Family Tree

[rndenks]

I stopped by a new establishment that I just happened to be passing. You know just to "see what they had", at least that is what I told my wife. While they did not have anything out of the ordinary, they did have this "Bourbon Family Tree" taped to the shelf. I snapped some pictures because I thought it was both interesting and helpful to someone that may not know anything about bourbon.

I knew this establishment probably did not develop this on their own, so I did some digging online. I found it linked to a GQ article from 2013 http://www.gq.com/life/food/201311/bourbon-whiskey-family-tree

I have not checked the validity of the "tree" or the article. Just curious if anyone has seen this before (sorry if posted before), and what your thoughts are on posting something like this on a store shelf.

[DrBob]

It looks to be fairly accurate, though a bit incomplete, especially since the LDI tree would have to have a whole image of its own to capture all of the "micro"s. I like the visual aspect of it.

[squire]

I think it's a very clever way for a liquor store to sell expensive whisky. Following the link, the book from which it is excerpted appears to be well written.

[dcbt]

I've seen this tree floating around for awhile. I think it's pretty good for someone just getting into bourbon. As in, "I like such-and-such, so what is something similar and new I could try."

[Ravensfire]

There was a discussion here when that tree was first published. It's not totally complete, only covers the major brands and skips a few things but I think the overall impression was that it does a good job representing what's out there and showing people that different brands are from the same company. When I find someone new into bourbon, I send them a link and tell them to start from what they like and "branch out" (sorry, couldn't help the pun!)

[flahute]

There is a thread titled "Whiskey Tree" stickied to the top of this sub forum that has that chart posted within. It appears late in thread so it would have taken a lot of reading to come across it.

[393foureyedfox]

Dickel #7?

2 year old Mellow Corn?

Larceny at 8 years old?

[Ravensfire]

Dickel #7?

2 year old Mellow Corn?

Larceny at 8 years old?

At least on the bourbonbanter.com review of Larceny they said the barrels ranged from 6-12 years. I'm guessing whoever put this together (and at the bottom you'll see that CQ says it was pulled from The Kings County Distillery's Guide by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell) was trying to put something for the NAS whiskies to give the reader some idea of what the age tends to be.

Edited March 26, 2014 by Ravensfire
two authors on book

[393foureyedfox]

At least on the bourbonbanter.com review of Larceny they said the barrels ranged from 6-12 years. I'm guessing whoever put this together (and at the bottom you'll see that CQ says it was pulled from The Kings County Distillery's Guide by Colin Spoelman and David Haskell) was trying to put something for the NAS whiskies to give the reader some idea of what the age tends to be.

i guess that is open to interpretation.....but if i see the label say " a mix of barrels aged 6-12 years", what I hear is "6 year old whiskey, with just enough 8 or 12 year old added to get a certain profile, but still.....90% 6 year old"

[squire]

I can certainly see how the tree would be useful to someone who did not know a single distillery puts out a number of brands. Also, it is useful to know which brands may be similar so if I like one I might like the others. I just wish the branches were all the same height because to the uninformed customer higher branch means higher quality.

[rndenks]

That was my thought too Squire. I think this would be real helpful if you were new to bourbon, and went into a store wanting to buy something new. At least it would allow you to relate your purchase to what you have tried.

However, while maybe not intentionally, it does make it seem like the higher on the tree, the better the pour. We all know that age alone does not make the bourbon better.