I Teach Bourbon Tomorrow At Rocks.

I'm teaching a Bourbon class tomorrow (Monday, August 30th) at Rocks Lincoln Park (1301 West Schubert). The class starts at 7:00 PM, includes a tasting of four bourbons, and lasts about a hour, although one nice thing about doing it in a bar is that students can continue to 'learn' after the class concludes.

I teach these classes through I Wish Lessons. The mission of I Wish is to make learning fun. How better to make learning fun than by drinking during class?

Either because people have so many other things to do in the summer or because it's too hot to drink whiskey, the classes haven't been selling out lately like they usually do, so there may still be some tickets left. Go here to order tickets for this or any future class.

I Wish also does private lessons for individuals or groups so contact them if you would like me to conduct a private tasting for your group. (For Chicago-area events only. Out-of-town contact me directly.) The standard classes are introductory but for a private event I can go as advanced as you want. I also teach classes about scotch and cognac.

Specific Recommendations For The Bourbon Beginner.

A few weeks ago I posted here some "Advice For The Bourbon Beginner." It attracted many good comments, so be sure to read them if you go back and check it out.

As for the advice itself I see now what was missing; specific suggestions about what to drink. A correction follows. I'll also explain why each recommendation is on the list in terms of what it can teach you.

It's a question I'm often asked, what product do I recommend for the bourbon beginner? I usually suggest Maker's Mark, so let's begin there.

Maker's Mark. A litmus test, really, because if Maker's Mark is too much for you -- "too strong" -- then it is likely bourbon whiskey will never be your drink. Arguably, wheated bourbon is bourbon for people who don't like bourbon, assuming that the characteristic they don't like is the sharpness and heat that is typical of rye-recipe bourbon. It also has the advantage of being in most bars so you don't have to buy a whole bottle to take the test.

Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage (any year). I have argued that older bourbons aren't necessarily better than younger ones, just different, but I have to concede that most experienced drinkers prefer the older to the younger style, myself included. While the single barrel and vintage things are fun, the best part of Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage is that it is simply the best whiskey Heaven Hill makes in any given year and Heaven Hill makes a lot of whiskey. For Heaven Hill, at least, the perfect age appears to be nine years, though in fairness barrels for this product are usually pulled from parts of the warehouse that age the whiskey most aggressively.

Jim Beam Black. Similarly, this is the easiest of the Beam company's bourbons to love. It's old enough that the foxy yeast notes of the younger Beams have mellowed and nothing stands in the way of all the caramel and vanilla the spirit has absorbed from the barrel. Booker Noe always said the standard Beam mash bill is 15 percent rye but the company says the mash bill is a secret. (Booker did whisper it in my ear the first time.) Based purely on the taste you would think it contains less. Beam's Knob Creek, for a little more money, has a little more edge but is also easy to like. Try them both to see how different two whiskeys from the same producer that are very similar on paper can taste.

Wild Turkey 101. The idea here is to take it up a notch. Many bourbon drinkers and all loyal Wild Turkey 101 drinkers believe bourbon should burn a little going down. Not a lot, but it's like a scotch drinker who believes scotch has to have at least a little bit of peat. Also, while many bourbon brands talk about making bourbon 'the old-fashioned way,' in terms of its overall style Wild Turkey most nearly does. If 50.5% alcohol is too much for you feel free to add water (to all of the above as well) but stay away from the 40% alcohol (80 proof) bottling.

Old Forester Signature. Although Wild Turkey is made very traditionally, the brand is only 70 years old, has had several owners, and has only been made exclusively at its present distillery for about 40 years. Old Forester, on the other hand, is 140 years old and has had only one owner (Brown-Forman), though it did switch distilleries about 30 years ago. Although Old Forester is a bargain today, it really represents what a finer bourbon tasted like back before today's super-premiums existed. It is simply a very good, solid, reliable, traditional bourbon. Unlike with Turkey, here I don't object if you'd rather try the 43% alcohol expression instead of the 50%.

After the above I suggest you dabble in some extra age, perhaps with Weller 12 or Elijah Craig 12, and try a straight rye like Jim Beam Rye, Wild Turkey Rye, or Rittenhouse Rye. This would be a good time to add a Tennessee whiskey to the collection, Dickel 12 or Jack Daniel's Single Barrel, though if you've never had it you really should try Jack Daniel's No. 7, since it is the most popular whiskey in the world.

