Charles K. Cowdery looks at the buzz created by the limited editions market.
Recently, limited edition bottlings have become a staple of American whiskey producers. Many of these releases – such as Buffalo Trace’s George T.
Stagg, Four Roses Barrel Strength, Parker’s Heritage Collection from Heaven Hill, and Wild Turkey American Spirit – are so coveted by enthusiasts that t...
American Whiskey
from Issue 70 published on
Charles K. Cowdery meets the next generation of America's master distillers.
In the modern era, on both sides of the Atlantic, a master distiller may have many roles. He may be a brand ambassador, a quality assurance officer, and probably will have something to do with making the whiskey too.
Today, several of America’s best-known master distillers are semi or completely re...
American Whiskey
from Issue 69 published on 18/01/2008
After 200 years,George Washington’s distillery has been restored to its former glory, Charles K. Cowdery looks at the history and takes us behind the scenes
George Washington’s distiller was from Scotland, so Prince Andrew cut the ribbon at the restored distillery’s grand opening in Mount Vernon, Virginia, on September 27. A thin reed, perhaps, but His Royal Highness, The Duke of York, also was acting in his capacity as the United Kingdom's Special Repr...
Distillery Focus
from Issue 59 published on 11/10/2006
The dignified advertisements you see in this publication belie the rough and tumble past of
American whiskey promotion. Charles K.Cowdery reports
Although advertising historians usually cite soaps such as Ivory and Pears as the first products to be promoted with modern mass marketing, American whiskeys such as Old Forester first appeared at about the same time – in the late 19th century – and pioneered many of the same techniques.
“I’m convi...
Whiskey advertising
from Issue 59 published on 11/10/2006
The names of many American whiskey pioneers are still with us today on the labels they started. Charles K. Cowdery here looks at the men behind the labels and on pages 24 and 25 considers how other brands were named
In the United States, whiskeys were among the first branded products to be advertised and sold nationally, and they pioneered many of the mass marketing techniques we take for granted today.
Often these brands were named for the distillery’s owner. So successful were these that many later brands we...
American Whiskey
from Issue 57 published on 21/07/2006
Charles Cowdery looks at how Abraham Lincoln’s time in the whiskey trade could have cost him his political career
Bill Clinton’s carefully constructed confession that he tried marijuana while a post-graduate student in England, but “didn’t inhale,” dogged him throughout his presidency. So has George W. Bush’s youthful reputation as a goof-off and party animal.
For Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president and ...
American Whiskey
from Issue 55 published on 14/04/2006
Probably not, says Charles Cowdery, but supplies are as tight as they have been in many years
At the end of 2004, the last year for which figures are available, the Kentucky whiskey industry had 224,173 barrels of whiskey aged eight years or more in its collective inventory.
Because bourbon and other American straight whiskey is always aged in new charred oak barrels, it matures fast. Eight...
American Whiskey
from Issue 54 published on 03/03/2006
What happens to United States Presidents after they leave office? The first one made whiskey. Charles K. Cowdery reports
Mount Vernon is George Washington’s estate in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC. It is America’s most-visited historic home. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, which owns the estate today, is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1853. It is the oldest national historic pr...
American Whiskey
from Issue 53 published on 12/01/2006
Charles Cowdrey reports on a one-woman crusadeto bring Kentucky’s finest in to the Big Apple
LeNell has changed the way people drink in this part of Brooklyn,” says Alex Haskell, manager of MiniBar, a cosy drinking establishment as diminutive as its name implies.
‘LeNell’ is Tonya LeNell Smothers, proprietor of LeNell’s, a wine and spirits boutique where the emphasis is on hard-tofind wine...
American Whiskey
from Issue 51 published on 07/10/2005
To paraphase an old music expression, it’s climbing the drinks chart with a Bulleit.Charles Cowdery on the latest bourbon success
Tom Bulleit – ex-Marine, ex-tax lawyer, current whiskey pitchman – is on the crest of a wave, paddling as fast as he can, hoping he can ride it to fame and prosperity.
It has been a lifelong dream of Bulleit’s to bring his family back into the Kentucky whiskey business. He first put that ambition i...
