5 Bourbons To Avoid The Fall Madness

My demeanor towards the (fall) bourbon craziness varies. Sometimes I despise it, sometimes I partake in it and other times I’m apathetic. Visiting stores every morning doesn’t work for a lot of people’s schedules. Waiting in lines overnight isn’t an option for others (or something we want to do). Paying $1,000 for a bottle of Pappy will never be an option. What if we can’t spend thousands of dollars at a store to be on their “preferred” list. Or, maybe it wasn’t your year to win a lottery. Whatever your circumstances are these bourbons are a great consolation prize. Actually, “consolation” is too demeaning to these bourbons. These bourbons are great, high-end options to drink if you scored an entire BTAC and Pappy set or if you struck out. read more

BTAC Release Map

Please Read: Each state is highlighted once one bottle is reported. Generally, that means that store, and a lot of times that city, is already sold out. This map isn’t an official release tracker from Buffalo Trace but a network of bourbon drinkers looking to help each other. Stores are dealing with smaller allocations and greatly increased demand. Please be understanding of this fact. Happy Hunting! read more

This is a guest post from Matthew C. Hulbert, PH.D. at Civil War Governors of Kentucky. I think you’ll enjoy!

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On November 2, 1865, a petition arrived on the desk of Governor Thomas E. Bramlette. Two men from Wayne County, Granville Ingram and Levi Baker, each faced a $100 fine for “tipling.” (That is, for dealing in unlicensed liquor.) Relative to modern legal standards, it’s common to assume that alcohol restrictions were lax in the 1860s—if not altogether nonexistent. In fact, before proceeding with our story, it’s worth taking a moment to note that the production, sale, and consumption of distilled spirits in Kentucky were heavily regulated in the 1860s, almost as much as they are today. Even as the Civil War raged around them, scores of civilians found themselves in court for various liquor-related offenses: unlicensed distilling, unlicensed sale, selling in the wrong unit or quantity, selling liquor to minors, being drunk on duty, and a wide array of more violent, booze-fueled crimes ranging from arson and assault to homicide. (More on this in next week’s blogging.) read more

*Please Read:* Each state is highlighted once one bottle is reported. Generally, that means that store, and a lot of times that city, is already sold out. This map isn’t an official release tracker from Buffalo Trace but a network of bourbon drinkers looking to help each other. Stores are dealing with smaller allocations and greatly increased demand. Please be understanding of this fact. Also, I’m not a retailer. I don’t have a list to buy Pappy nor do I know where you can buy online at retail. If I did I’d buy it all myself 🙂 Happy Hunting!  read more

A Tale of Bourbon Today

Bourbon/Tennessee Whiskey sales were up 9.6% in 2014. The super premium sector saw a 19.2% growth as well as exports topping $1.2B. Bourbon is everywhere. It’s at every bar and restaurant I visit. While checking for abnormal heart rhythms, my Doctor discusses the upcoming Pappy Van Winkle release. I can’t even walk down the frozen food aisle of a grocery store without seeing bourbon. Every time I walk into a store to buy a bottle I’m surprised with an increased price tag or an empty shelf. Or, maybe I’ve become accustomed to increased costs its hard to tell. I don’t blink at a $150 price tag for a bourbon I was paying $50 for a few years ago. I assume every limited edition bourbon will exceed the $80 mark. read more

Bourbonr Notes

*I’m not a retailer. There’s no list on this site to buy Pappy. I think some people may have Bourbonr confused. This is just a blog that talks about bourbon.

• Less 15-year-old Pappy Van Winkle than usual, and far less 20-year-old and 23-year-old. About half as much as last year. Seems to be the theme for Buffalo Trace this year. Fewer bottles will mean insurmountable odds for a lot of Bourbonr’s. However, I’m not one to back down from a challenge
• “We have not raised prices and do not intend to do so drastically in the future.” – Julian Van Winkle “Drastically” is an interesting word here since BT/VW has always commented that they won’t be increasing prices. The biggest jump seems to be the rye at an additional $30 per bottle. Nothing too drastic in my opinion. Either way retailers have the right to charge what they want. Hopefully, this doesn’t mean gouging. I still consider anything 1.5X or less the listed retail to be “retail” pricing.
• Available starting in November. That’s about a week later than last year. It will be interesting to see if any distributors jump the gun and release in October.
• The Bourbonr Pappy release map is coming soon! Probably the beginning of next week.

            FRANKFORT, FRANKLIN COUNTY, KY (Oct. 14, 2015) – The long anticipated annual release of the Van Winkle bourbons is nearly here, but unfortunately some of the angels were extra greedy over the past two decades, leaving us less bourbon than in previous years. read more

Bourbon Curious by Fred Minnick

In Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker, award-winning whiskey writer and Wall Street Journal-best-selling author Fred Minnick debunks bourbon myths, provides distillery production methods (such as recipes and barrel-entry proofs!) and creates an easy-to-read interactive tasting journey that helps you select bourbons based on flavor preferences and bourbon styles. Using the same tasting principles he offers in his Kentucky Derby Museum classes and as a judge at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Minnick’s Bourbon Curious cuts to the chase, dismissing brand marketing and judging what’s inside the bottle. read more

Last month a judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Jim Beam Co. The lawsuit claimed that Beam’s use of the word “handcrafted” on the label of their bourbons mislead consumers. Beam responded that the TTB label approval protected them from any wrongdoing. Beam also stated that “handcrafted” is just puffery and no reasonable consumer would make a decision based on this word. What’s interesting is the judge agreed that “handcrafted” is not misleading but “mere puffery”. It’s also interesting that the “we relied on the TTB” defense was rejected. read more