I am often asked “What books I should I but when building a library on American whiskey”. I have put together this list of books that are a foundation of a good reference library. They cover history, but also the… Continue Reading →
Every year, Michter’s releases their legacy brands of Shenk’s Sour Mash and Bomberger’s Bourbon brands. This year, the Shenk’s Sour Mash was aged in specially toasted French oak barrels whose staves had been air dried for 24 months from the… Continue…
When you look at Sanborn Insurance Maps from the pre-Prohibition era, you often see a distillery warehouses labeled as “Patent Warehouse”. These are warehouses with barrel racks. In 1879, Frederick Stitzel patented the system of barrel racks we see in….
Matt and I had a hard time picking this month’s Whiskey of the Month. I had received three samples of the Rare Character whiskeys – all of them are rye whiskeys. This was our favorite of the three and we… Continue Reading →
I received these bottles from Rare Character. Rare Character whiskeys are single barrel products chosen by different groups and offered through internet sales as well as the people who chose the barrels. They are bottled at barrel strength and unfilter…
Distillery tours have changed a lot since I started working in the industry in 1991. In 1991, distillery tours were limited to Maker’s Mark and Wild Turkey, who had visitor centers and offered tours. You could tour the other distilleries,… Continue R…
The other day, on our way home from the Bourbon Cruise on the American Duchess, Rosemary and I stopped at the Dueling Grounds Distillery in Franklin, Kentucky. I had contacted the distillery and they knew we were coming, so the… Continue Reading →
Cumberland Falls Bourbon is produced by Owensboro Distilling at the Green River Distillery. Owensboro Distilling Company is another name for the gift shop at the Green River Distillery. I saw a bottle of this Bourbon at Westport Whiskey & Wine… C…
When I started working at the Stitzel-Weller Distillery, I crossed a railroad track every day going into the distillery. This track had a spur leading up to the distillery building. It was no longer in use, but had been in… Continue Reading →
I was filing my backlog of papers and I found an interesting article from a 1936 Spirits magazine on the popularity of cocktails served in hotel bars. The Manhattan cocktail replaced the Martini as America’s most popular cocktail in that… Continue Re…
