River barges don’t seem large until you’re about to enter one. The vessel before me is 200 feet long, 24 feet wide and 24 feet tall: not diminutive by any stretch. (That a barge pilot and towboat can link together 35 of these and squeeze the lot throug…
River barges don’t seem large until you’re about to enter one. The vessel before me is 200 feet long, 24 feet wide and 24 feet tall: not diminutive by any stretch. (That a barge pilot and towboat can link together 35 of these and squeeze the lot through a river canal lock is just beyond me.) Inside it’s ricked with 1,700 barrels of whiskey for O.H. Ingram, a relative newcomer to the American whiskey scene.
Contrary to what some have suspected, Jeff Arnett didn’t leave because he disliked the master distiller’s post at Jack Daniel’s. Even after 12 years in the high-stress role as the person in charge of whiskey making at the world’s most prodigious whiske…
Contrary to what some have suspected, Jeff Arnett didn’t leave because he disliked the master distiller’s post at Jack Daniel’s. Even after 12 years in the high-stress role as the person in charge of whiskey making at the world’s most prodigious whiskey plant—and the brand that accounts for about 80 percent of Brown-Forman’s $3.75 billion annual revenue—he enjoyed the job. Even better, he loved the brand and the whole production team. He called those people’s dedication to Jack “unmatched in my experience.”
Seeing Steve Nally in a suit and tie is unusual. Six-foot-four and broad-shouldered, the master distiller at Bardstown Bourbon Co. (BBC) has as good a frame for fine couture as any 71 year old. It’s just that few in the crowd of 80 gathered (on a recen…
Seeing Steve Nally in a suit and tie is unusual. Six-foot-four and broad-shouldered, the master distiller at Bardstown Bourbon Co. (BBC) has as good a frame for fine couture as any 71 year old. It’s just that few in the crowd of 80 gathered (on a recent March evening) at the distillery’s restaurant have ever seen him clad in anything other than jeans and a golf shirt. He wears the suit well, but he doesn’t look at ease in it.
Perhaps being the center of attention spurs a little unease. BBC is throwing a party to celebrate Nally’s 50th year in distilling, and like a conquering hero returning from battle, his progress through the crowd is slowed by handshakes, hugs and some verbal jabs. One longtime friend said to Nally, “I think they’re going to roast you tonight!” Grinning at the idea, Nally said, “If that happens, this could be a long night!”
Does SOBAR really help slow alcohol absorption? After writing a commentary about drinking less in 2022, I received an email from a representative of SOBAR, a producer of what the company calls, “The snack designed for drinking.” A SOBAR is, as describe…
Does SOBAR really help slow alcohol absorption? After writing a commentary about drinking less in 2022, I received an email from a representative of SOBAR, a producer of what the company calls, “The snack designed for drinking.” A SOBAR is, as described by the company, “a high-protein functional food designed to be consumed right before or during drinking to help control alcohol absorption.” I was curious about the claims made in the initial email, things like “A Neuroscientist have created and clinically evaluated this game changer, to help change the drinking experience.
Drinkers need another spirits competition to tell them what to buy about as much as spirits makers need these medal-fests to tell them their products are great. Yet despite having several of these competitions annually, we’re getting another. The found…
Drinkers need another spirits competition to tell them what to buy about as much as spirits makers need these medal-fests to tell them their products are great. Yet despite having several of these competitions annually, we’re getting another. The foundation attached to Tales of the Cocktail, the annual and long-running, liquor-lubricious bartender-centric event held in the Crescent City is rolling out The New Orleans Spirits Competition. According to a news release, the goal is to create “a judging to determine the best spirits being produced today—craft brands as well as legacy brands.”
As first reported in Episode 23 of the Bourbon & Banter Podcast, the Bourbon Crusaders are partnering with the Society for Transparency in American Whiskey (STRAW) for a release that can only be described as a bourbon nerds dream. Fred Noe, Jimmy R…
As first reported in Episode 23 of the Bourbon & Banter Podcast, the Bourbon Crusaders are partnering with the Society for Transparency in American Whiskey (STRAW) for a release that can only be described as a bourbon nerds dream. Fred Noe, Jimmy Russell, Jim Rutledge & Chris Morris got together and hand-selected barrels from each of their respective distilleries. For the first time in history, barrels from Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, and Rutledge’s stock of Cream of Kentucky barrels will be mingled for what the most anticipated release in bourbon history. The Four Horsemen Kentucky Straight Bourbon is scheduled for a fall 2022 release.
Referring to a pair of upcoming Wood Finishing Series fall 2022 releases, Jane Bowie, the brand’s director of innovation says, “These whiskeys will be further away from our normal taste profile than before. … With what we’ve done in the past, I believe…
Referring to a pair of upcoming Wood Finishing Series fall 2022 releases, Jane Bowie, the brand’s director of innovation says, “These whiskeys will be further away from our normal taste profile than before. … With what we’ve done in the past, I believe we’ve earned the trust of consumers to move away some from that.” For each of the four years they’ve been made, all Maker’s Wood Finishing Series releases (all given obscure names like FAE-01 or RC-6 or SE4 x PR5) have been noticeably unique but recognizably Maker’s Mark, which is a good thing.
When my wife tested positive for Covid in November of 2020, she bounced back from it quickly. So, when we suspected our kids might have it 10 months later, I assumed that any fight would be equally brief. After two eye-watering nostril swabbings, we go…
When my wife tested positive for Covid in November of 2020, she bounced back from it quickly. So, when we suspected our kids might have it 10 months later, I assumed that any fight would be equally brief. After two eye-watering nostril swabbings, we got a split decision: our daughter was clean, our son had Covid.
With my wife and me vaccinated, we weren’t concerned by the results. Kids bounce back quickly from the virus, we were told. Surely a return to normal was around the corner.
Not hardly.
If you’re a whiskey drinker who likes variety and isn’t hidebound to a single notion of what “bourbon should taste like,” then I’d love to pour you some whiskeys you probably haven’t had. Ryes and bourbons from distilleries making a 2,000 to 3,000 barr…
If you’re a whiskey drinker who likes variety and isn’t hidebound to a single notion of what “bourbon should taste like,” then I’d love to pour you some whiskeys you probably haven’t had. Ryes and bourbons from distilleries making a 2,000 to 3,000 barrels a year—or less. Whiskeys well worth your attention. And whiskeys I don’t even think of as “craft” because they’re so good and so on par with the quality of anything from a major distillery. Those bottles come from distilleries that don’t need the “craft” badge because they deserve all the respect given mega-producers. Yes, even if they lack barrels laid down when George W. Bush was President.
In Chuck Cowdery’s early 2022 edition of his quarterly print piece, “The Bourbon Country Reader,” he says MGP should kill off the George Remus brand and find another name for the otherwise good bourbon created for that SKU. Not only was he a successful…
In Chuck Cowdery’s early 2022 edition of his quarterly print piece, “The Bourbon Country Reader,” he says MGP should kill off the George Remus brand and find another name for the otherwise good bourbon created for that SKU. Not only was he a successful Prohibition-era bootlegger, he murdered his wife for infidelity. Linking legal businesses to “criminals and crime,” Cowdery writes … is an especially bad idea for makers and sellers of alcohol.” The brand was created after the portrayal of Remus in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” caught the attention some Cincinnati entrepreneurs. According to Cowdery, they sourced some MGP whiskey and labeled it “George Remus Bourbon,” MGP later bought the brand for itself and began growing it a couple of years ago.
