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26 Articles

Bourbon education

No matter how much you think you know about a subject, you’ll be surprised at just how much more there is to learn when diving deep enough. Often, it can be difficult to truly measure the scope of a topic until you’ve spent years invested in it. I remember during my first few months of writing about whiskey, I thought to myself, “I’ve got the hang of this now. I now know every brand, every style, and every bit of important history that has brought the industry to its current standing.” Oh how wrong I was. It wasn’t until talking to industry veterans, bourbon historians and master tasters, I realised I had barely scratched the surface. Now years in, I realize that learning about the intricacies of whiskey, and in particular bourbon,…

Bourbon education

Chances are if you’ve ever asked a Kentuckian about their first taste of bourbon you received an awkward silence and a funny look. That awkward silence and the funny look aren’t because the question is offensive, it’s because bourbon is part of the background. That background is steeped in history and tradition. Agriculturally, Kentucky’s history has leaned heavily on corn and tobacco. Kentucky is a bourbon kind of place, so it makes sense that within families who have been in Kentucky for generations, there are families in which multiple generations have worked in its signature industry. Freddie Johnson is from one of those storied Kentucky bourbon families. His grandfather worked alongside Colonel Blanton at what was then known as the George Stagg Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Freddie’s father, Jimmy Johnson, worked at…

Whiskey on the page

American Spirit: Wild Turkey Bourbon from Ripy to Russell by David Jennings 2020, Mascot Books, $24.95 Imagine that you are a devoted fan, perhaps of an actor, or an iconic automobile, or of a particular subject with a vast and storied history, such as baseball. Then imagine that you get direct access to your admired person or subject. That is the dream assignment David Jennings, an enthusiastic devotee of Wild Turkey whiskey, got when he set out to write this book. Jennings explains in his introduction that he overlooked the brand for many years after he had started getting interested in bourbon. Practically on a whim, he bought a pint of Wild Turkey 101 at a retailer and was pleasantly surprised at its high quality for a low price. He was hooked. His resulting book…

Whiskey on the page

Come for the mountains, stay for the whiskey

People from around the world hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail to tap into the brown spirit’s rich heritage while enjoying a few pours. However, while Kentucky is one of the forerunners of bourbon, it’s not the only state promoting whiskey tourism. The Centennial State, better known as Colorado, has more than 100 distilleries, and a vast number of those make whiskey. Moreover, with the increase in popularity of whiskey, especially bourbon, there are a fresh crop of establishments offering exclusive pours, such as W Aspen. The hotel is forging a new path — and club — to attract whiskey newcomers and connoisseurs locally and internationally. W Aspen launched the Spring & Dean Barrel Club, named after the intersection of two of Aspen’s most iconic streets, aptly during National Bourbon Heritage Month in…

Come for the mountains, stay for the whiskey

It’s always been bourbon

It’s hard to imagine there are still firsts in an industry as old as the Kentucky bourbon industry, but for Brittany Penny, learning that she was the first-ever African-American woman to become CEO of a Kentucky bourbon brand only motivated her to make sure she isn’t the last. Her story is inspirational: she started her business when her first daughter was a newborn because, as she often recounts, she wasn’t sleeping anyway. The genesis of The IX Bourbon (pronounced “the nine”) is stamped on Kentucky bourbon’s history forever. “I was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, and I’ve always loved bourbon,” Penny recounts. “I mean, my dad was a huge bourbon drinker, so I grew up around bourbon. I was that girl during college where my friends would get, like, Cosmos…

It’s always been bourbon

The life & times

Recently a joint venture between Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Fame whiskey maker at Rabbit Hole Distillery, Kaveh Zamanian, and Pernod Ricard was announced. The collaborative effort has brought Mary Dowling Whiskey Company to fruition, including the debut of its whiskey lineup. The Mary Dowling Whiskey Company currently offers whiskey lovers two distinctive expressions: Tequila Barrel and Double Oak Barrel. The bold bourbons, one finished in Tequila barrels and the other finished in second oak barrels, embody the spirit of determination, paired with a beautiful amber liquid that expresses exceptional flavors and aromas. The two new expressions were created as a form of celebration of the life and times of one of American whiskey history’s most remarkable people, Mary Dowling — also known as the Mother of Bourbon. The brand was inspired…

The life & times

Bringing back McBrayer

In Kentucky, there are a lot of famous names in bourbon. Today the old names such as Van Winkle and Weller really stand out, but even before Julian Van Winkle took a pharmaceutical sales job at WL Weller and Sons, there was Judge William H McBrayer and his Cedarbrook Distillery, one of the largest of its time. Now the McBrayer family has reentered the bourbon business after a decades-long hiatus with a brand that has not been produced in more than 40 years. “The McBrayers are one of the founding families of Kentucky bourbon and our family brands were around for over 130 years up to the 1980s,” says McBrayer Legacy Spirits founder William Garland McBrayer IV. “Telling the story of the legacy left by WH McBrayer, the judge, is one…

