From the largest names in bourbon to the smallest craft distillery the one uniting factor that ties them all together is wood, and oak in particular. Absent the mighty oak tree, bourbon would not be bourbon. It would be transparent, fiery, and lack all of the flavors that we all have come to enjoy unpackaging […]
I live in Texas where most of the year can be considered “summer” and the variation of our four seasons is something like….first summer, second summer, tricked ya; still summer and fall…which still feels like summer. This past week saw days that all were at or above 100 degrees with heat indexes reaching up to […]
Dear Liquor Store Owners Across the Nation, Over the past few weeks, I have visited nearly seventy liquor stores spread across a four-state region cross-cutting the central part of the U.S. in an effort to develop some data on what I hear across so many bourbon-related groups online about liquor stores these days – “retail […]
I remember the first time I heard the term “snort” I was in college, well before finding my love of all things brownwater, out in the country, down a dirt road in southern Illinois. It was a summer job, travelling around the state and it was a hot day – one of those where you […]
High proof can sometimes be a bit intimidating to folks, especially those who may be new to bourbon and think that if something is above 100 proof you might as well be trying to ride the lightning. Truth be told, that’s not always the case and frankly there are a number of high proof bourbons […]
I’ll have to admit that when I heard the tag line “fat washing” as it related to bourbon, I had to do a short double take to ensure I was reading it right. It was a phrase that I wasn’t terribly familiar with, though was however quite well versed with the nuances that fat can […]
As I sit here on a dreary Sunday morning, I probably would have been doing just fine had I not decided after hosting a bourbon tasting last night that piling on a number of additional drinks was a good idea…but, when in good company an extra beverage…or five, just sometimes happens. Hosting a bourbon tasting […]
If you know nothing about bourbon, chances are better than not that you are familiar with the name Pappy Van Winkle or just “Pappy” for short. It’s a name steeped in mystique and luxury and right, wrong or indifferent is the pinnacle of the bourbon world. Whether or not it belongs there is a discussion […]
The Secondary Bourbon Market never sleeps, day after day, week after week, month after month folks are moving bottles. Using all manner of abbreviations and acronyms, a bourbon language has evolved to facilitate these interactions, with folks clambering to “BIN” (buy it now) a well-priced bottle, with prices continuing to march northward toward a ceiling […]
A brand that’s starting to get a bit more buzz lately may be one which some of you have not heard much about, Lucky Seven Spirits. With the uptick in interest, we wanted to take some time to set the scene for what Lucky Seven is, what it is not, and whether or not the […]
