The Uncle Nearest home place in Shelbyville, Tennessee.Uncle Nearest is a brand of American whiskey that launched about a decade ago. Started from nothing, it did very well, but now it’s in trouble.A hearing on Monday at the federal courthouse in…
Watching Mary Martin’s “Peter Pan” on TV was a major milestone for young boomers. NBC was the first American television network to broadcast in color, in 1954. That is, they broadcast some programs in color, just a handful at first. Mos…
The United States invaded another country to arrest its president. Is that legal?When Russia invaded Ukraine, international law was invoked. When the Trump administration began to blowup alleged drug ships off Venezuela, it made another appearanc…
In fact, their whiskey sucked.Back in 2016, when Beam dropped the 9-year age statement from its Knob Creek bourbon, the brand’s fans were outraged: “This is so unfair to the consumers and fans,” “Flavor/Taste profile is a joke to justify keeping …
The “drunk monkey” hypothesis suggests humans evolved from primates that ate fermented fruit.A recent article in The Economist features this headline: “How humankind’s 10m-year love affair with booze might end.”“Alcohol is poison” has become a po…
Major brands in the portfolio of Suntory Global Spirits.Whiskey is unlike most manufactured products in a way that even close watchers of the business have trouble grasping. Unlike most things we buy, whiskey made today will not be sold next week…
Fred and Freddie Noe at the Beam Distillery in Clermont, Kentucky.As reported today by the Kentucky Herald-Leader, Louisville Business First, and other sources, Suntory Global Spirits, parent company of Jim Beam, has issued the following statemen…
Typical warehouse shot but I took this one myself.Pretty sure it’s Barton 1792.Janet Patton and the Kentucky Herald-Leader are indispensable if you want to stay current with the American whiskey industry. Today’s headline: “Bourbon production is …
Jack Daniel’s brand family (2025)The photograph above was used today by the Kentucky Herald-Leader to illustrate a story about quarterly results from Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman. As a public company, Brown-Forman’s quarterly results…
Finished last night after I got home from the Marty Stuart concert in Skokie.I have a running joke with another writer on the whiskey beat. When we contrast our experiences with producers, she inevitably quips, “yes, but you’re Chuck Cowdery.”That I am…
