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.

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.

Learn Distilling In Washington State.

Big Bend Community College's Center for Business and Industry Services is holding a week-long course in craft distilling September 13-17. Classroom work will be supplemented by hands-on training at Bowman Orchards Distillery in Moses Lake.

The course will cover the history of distilling; how distillation works; types of distillation equipment; license and legal considerations; physical plant considerations; grain, tuber, and fruit fermentation fundamentals; business planning; and marketing.

For more information go to http://www.artisancraftdistilling.spruz.com/, email cbisinfo@bigbend.edu, or call 509-793-2374.

CanadianWhisky.Org

Davin de Kergommeaux is a certified Malt Maniac and trained sommelier who has been analyzing, writing, and talking about whisky, as an independent commentator, for more than a dozen years. He is both erudite and loquacious. If you read the comments after some of my posts, you already know that.

Davin has started a new web site, the first (so far as I know) devoted to Canadian Whisky. Who would have thought the url CanadianWhisky.Org would still be available?

He has a piece up now about Dave Pickerell's WhistlePig Rye.

Knob Creek Single Barrel Still A Rumor, Except In Virginia.

Last month when I was researching the new Jim Beam six-grain bourbon, the folks at Beam hinted that the next new product would be something in the Knob Creek line. Then word came (not from Beam) that a Knob Creek Single Barrel is presently on the shelves in Virginia. From another source (also not from Beam) I learned that Beam has built a single barrel bottling line at the distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.

Also from Kentucky comes a report that retailers there have been offered a Knob Creek Single Barrel but they have to buy the contents of an entire barrel to get it. (That's 200+ bottles.) Several brands offer such a 'buy a barrel" program to retailers. Buffalo Trace has been the leader in this.

With the Buffalo Trace program the retailer gets to pick the barrel, usually from a pre-screened selection of three or four. Beam is not giving retailers that option, at least according to the report from Kentucky. In Virginia, the bottles come with a neck hanger that says the barrel was specially selected for them by Fred Noe.

Beam is unwilling to officially confirm or deny any of this, but it seems increasingly likely that a national roll-out of some kind of Knob Creek Single Barrel is imminent.

New Maker's 46 Looks Like A Hit.

The largest and most active bourbon discussion site on the web is StraightBourbon.com. Most of the participants there are passionate and knowledgeable, and more than a few of us are committed skeptics.

As I wrote last month after I had an early sample of Maker’s 46, the new expression from Maker’s Mark, “it totally works.” I was sold from the first sip and said so, but at that point only a few people had tried it. Most had to wait until now and many were suitably dubious.

During the last two weeks it has been found at retail in Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Oregon, Kentucky, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Tennessee.

Here are some of the reactions:

“Definitely different from the standard MM. But the differences are subtle and understated. Nicely done but no wow factor.”

“I’d pick it over regular MM every time.”

“I must say, this is pretty good stuff. I like it!”

"A nice amount of oak finish without becoming overbearing (and) a finish that's actually interesting to the palate.”

"The nose is wonderful, like oaky vanilla caramel corn.”

“I’m impressed.”

"I was, and am, extremely impressed.”

It’s hard to imagine a tougher test audience but so far most of them love it.

One nice thing about Maker’s 46 for Maker's is that they can make more of it almost like turning on a spigot. Not exactly, but a finish takes weeks, not years, and although regular Maker's is on allocation too, I'm sure they won't hesitate to rob Peter to pay Paul, since "Paul" is more profitable.

I also suspect cannibalization is expected. Cannibalization occurs when a new product gets too much of its sales from current customers. Normally cannibalization is considered a bad thing (you can kind of tell that from the name) but for Maker's it's a good thing, since one of their objectives is to give Maker's drinkers who want more variety in their drink choices another possibility from within the Maker's family.

If cannibalization occurs that will take some supply pressure off regular Maker's, allowing them to pump out more 46.

So don't fret if you haven't been able to get any yet.

You will.

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.