"I am addicted to writing books." -- Fred Minnick

Wall Street Journal-bestselling author Fred Minnick loves his bourbon so much that he’s written three books on the subject: Whiskey Women, Bourbon Curious, and Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of An American Whiskey, which Smithsonian Magazine recognized as one of the best food books of 2016 and won Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards’ Best Book. That’s right, bourbon is a food. So is rum. Oh yeah, he wrote Rum Curious, Atlanta Journal Constitution named one of the best drinks books of 2017. Fully admitting that he has a book writing addiction, Minnick wrote Mead: The Libations, Legends, and Lore of History’s Oldest Drink. His literary agent is Linda Konner.  Learn more about Fred Minnick’s seven Books.

MAGAZINES

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Minnick is “American spirit” columnist and critic for Whisky Advocate. Since 2010, Minnick has written nearly 500 stories and reviews for the magazine, including his acclaimed feature on Leak Hunters, inside look at America’s mosts-secret distillery, the story of Bottled-in-Bond, the legends of bourbon  and many more. He is the lead American whiskey reviewer and serves on the magazine’s blind tasting panel to select the whisky of the year. Check out his reviews and  Subscribe.

For Covey Rise, Minnick writes the acclaimed “Toasting the Hunt” column, in which he details all think drinking for a highly affluent and wealthy audience. He is also the contributing editor to Whisky Magazine and has also contributed to the New York Times, Time Magazine, Maxim, USA Today, Scientific American and many others.

SPIRITS COMPETITIONS

Served in the new Neat glass, this bourbon whiskey flight caught my attention right away. San Francisco World Spirits Competition

Do you know those medals you see on a bottle? Well, there’s a chance Fred blind tasted that spirit and contributed to its award. He serves as a judge on the most prestigious competitions: the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, World Whiskies Awards and Whisky Advocate’s Blind Taste Off for Best Whisky.

MEDIA

Due to his unique expertise, Minnick is frequently interviewed by the international media. He’s appeared on the BBC, The Atlantic, CBS News, CBS This Morning, NPR, New York Times, NBC, Fox News and many others. View his media appearances.

BOURBON & BEYOND

Fred serves as the Bourbon headliner for the music festival Bourbon & Beyond.

In 2017, his promotional billing was alongside Stevie Nicks, Eddie Vedder and the Steve Miller Band. In working with the DWP company, Minnick continues developing the educational material for this festival, September 22-23, 2018.

SPIRITS EVENTS

Fred Minnick develops educational seminars for the drinks industry and the spirits geeks. He has or will present at Tales of the Cocktail, Arizona Cocktail Week, San Antonio Cocktail Conference, Kentucky Bourbon Affair, Kentucky Bourbon Festival, Bourbon Classic, American Mead Makers Association, American Whiskey Convention and many others.

KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM

Fred Minnick is the “Bourbon Authority” for the Kentucky Derby Museum. Since October 2013, Minnick has taught bourbon classes at the museum and hosted private bourbon tastings for convention groups. Louisville.com named Minnick’s popular “Legend’s Series” one of the top events in all of Bourbon Country.

PHILANTHROPY

Fred Minnick is the former Chairman of the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky’s Brain Ball. He frequently donates tastings, books and photography to Bourbon & Bowties, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and others.

HOW HE BECAME A SPIRITS WRITER….

“When the Oklahoma County News published my first story, I was 15 and will never forget the feeling of seeing my name in print. I was hooked.

“Over the years, my writing style and subject matter have changed, but I’ve always written something. I went from The Daily Oklahoman sports desk in 2001 to Bader-Rutter’s technical forestry writing team. In 2004, I wrote U.S. military stories and captured combat with a Nikon D1X. That’s when I became a real photographer, in the heat of battle! After Iraq, I penned Camera Boy and worked for Networld Alliance as a restaurant trade editor until fall 2006. That’s when I took the giant leap to go out on my own. “When you’re a freelance writer just starting out, you write about anything and everything. One of the first things I did as a new freelancer was write a list of categories I could write about. Bourbon was on that list. “My first bourbon story was published shortly thereafter, and I never looked back.”

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