Category Archives: Rated B+

The secondary title of Fred Noe’s memoir could serve as ammunition for contentious debate among scholars and devotees of bourbon culture. “The Bold Story Of The First Family of Bourbon” is a hefty declaration when considering the many families of Kentucky whose heritage calls back several generations — some right down to the Commonwealth’s pioneering days. That said, few families have loomed so large or contributed so much to the advancement of bourbon as those with the surname Beam.

Continue reading “Book Review: Beam, Straight Up” »

Given the recent onslaught of titles dedicating themselves to a single spirit or beverage, the bookshelf of the cocktail connoisseur may find itself with a little less room to spare these days. Thankfully Albert Schmid’s paean The Old Fashioned is compact enough at 110 pages to fit right in, leaving room for those massive wine and cocktail tomes we’ve been reviewing as of late.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Old Fashioned: An Essential Guide to the Original Whiskey Cocktail” »

James Teitelbaum has traveled the globe and has, apparently, seen nothing but its bars. This exhaustive book, subtitled “The Traveler’s Guide to Superior Libations,” takes you through more than 40 cities and hundreds of cocktail bars to let you know, should your travels take you to Austin or Anchorage, here’s where you can get a really good cocktail.

I’m in no position to tell you whether Teitelbaum’s picks in Cleveland or Vienna are solid, but I can vouch for the quality of his selections in the San Francisco Bay Area… although I will note Teitelbaum’s extreme penchant for tiki bars.

Continue reading “Book Review: Destination: Cocktails” »

The title is most certainly not a misnomer, as Henry G. Crowgey’s Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking wastes no time in immersing the reader in his world, beginning with a discussion of Egyptians, Moors and the migration of distillation practices to Europe. Originally published in 1971, this challenging read holds a venerable place in bourbon’s literary canon, and for over four decades has stood as a pillar of information to those immersed in their own research. It has once again been re-pressed for a new generation of book and bourbon lovers alike.

Crowgey delivers on his premise: providing the reader with die-hard facts from the commonwealth’s primal origins to the years slightly preceding the Civil War, leaving no information unchecked and no barrel untapped. On selecting this time period for the book’s endpoint, he laments

“There was never a serious attempt on the part of 19^th-century historians to perform the necessary research. Thus was much valuable history was lost, perhaps beyond recall, and therefore arose many pleasant legends in its stead.”

With the exception of a few small turns, Crowgey eschews scientific theory and methodology in favor of the minutiae: bills of deed, political theater and eloquent passages all intertwine to capture both the history of bourbon and of the Commonwealth with which it seems inextricably linked.

As a factual, historical, academic tome it is thorough and highly informative.  It is a delight to watch a master scholar get his hands dirty and tell a history free of corporation-approved tales. However, it is also what makes Kentucky Bourbon such a challenge of a book to absorb. Those looking for an easy read may find these pages difficult or cumbersome in detail. Definitely an offering for enthusiasts and students of the craft.

B+ / $15 / [BUY IT HERE]

The “Smart Guide” series of books are designed as an alternative to the “for Dummies” books, and that makes sense to me. Who wants to be a dummy when you can be smart, right?

The format, however, is pretty much the same: Lots of sidebars, lots of iconic graphics, lots of entry points. And everything is written with simplicity and the absolute basics in mind.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Smart Guide to Single Malt Scotch Whisky” »

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is home to many a splendored thing: actors Clooney, Depp, and Shatner, bluegrass music, horses, Lionel Hampton, Loretta Lynn, and of course bourbon. While these are all claims of which to be Kentucky proud, one of the finer small indulgences signaling spring’s imminent arrival to the Bluegrass is the season’s first sip of Mint Julep.

Indeed, even the poets have sung of its luxury. Clarence Ousley pontificated on the wedding of mint and bourbon in his poem “When The Mint Is In The Liquor,” so eloquently writing that “When the mint is in the liquor and/its fragrance on the glass/it breathes a recollection that/can never, never pass.”

Continue reading “Book Review: The Kentucky Mint Julep” »