That should hold you for now.

More News About 'Secret' Knob Creek Single Barrel Release.

News continues to dribble out through unofficial channels about the release in 2011 of a single barrel version of Beam's Knob Creek bourbon, leading one to suspect that the leaks are actually deliberate and strategic. Be that as it may, here is the latest.

The product will be called Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. It will begin to ship in January for retail launch in February. It will still be 9-years-old but will be bottled at a significantly higher proof, 120° (60% alcohol). Of course, the barrels will be individually selected. Suggested retail is $10 above regular Knob, so about $40.

Instead of the paper label of the original the label will be screen-printed ceramic. It will look like this:

Buffalo Trace Enters Wood Wars With Two New Experimentals.

Woodford Reserve had its Master's Collection Seasoned Oak Finish. Then Maker's Mark came out with Maker's 46, a finish supplied by seared French oak panels. Later this year, Woodford Reserve will debut a maple wood finish.

Now come the two new Buffalo Trace experimentals, two 15-year-old whiskeys; one aged in new toasted French oak, the other aged in used charred American oak "seasoned with toasted oak chips."

Since I mentioned the three finishes above, I should make clear that the two Buffalo Trace experimentals are not finishes. Both whiskeys were fully aged -- for 15 years -- with the wood components as described.

The two labels are reproduced above and below. One interesting point is the difference in evaporation. Since they were stored in essentially the same warehouse location, the difference has to be the wood. The used American oak barrel lost 54.2 percent of its contents but the new, toasted French oak barrel lost 69.7 percent. A new barrel will absorb and hold more spirit than a used barrel, but differences between the two oak species may also be responsible.

Both whiskeys started out back in 1995 as Buffalo Trace Rye Bourbon Mash Bill #2, but since neither one was aged in new charred oak they aren't bourbon. I haven't tasted them so I can't say how good they are, but that's quite a pedigree. I can also say that an earlier experiment with French oak was terrific.

This experimental program began, well, more than 15 years ago and there have been several previous releases. They have about 1,500 barrels in the warehouses now that represent experiments of various kinds.

As with previous releases in the Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection, they are packaged in half-bottles (375 ml) with a suggested retail of $46.35. They are being released now and will be hard to get. For more information contact Kris Comstock.

A Few Suggestions For Improving The Kentucky Bourbon Festival.

On Tuesday I expressed some opinions about the annual Kentucky Bourbon Festival (KBF) in Bardstown, Kentucky. This year's event is September 14-19. (I'll be there.)

Here are a few specific suggestions for improving the KBF. Feel free to add your own via comments. (I will be enforcing a constructive-suggestions-only policy.)

• Put up some signs. BIG signs. As it is you can drive through the center of little Bardstown in the middle of the festival and not know anything special is going on. Welcome signs but also directional signs.
• Promote bourbon. The producers are there to promote their brands but the festival needs to promote the enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of bourbon generally, to both beginners and veteran enthusiasts. Where are the seminars, the guided tastings, the master classes, the presentations on history and craft? How about a whiskey-themed film and video festival?
• Attract collectors. Get a law passed allowing whiskey collectors (legal age only, of course) to have a legal and above board swap meet. It would be a natural extension of the existing Master Distiller's Auction.
• Discourage driving. Make it easy and convenient for people to get around without using their cars. Eliminate the parking immediately adjacent to the festival grounds and use those lots for more festival acreage. Have remote parking and connect the parking, festival sites, and area hotels using buses.
• Think 'big tent.' In the spirit of American whiskey solidarity invite Tennessee distilleries Jack Daniel's and George Dickel to participate in events such as the Spalding Hall lawn booths and the World Championship Bourbon Barrel Relay. Both companies (Brown-Forman and Diageo) are major players in Kentucky too.
• Think even bigger. Find a role for the new craft distillers that are springing up all over the country and encourage all producers to feature all of their U.S.-made whiskey products, such as straight rye whiskey. There is a lot to be gained by being less literal and more inclusive.
• Work your brand. Pay for the improvements by working your valuable Kentucky Bourbon Festival brand a lot harder and all year round.

Yes, you can still call it the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. Absolutely. That's the brand. But when you say "Kentucky" think "center of but not sum of" the universe, and when you say "bourbon" think "American whiskey" in all its styles and forms.

