A few years ago, I was at retired Old Fitzgerald master distiller Ed Foote’s house and noticed a George Dickel poster. For the unknowing whiskey person, Foote was the perfect George Dickel poster child. I suppose it didn’t really matter that he didn’t make the … Continue readingFinally, George Dickel Seized The Moment
In American whiskey, distillers have this odd desire to say they were the first with something. “We were the first distiller on this hill, who started on a Tuesday.” (Nobody made this claim.) “We were the first distiller here since Prohibition.” (Even if true, nobody … Continue readingThe Trouble with Whiskey ‘First’ Marketing
A few years ago, I raved about Forecastle’s Bourbon Lodge. I still think it’s the best festival for bourbons to reach new consumers, especially music-loving millennials. And as we all know, whiskey companies salivate for the attention of millennials and their Instagram accounts. This group … Continue readingFor the Love of Bourbon, Forecastle is Back
With a beautiful blue sky backdrop, Diageo officials, the Louisville and Shively mayors, Tom Bulleit and several Pappy Van Winkle grandchildren watched the first barrel being filled at Stitzel-Weller since 1992. The whiskey came from Stitzel-Weller’s hybrid column / pot still that Diageo officials say … Continue readingStitzel-Weller: New Beginnings? (Photo Essay)
I’m a veteran. I walked the streets of Iraq, from Al Kut to Talafar, with an M-16 slinged by my side and a Nikon D1X firmly in my grips. I wrote about that lovely experience, including the RPG that could have taken my life, in … Continue readingVeterans Day: Two Kentucky Bourbons Founded By Combat Vets
At the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience at Stitzel-Weller, I wondered if Bulleit’s parent company, Diageo, has a branding problem. Stitzel-Weller is the house Pappy Van Winkle built. They know it. The media knew it. And even the Shively, Ky., mayor knew it. At the long-named … Continue readingThe Pappy Van Winkle Dilemma at Bulleit Stitzel-Weller Experience