Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i American Whiskey Magazine

We can thank Boston for many things. Yes, some very important people and moments throughout American history, but also: disposable razors, the microwave, Tupperware, marshmallow fluff (okay, maybe not marshmallow fluff), the Red Sox – and, in a town on the outskirts of Boston in the 1980s, a young girl who was growing up with dreams of being a rock star. After ditching the jazz flute for the guitar, that girl became a woman who did exactly what she dreamed of: graduating from Northeastern University with a music business degree and going on to share her talent all over the world. Her name is Britt Lightning. Not only is she a killer guitar player (hence the name), but also an avid whiskey fan, and a woman on a journey to…

According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails grew 42.3 per cent by revenue and 55.9 per cent by volume between 2020-2021. This uptick was already happening pre-Covid, but massive shutdowns undoubtedly contributed to this growth. When it comes to whiskey-based RTDs there are a lot of fizzy cans, but bottled traditional whiskey cocktails are also on the rise. One of the most common bottled whiskey cocktails is the Old Fashioned, likely because it’s the easiest to produce well. Many distilleries start with a bottled Old Fashioned when they decide to take the RTD plunge. They come in 750ml, 375ml, and 200ml, depending on the brand. The smaller packaging is smart for consumers who don’t want to drink the same thing repeatedly.…

Only a handful of US distilleries grow their own grains, and improbably, one of them is Far North Spirits in Hallock, Minnesota. “We’re not kidding about the name,” explains Far North’s founder and owner Michael Swanson. “We’re 25 miles from the Canadian border and 15 miles from North Dakota.” Swanson and his wife, Cheri Reese, started Far North in 2013. But Swanson’s connection to the land goes back much further: as a fourth-generation farmer, he grew up on the family farm where the distillery now sits. The area’s climate precludes most crops – Northwestern Minnesota is a place of extremes, with thunderstorms and intense winds that whip across the flat-as-a-tabletop landscape and winter temperatures that plunge to 25 oF. “We specialize in rye whiskey for the most part, mainly because…

Maker’s Mark Distillery has recently announced the news of its B Corp certification, earning it the title of the largest distillery in the world, and the first in Kentucky’s Bourbon Country, to achieve the distinction. B Corp certification recognizes companies that are working to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. For Maker’s Mark, the certification affirms years of efforts intended to benefit the greater good, and signals a major milestone on the brand’s environmentally conscious mission to ‘Make Your Mark. Leave No Trace’. “Since 1953, my grandparents instilled a sense of responsibility here at Maker’s Mark that started with the way we make our Bourbon and extended to the way we impact the lives of our teams, our customers, our communities and our shared environment,” said Rob Samuels, eighth-generation…

Marianne Eaves has already had a career most would be envious of, from Brown-Forman where she was master taster, to becoming Kentucky’s first female master distiller at Castle & Key. She left Kentucky to explore the world with her partner and his traveling circus, visiting distilleries along the way. Eventually she came up with the idea for Eaves Blind, a blind tasting kit that allows participants to hone their sensory skills and try whiskeys they likely have never sampled before. The first year of Eaves Blind has just concluded and the products have been revealed, so American Whiskey Magazine caught up with Eaves to learn where the idea for the program came from and how it turned out. Maggie Kimberl (MK): How did you come up with the idea of…

This issue’s Whiskey Shelf showcases two recent books that represent the historic and the innovative in American whiskey. Kentucky has long dominated Bourbon production, so much so that Kentucky Bourbon is a redundancy in many whiskey drinkers’ minds. Clay Risen’s book documents all things Kentucky Bourbon. The flip side of this whiskey coin is the rise in the 21st century of craft distilling, producers mainly outside of Kentucky who are making relatively small volumes of their product and often appealing to and selling only to whiskey enthusiasts in their region. That’s the subject of John McCarthy’s latest book. So, whether you want to take a deep dive into Kentucky’s Bourbon tradition or find out about the innovators, Whiskey Shelf has you covered. Some suggestions for what to sip as you…

Nestled in Woodford County, Kentucky is the Castle & Key Distillery. It was formerly known as the Old Taylor Distillery, the last distillery Colonel Edmund Haynes Taylor, Jr. built in his lifetime. Shuttered in the 1970s when Bourbon had temporarily lost its luster, Will Arvin and Wes Murry purchased the property in 2014 with plans to restore it to its former glory while building a brand that would make the site’s progenitor proud. A painstaking restoration started right away and, by November of 2016, whiskey was once again being made onsite. The first rye whiskey was released in 2020, and now it’s finally time to taste the first Bourbon to be made onsite in more than four decades. “The way we view whiskey is a little bit disruptive in the…

It’s a vital part of human nature to be intrigued by relationships, in all their forms. Be it family, friend, romantic, colleague, or local barista, they all form a vital part of who we are and the journey our lives take. But could a whiskey also form part of an integral relationship? In short, yes, yes it can – but that would be a very short article, so let’s delve into this idea a little more. While playing two ever so slightly dead brothers on the set of the American supernatural television series Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, co-founders of Brother’s Bond Bourbon, bonded over America’s native spirit during their eight years of filming. Somerhalder jokes, “Paul is my longest relationship of 12 years… these vampire boys bonded…

In this day and age, it’s rare to find someone who smokes indoors. We all know now about the importance of indoor air quality, and it’s much less socially acceptable to constantly smell like smoke everywhere you go than it was even 20 years ago. For that reason, most cigar smokers tend to smoke outdoors or in well-ventilated clubs. In fact, when I toured the Louisville Thoroughbred Society back in the fall, their smoking lounge was 20 per cent open-air at the top to allow for needed airflow without sacrificing the comfort of a climate-controlled smoking environment. We’ve also adapted more to spending social time outdoors in all types of weather in the last few years. Proof of this is the abundance of outdoor heaters to keep folks warm while…

Rob Arnold is a Kentucky native who had to find his way to Texas before embracing his family’s legacy in the whiskey industry. The former master distiller for Firestone and Robertson in Fort Worth, Texas, makers of TX Whiskey, holds a doctorate in plant breeding and genetics and turned his dissertation into his latest book, The Terroir of Whiskey. Doctor Rob truly has one of the biggest brains in whiskey and it was an absolute joy discussing the ideas and concepts that led to his book. Nico Martini (NM): How did this book come about? Rob Arnold (RA): I wanted to write the book because I enjoyed the process of writing and working with a publisher on the first one, so I wanted to do that again. My PhD was…