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.

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Click here to open or download the PDF document "The Bourbon Country Reader Issue Contents in Chronological Order." (It's like an index.)

Eagle Rare Bourbon Launches 'Rare Lives' Charity Tie-In Promotion.

Eagle Rare Single Barrel Bourbon Whiskey is sharing its passion for excellence by introducing the Rare Life Award, an annual honor that will be given to one person with an amazing life story who demonstrates Eagle Rare's core values of courage, leadership, survival, heroism, devotion and character.

Nominations are now being accepted for the “Lead a Rare Life” Contest online at http://www.eaglerarelife.com/. The winner will be awarded a $10,000 donation to the charity of their choice. Entries will be posted on the website and the general public can vote on who they think most embodies the “Rare Life” core values through January 1, 2011. A winner will be chosen from the finalists and announced in early February 2011.

“We’re thrilled to announce this new award,” said Kris Comstock, Eagle Rare Bourbon brand manager. “This country is filled with courageous, honest, hardworking people who lead rare lives everyday. We want to hear their stories. Eagle Rare Bourbon embodies life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This award will honor those who do the same. We think rare lives deserve to be rewarded.”

This is another example of Sazerac/Buffalo Trace going its own way and using unusual methods to promote its brands. The idea of this type of charity tie-in promotion is that ordinary consumers will become zealous albeit indirect brand ambassadors as they lobby for their favorite charity. Major brands such as American Express and Pepsi have fielded similar promotions.

And Eagle Rare Single Barrel is, by the way, a very good bourbon at a very good price.

Having Trouble Getting Some Marker's 46? Maker's Mark Has Suggestions.

The folks in Loretto tell me the success of new Maker's 46 has exceeded their expectations. The first release sold out quickly. The second release scheduled for September 1 was 100 percent pre-sold. There will be one more release in 2010.

Maker's is now announcing on its official Facebook page whenever shipments of 46 leave the distillery. They also suggest you ask your whiskey monger to start a priority waiting list. Maker's has had a few people inquire about where to get Maker's 46, about 50,000 people, actually.

The Whiskey Don't Keep True Story.

Last Wednesday I told you the story behind the saying, "Whiskey Don't Keep."

That story is fiction but I used to know a guy who did something similar. He was an artist of some renown who would walk from his studio to a nearby small grocery store every afternoon to pick up a sandwich and maybe some potato chips for his lunch, along with a pint bottle of Old Grand-Dad Bourbon. He nursed the bottle throughout the afternoon and shared it freely with me or any other guest who happened to be on hand.

We talked about it once and he said it was his way of keeping his drinking under control. He told me that his daily ritual was generally the only time he drank and he didn't keep any liquor in the home where he lived with his wife and children.

He was a very wise man who taught me much about art and life.

There is no more to it than that. That was 30 years ago and we haven't stayed in touch, although I've followed his artistic career from afar and he continues to be successful.

The moral? Whatever works, I guess.

Bourbon+Tennessee+Southern+Chicago.

I just came across a handout I did for a Southern Foodways Alliance event in Chicago in 2008. I thought you might find it interesting.

What is Bourbon?

Bourbon is whiskey made using corn (maize) as the primary grain. It is further characterized by aging in new charred oak barrels.

What is Tennessee whiskey?

Tennessee whiskey is the same as bourbon except it is filtered through thick vats of charcoal before aging, and it is made in Tennessee.

What is Southern about it?

In the original colonies, distilled spirits were made from molasses (rum), apples (applejack/apple brandy) and cereals (whiskey), but the primary grain used for whiskey was rye.

Only after settlement of the interior began in earnest, after the Revolution, did Americans begin to make whiskey primarily from corn, especially in what became Kentucky and Tennessee. The practice of making whiskey from corn spread throughout the region. After Prohibition, it contracted back into its original Kentucky-Tennessee heartland.

Whiskey-making was part of the South’s “hogs and hominy” agriculture, as most distillers kept hogs and fed them spent grain from the stills.

What does Chicago have to do with it?

Westward expansion after the Civil War was driven by the railroads. In Chicago, steers shipped East to the hungry city were replaced for the return trip by barrels of whiskey for the thirsty cowboys.

Whiskey was a commodity, bought in bulk from rural distilleries by Chicago merchants who “rectified” it before sending it west. “Rectification” might include blending, filtering, coloring, and flavoring.

After Prohibition, the descendants of those merchants financed the rebuilding of the Southern distilleries. Two examples are Oscar Getz, who owned Barton Brands; and Harry Blum, who owned Jim Beam. Both companies are still headquartered in the Chicago area.

Moves At Maker's.

Greg Davis is the new Master Distiller at Maker's Mark, succeeding Kevin Smith who is taking a new job with parent company Beam Global, as reported today by Maker's Mark President Bill Samuels in an email to Maker's Mark Ambassadors.

When Davis left Sazerac's Tom Moore Distillery ten weeks ago to take the job of Director of Distillery Operations at Maker's Mark, reporting to Smith, something about it didn't seem right. Davis is young (40) but he was Master Distiller at Barton/Tom Moore for almost ten years and I just couldn't see him being somebody's assistant for very long. For ten weeks, as it turns out.

Smith is mum about exactly what his new job will be at Beam's flagship distillery at Clermont, Kentucky, but I'm sure that shoe will drop soon.

Whiskey Don't Keep.

This is a story my father told me. It is about a father and son. The son lives in town, the father lives alone on a farm several miles outside of town. Every day, as is his custom, the father walks into town, purchases a pint of whiskey, and walks back to his farm. For years, the son has enjoyed this daily opportunity to at least observe his father from his office window, but recently he has noticed that time is catching up with the old man. His stride has shortened and his gait has slowed. The daily walk has become a trial for him.

The son, being a devoted son and not wanting to see his father suffer (and having failed for years to persuade his father to abandon the farm and move to town), decides there is at least one small way he can give his poor father some relief. He purchases a half-gallon bottle of his father’s favorite whiskey, drives out to the farm and gives his father the gift. The father, never a demonstrative man, accepts the gift and thanks his son, who returns to town.

The next day the son, still basking in the glow of his thoughtful deed, looks out the window to see his father once again walking into town. Moreover, his father seems to have aged ten years. His skin is pallid, his clothing is disheveled and he is walking with even move difficulty than usual. The son immediately rushes to his father’s side. “Dad,” he cries, “what are you doing? I brought you that bottle of whiskey so you wouldn’t have to make this walk every day.” The father slowly raises his head and looking directly into his sons eyes, whispers in a quiet voice, “son, whiskey don’t keep.”