bourbon

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Bourbon Industry Has a Tree Problem
Bourbon Industry
Has a Tree Problem

Bourbon Industry Has a Tree Problem

The spirit must age in oak barrels, and the industry is set on saving the crucial tree

(Newser) - An imbalance of mature white oaks growing in US forests poses a long-term threat to the bourbon industry, which uses them to age the spirit in barrels. And brands like Makers Mark are taking action before it's too late. Modern Farmer explains the issue, which boils down to the...

Taste for Rare Bourbon Has State Officials in Hot Water

Oregon alcohol officials allegedly pulled strings to obtain rare bottles of Pappy Van Winkle

(Newser) - A thirst for rare bottles of bourbon appears set to cost the executive director and other top officials of Oregon's liquor and marijuana regulating agency their jobs. An internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, obtained by the AP via a public records request, concluded that Executive...

Restaurant Needed a Rescue. It Had One Bottle of Pappy

And someone paid much more than it is worth

(Newser) - Like many restaurants, the coronavirus brought financial hardship to Tampa Bay's Datz restaurant chain, which went from a staff of 400 to 27 as it transitioned to takeout and delivery only. But it got some relief this week when a couple paid $40,000 for a single bottle of...

Jim Beam Bourbon Warehouse Burned to Pile of Rubble

6 million bottles may have been lost in Kentucky fire

(Newser) - A Jim Beam warehouse went up in flames in Versailles, Kentucky, Tuesday night, and by Wednesday it was "a burning pile of rubble," with thousands of gallons of bourbon runoff spilling into nearby waterways and "a strong scent of bourbon ... in the air," per the Courier-Journal...

Distillery to Release Bourbon 102 Years After It Last Did

Kentucky distillery had been closed since Prohibition

(Newser) - The last time the Kentucky Peerless Distilling Company produced a barrel of bourbon, America had just entered World War I—and Prohibition was looming. The revived Louisville distillery says its first bourbon in 102 years will be released in limited quantities on June 22, WLKY reports. Corky Taylor, great-grandson of...

Kentucky Has Pair of Newly Poured Bourbon Ponds

After warehouse's partial collapse, hastily constructed retention ponds collect 120K gallons

(Newser) - Willie Nelson might've implored a whiskey river to wash his blues away, but the Barton 1792 Distillery in Kentucky has a couple of brand new, relatively unanticipated bourbon ponds, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal . After the partial collapse of a warehouse last month sent up to 9,000 barrels crashing...

Up to 9K Whiskey Barrels Just Crashed to the Ground in Ky.

No one was hurt during the warehouse collapse at Barton 1792 Distillery

(Newser) - Thousands of whiskey barrels crashed into a massive heap Friday when a large section of a decades-old storage warehouse collapsed at a distillery in the heart of Kentucky bourbon country. The damaged warehouse at the Barton 1792 Distillery in Bardstown held about 18,000 barrels, and it appeared that up...

Toby-the-Whiskey-Thief Gets 15 Years

Distillery worker stole Pappy Van Winkle bourbon, Wild Turkey

(Newser) - The mastermind of a whiskey theft ring in Kentucky has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a scheme that siphoned tens of thousands of dollars' worth of bourbon from two distilleries, reports the AP . Former distillery worker Gilbert "Toby" Curtsinger pleaded guilty last year to charges that...

Opossum Breaks Into Liquor Store, Gets Drunk on Bourbon

She sobered up at a wildlife center

(Newser) - An opossum that apparently drank bourbon after breaking into a Florida liquor store sobered up at a wildlife rescue center and was released unharmed. Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge officials say the opossum was brought in by a Fort Walton Beach, Fla., police officer on Nov. 24, the AP reports. A...

Whiskey Heir Says She Was Sacked for Being Lesbian

Hollis Bulleit says she came out 10 years ago but was rejected by her family

(Newser) - After working for more than two decades at the whiskey business her father re-founded , Hollis Bulleit says she was fired by email right before Christmas because she refused to stay silent about being a lesbian. Dubbed the "First Lady of Bourbon," Bulleit says she has kept mum at...

