In the current issue of The Bourbon County Reader (Vol 15 No 2), I write that Eagle Rare was 10-years-old and is now NAS (no age statement). This is incorrect. I meant to observe (in the story "Cheapening of Legacy Products Represents a Long Term Trend" on p. 4) that a few years ago, Eagle Rare was repositioned by Sazerac. They upgraded the bottle, raised the price, made it single barrel, and cut the proof from 101° to 90°, but it remained and still is age-stated at 10-years-old.
The article points out that not all changes to legacy products are in the down direction. The Eagle Rare change was some of each. The bottle and single-barrel switch were upgrades, but the proof cut was a downgrade.
We regret the error.
Eagle Rare Single Barrel is a terrific bourbon and an excellent value at about $30.
Showing posts with label The Bourbon Country Reader. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Bourbon Country Reader. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
Why Can't Micro-Distilleries Learn to Under-Promise and Over-Deliver Instead of the Other Way Around?
With a couple days to spare, the March issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is in the mail. There is so much going on in American whiskey these days, it's hard to make deadlines.
But in the mail it now is, Volume 15 Number 2. The main headline: "Some Micro-Distilleries That Are and Some That May Never Be." The key word there is 'may,' because I look forward to being proved wrong. After this issue went to the printer, I went to Louisville and spent time with some of the producers in question. I have nothing to retract but there is cause for at least guarded optimism in a couple of cases.
The most disturbing part of this phenomenon is not Potemkin Distilleries as such, it is the syndrome described in the headline above. In business, it's considered a best practice to under-promise and over-deliver. The premise couldn't be simpler, delight your customers instead of disappointing them. Regretfully, too many micro spirits producers do the opposite. They claim their special aging process makes their six-month bourbon taste better than Jim Beam's best. Their own distillery will open soon and they will eventually stop sourcing whiskey from Indiana and sell their own stuff exclusively. Their bourbon recipe has been in the family for 500 years. It was Al Capone's favorite.
And, yes, the micro-producers aren't the only ones who make shit up, but isn't authenticity supposed to be their raison d'être?
As an extreme example, N-th Degree Distillery, which is under construction at the Party Source retail store in Bellevue, Kentucky, has already declared conclusively that its bourbon will be the best in the world. They did this in the invitation to their groundbreaking. They'll probably be glad to know they aren't mentioned in the new Reader, but that sort of hyperbole is certainly part of the problem.
Who is in the article?
If I told you that, this wouldn't be a teaser.
In the new Reader, we also hear from MGPI, the macro-distillery behind many of the micros, about its future plans for whiskey production at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the distillery formerly known as Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI). The trend toward producers cheapening their legacy brands to improve profitability is also discussed.
If you're into bourbon, you really should subscribe to The Bourbon Country Reader. It is produced and delivered the old-fashioned way; ink on paper, in an envelope, delivered personally to your home or office by a uniformed representative of the United States government.
Why is this a good thing? Because sometimes it's nice to sit in a comfortable chair, a bourbon at the ready, and not read from a screen. Plus the USPS needs the business.
The Bourbon Country Reader is always independent and idiosyncratic, has no distillery affiliation, accepts no advertising, and contains 100 percent original content that you won't find anyplace else (including here on this blog). And, gosh by golly, it's such a thoughtful gift for the American whiskey lover in your life.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card, or for more information. Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format). Click here to open or download the free PDF document, "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
But in the mail it now is, Volume 15 Number 2. The main headline: "Some Micro-Distilleries That Are and Some That May Never Be." The key word there is 'may,' because I look forward to being proved wrong. After this issue went to the printer, I went to Louisville and spent time with some of the producers in question. I have nothing to retract but there is cause for at least guarded optimism in a couple of cases.
