Just Another Blog
Thursday, June 13, 2002
 
Mmmm, Bourbon

A great article by the WaPo on all things bourbon. One really interesting point that the story doesn't touch on is the literal kinship of the different bourbons out there. A family friend relayed the story of a bourbon tasting that he went to that focused on the Kentucky families that produce the fine spirit. Although there are a number a patriarchs - Jim Beam, Old Crow, Wild Turkey - apparently a number of the offspring started up their own distilleries such that, for example, Old Forrester might actually be the nephew of Jim Beam. Apparently there was quite a bit of inbreeding among the businesses. He said the host had a big family tree poster that showed how all of the different brands were related. I remember him saying that it was a tree without enough branches.