Lethal Tick Bite Claims Woman in Missouri

Tamela Wilson is fifth known person to have contracted the Bourbon virus

(Newser) - Tamela Wilson was no stranger to tick bites. The 58-year-old assistant superintendent at Meramec State Park in Missouri had worked at a state park for more than a decade and would pick the bugs off her skin routinely, reports CBS News . But in late May, just four days after she...

Bourbon Industry May Pay for Trump's Proposed Steel Tariff

The largely Kentucky-based industry could fall victim to trade wars

(Newser) - The EU is eyeing a potential target to use in retaliation against President Trump’s proposed steel import tariff : the US bourbon industry. Per the Guardian , commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU would "react with counter-measures" within days against US agricultural exports should Trump impose import tariffs on...

So You Think You Can Tell a Bourbon From Rye?
So You Think You Can Tell
Bourbon From Rye?
NEW STUDY

So You Think You Can Tell Bourbon From Rye?

The whiskeys can differ very subtly by their 'mash bill'

(Newser) - The study may be small, but researchers at Drexel University have opened an inquiry into whether modern bourbons and ryes—both types of whiskey—are different enough to be discernible to the average taster, and they've come back with a resounding "no." Reporting in the Journal of ...

'Rogue' Workers Busted in $100K Bourbon Ring

9 charged with years of theft from 2 distilleries

(Newser) - There are those, perhaps scarred by youthful overindulgence, who might wonder why anyone would steal even a shot of Wild Turkey, and then there are the nine people indicted today in Kentucky with taking thousands of dollars worth of bourbon from two distilleries. The case is attracting a lot of...

US Boozers Sour on Scotch
 US Boozers Sour on Scotch 

US Boozers Sour on Scotch

Bourbon is on the rise worldwide

(Newser) - America's whiskey drinkers have joined the trend to buy local, which is bad news for the Scots: The latest figures show that export sales of Scotch whisky dived 7% to $5.8 billion last year, largely because of a 9% fall in sales to the US, reports the BBC...

Dispiriting News: We're Short On Fine Bourbon

Distillers underestimated bourbon demand, and we're paying for it

(Newser) - It's been rumored for a few years now; Nautilus' take on the looming "bourbon shortage" is that it already has hit. Though we're awash with Knob Creek and Maker's Mark, high-end and small-batch bourbons are in short supply, spurring well-heeled drinkers to clear the next tier...

Suck It, Scotland: World's Best Whiskey Is From Japan

First time Scotland hasn't appeared in top 5

(Newser) - Each time a new edition of the World Whisky Bible comes out, you can expect to see a Scottish distillery at the top—but the 2015 version is full of firsts. A Japanese whiskey has stolen the No. 1 rank for the first time, while no Scottish whisky even made...

John Wayne Heirs, Duke Fight to Lasso His Nickname

University doesn't want Wayne estate using 'Duke' on its bourbon bottles

(Newser) - John Wayne’s family and Duke University are riding a litigious path into the sunset. The American icon's heirs have sued the academic institution for the right to market bottles of bourbon using the word "Duke," the late legend’s famous nickname, reports the AP . The bottles...

Japanese Firm Buys Jim Beam for $13.6B

$13.6B deal set to be 3rd-biggest in industry history

(Newser) - Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, and Knob Creek bourbons will soon have a second home in Japan. Beam, the owner of the whiskeys and the world’s fourth-biggest liquor company by sales, has reached a deal to be purchased by Osaka’s Suntory, a family-owned liquor company that’s No....

Maker's Mark Goof Actually Great for Company

Sales up 44% for quarter

(Newser) - Remember how America's bourbon drinkers collectively freaked out in February over the news Maker's Mark was going to water down its alcohol? Big corporate misstep? Hardly, reports Forbes . The company did an about-face within a week in an attempt to prevent a mass exodus of fans, and it...

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