Book Reviews Barrel Strength Bourbon Book Review Like Bourbon itself, new books on the topic continue to be released all the time. Some people try and read everything they can (guilty), some people want just an overview, and some people just want a book for their coffee table or bar.
American Whiskey Reviews Distillery 291 Colorado Whiskey Review I don’t like young whiskey. At best you get an interesting tropical banana flavor, and at worst your tongue feels like someone put a match out on it. That’s what I’d tell people before drinking the Colorado Whiskey.
Banter NCF (Nobody Checks First) Chill filtering in Bourbon has one primary purpose: to remove fatty acids from the corn and produce a clear whiskey. A Bourbon that has not been chill filtered will be cloudy but is thought to have more authenticity: stronger aroma, expanded flavors, oily mouthfeel and a more pleasing finish.
Bourbon Whiskey Reviews Early Times Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon Whiskey Review Give Brown-Forman credit for releasing a limited edition whiskey that’s reasonably priced in an era where others are getting away with robbery. It’s tough to argue with a $30 price tag for a liter of bottled-in-bond bourbon from the same folks who produce Old Forester.
Book Reviews Rum Curious Book Review The whiskey bubble, in addition to fostering alternative universes of stupidity, has also inspired significantly more people to sharply focus on whiskey’s history and craftsmanship.
Banter Blind Bourbon Tasting Last year, we gathered 22 whiskey fans in the tasting room at Omaha’s Spirit World for the Ultimate Blind Rye Tasting and learned that a sub-$30 shelf rye could hold its own against a seldom-seen $100 bottle.
Distilleries You Need to Meet… Michael Myers at Distillery 291 It’s hard to draw any other conclusion after hearing Michael Myers’ incredible journey from New York photographer to the founder of one of the most decorated craft distillers in the world, Colorado Springs’ Distillery 291.
Bourbon Whiskey Reviews Colonel E.H. Taylor: Cured Oak vs. Seasoned Wood As I type this, Buffalo Trace is filling bottles of its latest limited edition Colonel E.H. Taylor, Jr. which should hit stores this April. The new release is called “Four Grain,” a departure from the previous two releases that featured treated barrel staves, called “Cured Oak” and “Seasoned Wood.”
Banter The War of the Roses, Part 1 One of the aspects that makes tasting bourbon so exciting is the variation that occurs from one release to the next. A bourbon that is “batched” is a blend of several barrels that tastes uniform across every bottle.
Bourbon Whiskey Reviews Smooth Amber Wheated Bourbon Review Like many new craft distilleries, West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler Spirits began sourcing whiskey while developing its production facilities. They have been wildly successful in building a cult-like following for their Old Scout label (SAOS).
Banter The Magic of C+S (Caring + Sharing) I’ve written about the bourbon secondary market before, but there is a unique subsection that gets little attention and is widely unknown. They are known as C+S groups (“cost-plus-ship”), and their members agree to trade with each other at retail (or below) pricing only.
Book Reviews The Big Man of Jim Beam: Booker Noe and the Number One Bourbon In the World My deep dive into bourbon began in earnest with Knob Creek and Basil Hayden’s. They were the first premium small batch bourbons released, and their mastermind was Booker Noe.
Industry News Booker’s: Why This One Is Different Beam Suntory has completed its trilogy of controversial 2016 announcements, as it confirmed late last week it would be raising the price of Booker’s from $59.99 to $99.99, and also reducing output from six batches to four.
Bourbon Whiskey Reviews Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2016 Review Here’s what I can add about the bourbon: It’s a limited annual release, effortlessly commanding more than double the $80 retail price in the gray market. These bottles make for a very popular birthday gift, both for drinking buddies and those who have had children in that particular year.
American Whiskey Reviews Smooth Ambler Old Scout American Whiskey Review Following in the footsteps of Michter’s, Willett and others, West Virginia’s Smooth Ambler Spirits built a cult following by sourcing some of the tastiest whiskey on the planet.
Banter What I’ve Learned About Bourbon I do not fancy myself a bourbon expert, but I realize I have accumulated a fair amount of experience buying, drinking, selling and trading them. I once heard that “intelligence is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom is knowing that you don’t put it in a fruit salad.”
Bourbon Whiskey Reviews Battle of the Blanton’s (Buyer Beware) As it has continued to earn international awards since its inception, The original 93 proof Blanton’s has been released in different iterations outside the United States, including Blanton’s Special Reserve (“Green”) and Blanton’s Black, both at a lower 80 proof.
Banter So Much More My Dad never drank alcohol, yet strangely it became something that bound us together in the last years of his life.
Book Reviews Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey Book Review Fred Minnick truly needs no introduction, but he deserves one anyway. He is a bestselling whiskey author, a judge for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and World Whiskies Awards, a bourbon ambassador for the Kentucky Derby Museum, a contributor to Whisky Advocate...
On The Road You need to meet… Ryan Geller at Basecamp Wine and Spirits “In the mountains (of Colorado), things tend to run a little behind the times,” said Ryan Geller, co-owner of Frisco’s Basecamp Wine & Spirits, which opened its doors on Christmas Eve 2014.
Book Reviews Dead Distillers: A History of Upstarts and Distillers Who Made American Spirits Dead Distillers, Colin Spoelman and David Haskell’s follow up to 2013’s The Guide to Urban Moonshining, is a truly unique walk through the history of whiskey- in many cases a walk through actual cemeteries!
Banter The Ultimate Blind Rye Tasting If you’ve read any books on how the mind works, then you are well aware that we humans are excellent at being fooled and fooling ourselves. Case in point: many of you think you aren’t improperly influenced by a name, a catchy bottle design, or the story behind a whiskey.
Banter Bourbon & Banter & BBQ Playlist You’ve got your grill, your friends, and your bottles ready to go for the 4th of July. Now get your Bourbon & Banter & BBQ Playlist.
Banter Red, White and Gray: Realities of the Bourbon Market Jim Beam recently released its 13-year Booker’s limited rye with a suggested retail price of $300. For many long-term whiskey enthusiasts, this flashpoint was tantamount to a declaration of war. Who do they think they are? How dare they?
Events WhiskyFest Chicago 2016 Recap The 17th annual WhiskyFest made its second stop in Chicago on March 18th. WhiskyFest has exploded in popularity in recent years, and this event is no longer the laid-back casual affair that long-time attendees remember.
