gWhHenhPxIvHzFYZQkR3NiaySJcYYyATPO4w9HcrV/s320/5%20bros%20CU.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Though not sure they should, they did. At their mother's insistence, they pooled their money and thereafter shared everything equally, risks and profits. Slowly, the distillery and its whiskey built a following. The brothers may not have known whiskey, but they had a philosophy forged from their retail experience, of always offering customers the best value for the money. Today, Heaven Hill is one of the largest whiskey distillers in the United States, still owned and run by its founding family, and value is still their hallmark.<div><br /></div><div>Even though Heaven Hill was their company, and always had been, the brothers and their descendants never put their family name on a bottle. Now they have. </div><div><br /></div><div>As a way of embedding the tribute in liquid, Five Brothers is Heaven Hill's traditional rye-recipe bourbon at five different ages, between five and nine years old. Yes, it's a gimmick, but it has gotten <a href="https://thewhiskeywash.com/reviews/whiskey-review-five-brothers-bourbon/" target="_blank">good reviews</a>. Heaven Hill produces many brands, many of whose profiles include whiskey of different ages. Unless it's a bond or single-barrel, most whiskey products contain whiskey of different ages. Even when the label has an age statement, that just means the youngest whiskey in the bottle is that old. There is almost always older whiskey in there too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Five Brothers Bourbon is only available in Kentucky, primarily at Heaven Hill's gift shops and a few other Kentucky retailers. Normally, I don't write about products that are this hard to find, but you don't need to buy Five Brothers to appreciate what they accomplished. Enjoy some Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Larceny, Bernheim, Henry McKenna, Rittenhouse, or any of Heaven Hill's many other fine whiskeys. </div><div><br /></div><div>Ninety years ago, those five young guys took a gamble. They were new kids then. Some said they were playing where they didn't belong. There were ups and downs, but they stuck together as a family and persevered.</div><div><br /></div><div>Today, with new bourbon brands appearing daily, often with dubious backstories and liquid of unknown provenance, you have the example of the five Shapira brothers, a classic American tale of taking a chance and doing the work to make it a success. </div><div><br /></div><div>David, Ed, Gary, George, and Mose thank you for your support.</div><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-7663663847887181952024-01-29T18:07:00.003-06:002024-01-29T18:59:08.736-06:00Barry Berish, Who Ran Jim Beam, Dies at 91<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcum45i4O18MoF2FQHmT3RmAhWZSP5r5MlNh0OpvRUrndET5pOF5nKXrQDKT1tbpPwqFBakVW6m3sdR1bQxsQRvH9UPXzkSog7Q_AaqPFd3Ul_I3gT8eOs_0PixHUPP1G8T0Q9e-YxLphVOQtSv27pu3Sz8QVV-WoEzdglaYiTLDNUvGsknyRC0FnzqNy/s650/barry-berish-north-lauderdale-fl-obituary.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="433" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDcum45i4O18MoF2FQHmT3RmAhWZSP5r5MlNh0OpvRUrndET5pOF5nKXrQDKT1tbpPwqFBakVW6m3sdR1bQxsQRvH9UPXzkSog7Q_AaqPFd3Ul_I3gT8eOs_0PixHUPP1G8T0Q9e-YxLphVOQtSv27pu3Sz8QVV-WoEzdglaYiTLDNUvGsknyRC0FnzqNy/s320/barry-berish-north-lauderdale-fl-obituary.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Barry Maurice Berish, 1932-2024</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/north-lauderdale-fl/barry-berish-11642235" target="_blank">Barry Berish</a> died last week. He was 91.<p></p><p>Berish worked for 40 years, 1957-1997, at Jim Beam Brands, rising to the position of Chief Executive Officer in 1982. Under his leadership, Beam went from a one-brand company to the largest distilled spirits producer in the United States, 5th largest in the world. In 1987, he was instrumental in the company's acquisition of National Distillers, tripling the size of the company, and also acquired several brands from Seagram’s Co. that grew the portfolio by an additional 35 percent. </p><p>I became involved with Beam about the time of the National acquisition and was often in their offices in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield, working on various marketing projects until about 1994. After that, although I worked with some of the Deerfield-based PR people, I was no longer involved with Beam marketing and my writing about bourbon put me more in contact with Beam folks based in Kentucky.</p><p>Berish's official obituary talks about his "warmth and charisma," but I remember him differently. I say "remember," although I had very little direct contact with him. I knew where his office was, at the end of hall, right next to that of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Reese" target="_blank">Rich Reese</a>, his right-hand-man and successor. I saw both of them from time to time. Reese would poke his head into our meetings now and then. I don't recall Berish ever doing even that.</p><p>Around the office, Berish was considered volatile, capricious, and best avoided. He was very much in charge. Beam folks called it the "Barry and Rich Show" because their opinions were the only ones that mattered. I heard him blow up a time or two, but always from a safe distance. I was just one of dozens of anonymous suppliers who came and went. I wasn't on his radar and from what everyone told me, that was a good thing.</p><p>So, this is not much of a personal remembrance, but Barry Berish made a mark as one of the industry titans of the late 20th century. He helped shape the business as we know it today. When he became Beam's leader, companies like Jim Beam and its chief rival, Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman, were struggling with the decline in whiskey sales that had begun a decade earlier. The task before both companies, and others, was to transition from <i>whiskey</i> companies into broad-portfolio <i>distilled spirits</i> companies. Beam, led by Berish, succeeded where many others did not.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-14751076122305909282024-01-26T16:48:00.008-06:002024-02-05T11:48:18.175-06:00The Effect of World War II on American Whiskey Production<p><br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg4e1OiIWmADdizUI-Q-YtEmRDV8FyqIuFKygpRjcJ0BvgewWCg0yzlSUPG82x0A1OriQ8mixN_TdU3q0n1LU_mD5s71GGUmOgzkg4kEXz2T2sCUX5Kapz4jDdyB4qoUuQ3xbK5-7Y4lDMbnfvolOFNOy7GxME7JX6uxsOHLeQTako9YdZ13CSx0bZB5s/s2276/Old%20Fitz%20tank%20and%20crew.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2276" data-original-width="1719" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkg4e1OiIWmADdizUI-Q-YtEmRDV8FyqIuFKygpRjcJ0BvgewWCg0yzlSUPG82x0A1OriQ8mixN_TdU3q0n1LU_mD5s71GGUmOgzkg4kEXz2T2sCUX5Kapz4jDdyB4qoUuQ3xbK5-7Y4lDMbnfvolOFNOy7GxME7JX6uxsOHLeQTako9YdZ13CSx0bZB5s/s320/Old%20Fitz%20tank%20and%20crew.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julian P. Van Winkle Jr. (bottom, right) and his tank crew, on their way to liberate the Philippines, October 1944 (from <i>But Always Fine Bourbon).</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>As we reported in the most recent issue of <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a>, </i>very little whiskey was distilled during World War II. Whiskey distilled before the fighting began became available as it matured, but because all the distilleries were making neutral spirit for munitions, synthetics, and other war needs, and not whiskey, there was <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-bourbon-writing-will-not-be-rationed.html" target="_blank">panic buying, hoarding, profiteering, and other ills</a>. Whiskey was scarce on the front lines and at home. <div><br /></div><div>As a follow-up, and thanks to the inimitable Chris Middleton, here are American whiskey production totals for 1934 to 1952, after which this data was no longer publicly reported. A "proof gallon" is one gallon of 100° (50% ABV) spirit. Reporting was for a July-June fiscal year.