On private barrel selections and the current state of bourbon hunting
My newest piece on private barrel selections and the current state of bourbon hunting is now live at Bourbon & Banter.
Category: Articles
In With the Old
Back in 2016, a small group of Bourbon & Banter members met in St. Louis to attend Whiskey In the Winter. Following a wonderful evening gathered around Pops' dining room table sipping pre-prohibition whiskey and other mid-century dusties, the actual show itself was largely forgettable - save for one large exception. In Seminar Room C, Luke Castle and I were blown away by the magnetism,...
A Barrel Full of Roses
If there is one thing about bourbon I haven't gotten bored with over the years, it's selecting a private barrel. Every so often, a truly special one stands out from the others. Such was the case when, earlier this year, we got this incredible short barrel OESF for Mike Bridges at Jack's in Fremont, Nebraska. It's the "Bitch Wolf Barrel" we named after Ruthie from the show 'Ozark.' Bottle from...
Talking Private Picks on the Steak, Bourbon & Sports podcast
Ari Tempkin and Jeremy Mandel were kind enough to invite me on their Steak, Bourbon & Sports podcast last night. Really enjoyed discussing private barrel picks with them. Check it out!
Be Smarter Buying Private Barrel Picks
Last year, I was in one of my favorite distillery’s rickhouses doing one of my favorite things with some of my favorite people. Picking a private barrel of bourbon is still exciting for me, even after doing it many, many times. On this particular occasion, we tasted through three barrels of bourbon and collectively decided we weren’t going to take any of them. Noticing the visible shock on...
How The Bourbon Crusaders Determined the Best Bourbons on the Shelf
On Monday, November 5 2018, the Bourbon world was abuzz about a little charity event that raised over $340,000 for the American Cancer Society over the weekend. For more about the auction itself, Fred Minnick’s excellent Forbes piece captures it beautifully. What may have been overshadowed by the shocking and magical live auction at “Willett To Be Cured” was the months-long, massive blind...
Bourbonomics
Mark Twain wrote that Tom Sawyer “had discovered a great law of human action, namely that in order to make a man covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.” That was true nearly 150 years ago, when whiskey was anything but coveted, referred to by popular nicknames like “coffin varnish” and “strychnine.” Today’s Tom Sawyer would be running the...
Gordy Hue and the Greatest Bourbon Story You’ve Never Heard
If you're a fan of Bourbon, then you’ve likely heard of Pappy Van Winkle. And if you’ve heard of Pappy Van Winkle then know it’s coveted by everyone from aficionados to the people who cut their hair. I’ve even seen annual releases of Pappy advertised as “The Holy Grail of Bourbons.” However, seasoned Bourbon drinkers or collectors with an interest in history have...
Taste More, Listen Less
In a Louisville hotel room overlooking the Haymarket whiskey bar, my friend Brian had arranged something special. As I entered the room, I instantly spotted three rows of semi-filled glasses, each row dead-ending at an amber bottle marked with the letters ‘X’, ‘Y’ and ‘Z’. “Oh, hell yes!” I giddily exclaimed. Nothing brings a room of whiskey ‘experts’ back down to earth like...
You Need to Meet… Ed Bley from Cork ‘N Bottle
He’s been called “The Nicest Guy In Whiskey,” and my very first experience with Ed Bley, Spirits and Beer Manager for Kentucky’s Cork ‘N Bottle (CNB), certainly supports that title. Last year, Ed reached out to send a few samples of CNB’s barrel picks for me to try. Not only did I receive several large sample bottles, but he also tossed in a full bottle of his latest Four Roses pick!...