Bringing back McBrayer

Things will be great when you’re downtown

The heart of Downtown Louisville just got a whole lot sweeter as Whiskey Row has welcomed the opening of a new tasting experience from Bardstown Bourbon Company. Founded in 2014 by Peter Loftin in the heart of Bourbon Country on 100 acres of active farmland, Bardstown Bourbon Company is one of the country’s most modern and technically advanced whiskey distilleries. Celebrating the art of making high-quality authentic bourbons, the innovative distillery produces custom rye, whiskey, and bourbon for prominent brands including Jefferson’s, Blue Run, Belle Meade and many others through its one-of-a-kind collaborative distilling program. Bardstown Bourbon Company honors tradition and drives innovation with its exceptional destination experience for visitors, including the Kitchen and Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company and an interactive tasting room experience in Louisville. In addition to its…

Things will be great when you’re downtown

Bourbon and horses

Kentucky has long been known for two things: bourbon and horses. But few people know just how interrelated the two industries really are. Bourbon and Thoroughbreds grew up together side by side out of necessity, starting when Kentucky was the Western frontier. Corn grew here in abundance but was difficult to get to outside markets, so distilling it made it more portable and also made it last longer in order to get it to market and get it sold, and it was also a value-added product that could fetch more money on the market. And once you got to that outside market, usually after a lengthy and dangerous trip down the river, you had to get back somehow. This necessitated the horse trade, and faster horses often meant better chances…

Bourbon and horses

The Mattingly distilling legacy is back

The Mattingly name was once one of the biggest in the Kentucky bourbon industry, and today it’s making a comeback. The J Mattingly 1845 Distillery recently opened a homeplace in Frankfort, Kentucky, right across the street from the historic Buffalo Trace, after a rebranding from a previous version of the company that was located in Georgetown, Kentucky called Bourbon 30. In the late 1700s, the Mattingly family migrated to Kentucky from Maryland, ending up in Marion County along with six other Catholic families. In 1845, John Graves Mattingly opened what is believed by the Mattingly family to be Kentucky’s second registered distillery. In 1874, Mattingly and his brother built the JG Mattingly & Bro distillery in Jefferson County, Kentucky, but just four years later Mattingly bought out his brother and reincorporated…

The Mattingly distilling legacy is back

Breakwater Bourbon

Bluebird Distilling’s founder and master distiller recently announced a new partnership with the Jetty Rock Foundation, the non-profit arm of the coastal lifestyle and apparel brand Jetty. Available for national purchase now, 10 per cent of proceeds from brandnew Breakwater Bourbon will be directly applied to the maintenance, protection and care of oceans and waterways. The new spirit, inspired by late-summer fireside hang-outs, is now available for purchase on Bluebird Distilling’s online store nationwide, as well as on-premise at Bluebird Distilling, both Char & Stave locations in Pennsylvania, and select retailers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for $54.99. Combining Jetty’s commitment to quality crafted goods and Bluebird Distilling’s dedication to creating world-class spirits, Breakwater Bourbon embodies the thrill of unforgettable journeys and remarkable discoveries made along the way. The wellaged, lightly smoked bourbon…

Breakwater Bourbon

Understanding esters

Mention the word “yeast” to Conor O’Driscoll and he lights up like a car with its high beams switched on. O’Driscoll is Heaven Hill’s master distiller and yeast is definitely a subject about which he is passionate. He explains that during fermentation, “The yeast makes all the alcohol and a lot of the flavor.” Most whiskey lovers appreciate that all of the color of the liquid in their glasses comes from the time the spirit spends in the barrel. The characteristic vanilla and caramel flavor notes, as well as a medley of baking spices, molasses and maple, nuts, and even some chocolate and coffee notes, can be coaxed from the wood. But where do all those lovely fruit and floral flavors come from? During the visit to the fermentation room on a…

Understanding esters

Welcome to Star Hill Farm

There’s a lot going on at Star Hill Farm, located on 1,100 picturesque acres in Marion County, Kentucky about 60 miles southwest of Louisville. Some 300 acres are planted with experimental varieties of wheat and barley. The Oak Tree Repository contains 9,000 saplings planted on 24 acres that are in the process of growing into the world’s largest research forest of white oaks. A garden is planted with fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices grown from seeds that came from Row 7 Seed Company, which specializes in especially flavorful hybrids. A recently installed apiary’s bees produced 30 pounds of honey its first year. Edible fungi are thriving on logs in the Mushroom Quarry. And in a grove of hazelnuts, pecans, and oaks, the roots of which have been inoculated with truffle spores,…

