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John Lipman Explains Why There Is 107 Proof Whiskey
Weller's Original Barrel Proof Stitzel-Weller's 107 Proof whisky before Old Weller AntiquePhoto by John LipmanA couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about an extensive tasting of Old Weller Antiques that...
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From Aesop to Incubus - The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Era.
A couple of years ago my friend Mark Hughes from South Africa came across a dusty bottle of American whiskey called "Imperial" and posted a picture on Facebook. (He writes a very good whisky blog,...
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Chuck Cowdery's "Bourbon Strange" Is Now Available For The Kindle
One of the most important books to me in discovering about Bourbon is Chuck Cowdery's "Bourbon Straight". But as the years have passed since its first printing in 2004 a lot has happened (such as the...
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Hibiki 17 and 21 Japanese Blended Whisky's US Launch And The Nature of Beauty
Hibiki 17 and 21, Suntory's blended whisky in the sweet spot age statements, will hit the US market this fall. The announcement came in May, at a launch event in New York which was interesting in a...
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Balcones Distilling's Investors Threaten To Dump Founder, Genius Master...
Left to right: Winston C. Edwards, Chip Tate, Patrick Donehue, and Noell Michaelsenjoying Balcones Vth Anniversary Crooked Bourbon at LeDu's in New York in better days.The whisky blogosphere is abuzz...
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Four Top World Grain Whiskys Head to Head
A few weeks ago I gave a rave review to Suntory's Chita grain whisky in a blog post about the Hibiki 17 and 21 launch this fall. I wrote: "Tasted head to head with Nikka Coffey Grain (45%) and...
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A Fascinating Transitional Bottle of Old Fitzgerald From the Dawn of the...
When Prohibition ended, Pappy Van Winkle, and his partners A. Ph. Stitzel and Alex Farnsley incorporated Stitzel-Weller and began building the legendary distillery by that name which has aroused such...
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Limestone Branch, Yellowstone Bourbon's Resurrection, and Craft Whiskey's...
A pair of 1970s Yellowstone 6 year old 86 proof minis for the Italian market. Distilled at Glenmore Distillery.Everyone agrees that change must be coming to Craft whiskey, but what form will it take?...
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Rebel Yell - Past and Future
Late 1960s Rebel Yell magazine ad.: a romantic vision of the ante-bellum South.(thanks Herb Allen, for finding this)Rebel Yell is a wheated mash bill Bourbon originally sold only in the South - to...
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Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey Comes To The USA
The rising trend of drinkable grain whisky now sees a new Irish entry, joining Cooley's Greenore expressions (6, 8, 15, and 18 year old). It's Teeling Single Grain Irish whiskey, just under 6 years...
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The Ancient Metaphor of Alcohol as Female Sexuality
A female spirit as the source of the juice.1940s Guillot Triple Sec posterThere is a deep symbolic connection between alcohol and femininity in art from ancient times until the current moment. It...
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Steve Zeller, the Smoky Beast and I present a historically interesting experience. Come and taste classic 1970s dusty Old Forester BiB from DSP-KY-414 and National Distillers Old Taylor against premium...
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Old Forester and Old Taylor: New Versus Old. A Historically Inflected Tasting.
Photo courtesy of Xavier Wine Co.What makes a Bourbon great? Corn's sweetness melded to the smoky richness of charred oak with the glorious maillard sugars of cooked oak's red line and some herbal...
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Stepin Fetch It - Racist Themes In American Whiskey Advertising
Last week I discussed covert homosexuality in mid century American whiskey advertising. This week I'll be looking at racism in American whiskey advertising. It's a much bigger topic. Blacks haven't...
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Brenne 10 - Taking It To Another Level
Brenne, the single malt whisky brand from Cognac, is preparing to release a 10 year old limited edition expression this Fall. This is exciting news to people who have been seduced by the ineffable...
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The Water of Life Event: a fund raising effort that produced magic
Matthew Lurin hosts The Water Of Life event.May 6th saw the birth of a new kind of whisky event: one with a both a moral purpose and a different format that lends itself to deeper tasting. Matthew...
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Blood Oath Pact 1 - Luxco Makes A Luxury Vatting. Marketing Hype or Innovation?
Luxco, the aggregator and NDP bottler of the great defunct Bourbon brands Rebel Yell, Yellowstone, and Ezra Brooks, has a new brand, a possibly interesting vatting of rye and wheat mash Bourbons. But...
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Smoky Beast's barrel of Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Rye Shoots The Moon.
There has been a lot of excitement lately about a pretty special private barrel pick of Smooth Amber Old Scout Rye selected by Steve Zeller aka the "Smoky Beast". Smooth Ambler's Old Scout Single...
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Quick hits - Whisky Live New York 2014
Robin Robinson of Compass Boxwith The GeneralThis was on most people I talked with'shighlight list.Whisky Live continued to grow in 2014. Packed, loaded, full of life and personalities and loaded with...
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The Tragedy of Old Cabin Still
The history of American whiskey is full of stories with all the human drama of Shakespeare's plays. There are triumphs and tragedies; tales of creation and destruction. There are also skeletons in...
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