What Bourbon/Booze blogs do you follow?

[sutton]

I read the usual suspects, but you forgot the elephant in the room, ralfy.com Ralfy is the king. Yes, he mostly talks about scotch but he does everything else including a very good series on bourbon and rye. He's very educational and entertaining even if you hate scotch like me. He also has a very independent voice which is much appreciated.

I do like Ralfy ... very educational and fun - he's a natural. I was a very occasional scotch drinker, but he got me trying them again and I'm glad I did. Doesn't have the tannic punch of bourbon, which can be a nice change up now and then.

[compliance]

If Whisky drinkers were children Ralphy would be Mr. Rogers. I could curl up and listen to him talk for hours, he has that vibe about him. If he started his videos by changing his sweater and added a puppet show he could get his own program on PBS.

[unclebunk]

I can't say I follow it as I just discovered it but "drinksanddrinking.com" http://drinksanddrinking.com/about/ by a San Diego based writer and bartender, Jason O'Bryan, is quite impressive in his accurate recounting of details and photography of his visits to 6 bourbon distilleries (BT, WR, WT, TM and MM written about so far). His Fortaleza tequila distillery trip is quite an interesting read too. In addition to Chuck and John Hansell I follow the known SBers who blog too. I ignore anyone who doesn't tell me a little about who they are and some others who do .

Thanks for the link to drinksanddrinking.com. I really enjoyed the article on Fortaleza too, as it's one of my favorite recent discoveries thanks to Kevin (Max Power).

[Flyfish]

Ralfy may very well be the king of scotch tasting but when it comes to bourbon, I would rather trust any member of Straightbourbon chosen at random. His scorecard gives KC an 82--which might just please the Beamophobes among us--while he rates McAfees Benchmark an 87. I'm a big fan of BT bourbons but I think it is a huge stretch to place Benchmark not only above but way above the KC.
Count me among those who will turn to Sipology and SourMashManifesto. Once in a while, I am curious about what John knows.

[BigRich]

Chuck's, John's, and WhiskyIntelligence are the ones I read daily. There are a number that I check out periodically.

[JPBoston]

Ralfy may very well be the king of scotch tasting but when it comes to bourbon, I would rather trust any member of Straightbourbon chosen at random. His scorecard gives KC an 82--which might just please the Beamophobes among us--while he rates McAfees Benchmark an 87. I'm a big fan of BT bourbons but I think it is a huge stretch to place Benchmark not only above but way above the KC.
Count me among those who will turn to Sipology and SourMashManifesto. Once in a while, I am curious about what John knows.

Haha --- I noticed that as well when I was going through his bourbon reviews a month or two ago. While Benchmark is interesting and decent given its price, rating it higher then KC is insanity!!

[cowdery]

Ralfy is great, but Ralfy is a scotch guy. That's his lens, his frame of reference.

[BourbonJoe]

Chuck's and John's are the only two I read. Mostly Chuck's.
Joe

[Josh]

I'm a Sipology guy, myself.

Count me among those who will turn to Sipology and SourMashManifesto. Once in a while, I am curious about what John knows.

So you're the ones!

I enjoy reading WhiskeyWonka. AaronWF has a good palate and is well written; I also think his rating system is the best out there.

I agree with that. Aaron's is very good. I also read Chuck's blog, What Does John Know?, Sku, The Coopered Tot, Scotch & Ice Cream, & Booze Dancing. I'm sure I missed a couple.

And of course, Ralfy is great.

[darylld911]

Ralfy is great, but Ralfy is a scotch guy. That's his lens, his frame of reference.

Great point, Chuck. I've learned from attending some of the Metro Atlanta Scotch Club's events that many Scotch enthusiasts are looking for something fairly different in their whisky. Where I find the description of "smooth" to be often a disappointment (not always, but often seems to translate for me as "light on character, flavor"), many of them would prefer this over a more robust flavor. Ultimately it all comes down to preferences, and IMHO understanding as you put it - the "frame of reference" of the author.