The most disturbing part of this phenomenon is not Potemkin Distilleries as such, it is the syndrome described in the headline above. In business, it's considered a best practice to under-promise and over-deliver. The premise couldn't be simpler, delight your customers instead of disappointing them. Regretfully, too many micro spirits producers do the opposite. They claim their special aging process makes their six-month bourbon taste better than Jim Beam's best. Their own distillery will open soon and they will eventually stop sourcing whiskey from Indiana and sell their own stuff exclusively. Their bourbon recipe has been in the family for 500 years. It was Al Capone's favorite.
And, yes, the micro-producers aren't the only ones who make shit up, but isn't authenticity supposed to be their raison d'être?
As an extreme example, N-th Degree Distillery, which is under construction at the Party Source retail store in Bellevue, Kentucky, has already declared conclusively that its bourbon will be the best in the world. They did this in the invitation to their groundbreaking. They'll probably be glad to know they aren't mentioned in the new Reader, but that sort of hyperbole is certainly part of the problem.
Who is in the article?
If I told you that, this wouldn't be a teaser.
In the new Reader, we also hear from MGPI, the macro-distillery behind many of the micros, about its future plans for whiskey production at Lawrenceburg, Indiana, the distillery formerly known as Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI). The trend toward producers cheapening their legacy brands to improve profitability is also discussed.
If you're into bourbon, you really should subscribe to The Bourbon Country Reader. It is produced and delivered the old-fashioned way; ink on paper, in an envelope, delivered personally to your home or office by a uniformed representative of the United States government.
Why is this a good thing? Because sometimes it's nice to sit in a comfortable chair, a bourbon at the ready, and not read from a screen. Plus the USPS needs the business.
The Bourbon Country Reader is always independent and idiosyncratic, has no distillery affiliation, accepts no advertising, and contains 100 percent original content that you won't find anyplace else (including here on this blog). And, gosh by golly, it's such a thoughtful gift for the American whiskey lover in your life.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card, or for more information. Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format). Click here to open or download the free PDF document, "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Saturday, November 3, 2012
New Releases, Fall 2012.
In the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, several new releases are reviewed. They include a lovely new wheater called Larceny, from Heaven Hill; the exquisite new Parker's Heritage Collection, also from Heaven Hill; as well as the new Four Roses Small Batch; and Old Forester Birthday Bourbon which are both also wonderful.
The Bourbon Country Reader does not rate whiskeys. We don't give you scores, we give you information.
For example, you've heard of Seagram's Seven Crown Blended Whiskey. You've probably even had the misfortune of tasting it. As a blend, Seagram's 7 is a mixture of several different whiskeys, plus a whole lot of vodka. Now many of its component whiskeys are being released as straights. We break them down for you.
You've also probably heard of Jack Daniel's. In this issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Jack's former head of global brand communications, Chris Middleton, writes about Jack's new rye and the Tennessee whiskey tradition (it's part one of two).
If you're into bourbon, you really should subscribe to The Bourbon Country Reader. It is produced and delivered the old-fashioned way; ink on paper, in an envelope, delivered personally to your home or office by a uniformed representative of the United States government. It's always independent and idiosyncratic, has no distillery affiliation, accepts no advertising, and contains 100 percent original content that you won't find anyplace else.
And, gosh by golly, it's such a thoughtful gift for the American whiskey lover in your life.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not (we missed April and August, but got this one out early-ish). Regardless, your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card, or for more information. Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format). Click here to open or download the free PDF document, "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
The Bourbon Country Reader does not rate whiskeys. We don't give you scores, we give you information.
For example, you've heard of Seagram's Seven Crown Blended Whiskey. You've probably even had the misfortune of tasting it. As a blend, Seagram's 7 is a mixture of several different whiskeys, plus a whole lot of vodka. Now many of its component whiskeys are being released as straights. We break them down for you.
You've also probably heard of Jack Daniel's. In this issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Jack's former head of global brand communications, Chris Middleton, writes about Jack's new rye and the Tennessee whiskey tradition (it's part one of two).
If you're into bourbon, you really should subscribe to The Bourbon Country Reader. It is produced and delivered the old-fashioned way; ink on paper, in an envelope, delivered personally to your home or office by a uniformed representative of the United States government. It's always independent and idiosyncratic, has no distillery affiliation, accepts no advertising, and contains 100 percent original content that you won't find anyplace else.
