The St. Louis Bourbon Festival will take place on October 6, 2023. This is the third year for the festival. I will be there in their cigar area talking Bourbon and cigars along with Steve Fante of Yellowstone. The St.... Continue Reading →
Lincoln Henderson was fond of saying that whiskey has to be made correctly every step of the way or it will be an inferior product. I know many people that worship extremely old whiskey and unless it is 10 years... Continue Reading →
Most major distilleries use chill filtration on their flagship whiskeys. Even their “non-chill filtered” whiskeys usually have been filtered with a carbon filtration system. The most economical way of doing this is to decide what works best for your end... Continue Reading →
The first time I experienced the Glencairn mixing glass was about five years ago. I was having a drink with Fred Minnick at the local tavern near his home. He asked me if I tried the new Canadian whisky glass... Continue Reading →
People always ask me why I do my tastings with dried cranberries, pecans and a cigar. I do this because of the ephemeral nature of tasting whiskey. There are a lot of variables that have an effect on the flavor... Continue Reading →
In the Taylor diary, written in the first decade of the 19th century, at The Filson Historical Society archive, is this direction for gathering yeast: “The art of making whiskey in the first place, the distiller must be an industrious... Continue Reading →
I frequently hear about rye grain giving Bourbon a spicy flavor, but I am not sure the spiciness of a whiskey necessarily comes from the rye grain. After all, if rye is the source of spice then why isn’t the... Continue Reading →
You will often hear people say that 75% of whiskey’s flavor comes from the aging process. Warehouse managers love to hear this since it shows how important their job is to the whiskey in the bottle. Distillers take exception to... Continue Reading →
I have heard many people, distillers and consumers alike, state that whiskey gets over 70% of its flavor from the barrel. This is true with real old whiskey. In fact, I have blind tasted twenty-year-old Bourbon against a rye of... Continue Reading →
