You’re scrolling a whiskey shop’s website, and there it is: a bottle called Fortuna, dressed in vintage-looking type, with a story on the back about a German immigrant and a distillery called Glencoe. You’ve never heard of either. Neither had we, until we went looking. Turns out Fortuna isn’t a new brand playing dress-up in…
What Is Chill Filtering? So, here is how it usually goes. You pour a bourbon over ice — and suddenly it turns cloudy. Panic sets in. Did my whiskey go bad? Nope. Your bourbon is fine. You just accidentally discovered one of the most debated topics in modern whiskey culture: Chill Filtering. And if you…
Wax Dips — Beautiful or Dangerous? Now we need to discuss one of the most divisive subjects in bourbon culture: wax-dipped bottles. Some people love them. Some people absolutely hate them. To most people, a bottle closure is just a way to keep whiskey inside the bottle. To whiskey nerds, it is part of the…
How Did We Get Here? Most whiskey fans eventually end up with one, a drawer, a shelf, a box in the bar area, filled with old corks. Nobody really plans for this to happen. It just does. Somewhere along the way, certain corks become souvenirs of things like that first allocated bottle, special birthday bourbon,…
Double oaked bourbon sounds simple. Put bourbon in a barrel. Then put it in another barrel. Done. Right? Not exactly. That second barrel can change everything. Bourbon already has to spend time in new charred oak to be bourbon in the first place. That oak gives us the familiar flavors we love: vanilla, caramel, brown…
What It Really Means Some bourbon labels are easy to understand. Single barrel? One barrel. Barrel proof? Bottled close to what came out of the barrel. Bottled in bond? Rules, history, and paperwork. Then there is Cigar Blend. That phrase sounds like it belongs in a dark leather chair beside a fireplace, with a heavy…
Corks, T-Tops, and Screw Caps… Oh My! Every whiskey fan remembers at least one great cork pop. Unfortunately, we also remember the bad ones. The cork that split in half. The one that crumbled into the bottle. The one so dry it practically disintegrated the second you touched it. Nothing ruins the mood faster than…
Corks and Other Bottle Closures A proper cork “POP”! There are few sounds in the whiskey world more satisfying than this. To casual drinkers, it’s just the beginning of the pour. To whiskey nerds, it’s important. That tiny cylinder of bark sitting in the neck of your favorite bourbon bottle carries thousands of years of…
Why Bourbon, Rye, and Whiskey Bottles Look the Way They Do Before you ever smell the caramel, before the first sip of vanilla, oak, or spice, before the Kentucky hug shows up, you judge the bottle. Every whiskey drinker does it. Some bottles look like they belong in a dusty frontier saloon. Others look like…