And, gosh by golly, it's such a thoughtful gift for the American whiskey lover in your life.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not (we missed April and August, but got this one out early-ish). Regardless, your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card, or for more information. Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format). Click here to open or download the free PDF document, "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Buffalo Trace Proves Small Barrels Don't Work.
Some time over the summer, I was asked by Buffalo Trace if I would like to come to the distillery in September, during the Bourbon Festival, to taste one of their failed experiments.
It's a measure of how strange this obsession is that I didn't hesitate. "Of course," I said.
Buffalo Trace has been experimenting for about 20 years. Everybody experiments, but Buffalo Trace has done things others don't, like release the results of some of the experiments as part of their Experimental Collection.
It's always been understood that some of the experiments are pronounced failures and the whiskey is discarded. Here was a case where they considered the experiment a failure, but thought I might like to taste its product anyway.
That's because the experiment involved aging bourbon in small barrels. Specifically, 5 gallon, 10 gallon and 15 gallon barrels. Yes, those are the sizes micro-distillers use.
I last wrote about small barrels in July, prompted by something John Hansell posted on his blog.
I write in depth about the Buffalo Trace experiment in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped today. You really should subscribe and read the whole story, but I won't keep you in suspense. The whiskey was standard Buffalo Trace bourbon and it was aged in the small barrels for five years. It tasted bad. The whiskey from the 5 gallon barrel tasted worst.
Tasting them, you could get some ideas about why they tasted so bad. I talk about that too.
The December, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 2. In it, we also tell the story of The Great Whiskey Glut, observe the changing of the guard at Virginia Gentlemen, and taste two limited edition releases from A. Smith Bowman and Heaven Hill.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
It's a measure of how strange this obsession is that I didn't hesitate. "Of course," I said.
Buffalo Trace has been experimenting for about 20 years. Everybody experiments, but Buffalo Trace has done things others don't, like release the results of some of the experiments as part of their Experimental Collection.
It's always been understood that some of the experiments are pronounced failures and the whiskey is discarded. Here was a case where they considered the experiment a failure, but thought I might like to taste its product anyway.
That's because the experiment involved aging bourbon in small barrels. Specifically, 5 gallon, 10 gallon and 15 gallon barrels. Yes, those are the sizes micro-distillers use.
I last wrote about small barrels in July, prompted by something John Hansell posted on his blog.
I write in depth about the Buffalo Trace experiment in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped today. You really should subscribe and read the whole story, but I won't keep you in suspense. The whiskey was standard Buffalo Trace bourbon and it was aged in the small barrels for five years. It tasted bad. The whiskey from the 5 gallon barrel tasted worst.
Tasting them, you could get some ideas about why they tasted so bad. I talk about that too.
The December, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 2. In it, we also tell the story of The Great Whiskey Glut, observe the changing of the guard at Virginia Gentlemen, and taste two limited edition releases from A. Smith Bowman and Heaven Hill.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Story Of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage.
In the autumn of 2006, Heaven Hill's Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage series got a bit more interesting. That’s when they unveiled the 1997 vintage.
The 1997 was the first one not made at Heaven Hill’s Bardstown distillery (DSP-31). Heaven Hill continued to make bourbon without a distillery, first at Jim Beam, then at Brown-Forman. In 1999, Heaven Hill bought the Bernheim Distillery from Diageo, where they have been ever since.
In the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped this week, we look at the series from its beginnings 16 years ago, with special emphasis on ‘the wilderness years’ (1997-2001), vintages that are still on store shelves.
The 2002 vintage will be unveiled in October and start appearing at retail in January, assuming the usual pattern.