<div><br /></div><div>1934/35........149,112,923 proof gallons</div><div>1935/36........300,658,508</div><div>1936/37........223,457,850</div><div>1937/38........102,895,872</div><div>1938/39..........93,003,917</div><div>1939/40..........98,993,303</div><div>1940/41........121,851,983</div><div>1941/42........120,257,424</div><div>1942/43..........19,529,698</div><div>1943/44......No whisky produced</div><div>1944/45...........41,562,203</div><div>1945/46.........147,464,516</div><div>1946/47.........167,994,805</div><div>1947/48.........129,597,067</div><div>1948/49.........149,595,230</div><div>1949/50.........118,760,487</div><div>1950/51.........205,702,460</div><div>1951/52.........103,543,953</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Prohibition ended on December 5, 1933. There had been limited production since 1929, but the country was in the depths of the Great Depression, so it took time to get the distilleries operating again. As you can see, extraordinary amounts were produced in 35/36 and 36/37 before settling down to a normal level of about 100 million proof gallons per year, ramping up to 120 million on the eve of Pearl Harbor.</div><div><br /></div><div>Although it was winding down, WWII did not technically end until August of 1945, so 46/47 was the first full year of normal whiskey production. The numbers probably reflect an industry operating close to capacity and still in the process of ramping up, both to make up for missed production, and to exploit the post-war economic boom.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that 51/52 production was half of 50/51 might reflect the Korean War, or it might just be a reporting anomaly as the Treasury changed its reporting system.</div><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-71292303603789190222024-01-17T17:02:00.000-06:002024-01-17T17:02:11.685-06:00U. S. Craft Spirits Sales Exceeded 14 Million Cases in 2022<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuzs-OntpK4NY4w6Sz9VG3U4ookQmcZmNX8TLh3JvCrzEBFuDs5W7KfQDzDNscLUrU9olz4LF2nIf7hWRxEYMVCtdAvjN4xyq392T9ZNOec-h_s7lI9A2aM4sMC4-BcejE_9Q61MLEQ3R0AukEnotJtOIWmrda5Ht7EXVjKE74Tkj2pEeyqDhx1RBGvBL/s3000/2023%20Craft%20Spirits%20Data%20Project%20Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2250" data-original-width="3000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUuzs-OntpK4NY4w6Sz9VG3U4ookQmcZmNX8TLh3JvCrzEBFuDs5W7KfQDzDNscLUrU9olz4LF2nIf7hWRxEYMVCtdAvjN4xyq392T9ZNOec-h_s7lI9A2aM4sMC4-BcejE_9Q61MLEQ3R0AukEnotJtOIWmrda5Ht7EXVjKE74Tkj2pEeyqDhx1RBGvBL/s320/2023%20Craft%20Spirits%20Data%20Project%20Cover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>The American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) and Park Street today presented highlights from the 2023 Craft Spirits Data Project (CSDP) at its annual economic briefing. Introduced in 2016, the Craft Spirits Data Project evaluates performance and trends in the U.S. craft spirits industry. </p><p>Key findings and highlights include the following: </p><p>U.S. craft spirits market volume reached 14M 9-liter cases in retail sales, growing at an annual rate of 6.1%. In value terms, the market reached $7.9 billion in sales, growing at an annual rate of 5.3%. While there was still growth in 2022, it had slowed considerably from 2021, when craft spirits volume grew by 10.4% and value by 12.2%. U.S. craft spirits market share of total U.S. spirits maintained a 4.9% share in volume and increased value share to 7.7% in 2022, up from 7.5% in 2021.</p><p>The number of active craft distillers in the U.S. grew by 2.4% over the last year to 2,753 as of August 2023. Similarly, growth slowed from the year prior, which reported an increase by 17.4%. Active craft distillers are defined as licensed U.S. distilled spirits producers that removed 750,000 proof gallons (or 394,317 9L cases) or less from bond, market themselves as craft, are not openly controlled by a large supplier, and have no proven violation of the ACSA Code of Ethics. </p><p>Despite strong economic challenges, craft producers have consistently found value in reinvesting in their businesses. The total amount invested in the U.S. craft spirits segment increased by 6.5% year-over-year to $880 million. Employment numbers within the U.S. craft market also continued to increase post-pandemic, with 27,368 full-time domestic employees. </p><p>Home states still represent a critical sales opportunity. Craft spirits sales remain almost evenly split between the home state (47.4%) and other states (52.6%) in 2022. </p><p>While export growth was slower (up by 58% in 2021), exports provided an important runway for growth in 2022, up by 4.3% to 171,000 9L cases and surpassing pre-pandemic heights of 155,000 9L cases in 2019. However, the category is still recovering from the impact of tariffs and have not reached pre-tariff levels seen in 2017 at 566,000 9L cases. </p><p>The American Craft Spirits Association is the only registered national non-profit trade association representing the U.S. craft spirits industry. Launched in 2003 by former McKinsey consultants, Park Street is a technology-enabled services company that helps emerging and established alcoholic beverage suppliers and brand owners cost-effectively and securely scale and manage their businesses.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-23960696595282390852024-01-10T15:25:00.002-06:002024-01-10T15:29:49.698-06:00Size Matters<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8yNQBASJghtp89rtbR54JiBFN_yXGAKuUUc0Z5I5D-ellgiyVN_Eq2sYvHf8aMyHafyu3isl_DWtK3dmE_kmqEGSJEuKfeFtffxdSLIy7hrO0Uonj8D21yxAMgv0Vrr9XuT1IxlzksCfgsi1ox98t69ukZe8lOYahNpzZ-ssrK3SAx3VL5n1HaRvI4vG/s700/bulleit%20still.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY8yNQBASJghtp89rtbR54JiBFN_yXGAKuUUc0Z5I5D-ellgiyVN_Eq2sYvHf8aMyHafyu3isl_DWtK3dmE_kmqEGSJEuKfeFtffxdSLIy7hrO0Uonj8D21yxAMgv0Vrr9XuT1IxlzksCfgsi1ox98t69ukZe8lOYahNpzZ-ssrK3SAx3VL5n1HaRvI4vG/s320/bulleit%20still.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A 42-inch diameter column still at Diageo's Bullit Distillery.</td></tr></tbody></table>The previous post was long and covered a lot. Here I want to give more attention to the "Size Matters" story in the new issue of <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a>,</i> my old-school, paper-in-the-mail newsletter.<div><br /></div><div><div>About a decade ago, I began to keep track of all the column stills making whiskey in the United States. Why? Because the size (i.e., diameter) of a column still tells you that distillery's production capacity, not how much it <i>will </i>produce, or <i>does </i>produce, but how much it <i>can </i>produce. In the story "Size Matters," I go into some of what I've learned from that project. </div><div><br /></div><div>I've written about this subject here on the blog. <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2017/09/bourbon-distilleries-ranked-by-capacity.html" target="_blank">This post from 2017</a> continues to be one of the most-viewed. </div><div><br /></div><div><div>In 2014, eight companies distilled virtually all of America’s whiskey at thirteen distilleries. Three years later, there were ten companies operating fifteen distilleries. The additions were at the low end of the scale. Today there are 16 companies operating 26 distilleries. Those companies control about 94 percent of America’s whiskey production capacity. </div><div><br /></div><div>Again, the new companies are coming in at the low end. The biggest producers have only gotten bigger. The new guys are nowhere close to knocking out the old guys, despite what some folks out there seem to think.