As I continue to dig into the origins of aged American whiskeys and into how far back their production goes, I continue to discover very interesting practices and find hints […]
What happened to Maryland’s Hunter Rye?
Once one of the most popular brands of rye whiskey in the country, if not the world, Hunter Rye Whiskey, was a product of Maryland. The brand was first introduced […]
What the Pre-Pro Master Distillers Still Have Teach Us…is a Lot.
I was talking with a distiller the other day about how little is known about pre-Prohibition rye whiskey distillers. It’s sad to think that about 200 years of generational knowledge […]
A Much Needed Discussion About Rectifiers
One of the more confused topics when we talk about the history of the American whiskey world is the topic of rectifiers. I really wish there was a way to […]
What Should a “Pennsylvania Rye Whiskey” Category Look Like Today?
This has been an ongoing debate for a while now…even if it should have been a debate that took place in the 1930s. (Hindsight is 20/20 they say…) The question […]
When Bottled in Bond Was Not Actually “Bottled in Bond”
The Bottled in Bond Act is something that most whiskey enthusiasts can recite the basics on fairly easily. A whiskey that’s bottled-in-bond is a 100 proof, four-year-old whiskey that’s been […]
From 1925 to Repeal: How the Medicinal Whiskey Makers Changed Everything
We’ve discussed the early 1920s, so let’s address what came next. We tend to think of Prohibition as the heyday of bootlegging and speakeasies…a vague, lawless period of time where […]
What is Rye Whiskey & Why Is It So Different Today?
Rye whiskey is very popular these days. We can clearly see the growth in market share. People talk about how unique it is, but then the occasional article surfaces that […]
Is Rye Whiskey Really that Hard to Make?
After the last blog post, I was reminded by a fellow enthusiast that I should have included that “rye whiskey is hard to make”. It gave me pause so I […]
The Creation of Concentration Warehouses and Their Impact on the American Whiskey Trade
To all those dusty Prohibition-era bottle collectors out there… The labels on those pint bottles from the early 20th century tell a story that is not often told (or explained). […]