The August, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 1. In it, we also tell the 201-year story of Old Overholt Straight Rye, and review three micro-distillery whiskeys.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
The 1997 was the first one not made at Heaven Hill’s Bardstown distillery (DSP-31). Heaven Hill continued to make bourbon without a distillery, first at Jim Beam, then at Brown-Forman. In 1999, Heaven Hill bought the Bernheim Distillery from Diageo, where they have been ever since.
In the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, which dropped this week, we look at the series from its beginnings 16 years ago, with special emphasis on ‘the wilderness years’ (1997-2001), vintages that are still on store shelves.
The 2002 vintage will be unveiled in October and start appearing at retail in January, assuming the usual pattern.
The August, 2011, issue of The Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 14, Number 1. In it, we also tell the 201-year story of Old Overholt Straight Rye, and review three micro-distillery whiskeys.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The New Reader Is On Its Way.
The June, 2011 issue (Volume 13, Number 6) of the Bourbon Country Reader is in the mail. This concludes Volume 13, which means it's now available as a bound volume.
Although I try to maintain the imperial 'we' throughout, it's obvious I write most of the Reader stories, but not all of them. This time we're excited to welcome Jerry Dalton, the retired Master Distiller at Jim Beam, and Barton before that. Jerry is a very interesting and thoughtful guy. His essay is mostly about corn but Booker Noe and Baker Beam are in there, as is some musing about what 'Master Distiller' really means.
We also tell the story of Antique bourbon, a vagabond bourbon best known for its years as a Seagram's brand. Born in the 19th century, it died in the 21st. This is about what happened in between.
Plus we review the Four Roses 2011 Limited Edition Single Barrel.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Although I try to maintain the imperial 'we' throughout, it's obvious I write most of the Reader stories, but not all of them. This time we're excited to welcome Jerry Dalton, the retired Master Distiller at Jim Beam, and Barton before that. Jerry is a very interesting and thoughtful guy. His essay is mostly about corn but Booker Noe and Baker Beam are in there, as is some musing about what 'Master Distiller' really means.
We also tell the story of Antique bourbon, a vagabond bourbon best known for its years as a Seagram's brand. Born in the 19th century, it died in the 21st. This is about what happened in between.
Plus we review the Four Roses 2011 Limited Edition Single Barrel.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Birth of the Modern American Whiskey Industry, 150 Years Ago.
When Jack Beam, Jim Beam's uncle, decided to break away from his father and brothers and start his own distillery, he named it Early Times.
He chose that name because he believed the industry was turning too modern too quickly, and he wanted a brand name that captured the 'good old days.' The name was supposed to remind customers of the old-fashioned methods of making whiskey – mashing grain in small tubs and boiling the beer and whiskey in copper pot stills over open fires.
The year was 1860.
Jack Beam’s claims may have been hyperbole, but in his day many whiskey buyers could remember a very different past.
April 12, 2011 is the 150th anniversary of the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, which began the Civil War. The war was a great watershed event for America, and also for American whiskey-making. Many characteristics of the industry that we now take for granted got started during that period about 150 years ago.
The complete story is in the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 3.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card. Click here for more information.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
New Reader In Mail. No Holiday Content.
The December, 2010 issue (Volume 13, Number 3) of the Bourbon Country Reader is in the mail. It contains no holiday content, unlike the December issue of everything else. It also contains no year-end summaries or lists.
You're welcome.
It does contain an Anniversary. The modern era of American distilling began in 1860 as a by-product of the American Civil War, which began in that year. That's the premise, anyway, of "Anniversary: The Modern Whiskey Industry Began 150 Year Ago." Not coincidentally, 1860 also was the year in which the Early Times brand was established by Jack Beam, Jim Beam's uncle. Today it is owned by Brown-Forman, which is itself 140 years old (born in 1870).
The other story in the December issue is a review of two new products by two new companies, each the brainchild of a veteran distiller. The Louisville Distilling Company's Angel's Envy Bourbon was created by former Brown-Forman master distiller Lincoln Henderson, while WhistlePig Farm's WhistlePig Straight Rye is fronted by Dave Pickerell, former master distiller at Maker's Mark.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
You're welcome.