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 16 companies, more or less in order (best estimate), are Brown-Forman, Beam Suntory, Sazerac, Heaven Hill, Campari, Kirin, MGP/Luxco, Diageo, Bardstown Bourbon Company, Whiskey House of Kentucky, Pernod Ricard, Bacardi, Tennessee Distilling Group, Michter’s, Jackson Purchase, and Castle & Key.</div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>As the inclusion of Whiskey House of Kentucky suggests, the database includes current capacity and scheduled (not speculative) near-future capacity.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's all the preview you get! Now <a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">subscribe!</a></div><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-35532452362339382322023-12-30T15:00:00.001-06:002023-12-30T19:20:57.434-06:00My Bourbon Writing Will Not be Rationed<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4AW6YCmrr7K4CItllMKDi4futA2LSI1gRZHA0Z_1nchFMR2oR5CQBATNEiIRHR6VqBexmw_nzByMOUanka9JODamtkSlsdoSq3WvI8dUx_xzVaw26IKGy9vLIPY3YpbVUIPHCi2A0euTXYJjmjw48DZEph1tO-a3rzFHL6odrTmH2kzSHaS_ycQ3zNxt/s2380/Rationing.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2380" data-original-width="1864" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG4AW6YCmrr7K4CItllMKDi4futA2LSI1gRZHA0Z_1nchFMR2oR5CQBATNEiIRHR6VqBexmw_nzByMOUanka9JODamtkSlsdoSq3WvI8dUx_xzVaw26IKGy9vLIPY3YpbVUIPHCi2A0euTXYJjmjw48DZEph1tO-a3rzFHL6odrTmH2kzSHaS_ycQ3zNxt/s320/Rationing.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An anti-hoarding, pro-rationing poster for the United States during World War II.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>The rationing poster above refers to an article in the new issue of <i>The Bourbon Country Reader, </i>which subscribers will receive shortly, but I wanted to start with a thank you.<div><br /></div><div>The response to my December 13 post was more than I could have asked for, and very much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who commented. As I wrote after the first dozen or so comments came in, my short post happened because lately I feel I am shouting into the void. As a speech major in college, I was taught basic communication theory. The parts of communication are sender, message, receiver, and feedback. The feedback informs the sender as to how the message was received, so it can be modified or built upon. It's pretty basic stuff but the key insight is that communication is a loop, a cycle. One may send messages to some expected receiver, but without feedback there is no communication. </div><div><br /></div><div>Some of you are subscribers to my old school, paper-in-the-mail newsletter. I wrapped volume 21 back in August and have been dragging my feet on starting volume 22. I have considered discontinuing the newsletter altogether. Thanks to all of you and your encouragement, volume 22, number 1 is at the printer now and will be in the mail in a few days.</div><div><br /></div><div>You can subscribe <a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><div>What is in the new issue? Exactly 80 years ago, in December 1943, two years after the attack on Pearl Harbor dragged the United States into World War II, a fullpage advertisement appeared in newspapers across the country. The ad’s headline got right to the point: “The <u>TRUTH</u> about the Whiskey Shortage” (emphasis in the original).</div><div><br /></div><div>Modern "whiskey shortage" concerns are laughable compared to this.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><div>The ad set out to answer three questions: “Is there really a shortage?,” “How much whiskey is available?,” and “How long will the present supply last?”</div></div><div><br /></div><div>You will find the whole story in the new <i>Reader.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>What else? About a decade ago, I began to keep track of all the column stills making whiskey in the United States. Why? Because the size (i.e., diameter) of a column still tells you that distillery's production capacity, not how much it <i>will</i> produce, or <i>does</i> produce, but how much it <i>can </i>produce. In the story "Size Matters," I go into some of what I've learned from that project. </div><div><br /></div><div>Launched in 1994, <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> is the oldest publication devoted entirely to American whiskey. It is an eclectic mix of news, history, analysis, and product reviews. Do you worry that advertising influences coverage in other publications? No chance of that here since <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> is 100 percent reader-supported. It accepts no advertising. </div><div><br /></div><div>To experience <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> for yourself, you need to subscribe. Honoring history, <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> is still exclusively on paper, sent in an envelope via the USPS. </div><div><br /></div><div>Despite rampant inflation, a subscription to <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> is a mere $25 per year for addresses in the USA, $32 USD 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 22, Number 1. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/Read50.pdf" target="_blank">Click here for a free sample (an old issue in PDF format)</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/guide.PDF" target="_blank">Click here to open or download "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order."</a> (It's like an index, also PDF.)</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><p><br /></p></div></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-81988099804662232492023-12-13T17:59:00.001-06:002023-12-13T17:59:27.209-06:00Now Is the Time to Tell Me<p>I haven't posted much recently. If you miss it, now is the time to tell me. </p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-10694901736887479092023-09-25T17:50:00.008-05:002023-09-28T18:02:38.554-05:00This Is ... Interesting<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-iBu59TzY0h3x1M6p0yABMQWUGGlJ3lCxSiDyvB7dwaeFKMT7kh8rfVJpWkilPNyJrH5_y_gJcZScicGotRrdf9rMjU_Bh-1G_9XoQ1rhAGr5QwMHUTg5SDUAHtvw9uo4LJc-4ZwuYN5CCd13I1NCNXGEW7uG1nWPBput0vwHw2rJJ2EhK16jwG8pb1Qz/s640/New%20KBHOF%20award.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="427" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-iBu59TzY0h3x1M6p0yABMQWUGGlJ3lCxSiDyvB7dwaeFKMT7kh8rfVJpWkilPNyJrH5_y_gJcZScicGotRrdf9rMjU_Bh-1G_9XoQ1rhAGr5QwMHUTg5SDUAHtvw9uo4LJc-4ZwuYN5CCd13I1NCNXGEW7uG1nWPBput0vwHw2rJJ2EhK16jwG8pb1Qz/s320/New%20KBHOF%20award.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "updated" Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® award.</td></tr></tbody></table>I was inducted into the <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2009/09/hall-of-famer-to-bourbon-industry-make.html" target="_blank">Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame</a> (KBHOF) in 2009. It's a nice honor. It came with a replica copper still, with my name on it, and a personalised lapel pin. That's pretty much it. There is no actual, physical hall. A list of all members, not yet updated for 2023, is <a href="https://kybourbon.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HOF-members-updated-2022.docx.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>. <div><br /></div><div>For all intents and purposes, those two pages <i>are</i> the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame.<br /><div><br /></div><div>Current, living members of the KBHOF have no role in the selection of prospective members or, well, anything. The KBHOF is run by the <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2019/08/when-all-doesnt-actually-mean-all.html" target="_blank">Kentucky Distillers Association</a> (KDA), which apparently also owns the registered trademark for it. The only on-going perk of membership was the annual induction luncheon during the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, but now hall members are expected to buy tickets for that like everyone else. The invitation included a free glass. At least, I think it was free.