Welcome to Star Hill Farm

Saving the planet

Brother’s Bond, the bourbon brand co-founded by stars of the hit television series The Vampire Diaries, Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley, has been a huge success since its foundation. While their initial (albeit huge) following has contributed to the early success of the company, it’s the quality of the bourbon and the passion shown by its two creators which has led to its ever-growing presence in the whiskey industry. In fact, Brother’s Bond is now one of the most-followed whiskey brands in the world on Instagram, with more than 1.9 million followers. The onscreen brothers’ off-screen bond has also resonated with whiskey lovers across the world who might otherwise have been unfamiliar with the duo’s starmaking work. Back in issue 17 of American Whiskey Magazine, around the time of Brother’s Bond’s…

Saving the planet

A new sensation

When you think about historical figures who enjoyed whiskey and cigars together, people such as Mark Twain or Winston Churchill may come to mind. But it has only been in the last few years that whiskey brands and cigar manufacturers have started to work together to create pairings that cater to lovers of both. Drew Estate partnered with Pappy & Co to create the Pappy Van Winkle Barrel Fermented Cigar almost a decade ago, but it wasn’t necessarily meant to pair with its namesake bourbon, only to appeal to those who enjoyed that brand. A few years later, Sazerac partnered with General Tobacco to release the WL Weller Cohiba and Buffalo Trace cigars, which actually were meant to be enjoyed with their respective namesake bourbons. Now, the Huber’s Starlight Distillery has…

A new sensation

Bridging the gap

In 2016, Samara Davis was living in the San Francisco area and doing brand activations for spirits companies. She’d been trying to find her place in the online whiskey groups, but struggled to find a place where she felt like she belonged. She turned her frustration into a mission and founded the Black Bourbon Society. “It came about through two different ways,” recalls Davis. “Number one, I was falling in love with whiskey, like completely in love with it, and I was looking for my own community to join. Back then, there was one in Kentucky that was really big, Women Who Whiskey was just getting started, and Whisky Chicks was just getting started. There were all these little groups starting to pop up, and it was great because I was…

Bridging the gap

The signature industry

In 2013, the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience became the first distillery visitor experience to open on Main Street in Louisville, Kentucky. Since then, more than a dozen distilleries and distillery visitor experiences have opened in the area, making Louisville a distillery tourism travel destination. The idea for the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience came from Harry Shapira, whose offices occupied the space that later became the artisanal distillery and visitor experience. Shapira first got the idea to create a scale model of a working distillery and place it in the window of his offices on Main Street after a visit to New York during the holiday season. He’d been inspired by the window displays at the large department stores, noting that people often stopped and studied them closely. At the time, bourbon tourism…

The signature industry

The Ideal Bartender Experience

Tom Bullock was an African American bartender who was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1872. He worked at the Pendennis Club in Louisville for a time before moving on to work at a country club in St Louis and then as a porter on the railroad, but his claim to fame is that he wrote one of the first bartending manuals in history, The Ideal Bartender. Today, Evan Williams tour guide George Harrison reenacts the Ideal Bartender Experience several times a week for visitors at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience on Main Street, blocks away from where Bullock worked when he wrote his book. “There’s not really a lot of written history about him, which we discovered when we started putting the show together back in 2020,” says Harrison. “By about…

The Ideal Bartender Experience

Nestled away in a historic building in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia is Virtue Feed & Grain, a restaurant with one of the most well-stocked and popular whiskey bars in the Washington, DC area. The area has ties to the historic whiskey trade — their offices just across the courtyard once served as a storage facility for local goods headed to market, including George Washington’s rye whiskey. Today, people visit for the food and stay for the cocktails and staggering whiskey collection. “The actual building is a part of the Alexandria Old Town history in that it was the inception of the Roberts family, a family that moved to this community and established a farm which had on it the grist mill, and they had the fresh water rights to Alexandria, Old…

Embracing progress

There is never a dull moment when it comes to a conversation with Owen Martin, master distiller at Angel’s Envy. Firstly, he’s a smart chap and inherently interesting with that; secondly, he is generous with his knowledge which, even after years of interviewing people, is never underappreciated by myself; and thirdly, it feels like talking to an old friend. Clichéd I know, but true nonetheless. Early on in 2023, around five months after Martin had stepped into his new role at Angel’s Envy, the Louisville-based brand beloved for its whiskey finishing, I was on a tour of the distillery that wrapped up in its bright and open bar. It was there that I first met Martin and sat down for an informal chat that we would then finally follow up on…