It does contain an Anniversary. The modern era of American distilling began in 1860 as a by-product of the American Civil War, which began in that year. That's the premise, anyway, of "Anniversary: The Modern Whiskey Industry Began 150 Year Ago." Not coincidentally, 1860 also was the year in which the Early Times brand was established by Jack Beam, Jim Beam's uncle. Today it is owned by Brown-Forman, which is itself 140 years old (born in 1870).
The other story in the December issue is a review of two new products by two new companies, each the brainchild of a veteran distiller. The Louisville Distilling Company's Angel's Envy Bourbon was created by former Brown-Forman master distiller Lincoln Henderson, while WhistlePig Farm's WhistlePig Straight Rye is fronted by Dave Pickerell, former master distiller at Maker's Mark.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Friday, September 10, 2010
The New Bourbon Country Reader Has Dropped.
The new Bourbon Country Reader (Volume 13, Number 2) was mailed today.
In this issue we finish our look at Cincinnati's surprising whiskey history, surprising because who knew Cincinnati had a whiskey history? (This is part 2 of 2. Part 1 was in the July issue.) Since most of the whiskey sold out of Cincinnati was actually made at distilleries in nearby Lawrenceburg, Indiana, we also tell the story of another Indiana whiskey city, Tell City, named in honor of William Tell.
Hint: there were Beams involved.
Fall is usually when the new bourbons come out, especially the limited editions. We sample a few and talk about the rest. No word yet on the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, which is weird. The collection itself isn't weird. What's weird is that it's September and nothing has been announced yet.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.) It is, as we say on the masthead, "Always Independent & Idiosyncratic. (No distillery affiliation.)"
In a nod, however, to modernity this marks the first time I have taken it to the printer on a USB drive instead of paper masters. Progress?
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
In this issue we finish our look at Cincinnati's surprising whiskey history, surprising because who knew Cincinnati had a whiskey history? (This is part 2 of 2. Part 1 was in the July issue.) Since most of the whiskey sold out of Cincinnati was actually made at distilleries in nearby Lawrenceburg, Indiana, we also tell the story of another Indiana whiskey city, Tell City, named in honor of William Tell.
Hint: there were Beams involved.
Fall is usually when the new bourbons come out, especially the limited editions. We sample a few and talk about the rest. No word yet on the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, which is weird. The collection itself isn't weird. What's weird is that it's September and nothing has been announced yet.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.) It is, as we say on the masthead, "Always Independent & Idiosyncratic. (No distillery affiliation.)"
In a nod, however, to modernity this marks the first time I have taken it to the printer on a USB drive instead of paper masters. Progress?
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
U.S. Law Magically Changes Vodka Into Whiskey.
In the United States a blended whiskey can be as much as 80 percent grain neutral spirit (GNS) -- i.e., vodka.
Only in America is a product that is 4/5 vodka considered whiskey. It's not quite water into wine, yet it is magical. (Before anyone blames Obama, the rules have been this way for 101 years.)
To make matters worse, the official type "blended whiskey" applies to mixtures of whiskeys of different types too. So all-whiskey blends and whiskey-spirit blends are both considered blended whiskey under the Treasury Department's rules.
In some cases the rules allow a product to use the class designation -- "whiskey" in this case -- without a type designation. Right now that's not permitted for any blended whiskey. We believe it should be for all blends that contain only whiskey. If everything in the blend is whiskey, no GNS, it could just be labeled "whiskey" and wouldn't have to be labeled "blended whiskey."
The full, modest proposal is in the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 1.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Cincinnati's Whiskey History.
Most whiskey enthusiasts know that Kentucky and Tennessee have been important whiskey-making regions since the 18th century, before they were even states. We know Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland also had long whiskey-making traditions. There are a few other places that were once important but they came along later and didn't last as long so they're little remembered today. One of those is Cincinnati, Ohio.