American Whiskey
from Issue 50 published on 09/09/2005
How did bourbon get established, and who were the people who perfected it? Charles Cowdrey looks back to frontier times
American whiskey as we know it today was cooked up in the same cauldron as the modern American nation itself. Though they started out using Old World rye, America’s distillers soon switched to indigenous corn (maize) to craft the unique spirit we now call bourbon.
The men who made the first whiskey...
American Whiskey
from Issue 49 published on 15/07/2005
It’s nearly 10 years since a major fire all but destroyed a great part of Heaven Hill. But the distillery’s now thriving and going from strength to strength. Charles Cowdery reports
The flames could be seen for miles.
The heat could be felt a half-mile away. Ablaze fuelled by alcohol and oak burns like nothing else; blue-white, clean, and very intense. The best firefighters could do was contain it.
No one was seriously injured, but the property damage was catastrophic: 7.7 mi...
American Whiskey
from Issue 49 published on 15/07/2005
Charles K Cowdery explores a Canadian distillery that can lay claim to making a true small batch bourbon – and a quality one, too
In American whiskey circles, the term ‘small batch’ has been generously defined to cover any whiskey selected, bottled and sold in small batches. In most cases, there is nothing ‘small’ about the way the whiskey itself is made. Until it goes into the barrel it is identical to the company’s ‘large ba...
Canadian Whisky
from Issue 47 published on 05/04/2005
Some of the best whisky makers and blenders are women. Charles Cowdrey met some of them at a special roadshow.
A couple of issues back Whisky Magazine reported that more women than ever are drinking whisky, a revolutionary albeit welcome development, but women making whisky? If there still is a male-dominated bastion left, surely that is it.
But as a matter of fact, yes, women do make whisky and other fine ...
Whisky Trends
from Issue 46 published on 10/3/2005
Louisville’s Heaven Hill have taken visitor centres in to a new dimension. Charles K. Cowdery went to the opening
Long a staple of the Scottish travel experience, distillery visitor centres have finally begun to catch on in America’s whiskey heartland.
The latest such venture to open its doors may also be the greatest, the Heaven Hill Distillery’s Bourbon Heritage Center in Bardstown, Kentucky. An impressive a...
Whisky Spotlight
from Issue 45 published on 21/1/2005
Among great bourbon families it doesn’t get much bigger than the name Beam. And as Charles K.Cowdery reports, another generation is considering its options
One day you’re driving through Ohio, on the interstate highway, just minding your own business. You pass a flatbed truck. It is hauling something strange, unfamiliar.
It looks like a big copper pot, but it is huge, the biggest copper anything you have ever seen.
And it is not alone. There is a sec...
American Whiskey
from Issue 42 published on 3/9/2004
Buffalo Trace takes its name from the great pioneering days when Kentucky marked the new frontier.Today, it’s still blazing a trail for whiskey. Charles K. Cowdery reports
American straight whiskey is now taken seriously throughout the drinking world. This phenomenon is no longer new. Maker’s Mark, the first craft bourbon, has been on the market for close to 45 years. Blanton’s, Booker’s and Knob Creek are closing in on 20.
Even in the glacially slow world of whiskey...
American Whiskey
from Issue 40 published on 4/6/2004
Why, why, why Delilah’s? Because, says Charles Cowdrey, it’s a cracking bourbon bar
The Chicago Chowhounds are a group hedonistically dedicated to the passionate enjoyment of everything consumable.
In February, when they decided to have a tasting of bourbon whiskey, Delilah’s, on Lincoln Avenue just south of Diversey, was the only logical destination.
Proprietor Mike Miller was h...
American Whiskey
from Issue 39 published on 1/5/2004
So you thought there were only a handful of bourbons? American correspondent
Charles K. Cowdery tracks down some collectors who have hundreds
What do you consider a well-stocked drinks cabinet? For some people, two or three bottles will do. For others, 10 or 20 are plenty. For John and Linda Lipman of Cincinnati, Ohio, 400 different bottles of American whiskey is little more than a good start.
The Lipmans began collecting American whiske...
American Whiskey
from Issue 37 published on 23/2/2004