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then this arrived today:</div><div><br /></div><div><p>"Greetings Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® Members - </p><p>"As you may be aware, in 2022 the Hall of Fame Selection Committee and Kentucky Distillers’ Association [KDA] took the initiative to update the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® award. The KDA commissioned glassblowing artist Brook Forrest White, Jr. of Flame Run in Louisville to design and craft a unique and contemporary award that incorporates Bourbon-inspired motifs such as amber colors, oak, Copper and water. The limestone award based has been crafted by JoEl E. Ford, owner of Kentucky Cut Stone, located in Lancaster, to symbolize the natural-cut limestone so valuable to the Bourbon industry. The award rounds-out with a Copper name plate that includes the recipient’s name, industry award and Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® logo. For your reference, see image below/attached.</p><p>"The KDA has been reached by several Hall of Fame members requesting the opportunity to purchase this new award style. </p><p>"If you are interested in ordering a new Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame® award, reach (NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS REDACTED). <b>Please note you will be invoiced for $1,000 to cover the cost of the award. </b>You will be notified when your award is ready and available for pick-up at Kentucky Distillers’ Association headquarters in Frankfort, KY – we are unable to ship the awards. <b>Orders will be accepted until, Friday, October 6th. Production will take approximately 6 weeks.</b>"</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUt4fCoPzJGY58Yp2H7v3_O-PMUFz1g1HI61ZTmEHFot6teJa0XenJsqauvWpo1cp6iFqdqoxUSslMNj9PQKbhDygpv5T38MSaVJKKF-ltsTUeVjjvdkQ4MRKnsQK0Li4fe2PNbf5viwfD7NNPtD6B1GCmqh3YuCISdBF1F6ggXlcmwK59KWss3mz_2PQ/s1989/Class%20of%202009.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1318" data-original-width="1989" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcUt4fCoPzJGY58Yp2H7v3_O-PMUFz1g1HI61ZTmEHFot6teJa0XenJsqauvWpo1cp6iFqdqoxUSslMNj9PQKbhDygpv5T38MSaVJKKF-ltsTUeVjjvdkQ4MRKnsQK0Li4fe2PNbf5viwfD7NNPtD6B1GCmqh3YuCISdBF1F6ggXlcmwK59KWss3mz_2PQ/s320/Class%20of%202009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame Class of <br />2009, with the original awards.</td></tr></tbody></table><div>I redacted the name of the contact person at KDA, who can hardly be blamed for this, but who perhaps bears responsibility for the grammatical lapses and weird capitalization in the email. </div><div><br /></div><div>I have been <i>persona non grata</i> with the KDA for about a decade, ever since I posted <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/02/big-trouble-in-bourbon-country.html" target="_blank">this</a> and <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/05/kda-fantasy-camp-starts-wednesday-514.html" target="_blank">this</a>, and probably a few other things. All constructive criticism, of course.</div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to say, my check for $1,000 is <i>not </i>in the mail.</div><div><br /></div></div></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-72094777884610088642023-08-31T19:41:00.004-05:002023-08-31T19:45:25.095-05:00New Still Will Increase Heaven Hill's Capacity by One-Third, on Way to Doubling It<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMk2JjGtBQ3_3iO-Rn_nORAFxQXU4g84chCIoZw1ne41oIxwHBN-JmMbd4uqLocTwuaH5kS_ccSyG8dPclvKAK06AzfJaC1l40cxChlBGp4xYsfL1ZwgLYdKqd7whm9G15Az_iVTyi1_l52_I0x8I2Gfc6s9tkI-herl2Bp8rzWJNr07d8oyj1VqTeArq/s2073/HHS%20Btown%20Still.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="2073" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRMk2JjGtBQ3_3iO-Rn_nORAFxQXU4g84chCIoZw1ne41oIxwHBN-JmMbd4uqLocTwuaH5kS_ccSyG8dPclvKAK06AzfJaC1l40cxChlBGp4xYsfL1ZwgLYdKqd7whm9G15Az_iVTyi1_l52_I0x8I2Gfc6s9tkI-herl2Bp8rzWJNr07d8oyj1VqTeArq/s320/HHS%20Btown%20Still.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heaven Hill installs the column still at its new distillery in Bardstown.</td></tr></tbody></table>Heaven Hill today, with much fanfare, installed the column still that will be the centerpiece of their new Bardstown distillery. It's a big one, five-and-a-half feet in diameter. They say it is capable of producing 35,500 proof-gallons per day, which is equal to more than 500 barrels per day. <div><br /></div><div>Heaven Hill is one of the four companies who together make about 70 percent of America's whiskey. Even as many new whiskey companies have come online, the Big Four have all gotten bigger. </div><div><br /></div><div>This milestone is exciting because it marks Heaven Hill's return to Bardstown as a distiller. They are also restoring an old name, Heaven Hill Springs, for this facility.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since 1996, when fire destroyed Heaven Hill's original Bardstown distillery, Heaven Hill has made its whiskey at its Bernheim Distillery in Louisville, where it has <i>three </i>column stills slightly smaller than this one. When they put the last 60" still in at Bernheim, they said that was it. They couldn't add more capacity to that facility. They say that facility's current capacity is 450,000 barrels per year and the new facility is planned to reach that same capacity in time, which means they must already have holes in the floor for two additional stills. </div><div><br /></div><div>They had to do this because they were all out of room at Bernheim. There is plenty in Bardstown. The new distillery is being built on a surprisingly empty piece of land between Old Bloomfield Pike and New Bloomfield Road, aka US-62. It's just west of where the old Fairfield Distillery was, where Heaven Hill has maturation warehouses today.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nothing in Bardstown is very far from anything else and Heaven Hill has several facilities in the area. The main campus is south of downtown, on Loretto Road, by Willett and on the way to Maker's Mark.</div><div><br /></div><div>All the gang was there. Vendome made the still and Buzick did the installation. Heaven Hill executives and other dignitaries watched from a respectful distance.<p><br /></p></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-83434462789579194982023-08-14T17:04:00.000-05:002023-08-14T17:04:45.602-05:00New 'Reader,' Out Now, Explores Mexican Bourbon and Whiskey QC<p> </p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYCxITF_ApcmGyjdkPOAXcn1bQ0cqb0KfvWNPXxTzhd6NIs8u6qnFVnZ5TpgKKBA0WEiQoI7_HlnKzv9ZOf7jWBKvgY90YTsP0gYC2RvMcIT8qRUeLoIkURBa0v5mRZ8G-VgTPw1SuP7aYNQjoUAakHWWUbD-bQyq6dICpArEAexrT82Q-Get4QO_FebpD" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="478" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhYCxITF_ApcmGyjdkPOAXcn1bQ0cqb0KfvWNPXxTzhd6NIs8u6qnFVnZ5TpgKKBA0WEiQoI7_HlnKzv9ZOf7jWBKvgY90YTsP0gYC2RvMcIT8qRUeLoIkURBa0v5mRZ8G-VgTPw1SuP7aYNQjoUAakHWWUbD-bQyq6dICpArEAexrT82Q-Get4QO_FebpD" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ad for Mary Dowling's Made-in-Mexico Bourbon</td></tr></tbody></table>Earlier this summer, Kaveh Zamanian and Pernod-Ricard announced the formation of the Mary Dowling Whiskey Company, a new brand. The whiskey is from Rabbit Hole, but they're not talking about that so much as they are about Mary Dowling, and what a story it is.</p><p>You can read all about it in the latest issue of <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a>, </i>available now!</p><p>Zamanian and Pernod have dubbed Mary Dowling the “Mother of Bourbon.” Whether or not she was the mother of anything other than her nine children, Mary Dowling’s story is remarkable. If you must pluck a name from history to adorn a new whiskey brand, she is a good choice. If any historical figure represents the internationalization of American whiskey, it is her.