Cincinnati’s role in the pre-Prohibition era was as a kind of market town for whiskey, consolidating production from a regional network of distilleries in three states, turning that commodity into products, and then selling those products nationally. After Prohibition it was the American beachhead for the then-largest foreign company in the American liquor business, and the launching pad for one of the two largest domestic companies.
Today, only one of Cincinnati’s many regional feeder distilleries is still in operation, and Cincinnati itself has only one small craft distillery. Its last connection to a major spirits company will end next year. By the time it finally draws to a close, Cincinnati’s distilling history will have been almost completely forgotten.
The complete story begins in the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 1; and will continue in the next issue, due out in September.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Cincinnati’s role in the pre-Prohibition era was as a kind of market town for whiskey, consolidating production from a regional network of distilleries in three states, turning that commodity into products, and then selling those products nationally. After Prohibition it was the American beachhead for the then-largest foreign company in the American liquor business, and the launching pad for one of the two largest domestic companies.
Today, only one of Cincinnati’s many regional feeder distilleries is still in operation, and Cincinnati itself has only one small craft distillery. Its last connection to a major spirits company will end next year. By the time it finally draws to a close, Cincinnati’s distilling history will have been almost completely forgotten.
The complete story begins in the current issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 1; and will continue in the next issue, due out in September.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Washington's Silent Stills.
On July 1 the public got its first chance to buy whiskey made at George Washington’s Mount Vernon distillery. The first, that is, since it burned down in 1814.
Mount Vernon completed the reconstruction of George Washington’s distillery in 2007. For years Mount Vernon officials promised that when it was completed, the distillery would go into production making whiskey, brandy, and other spirits the same way it did in 1797. They planned to sell the liquor in the gift shop.
In a paper published in 2006, Mount Vernon’s Director of Archaeology wrote, “the structure will open (in) April 2007 as a fully operating distillery.”
Necessary licenses for both production and retail sales were obtained from the Federal and Virginia governments. Virginia even passed a new law legalizing public spirits tastings.
But Washington’s distillery is not “fully operating.” It made about 100 gallons of 110° proof rye whiskey over a two-week period in February of 2009 and is planning to make a similar run of peach brandy this October.
In 1799, Washington produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey and unknown quantities of brandy and rum.
The complete story is in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 1.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Mount Vernon completed the reconstruction of George Washington’s distillery in 2007. For years Mount Vernon officials promised that when it was completed, the distillery would go into production making whiskey, brandy, and other spirits the same way it did in 1797. They planned to sell the liquor in the gift shop.
In a paper published in 2006, Mount Vernon’s Director of Archaeology wrote, “the structure will open (in) April 2007 as a fully operating distillery.”
Necessary licenses for both production and retail sales were obtained from the Federal and Virginia governments. Virginia even passed a new law legalizing public spirits tastings.
But Washington’s distillery is not “fully operating.” It made about 100 gallons of 110° proof rye whiskey over a two-week period in February of 2009 and is planning to make a similar run of peach brandy this October.
In 1799, Washington produced 11,000 gallons of whiskey and unknown quantities of brandy and rum.
The complete story is in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 13, Number 1.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Friday, July 9, 2010
The New Bourbon Country Reader Is On Its Way.
The new Bourbon Country Reader (Volume 13, Number 1) was mailed today.
This time we mark a pair of historic milestones. July 1, 2010, marked the first public sale of whiskey made at George Washington’s Mount Vernon distillery since it burned down in 1814. But Washington’s distillery is not operating as promised. We call this story, “George Washington’s Distillery Is Back In Business … Sort Of.”
Sometime next year, a last vestige of Cincinnati’s once thriving whiskey industry will close its doors for good. This inspired a two-part "History Of The Cincinnati Whiskey Industry,” which we begin in this issue.
Finally, we offer a modest proposal regarding a subject that has popped up here on the blog a few times, the federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, in particular the uniquely American definition of blended whiskey.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.)
