Author name: Chuck Cowdery

In the United States, We Take Our Whiskey Personally

“A conversation with Mr. Van Winkle.”The question was one of those clickbait things on social media. “To whom do you turn when the going gets rough?” More than one person answered, “Jack Daniel’s.”Americans like that about our whiskey. In Scotland and …

Who Makes America’s Whiskey Now?

 A photo from the American Craft Spirits Association to represent craft spirits.Seven years ago, it struck me that for all the sound and fury about new brands and new distilleries, things had not changed very much since I made a similar survey two…

The Owsleys of Kentucky

 Augustus Owsley Stanley III (1935-2011)For a teenager in the late 1960s, the name “Owsley” meant just one thing. It was synonymous with the drug LSD, which Owsley Stanley manufactured in his clandestine California lab. Owsley Stanley was also fam…

Baudoinia: the Fungus and Me

 Fun with fungi.This is a personal epilogue to the nine-part series just concluded about Baudoinia compniacensis, the whiskey fungus. If you have not read it and are interested, the series starts here.I became aware of Baudoinia about 30…

Baudoinia: the Fungus Is Not Welcome in Tennessee

 Proposed Sazerac distillery near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.This is Part 8 of a 9-part series about Baudoinia compniacensis, the whiskey fungus. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here, Part 4 is here, Part 5 is here, Part 6 is here, Part 7 i…

Baudoinia: the Fungus that Is Hard to Beat in Court

 Heaven Hill maturation warehouse at the former Beam and Hart Old Tub Distillery (c. 1892), on Old Nazareth Road near Bardstown.This is Part 7 of a 9-part series about Baudoinia compniacensis, the whiskey fungus. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Pa…

Baudoinia: the Fungus Is a Bad Neighbor

 This demolition-in-progress in Louisville shows a maturation warehouse’s internal honeycomb structure.This is Part 6 of a 9-part series about Baudoinia compniacensis, the whiskey fungus. Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 is here, Part 4…

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