</p><p>The apogee of her story was her extreme attempt to stay in business during Prohibition by moving her entire distillery 1,500 miles southwest, to Juarez, Mexico. Although it is another 1,000 miles from Juarez to Jalisco, where tequila is made, <i>Mary Dowling Tequila Barrel</i> is a high rye, double malt, Kentucky straight bourbon. Four years old, it is finished in American oak previously used to age Tequila and bottled at 90° proof (45% ABV).</p><div>That's pretty much what Zamanian and Pernod will tell you, but there is much more to Mary Dowling's story and <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Reader</a></i> has it all.</div><div><br /></div><div>Also in this issue, we take a deep dive into the subject of whiskey consistency. Today, while a new breed of whiskey enthusiast primarily buys limited editions, most whiskey is sold to brand loyalists who expect their favorite to always taste exactly the same. Achieving that consistency is not as easy as you might think. We break it down in the new <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">Reader</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div><div>Launched in 1994, <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a></i> is the oldest publication devoted entirely to American whiskey. It is an eclectic 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 <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a></i> is 100 percent reader-supported. It accepts no advertising.</div><div><br /></div><div>To experience <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a></i> for yourself, you need to <a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">subscribe</a>. Honoring history, <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a></i> is still exclusively on paper, sent in an envelope via the USPS. Doing our part to keep them solvent, we use only First Class Mail.</div><div><br /></div><div>Nevertheless, a subscription to <i><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">The Bourbon Country Reader</a></i> is a mere $25 per year for addresses in the USA, $32 USD for everyone else. <i>The Bourbon Country Reader</i> 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 21, Number 6. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/page9.html" target="_blank">Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card</a>. Click <a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/Read50.pdf" target="_blank">here for a free sample</a> (an older issue in PDF format). Click <a href="http://bourbonstraight.com/mbky/guide.PDF" target="_blank">here to open or download "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order."</a> (It's like an index, also PDF.)</div><div><br /></div><div>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.</div><div><br /></div></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-61096420849319639482023-08-08T17:52:00.003-05:002023-08-08T18:59:59.163-05:00Will Blue Run's Magnificent Distillery Ever Be Built?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWlREOiTepaJdxT6JxzO0u8ABxqZfR_SM_i6xZu3bje6ZJ18f8kPl71PJvgdV2AoBpM2ZrXRoc7jBVcOlml8nK3gJ4JJA7CTTupVyPzho0dk2iH81v7q1Bqu-n35vwpK-zkaq3JMsgHQf0O4kTEgFgMxZgVSpFJ89EMc08WBI3Qq6LryVgbOCxppidI-P/s1140/Blue%20Run%20Spirits%20Distillery%20Render%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="1140" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNWlREOiTepaJdxT6JxzO0u8ABxqZfR_SM_i6xZu3bje6ZJ18f8kPl71PJvgdV2AoBpM2ZrXRoc7jBVcOlml8nK3gJ4JJA7CTTupVyPzho0dk2iH81v7q1Bqu-n35vwpK-zkaq3JMsgHQf0O4kTEgFgMxZgVSpFJ89EMc08WBI3Qq6LryVgbOCxppidI-P/s320/Blue%20Run%20Spirits%20Distillery%20Render%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An architect's rendering of Blue Run's proposed <br />$51 million distillery in Georgetown, Kentucky.</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Beermaker Molson Coors announced today it is purchasing Blue Run Spirits. Terms were not disclosed. The deal was reported in the <i><a href="https://www.kentucky.com/lexgoeat/bourbon/article278054427.html?fbclid=IwAR1Rv936_S2OhpEoJVkuvQ7ZeWs4GUwAGAiPTK3XmwHQmPPrLUn8SeRISVE" target="_blank">Lexington Herald-Leader</a>.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Despite the usually-reliable Janet Patton calling them one, Blue Run is not a "distillery." Blue Run is a non-distiller producer. The rendering above is just that, an architect's illustration for a proposed distillery in Georgetown, Kentucky. This "preliminary design," released in March with much fanfare, is by the Bjarke Ingels Group, designers of Google's headquarters and the Lego museum.</div><div><br /></div><div>Will it ever be built? The record is not good. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 2017, Stoli Group announced its acquisition of Kentucky Owl, a small, luxury bourbon brand. Later that year Stoli said it would build a $150 million distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Land was acquired and some site preparation was done, but the distillery remains unbuilt. Two years ago, they predicted construction would begin in 2024. The Kentucky Owl brand continues to thrive using liquid distilled by Bardstown Bourbon Company and other sources. </div><div><br /></div><div>Other examples include Nelson's Green Brier and High West. Although both have distilleries, their acquisitions by major companies were predicated on the success of brands made with sourced liquid. Both companies have house-made products, and High West has transitioned to a blend of sourced and house-made for its top brands. </div><div><br /></div><div>The reasoning is simple. If your brand is built on sourced liquid, and a sufficient supply of suitable sourced liquid continues to be available, you have no reason to build a distillery. Sourced brands tend to stay sourced brands until and unless their sources dry up, then they reluctantly become distillers, as happened to Michter's and Luxco. At last report, Blue Run is a 50,000-case brand, and its products are all limited releases. That is part of their appeal. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/hudsonlindenberger/2022/06/13/blue-run-spirits-is-sneakerizing-the-bourbon-industry/?fbclid=IwAR31aPWHcI6AwNd0-sigoeIA8F71AXIMxMIgWlvrKM5UuP7QuMtcdLDljd0&sh=35c3bca46c12" target="_blank">This <i>Forbes</i> article</a> (from 2022) explains what Blue Run is about and what Molson Coors is really buying.</div><div><br /></div><div>Their first release, the 14-year-old $169 Kentucky Straight bourbon that made their reputation, was 2,600 bottles. You don't need your own distillery to create releases like that. Their business model has "independent bottler" written all over it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jim Rutledge, formerly of Four Roses, is part of the Blue Run team. He is having whiskey contract-distilled for the brand at Castle & Key in Frankfort. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of this doesn't mean, of course, that the Blue Run brand might not benefit from a tourism "homeplace," but that doesn't need to be a distillery, doesn't need to be in Georgetown, and doesn't need to cost $51 million.</div><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-40993347345622025342023-08-04T19:16:00.001-05:002023-08-04T19:27:21.420-05:00Heaven Hill Brands and Log Still Distilling LLC Make Statement, Say Nothing<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhmf2FWbhv_Gs8YrAYEw_EcB_o9xQj5aOZ5T9Z-QvhLg4J_r9b5tb4AaHQiU4zd3XxvXra6RRKAOf_d3Wf3sS9ou-q4kerKnzUuzw73q8yh0m1bpKCCnmTR-C3vQsMPETGLXA-IaABuJyf3P6NuMX22mp9IN5jWEC8xsV-gQW5i5xo2Md3dsd4rcWgelH/s1360/Log%20Still.