How the Whiskey Making Craft Came to America
Few know the controversial history that surrounds American whiskey pioneers. Forced to migrate from their homeland, this new breed of European settler brought with them the secrets to making whiskey.
Whiskey Making Essential ingredients
Distillers are using science and traditional methods to take advantage of the infinite range of tastes, tones, colors, aromas, but it still begins with the combination of grains used in the mash.
The Medieval Medical Guild that Invented Scotch Whisky: The Water of Life
Scotland owes much of its whiskey know-how to a guild of medical practitioners that famously served Scottish royal families for centuries. The Beaton Medical Kindred also known as Clann Meic bethad or Clan MacBeth, were a kindred of professional physicians that practiced medicine in the classical Gaelic tradition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era. The Beatons emigrated from Ireland to […]
Corn-Based Whiskey
Corn whiskeys are essentially the same as moonshine as they are both unaged and clear. But major distillers rarely leave them that way, preferring to make them smoother and easier to drink through some barrel aging. Only a few large whiskey makers produce unaged corn whiskeys. Most corn whiskeys are are made by small craft […]
The Birth of American Whiskey
A Brief History of American Whiskey The birth of the American whiskey can be traced back to 1791, when the wildly unpopular tax on whiskey was imposed to pay down debts from the war for independence with Great Britain. The Excise Whiskey Tax applied to all distilled spirits, but with consumption of whiskey on the rise in […]
Ancient Alchemy: The Secret History of Distilled Spirits
The secret processes of distillation and other alchemic processes were not taught in universities, but were instead transmitted in secrecy from teacher to apprentice and student.
Our Most Popular Pours at Whiskeyfest NYC 2022
Rare and popular whiskey makers from around the world descended on the Marriott Marquis in New York City’s Times Square for Whiskeyfest 2022! Wine and Spirits Journal was there to taste and lend a helping hand with the most popular pours for New York City. With hundreds of distilled spirits available at Whiskeyfest, the most difficult […]
Irish Style Whiskey
IRISH WHISKEY Irish whiskey has a smoother finish, in contrast to the smoky, earthy overtones common to Scotch whisky, due in part to peating. Irish whiskey was one of the earliest known distilled spirits in Europe, arising around the 12th century. It is believed that Irish monks brought the technique of distilling perfume back to […]
Canadian Style Whiskey
CANADIAN WHISKEY During the Prohibition Era, seventy-five percent of all the alcohol smuggled into the United States was smuggled from Canada, where it was still legal. The Canadians were making the best quality whiskey, at the time when an American bootleggers were selling just about anything they could get their hands on to turn a […]
Bourbon Style Whiskey
BOURBON WHISKEY The name “Bourbon” derives from the French Bourbon dynasty, although the precise inspiration is uncertain; contenders include Bourbon County in Kentucky and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both of which are named after the dynasty. The name “Bourbon” was not applied until the 1850s, and the Kentucky etymology was not advanced until the […]