“Preacher! Go on down and get me some bourbon. J. T. S. Brown. No ice, no glass.” – Paul Newman as Eddie Felson, The Hustler
Happy Friday!
Watched the Hustler this week for the first time. Great flick to watch while you’re sipping your favorite bourbon. And, if you’re looking for a new show to binge on this weekend I recommend “Justified”. It’s a hell of a show set in Kentucky with bourbon references everywhere. (See Shot 4 below).
Next Pappy Giveaway
If you missed last week’s email, we’ll give away another bottle of Pappy Van Winkle’s 15 YR Bourbon on February 20.
If you want to order more tickets for the drawing you can take advantage of our 2-for-1 members entries until February 1.
*Current Basic Members get 10 FREE chances and Premium Members get 15. If you missed last week’s email just let me know and I’ll send you the coupon codes.
Good Luck!
Where’s Pappy?
For the most part the release of Pappy has ended. You may see it pop up here and there over the next few months. But here’s where it has shown up so far.
Pappy Van Winkle has been reported in North Carolina, Kentucky, Minnesota, Georgia, Mississippi, Illinois, Montana, Tennessee, Nebraska, Alabama, New Mexico, Maryland, Wisconsin, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Oregon, Arizona, Kansas, Florida, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Utah, Missouri, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Texas, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
Ohio winners will be announced in late January or early February.
You’ll still see tastings and other Pappy events until the Fall 2019 release so check out the events page which we update at least once a week. And if you want a pour, hit the bars on the Pappy list sooner rather than later as some will run out.
The Pappy Events Page (Makes you aware of Tasting Events, Whiskey Festivals, etc. that offer and opportunity to taste some Pappy Van Winkle.)
Also, the Pappy List is now categorized by State. (Bars and restaurants do run out so it’s always a good idea to call and ask if that’s the only reason you’re going.)
Bourbon is booming right now and so is tourism in Kentucky. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, a collection of ten bourbon distilleries, is drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. Touring the distilleries, learning about the origins of bourbon, and tasting lots and lots of bourbon whiskey is an excellent way to spend a long weekend.
But there is more to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail than just distillery tours and bourbon tastings. It’s a step back in time where you learn about the history of Kentucky. You will drive through scenic bluegrass Kentucky, with horse farms as far as the eye can see. Spend the night in a historic tavern, enjoy the nightlife in Louisville, or visit the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. Whether you have two days or a week, there is plenty here to keep you busy.
In this post, we cover everything you need to know to have the best experience on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Learn how to plan your bourbon tasting itinerary, when to go, where to stay, and even ideas for things to do off of the bourbon trail. This is your Ultimate Guide to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail.
This photograph is from the same collection as the “Big Three” photograph of Van Winkle, Farnsley and Stitzel. McGill is standing outside of the office building at Stitzel-Weller. McGill was the first Master Distiller at Stitzel-Weller. He was related to the Beam family which is appropriate since Elmo Beam was the distiller at the old A. Ph. Stitzel Distillery on Story Avenue at the time and I believe he elected to stay at that distillery when it was sold to Frankfort Distillery in 1935. It is probably the thinking of Stitzel, who was in charge of production at Stitzel-Weller, that they would stick with someone from the Beam family at the new distillery.
McGill had a tough job in front of him at Stitzel-Weller. He had to work with a new distillery and figure out all of its quirks in order to make the best whiskey possible. This is not an easy job and takes several years to do because of the aging process. I have tasted whiskey from that first year of production and it is good, but it got better as the years progressed and they learned the stills. McGill retired around 1949 and was succeeded by Andy Cochran. Cochran died young and only distilled for a couple of years. He was succeeded by Roy Hawes.
Roy Hawes had the longest tenure as distiller at Stitzel-Weller of all of the people who distilled there. He spent about twenty years as distiller, from the early 50s till the early 70s. Chances are if you drink a dusty bottle of Old Fitzgerald, Cabin Still, Rebel Yell or Weller Special Reserve, Hawes made the whiskey. In my opinion he was the best distiller to make whiskey at Stitzel-Weller. Of course he had advantages over those who came before or after him. McGill had to learn a new distillery and was able to pass that knowledge on to Cochran and Hawes. Cochran died too young so there is very little of his whiskey to compare, but more importantly he was still learning the craft when he died. Hawes grew with the distillery and made a lot of excellent Bourbon during his tenure.
The distillery was sold to Norton-Simon in 1972, about the time Woody Willson became distiller. Willson had to deal with the corporate world and declining Bourbon sales. The new owners looked for profiting on the distillery by doing things such as raising barrel entry proof. Willson had learned the craft from Hawes and made good Bourbon but it was changing in flavor profile. When he retired in 1984 Edwin Foote was hired as the new distiller.
Ed Foote already had twenty years in the whiskey industry having retired from Seagrams when he took the job at Stitzel-Weller. Roy Hawes and Woody Willson helped him learn the distillery and how to make their whiskey. But slowly under Ed it became a different whiskey from the product made by Hawes and Willson. Foote was tasked with reducing barley malt in the mash bill and use enzymes for conversion. Barrel entry proof crept a little higher. When the distillery closed in 1992 the whiskey was different from that made in 1972. Distillation at Stitzel-Weller started with Will McGill in 1935 ended with Ed Foote in 1992.
Bourbon is a wonderful thing, just wonderful, and perhaps no television show in American history has realized this, or had as much fun with it, as “Justified.” A subplot of the show is that it’s (sort of) to bourbon what “Sideways” was to California wine — a lovingly told inside joke.
The show is set in Kentucky, the drink’s ancestral home, and the producers have had a spirited (sorry) time showcasing the stuff and making it an integral part of the plot. William Faulkner, who knew his way around the sour-mash barrel (Four Roses was his favorite), famously opined that “Civilization begins with distillation.” Raylan Givens, the deputy U.S. Marshal who is the show’s protagonist, put it this way earlier this season: “Bourbon is easy to understand. Tastes like a warm summer day.”