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1360" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhmf2FWbhv_Gs8YrAYEw_EcB_o9xQj5aOZ5T9Z-QvhLg4J_r9b5tb4AaHQiU4zd3XxvXra6RRKAOf_d3Wf3sS9ou-q4kerKnzUuzw73q8yh0m1bpKCCnmTR-C3vQsMPETGLXA-IaABuJyf3P6NuMX22mp9IN5jWEC8xsV-gQW5i5xo2Md3dsd4rcWgelH/s320/Log%20Still.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The water tower is a remnant of the distillery that must not be named.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Heaven Hill Brands and Log Still Distilling LLC put out a press release yesterday under the headline, “Heaven Hill Brands and Log Still Distilling LLC Settle Trademark Dispute Over Usage of ‘Dant’ in the Distilled Spirits Industry.” </p><p>It goes on to say Heaven Hill and Log Still are both nice, friendly, family-owned companies in Nelson Country, Kentucky, who have “finalized a mutually agreeable resolution of their dispute regarding the usage of the ‘J.W. Dant’ trademark and its associated goodwill, which were purchased by Heaven Hill in 1993.” Then, after another paragraph about how nice they are and how much they both value intellectual property rights and “strong, independent brand identities within the spirits industry,” they throw in this: “Heaven Hill will continue to be the sole producer of J.W. Dant distilled spirits.”</p><p>That’s it. That’s the whole story, at least so far as yesterday's press release is concerned, although it goes on for another 250 words about what nice, friendly companies they both are, how they love their customers, yada yada yada, followed by another 200 words of boilerplate descriptions of the two companies.</p><p>So, Heaven Hill owns the J.W. Dant trademark and Log Still can’t use it, end of story. And that pretty much is all there is to it, but that really doesn’t tell you anything, does it?</p><p>So I will.</p><p>In 2020, Wally Dant, a descendant of J. W. Dant, revived the old distillery site at Gethsemane Station near New Haven as Log Still Distillery, a whiskey resort. The name refers to the legendary wooden still used by his ancestor and made famous via the marketing of J. W. Dant Bourbon over more than a century.</p><p>There were many distilleries on the site but the last one before this one was owned by Schenley and made J. W. Dant Bourbon.</p><p>When Wally took a <i>Louisville Courier-Journal </i>writer on a tour of Log Still just before it opened, he talked about how in 1836, at age 16, his great-great-great-grandfather fashioned a still from a hollowed-out poplar log. In the interview, he mentioned Cold Spring, the original name of the distillery at Gethsemane Station. He talked about replicating J. W. Dant’s original mash bill. The 1,400-word article mentioned J. W. Dant nine times. </p><p>In 2021, Wally Dant lost a trademark fight with Heaven Hill that restricts his ability to tout Log Still’s connection to the J. W. Dant legacy, although the Log Still name itself survived. He may truthfully tell his family story and stories of the many different distilleries that formally occupied the site, but any use of ‘Dant’ in anything that smacks of branding will bring more trouble. He calls the site ‘Dant Crossing,’ but when he does the following disclaimer must appear: “Log Still Distillery neither owns nor has any affiliation with ‘J.W. Dant’ distilled spirits.” </p><p>Why are they releasing a statement in the summer of 2023 about a dispute decided in 2021? Presumably, the court set some parameters and left the parties to work out the details, which they apparently finished doing earlier this week. The press release doesn't tell you that either, and it doesn't matter, because now we're all friends.</p><p>Log Still sells a bourbon called Monk’s Road. The monks at the nearby Abbey of Gethsemani have not objected, yet.</p><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-62546870410490681402023-07-31T19:54:00.002-05:002023-07-31T20:18:02.456-05:00Is It in My Blood?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuA8At_wFtOZ2GeVWyNabwqURZxIMLQ4pw5oZu_BQsRznA0MO3_AoA7n8owv0ldJXjzKQQd2_a2VWGNAi41L5pDWiJSETx_XTU0nWgqiWiIkYMwy83h4OR0Ds8pkt4_4dGV9dYJlGImBhSGaUxDe16phgNvGOhLa7JaagdAowLJWk6Asduzn9X_dCQZcm/s536/North%20Central%20Kentucky%20Settlers.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="239" data-original-width="536" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizuA8At_wFtOZ2GeVWyNabwqURZxIMLQ4pw5oZu_BQsRznA0MO3_AoA7n8owv0ldJXjzKQQd2_a2VWGNAi41L5pDWiJSETx_XTU0nWgqiWiIkYMwy83h4OR0Ds8pkt4_4dGV9dYJlGImBhSGaUxDe16phgNvGOhLa7JaagdAowLJWk6Asduzn9X_dCQZcm/s320/North%20Central%20Kentucky%20Settlers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The voodoo of Ancestry DNA says some of <br />my people migrated from Maryland to North <br />Central Kentucky in the 18th-19th centuries.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I have been around the Kentucky bourbon business for about 45 years. I got into it by moving from Ohio to Kentucky for a job. I have been involved in it one way or another ever since.</p><p>I didn’t always like the product. My parents drank bourbon. My grandpa drank scotch. I drank beer, then scotch, until I <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2022/06/my-bourbon-epiphany.html" target="_blank">moved to Kentucky where I switched to bourbon</a>. </p><p>Living there, I became fascinated with the industry and its culture, and how integral it is to Kentucky’s culture. It was so different from the culture I grew up in, in the adjacent state. I thought that was it, why I was interested, because it is just that interesting. Then I learned it may also be in my blood.</p><p>Dad was from St. Louis and mom was from Cleveland, which was just about all I knew about my roots growing up. I became interested in the subject and gradually put flesh on the bones. Mom’s family all came from German-speaking places and landed in Northern Ohio, ultimately Cleveland (West Side). Dad’s family also had Ohio roots, in the southeastern part of the state, along the Ohio River.</p><p>That, of course, put them close to Kentucky, so I wasn’t surprised when I learned that my great-grandfather, <a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2021/08/beams-in-my-home-town-and-other_0753981064.html" target="_blank">Homer Cowdery</a>, was born in Kentucky. The family was there for a year or two, then moved back to Ohio. When he got older, Homer took a job on a riverboat and wound up in St. Louis.</p><p>Only recently have I learned that the other side of dad's family, my paternal grandmother, Myrtle Gertrude Tucker Cowdery Mansfield, had an even deeper Kentucky connection.</p><p><a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2021/08/beams-in-my-home-town-and-other_0247732377.html" target="_blank">Her story is here</a>. </p><p>Through Grandma Myrtle I am descended from Joseph 'Short' Tucker, who was part of the mass migration into Kentucky of Catholic religious refugees fleeing Maryland, the same Maryland Catholics who largely founded the Kentucky bourbon industry. </p><p>The Tuckers didn’t stay in Nelson County for long. They were part of a smaller group that, after a few years, continued west to Missouri. They kept their faith and their connections to their brethren in Kentucky, however. The same priests who built their church in Bardstown built the Missouri one too.</p><p>I don’t know if Short Tucker or any of his descendants made whiskey, but my family’s participation in that Maryland-to-Kentucky migration even shows up in my DNA.</p><p>So perhaps I was destined for it after all. I found my roots in a bourbon bottle.</p><div><br /></div>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-22493067160952236982023-07-14T15:23:00.000-05:002023-07-14T15:23:19.349-05:00MGPI to Close Founding Plant, Become Different Company<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8bEDZAOFaPMH6BEUPz2r_FED-DVDozNnrDslz3SjFkJ2If7gSww_wNSziSeWBIMmxQKYa-eGWmeB2SxQQ7TyfyQy9AMafOmixkrVUT0V5kJGaZ8mSNtSAFuYOU0xiyYL-CVLkP1kxPPuWPrCis-4_EirmDMbh6_DqbuHJE-OPtrtrUHW_i1lwAk5soLM/s634/MGPI.