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here for the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
This time we mark a pair of historic milestones. July 1, 2010, marked the first public sale of whiskey made at George Washington’s Mount Vernon distillery since it burned down in 1814. But Washington’s distillery is not operating as promised. We call this story, “George Washington’s Distillery Is Back In Business … Sort Of.”
Sometime next year, a last vestige of Cincinnati’s once thriving whiskey industry will close its doors for good. This inspired a two-part "History Of The Cincinnati Whiskey Industry,” which we begin in this issue.
Finally, we offer a modest proposal regarding a subject that has popped up here on the blog a few times, the federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, in particular the uniquely American definition of blended whiskey.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.)
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses, $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues.
Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Click here for more information.
Click here for a free sample issue (in PDF format).
Click here for the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
How We Almost Lost Bourbon and Rye.
In 1972, a new type of whiskey debuted in the United States. It was called ‘light whiskey.’ Light whiskey was supposed to save the American whiskey industry from unfair foreign competition. It was a drink made like the imports but tailored to American tastes. It was expected to capture 10 to 12 percent of the U.S. distilled spirits market by 1982.
It didn’t. Light whiskey was a huge failure.
But it could have been a lot worse.
Today American straight whiskeys, in particular bourbon and rye, are popular all over the world. It wasn't always that way. At one point about 40 years ago, it got so bad that some of the largest bourbon and rye makers wanted to fundamentally alter the product to, in their minds, make it more competitive with the imported scotch and Canadian whiskeys that were eating their lunch.
They wanted to abandon flavorful low-proof distillation, low-proof barrel entry, and aging in new, charred oak barrels.
Some producers--the smaller, family-owned, Kentucky-based ones mostly--objected. If the majority had ruled, the rules would have been changed, but the federal government regulators decided to leave those standards alone. Instead they created a new category with the specifications the large producers wanted, and called it light whiskey. It bombed, big time.
If it had gone the other way, if the feds had yielded to the big producers and changed the rules, bourbon and rye as we know them would have disappeared. They would have missed the revival that began in the late 1980s. Today they would be but a distant memory.
The complete story is in the new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 12, Number 6.
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The New Bourbon Country Reader Is On Its Way.
I was a little slow in getting out this issue of the newsletter. It's about a month late. Sorry about that. But by waiting I was able to report in detail about the innovative new bourbon from Maker's Mark, Maker's Mark 46, which should start to appear in stores in July. I report the complete, inside story of its development.
In case you're scoring at home, the new Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 12, Number 6, which completes Volume 12.
This time we look forward with Maker's 46, but we also look back and explore the history of 'light whiskey,' a failed experiment but one that may actually have saved bourbon and rye as we know them. It's an amazing story.
We also review a brand new bourbon cookbook. We like it. And, in fact, I do speak for everyone here at Reader Tower.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.)
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
In case you're scoring at home, the new Bourbon Country Reader is Volume 12, Number 6, which completes Volume 12.
This time we look forward with Maker's 46, but we also look back and explore the history of 'light whiskey,' a failed experiment but one that may actually have saved bourbon and rye as we know them. It's an amazing story.
We also review a brand new bourbon cookbook. We like it. And, in fact, I do speak for everyone here at Reader Tower.
What? You say you don't receive The Bourbon Country Reader? It's very nostalgic, as it comes on paper, in an envelope, in the mail. (That's what the little box outside your front door is for.)
Subscriptions to The Bourbon Country Reader are $20/year for U.S. addresses. $24.50 for Canada, and $28.50 for everybody else. It is published six times a year. Well, maybe not, but your subscription always includes six issues. Click here to subscribe with PayPal or any major credit card.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
What's New In The Bourbon Country Reader.
The new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 12 Number 4, went into the mail just before Christmas. No doubt its arrival warmed hearts much like a holiday toddy.
Sometimes people ask if the articles in the newsletter also appear here, on the blog. Usually, no, and in this particular case, 100 percent no.
Here's the line-up.
The headline for the lead story probably speaks for itself; "Decoding The Bottom Shelf; The Quest For Good, Cheap Bourbon."
