How Did A Nice Girl Like You ….

When I was a kid growing up in Georgia, the liquor was kept under the kitchen sink with the other household poisons. We were Baptists and knew something about the place of things. At family dinners we cousins would play outside in the waning light while the grownups were in the kitchen, cooking and talking. We would hear a burst of laughter and go running up the back porch steps to see what all the fun was about. By the time we got through the screen door, small empty glasses would be sitting on the countertop, an uncle would be closing the cabinet door under the sink, and my mother would tell us to go on back outside. It didn’t take me long to figure out that while booze might be a dangerous substance it also appeared to be a source of great merriment.

Graphic design has been my profession for more than three decades but since I wrote a thesis about bourbon to satisfy requirements for an M.F.A. degree in 2004, I can’t stop reading about booze, not to mention drinking it. Apparently we’re midstream in a cocktail renaissance as well as a bourbon renaissance and bars all over the country are gussying up to welcome a new generation of imbibers who are only now discovering the simple pleasure of good whiskey. Bourbon took a beating back in the 1960s when white goods, as clear liquor is called in the industry, were deemed a better choice by a generation fixated on health and fitness. Bourbon, or brown goods, took a hit every time 007 ordered a vodka martini, shaken, not stirred, and the decline continued through a succession of actors calling themselves Bond. But … the brown goods are back.

There are no tasting notes included but Clay Risen and Dave Broom do excellent jobs of that in their recent books. What you’ll find here instead is a little bit of history, a little bit of process, and a little bit about the culture of American whiskey. It’s fun to know something about what you’re drinking and stories about booze run rich and deep so hope you stay tuned!