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="634" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8bEDZAOFaPMH6BEUPz2r_FED-DVDozNnrDslz3SjFkJ2If7gSww_wNSziSeWBIMmxQKYa-eGWmeB2SxQQ7TyfyQy9AMafOmixkrVUT0V5kJGaZ8mSNtSAFuYOU0xiyYL-CVLkP1kxPPuWPrCis-4_EirmDMbh6_DqbuHJE-OPtrtrUHW_i1lwAk5soLM/s320/MGPI.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MGPI, Atchison, Kansas.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>If you noticed in the news that <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/07/13/2704248/0/en/MGP-Ingredients-Announces-Planned-Closure-of-Grain-Neutral-Spirits-and-Industrial-Alcohol-Distillery-in-Atchison-Kansas.html" target="_blank">MGPI will close its grain neutral spirits distillery in Atchison, Kansas</a>, you may have thought, "Ho hum, one less industrial alcohol distillery. So what?"</p><p>The <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/07/13/2704248/0/en/MGP-Ingredients-Announces-Planned-Closure-of-Grain-Neutral-Spirits-and-Industrial-Alcohol-Distillery-in-Atchison-Kansas.html" target="_blank">straightforward press release</a> from MGPI soft-pedals the significance of this announcement. It contains all the information investors and other industry participants care about. The news is all there, accurately reported, with all necessary disclaimers, but there is much more to the story.</p><p>First, the business angle. MGPI is exiting the business that sustained it for most of its 82 years, the manufacturing of ethanol from corn. It's a different company now, especially since the acquisition of Luxco two-and-a-half years ago. It has other businesses but is now primarily a distilled spirits producer, leading with American whiskey.</p><p>Second, the history angle. This distillery in Atchison is where it all began for MGPI in 1941. It is the distillery Cloud Cray bought and expanded to make ethanol for the WWII war industries. He called it Midwest Grain Processors, later abbreviated to MGP. The "I" was added to represent 'ingredients.' </p><p>The company's Ingredient Solutions business will continue to operate in Atchison. It processes corn, wheat, and other grains into fiber, protein, and starch for use in a variety of foods.</p><p>This move isn't entirely unexpected. They started on this path in 2011, when they bought the former Seagram's distillery in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, now called Ross & Squibb.</p><p>MGPI is public but still tightly controlled by its founding Cray family. Cloud Cray’s son, Bud, who succeeded him, passed away in 2020 at age 96. Bud's daughter, Karen Seaberg, chairs MGPI’s board today. </p><p>MGPI has an image problem, in that they don't seem to know what they want their image to be. Two-and-a-half years into the Luxco acquisition, they haven't integrated well. They can't even settle on a corporate name. It is MGP in some places, MGPI in others, and MGP Ingredients, Inc. in still others. </p><p>Their Luxco business still does business as Luxco.</p><p>Perhaps this plant closure is what they've been waiting for. Although they still make ethanol at Ross & Squibb in Indiana, it's probably not enough to support their internal need for neutral spirit for their vodka, gin, blended whiskey, and cordials products. By exiting the unprofitable grain neutral spirits and industrial alcohol business, they have a chance to stamp the company with a new identity. They need to take it.</p><p>Maybe they'll go on a history binge when the place actually closes next year.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-2506816215104383182023-07-10T16:23:00.000-05:002023-07-10T16:23:49.273-05:00Should Your Favorite Whiskey Always Taste the Same?<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mvhkHMmvASJaRqKaZz0WaetYUE0mwg_s3FrScoeR-aTJSbJU9jHB9Vpttltavbt7TMo4MdWXapLHIMRiHBHjEj7v9AzBITcWtnVWDnymyZZ35CTrrFYBWofAQJMjcWjFmBOv_kpQMXot5swP6ITHY7GPZ7ZSephL1D-RJYmmIP64FdgK-8k9g4qV6FBJ/s1600/glasses%20of%20whiskey.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3mvhkHMmvASJaRqKaZz0WaetYUE0mwg_s3FrScoeR-aTJSbJU9jHB9Vpttltavbt7TMo4MdWXapLHIMRiHBHjEj7v9AzBITcWtnVWDnymyZZ35CTrrFYBWofAQJMjcWjFmBOv_kpQMXot5swP6ITHY7GPZ7ZSephL1D-RJYmmIP64FdgK-8k9g4qV6FBJ/s320/glasses%20of%20whiskey.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big whiskey companies are serious about consistency.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>John Lunn, before he took the position of master distiller at George Dickel, got to meet Ralph Dupps, who built the Tullahoma distillery for Schenley in the 1950s. "Don't change a damn thing," was Ralph's only advice.</p><p>There is nothing the biggest whiskey companies take more seriously than consistency.</p><p>For some craft distillers, consistency is anathema and good for them. They want to be consistent only up to a point, then they want each release to be its own experience. </p><p>That isn't how the majors see it. Their best customers are the 20 percent of drinkers who consume 80 percent of volume, 'heavy users,' with all the implications of that descriptor. They are brand loyalists. They drink every day and always drink the same thing the same way. Bitter experience has taught the big companies that they change a whiskey's flavor at their peril. Those precious heavy users <i>will</i> notice and they <i>will not</i> approve. </p><p>They won't write blog posts about it. They'll just find a <i>new </i>favorite whiskey. </p><p>Changing how a whiskey tastes is an even worse sin than raising the price. Some insiders attributed the rapid demise of Old Crow Bourbon to a small, unintended flavor change that occurred because of a distillery expansion in the 1960s.</p><p>This respect for brand-loyal customers who prize consistency made it hard for many companies to learn how to appeal to a new generation of whiskey enthusiasts whose values are different.</p><p>How do big distilleries ensure consistency? <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2022/01/are-basil-hayden-and-old-grand-dad-same.html" target="_blank">This post</a> from 2022 asked the question, "<a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2022/01/are-basil-hayden-and-old-grand-dad-same.html" target="_blank">Are Basil Hayden and Old Grand-Dad the Same?</a>" That led to an explanation of flavor profiles and the way producers maintain them to ensure product consistency. A long explanation is <a href="https://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2022/01/are-basil-hayden-and-old-grand-dad-same.html" target="_blank">there</a>, but the short version is this:</p><p>When barrels are dumped for bottling, often hundreds at a time, their contents are mixed together in a big tank. </p><p>Enough room is left in the tank for additional barrels to be added if necessary to adjust the product's flavor.</p><p>Samples from this new batch are then compared to a standard, "what it tasted like last time." This is done by the distillery's tasting panel. The master distiller has final say. They will tweak the blend until it's right.</p><p>Many distilleries have rooms full of plain, glass flasks (typically 500ml) labeled as to contents and when each was filled, shelf after shelf of them, a liquid archive. Quality control personnel can compare a current batch to not only the most recent batch, but to just about any batch of any brand the company has ever produced.</p><p>How many craft distilleries do this or anything like it? </p><p>Some do, some don't. Some, like the majors, save not just samples of bottling batches but also samples of new distillate, distillate after one year in wood, etc. Even if you preserve just one sample from every bottling batch, sample bottles can add up quickly. Many craft distilleries start out cramped for space. Do most even have room for a liquid archive? </p><p>Even if you're not trying to exactly match a profile with every batch, there are good reasons to keep a liquid record. When a problem arises, the first thing distillers do is go back to their archive to see if they can tell when the trouble started.