Embracing progress

Blackwood Distilling

Every whiskey region is decorated with distinct, signature characteristics. Even outside a whiskey’s terroir — the complex interaction of climate, soil, geology and their impact on the spirit’s flavor profile — there’s often a cultural element unique to the area influencing a whiskey’s identity. Kentuckians, especially locals of the state’s inner Bluegrass region, acknowledge two integral facets of their state’s heritage: bourbon and thoroughbred horses. Kentucky’s alluring, rich history in horse racing and distilling captivated and compelled Guinness McFadden, president and co-founder of Blackwood Distilling Co, to embark on an unexpected and rewarding journey into both fields. McFadden grew up on a small family farm in Potter Valley, California, in the 1980s, where his father grew grapes and herbs, and raised cattle. McFadden spent much of his youth working on the…

Blackwood Distilling

The making of a bourbon historian

In Kentucky, it is not unusual to find experts on bourbon. There are even historians and archaeologists who specialize in the distilled spirits industry within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The preeminent bourbon historian in Kentucky is Michael Veach, author of Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage, who is also a Kentucky Bourbon Hall of Famer. He owns his own consulting business and stays busy doing historical research for brands, speaking at whiskey festivals, and writing books, though he is semi-retired these days. “I like to say I was the luckiest graduate to ever come out of the University of Louisville’s history department,” Veach says. “I was working on my master’s degree at U of L and Nick Morgan called the university and was looking for someone to help put together an…

The making of a bourbon historian

Kentucky whiskey wonderland

What’s next? When presenting this question to a celebrity or brand leader, it’s often met with a vague one-liner to keep fans in eager anticipation. And for any curious whiskey lover, when this question is put to an industry professional, it could mean you’re one hint closer to experiencing a sip of something new, and maybe something exciting is on the horizon. Thankfully, we’re merely weeks away from finally receiving an answer to that question in the world of Kentucky distilleries, with the unveiling of the Whiskey House of Kentucky. Founded by CEO David Mandell, COO and president John Hargrove, and CSO Daniel Linde, the team behind the successful Bardstown Bourbon Company, Whiskey House (opening July 1, 2024) is designed from the ground up to focus solely on flexible, custom whiskey…

Kentucky whiskey wonderland

Exquisite pairings

Peggy Noe Stevens is a master taster, whiskey reviewer, and competition judge. She is known in the industry for her super palate, as well as her founding innovations connecting whiskey and food pairing styles and methods. Here we feature the following brands and the inspiration for creating unique profiles and food pairings. The following is a guideline to discovering the ultimate food pairings for your guests. How to pair The below is a simple chart outlining my three-part breakdown to pairing. BALANCE is when you complement a predominant note in the whiskey and balance the flavors so one does not dominate over the other. It creates harmony. COUNTERBALANCE is when opposites attract and you fire up a food flavor, only to have the flavors of the whiskey tame and neutralize any spikes of difference. EXPLOSION is…

Exquisite pairings

Peggy Noe Stevens Peggy Noe Stevens became the world’s first female master bourbon taster and can trace her lineage back to some of the great bourbon making families in Kentucky. In 2011, she created the Bourbon Women Association. Susan Reigler Susan Reigler is the author of several bourbon books, including Kentucky Bourbon Country: The Essential Travel Guide, and is a former restaurant critic and beverage columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal. She is the immediate past president of the Bourbon Women Association. THE PROCESS All samples are blind tasted, with proof and style the only information disclosed. Samples are tasted individually over a two week period. Tasters are provided tasting and scoring guidelines for consistency. The top scorer is awarded Editor’s Choice. Scores of 17.5+ qualify for the recommended whiskey award. 15 STARS TRIPLE CASK BOURBON 15 Stars Peggy Nose:…

Gregg Snyder has more than 45 years of experience and knowledge in the whiskey industry, dating back to the 1970s. His roles have varied from plant manager for White Rock Distilleries to director of marketing and material supply at Blue Grass Cooperage (now known as Brown-Forman cooperage). As well as his current role at Chicken Cock, Gregg is also CEO at Distilled Spirits Consulting. Other achievements of note in his career include formerly being on the board of directors at both the Kentucky Bourbon Festival and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a recipient of Indiana University’s Distinguished Alumni award, and an honorary Kentucky colonel. WHISKEY #1 The ‘Original’ Eagle Rare 101 Proof Bourbon This delectable bourbon set the standard for me early on in my drinking years. Produced at the Old Prentice Distillery…

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