Big whiskey companies are serious about consistency.John Lunn, before he took the position of master distiller at George Dickel, got to meet Ralph Dupps, who built the Tullahoma distillery for Schenley in the 1950s. “Don’t change a damn thing,” w…
Lost Lantern’s 2023 Summer of Bourbon Collection.The 21st century has witnessed two dramatic changes in the distilled spirits landscape. First is the revival of American straight whiskey, especially bourbon and rye. Second is the explosion of cra…
“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 …
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…
Bad Blood Sangria, Starlight Pear Lemonade, and French 1989.Kristen wrote: “Hi Charles K., Taylor Swift is taking the world by storm, and plenty of Swifites (sic), including the staff at Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, are drawing inspiration f…
A maturation warehouse at Green River Distillery in Owensboro, Kentucky.Green River is just a name. But, oh, what a name.As for the river itself, there is a Green River in just about every U.S. state, and elsewhere, but the one in Kentucky is the…
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…
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…
Masonry maturation warehouses at Green River Distillery, Owensboro, Kentucky.This is Part 9 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…
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…