</p><p>So, the headline above asks, "Should your favorite whiskey always taste the same?" Should it? That's entirely up to you. If you value consistency, the majors have you covered. If you believe variety is the spice of life, that's all right there for you too.</p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-60666428262845036582023-06-20T18:38:00.000-05:002023-06-20T18:38:29.448-05:00Lost Lantern Celebrates "Summer of Bourbon"<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91CTcf9CUqoVok6F1AdPIqdppN4p23cbdgdVgtEMx7CVovJ0vBmNPDhKGongQ7H-lTY7xrfT6DXKzjt1MPy2RaPYSLUyQIydAqvPwpp3SDxGy1EDnB2QS7RLJpnHnDzhVR79toU-sMDQxQREjmv6A0KSFlL2zwQjE1ma7TGySozTtH0x0wMKJSTIVLDtg/s3364/2023%20Summer%20of%20Bourbon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1898" data-original-width="3364" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91CTcf9CUqoVok6F1AdPIqdppN4p23cbdgdVgtEMx7CVovJ0vBmNPDhKGongQ7H-lTY7xrfT6DXKzjt1MPy2RaPYSLUyQIydAqvPwpp3SDxGy1EDnB2QS7RLJpnHnDzhVR79toU-sMDQxQREjmv6A0KSFlL2zwQjE1ma7TGySozTtH0x0wMKJSTIVLDtg/s320/2023%20Summer%20of%20Bourbon.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lost Lantern's 2023 Summer of Bourbon Collection.</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 21st century has witnessed two dramatic changes in the distilled spirits landscape. First is the revival of American straight whiskey, especially bourbon and rye. Second is the explosion of craft distilling.</p><p>Because of both trends bourbon, until recently produced almost exclusively in Kentucky, is now made across the United States, "from Nevada's arid deserts to Texas' sprawling plains, from the snowbelt of Ohio, to the rugged mountains of Colorado," according to the folks at <a href="http://LostLanternWhiskey.com" target="_blank">Lost Lantern</a>, the independent bottler of American Whiskey founded by Nora Ganley-Roper and Adam Polonski, who have declared this "The Summer of Bourbon."</p><p>"We have never devoted such a large release entirely to one single style of whiskey," commented Polonski. "We want to showcase the incredible quality and ingenuity coming from all over the country."</p><p>Lost Lantern’s Summer of Bourbon collection features eight bourbons across three product lines: the Blend Series (blends of whiskeys from multiple distilleries), the Single Distillery Series (blends of multiple casks from a single distillery that showcase a unique side of that distillery), and the Single Cask Series (whiskeys from a single barrel from a single distillery).</p><p>The blend is called Far-Flung Bourbon (582 Bottles | 136.8 Proof) SRP: $110</p><p>The single distillery bourbon is Soaring Spice Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Whiskey (900 Btls | 127.6 Proof) SRP: $100</p><p>The bourbons from the single cask series are: </p><p>Frey Ranch Distillery Nevada Straight Bourbon Single Cask (217 Btls | 137.2 Proof) SRP: $110</p><p>Boulder Spirits Colorado Straight Bourbon Single Cask (151 Btls | 142.6 Proof) SRP: $120</p><p>Ironroot Republic Texas Straight Bourbon Single Cask (167 Btls | 137.3 Proof) SRP: $120</p><p>Still Austin Texas Straight Bourbon Single Cask (167 Btls | 103.8 Proof) SRP: $80</p><p>Tom's Foolery Ohio Straight Bourbon Single Cask (171 Btls | 113.8 Proof) SRP: $120</p><p>New Riff Kentucky Straight Bourbon Single Cask (214 Btls | 114.2 Proof) SRP: $90</p><p>The Summer of Bourbon releases are non-chill-filtered, bottled at natural cask strength, and transparently labeled with the source distillery or distilleries on the label.</p><p>On the subject of dramatic changes in the American distilled spirits landscape, the recent emergence of independent blender-bottlers such as Lost Lantern is another one. You pay for curation, of course, but with nearly 3,000 distilleries operating in the USA right now, it's hard to know what to try. A curator can help. They research and taste a lot of stuff so you don't have to.</p><p>“The Summer of Bourbon shows that great bourbon can take many different forms,” says Ganley-Roper. “It can be made in many different ways in climates and aging conditions that are utterly different from each other, having a huge impact on flavor. This incredible diversity of styles and flavors is part of what makes the bourbon world so exciting.” </p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-840930092789285091.post-52977735265032039542023-06-15T19:27:00.000-05:002023-06-15T19:27:26.511-05:00In the United States, We Take Our Whiskey Personally<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkEIqwy-9AL7YbPv7kQmy3zURgjh_NUdQBRlzdFZXsq8EZ1r0o_x78pqntfpfHR5wHsr-uZtECWV8ZhUO5wSXrULKY0gCYivedGLV0kk-MCHSgWPIRFjAf2BzOlo7GOyQRF5nQpqhrZDRgP5xl1RHgJZrmTPQNka5PZ9d5Ze0CM9dsoVWi5bcq8vkvmQ" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2343" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkEIqwy-9AL7YbPv7kQmy3zURgjh_NUdQBRlzdFZXsq8EZ1r0o_x78pqntfpfHR5wHsr-uZtECWV8ZhUO5wSXrULKY0gCYivedGLV0kk-MCHSgWPIRFjAf2BzOlo7GOyQRF5nQpqhrZDRgP5xl1RHgJZrmTPQNka5PZ9d5Ze0CM9dsoVWi5bcq8vkvmQ" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"A conversation with Mr. Van Winkle."</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The question was one of those clickbait things on social media. "To whom do you turn when the going gets rough?" More than one person answered, "Jack Daniel's."</p><p>Americans like that about our whiskey. In Scotland and Ireland, whiskies are named after places, with a few notable exceptions. (Yes, Mr. Walker. We see you.) In the U.S., the most popular whiskeys are mostly named after people.</p><p>We have Jack and Jim, of course, Elijah, Ezra, Evan, Elmer, Issac, Jimmy, Parker, George, Abraham, Augustus, Cyrus, and Pappy. I'm sure I missed a couple. Back in 1989, George Jones sang, "Last night, I broke the seal on a Jim Beam decanter that looks like Elvis. I soaked the label off a Flintstone Jelly Bean jar." I worked on the Jim Beam account at the time. Beam never made an Elvis decanter (that was McCormick), but the folks at Beam sure did love that song.</p><p>When the bourbon category was dying, it seemed like any brand with "Old" in its name was declining fastest, even though most of those were people's names too, e.g., Crow, Taylor, Fitzgerald, Weller, Pepper. If you had a round bottle with "Old" in the name, you were screwed. Square bottle with a full name on it, you were okay. I worked on Early Times. They couldn't change the name but did switch to a square bottle.</p><p>When sales are crashing, you try anything.</p><p>My dad, who enjoyed Van Winkle Rye, would say he looked forward to "a conversation with Mr. Van Winkle" after an especially taxing day.</p><p>Back then, it wasn't hard to get Van Winkle Rye, but it was one of the most expensive American whiskeys on the market. Dad and I would talk about whiskey from time to time and he said he remembered rye from his youth (the 1940s) tasting like rye bread, so I got in the habit of bringing him different ryes to try, to see if we could find one that scratched that itch for him.</p><p>I went through almost everything before I got to the Van Winkle, not so much because of the cost as because I thought it very bourbon-like, which was what I liked about it, but it certainly did not taste like a traditional rye. This was about 15 years ago, when there weren't as many ryes as there are now. After he'd had the Van Winkle a few times, he commented, "It doesn't taste like rye bread, but I sure do like it." </p><p>That ended our quest for a rye-bread rye but I kept him supplied with Van Winkle Rye thereafter. When he died, there was about a third-of-a-bottle in his cabinet. I finished it for him.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Chuck Cowderyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12191121480961526039noreply@blogger.com2