To quote architect Daniel Burnham, as I did last year during the KBF when I was inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, "Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood."

No Short-Cuts To Whiskey Appreciation.

Regular readers of this space may have noticed that while I will review specific whiskeys from time to time I don't score them. I last wrote about this here.

One of the main reasons I hate ratings is because they are a crutch for lazy people looking for a short cut. They are looking for a short cut because they have no base of knowledge and no interest in obtaining one. People who buy-by-the-numbers are people who do everything by the short cut route and who are looking for social validation more than they are a great bottle of whiskey.

As a writer, I hate the idea that these people don't even read the reviews, they just look at the numbers. Ideally, a critic will give you enough information to make up your own mind but you as the reader have to work too. You have to think. You don't need to be a writer to pull a two-digit number out of the air and you don't need to think to turn those numbers into a shopping list.

People who buy-by-the-numbers wouldn't recognize "brine and spice, apple pip, and traces of aniseed"* if it bit them.

I don't blame or condemn the writers, publications, and entities like the Beverage Testing Institute (BTI) that give ratings. They are forced to do it because they depend on advertising revenue or (in the case of BTI) fees to stay in business. The producers would scream bloody murder if any of those entities switched to the type of "good-better-best" ranking system I advocate.

Ridgemont Reserve 1792 is a very good bourbon made by Sazerac at its Tom Moore Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. Accordiing to BTI, 1792 is a 93, ranking above the brands 1792 considers its competitors: Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve (both 90), and Gentleman Jack (82).

The sad reality is that their 93 will sell more bottles of 1792 than positive reviews by me and every other writer combined. And selling more bottles is what the producers are in business to do.

For the people who give ratings the pointlessness of it doesn't harm their credibility as long as they're running an honest game and so far as I know everyone is. That it is a silly and meaningless game is beside the point as long as people buy-by-the-numbers. The only harm it does is put great bottles of whiskey into the cabinets of people who manifestly do not deserve them.

As long as there are people with money to spend who believe the ratings mean something there will be ratings.


* From Dominic Roskrow's Guest Review of Caol Ila, 25 Year Old on "What Does John Know." He gave it an 88.

Kentucky Bourbon Festival is September 14-19.

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival (KBF) is held in Bardstown, Kentucky, every year in mid-September. This year it's September 14-19. In reality not much happens early in the week nor on Sunday. The activities on the lawn of Spalding Hall, for example, begin Friday at 4:00 PM, so call it a long weekend. The KBF peaks with the big 'gala' on Saturday night.

It began in 1992. I went intermittently that first decade but I've been to every one since about 1999. In 2009 I was proud to be inducted into the Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame, which is done during the festival.

Obviously I like the KBF but I find it hard to write about it without being critical. For one thing, the basic outline hasn't changed in now almost 20 years: the booths on the lawn, live music on the lawn, the spirit garden, a big concert Friday night, the big 'gala' Saturday night. Many of the producers complain that it's just a big party Bardstown throws for itself using the producers' money that doesn't really do much to promote bourbon.

Too many of the events are private or expensive. Tickets for the Saturday night gala are $140 each and formal apparel is required. The Hall of Fame induction is an invitation-only event primarily for industry types and the press.

My big gripe is the paucity of events and activities aimed at you, the bourbon enthusiast. There are so few official enthusiast activities that enthusiasts themselves have organized their own. A commercial example is the Chapeze House, where you can sample a wide range of bourbons. Contrasted with the official spirit garden, it has a better selection, better atmosphere, and attracts actual enthusiasts. Chapeze House is a 19th century distillery owner's home while the spirit garden is an unshaded baseball field.

Most of the other unofficial events are non-commercial and what you might call semi-private. In most cases anyone can go but you have to know about them and they aren't widely publicized. Visit the two big enthusiast web sites, StraightBourbon.com and BourbonEnthusiast.com for more information.

The best, most authentic, and most fun official event is the World Championship Bourbon Barrel Relay (a new, trademarked name for the barrel rolling competition. Is someone trying to horn in on Bardstown's barrel rolling action such that they need a trademarked name?) It's a unique event, one you could only do in Kentucky. The barrels start rolling at 11:00 AM on Saturday morning in the field behind City Hall (300 West Broadway).