We also mine a document filed in the Wild Turkey acquisition last spring for tidbits about the brand's future under new owner Campari.
Is the rye renaissance real? We have data.
And we review two of the 2009 Buffalo Trace Antiques, the Weller and the Handy.
You may wonder why we still publish a paper newsletter sent through the U.S. mail. The real reason is because it's still hard to sell information on the web for what it's worth. The romantic reason is that we're writing about an industry that values tradition, so we do too. Take your pick.
You may also wonder why I'm affecting the imperial "we." We don't know, it just sounds right.
Click here to subscribe, with a credit card or PayPal. We publish every other month, or thereabouts, and you get six issues for $20.
Sometimes people ask if the articles in the newsletter also appear here, on the blog. Usually, no, and in this particular case, 100 percent no.
Here's the line-up.
The headline for the lead story probably speaks for itself; "Decoding The Bottom Shelf; The Quest For Good, Cheap Bourbon."
We also mine a document filed in the Wild Turkey acquisition last spring for tidbits about the brand's future under new owner Campari.
Is the rye renaissance real? We have data.
And we review two of the 2009 Buffalo Trace Antiques, the Weller and the Handy.
You may wonder why we still publish a paper newsletter sent through the U.S. mail. The real reason is because it's still hard to sell information on the web for what it's worth. The romantic reason is that we're writing about an industry that values tradition, so we do too. Take your pick.
You may also wonder why I'm affecting the imperial "we." We don't know, it just sounds right.
Click here to subscribe, with a credit card or PayPal. We publish every other month, or thereabouts, and you get six issues for $20.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Here's What's New In The Bourbon Country Reader.
The new issue of The Bourbon Country Reader, Volume 12 Number 3, has flown to its eager subscribers all over the world, whose drab days are brightened when they see that simple white envelope amidst the day's bills and catalogs. "Oh Joy!" they exclaim.
This time, we wonder why Americans don't do what the Scots figured out 150 years ago, which may account for scotch's five-to-one lead over American whiskey in worldwide sales. We really don't put it that way at all, though we could. Instead, we explain why Americans make whiskey the way that they do and how, maybe, the new breed of micro-distillers might exploit the oversight of the seven companies who make 99 percent of America's whiskey. The headline is: "The Case for Reviving the Fine Art of Whiskey Blending in America."
We also review Chester Zoeller's new book, Bourbon in Kentucky, A History of Distilleries in Kentucky. Preview: we hate the title, guess why.
You may also wonder why we still publish a paper newsletter sent through the U.S. mail. The real reason is because it's still hard to sell information on the web for what it's worth. The romantic reason is that we're writing about an industry that values tradition, so we do too. Take your pick.
Click here to subscribe, with a credit card or PayPal. We publish every-other month, or thereabouts, and you get six issues for $20. You should also buy my book, Bourbon Straight, The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey; and my documentary on DVD, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky."
By golly, they make great gifts.
This time, we wonder why Americans don't do what the Scots figured out 150 years ago, which may account for scotch's five-to-one lead over American whiskey in worldwide sales. We really don't put it that way at all, though we could. Instead, we explain why Americans make whiskey the way that they do and how, maybe, the new breed of micro-distillers might exploit the oversight of the seven companies who make 99 percent of America's whiskey. The headline is: "The Case for Reviving the Fine Art of Whiskey Blending in America."
We also review Chester Zoeller's new book, Bourbon in Kentucky, A History of Distilleries in Kentucky. Preview: we hate the title, guess why.
You may also wonder why we still publish a paper newsletter sent through the U.S. mail. The real reason is because it's still hard to sell information on the web for what it's worth. The romantic reason is that we're writing about an industry that values tradition, so we do too. Take your pick.
Click here to subscribe, with a credit card or PayPal. We publish every-other month, or thereabouts, and you get six issues for $20. You should also buy my book, Bourbon Straight, The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey; and my documentary on DVD, "Made and Bottled in Kentucky."
By golly, they make great gifts.
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