It was quite a journey visiting classic southern states through the nectar of their heart, soul, turf, and lands. A big Thank You to our fine host Mark Maker.
The ‘Holy Grail’ of American Whiskey Awards 2008
As determined by the ‘Best of Whisky’ Panel
American Whiskey-Bourbon Tastings
Results from this year’s search for
America’s Best
Gold Maker’s Mark “Black Label”
Silver Jack Daniel’s “Single Barrel”
Bronze Blanton’s “Special Reserve”
Our Gold Placehonour
Maker’s Mark ‘Black Label’
An Elegant, soft harmonious honey and butter toast introduction giving way to a creamybalanced body with oak and toffee guaranteeing a bittersweet edge. A true classic.
Our Silver Placehonour
Jack Daniel’s Single BarrelA sweet roasty, oaky intensity with plenty of trademark burnt liquorice. A quite refinedfinale.
Our Bronze Placehonour
Blanton’s Special Reserve
An old leather armchair and sweet pipesmoke start that gives way to wafts of honeyvanillaand finishes with caramel spice. Quite a Balanced whiskey
Popularity: 60% [?]
Woodford Reserve(R) Teams up with Belmont Stakes(R) for ”Big Brown Chases the Triple Crown(R)” Cocktail
Big Brown goes for the Triple Crown in Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.And for the first time, there will be an official bourbon and an official Triple Cown drink at the race.
Woodford Reserve makes its inaugural trip to the starting gate at Belmont Park as the first-ever “Official Bourbon of the Belmont Stakes.”
The award-winning small batch bourbon, also the “Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby,” is made in Woodford County, Ky., which is where Big Brown will retire.
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For every Woodford Reserve® “Big Brown Chases the Triple Crown” cocktail sold in the collectible glass, Woodford Reserve will donate $3 to Belmont Park-based charities Anna House and Backstretch
Forbes Article
Popularity: 27% [?]
…from thespiritworld.net
Last week saw the fifth annual gathering of the American Distilling Institute convene at the historic Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. As the trade association for the burgeoning small-scale craft distilling industry, the Institute chose an appropriate location for this year’s theme: whiskey. But the sense of history came not just from the architecture of the grand hotel and its magnificent bar. The buzz among the
membership was not merely from the ample opportunities for product tasting. The buzz was the excitement of creating something new. The historic sense was of that in the making.
As whisky critic Jim Murray put it, “I can tell this conference is going to change the way things happen. There is a fascination…. You are the new frontier.”
read on
Popularity: 35% [?]
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The debate over Kentucky bourbon versus Tennessee whiskey has raged for as long as the two have been around.Pop culture is no help. George Thorogood needed “one bourbon, one scotch and one beer,” while George Jones found a love “as smooth as Tennessee whiskey.”
What’s the difference?
Ultimately, it all comes down to charcoal.
For much of its life, Tennessee whiskey is very similar to Kentucky bourbon. Both are made from a blend of corn — at least 51 percent to qualify as bourbon, though Jack Daniel’s uses 80 percent — plus rye and barley malt. The grains are cooked with limestone-filtered water, fermented, strained and distilled (then generally distilled again, to further remove impurities), until what remains is a high-octane alcohol ready for aging.
Bourbon makers like to say that “all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon.” At this point in the distillery process, turning the brew into Tennessee bourbon would be easier — and cheaper — than turning it into Tennessee whiskey. But instead of moving the distilled alcohol directly into charred, white oak barrels the way their bourbon-making cousins do, Tennessee whiskey makers go a step further.
The booze is strained through finely chopped sugar maple charcoal (made at the distilleries) and blankets of white virgin wool. Known as the “charcoal-mellowing process,” the additional step removes additional impurities and refines the flavor of the drink.
“It takes days for a drop of Jack Daniel’s to get all the way to the bottom,” Tolley said. “And then it goes into the barrel.”
It’s worth noting that the charcoal-mellowing process removes many more impurities left behind during fermentation, particles called congeners. While they contribute to the taste, congeners are often accused of contributing to hangovers.
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Popularity: 62% [?]
Before he moved to North Carolina in the mid-`90s, Joseph Michaleks New York buddies kidded him about coming to the land of moonshine and Mayberry.
Within months of arriving in Winston-Salem, he began to notice a glass jar quietly being passed around at bluegrass festivals and race tracks.
Id never seen nor tasted moonshine, but it was pretty obvious thats what it was, said Michalek, 38. I was prepared for the worst, but I sipped it and it was delicious, much smoother than I expected. It had a hint of fruit in it; Id never tasted anything quite like it.
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piedmont distillers
note: We’ve added a few backgrounds from the Piedmont distillery, featuring Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine. Go ahead and select the swatches above for a unique background.
Popularity: 37% [?]
