Bourbon Rumors

[Josh]

Fred Minnick has a post on the Whisky Advocate blog site following up on bourbon rumors with people who, get this, might actually know something about them.

http://whiskyadvocate.com/whisky/2014/04/18/burning-down-the-rumor-mill/

In sum:

Not going anywhere

Weller 12, AAA 10*

OGD 114

EC 12 y/o & Barrel Proof, HH Green Label

Old Fitz Prime, BiB & VSOF

Going away

AAA 10 y/o

Old Fitz 1849

Coming: Something new from Maker's Mark

[TunnelTiger]

Thanks Josh. Never had the AAA 10 yr or the Old Fitx 1849 so they are no great lost to me but I'm sure there are plenty of members who will bemoan the loss. :cry:

[sailor22]

What a crappy article - just parroted back the PR spin and didn't really dig into the answers with any questions. I expect a lot more from a purported journalist. An intern with no knowledge of Whiskey could have written this piece. The comment from Wade below the article is spot on.

The magazine didn't do itself or its reputation any favors with this.

[squire]

Pasture poodles.

"But as a writer, I can’t deal in rumors. I have to take the distillers at their word until they’re proven wrong."

Are the words of a writer more interested in maintaining a relationship with PR departments than informing readers.

[petrel800]

Am I the only other person wondering what amazing new color of wax Makers Mark will be putting on their standard offering to make this new secret product . . . :slappin:

[squire]

The color of the rising Sun.

[Josh]

Personally, I'm sick to death of unsubstantiated bourbon rumors, so I found this article to be a breath of fresh air. Instead of "a distributor told me X is going away" or "somebody on Facebook said X", this is information from the producers themselves. Not to say that they are always up front and truthful, but at least I know where the information is coming from and it's on the record.

I agree that the remarks about AAA 10 y/o make no sense and it would have been nice to have more follow-up to that.

[No_Reception]

Glad I have about 7 bottles of AAA 10yr Bunkered. Thought I bought the store out and last time I was there(mos in between) they had a full shelf. I figured 7 bottles in plenty enough for me. But at $18.99 for a 1L hard to pass up.

[squire]

I don't recall AAA 10 year ever being widely available.

[dcbt]

I would have liked to see the ER10 rumor addressed as well. That it's not I think is good news, that there isn't a risk of it going NAS or away altogether (both of which I've read or been told recently). Where do these rumors start anyway?

Maybe it was a "Specs-ism," that wouldn't shock me:

"Do you have any ER 10 in stock?"

"No."

"When will you get some more?"

Here's where you'd like to hear "I don't know" but instead may get "Probably never, it's going to be discontinued."

[smokinjoe]

I can see where one can get caught up in the periphery content, because as enthusiasts we spend countless hours around the table discussing it among ourselves. OK, OK, we're really a bunch of croaking, hating, losers, partaking in an endless circlejerk...(snivel...snivel) But, that really wasn't the point of the article. The point was to get answers to a number of questions that we still ponder nearly every day, here. And, I thought he got pointed answers to the questions he asked. Clear away all the other shtuff, and the takeaways, as Josh pointed out, were very good, and direct from the horse's mouths, so to speak.

[squire]

Direct from the horse anyway.

[Richnimrod]

Pasture Poodles???? :bigeyes: Squire you make me laugh so often, you should be drawing a stipend for your quotable 'Squirisms'.

[squire]

I'll settle for free booze.

[TunnelTiger]

The color of the rising Sun.

Well then I'm fine with orange.

[squire]

Officially the one on the Japanese flag is red.

[sailor22]

I can see where one can get caught up in the periphery content, because as enthusiasts we spend countless hours around the table discussing it among ourselves. OK, OK, we're really a bunch of croaking, hating, losers, partaking in an endless circlejerk...(snivel...snivel) But, that really wasn't the point of the article. The point was to get answers to a number of questions that we still ponder nearly every day, here. And, I thought he got pointed answers to the questions he asked. Clear away all the other shtuff, and the takeaways, as Josh pointed out, were very good, and direct from the horse's mouths, so to speak.

[Gillman]

It was quite nice at its best, but the world won't end if it goes away. Perspective needed, lots of other fine bourbon is available.

Gary

[smokinjoe]

I take your point and to be fair the scope of the article was indeed very very limited. The take aways are indeed pretty clear. But there isn't much there that hadn't been shushed out by this bunch of circle jerking, croaking losers (your description) here on the forum. An intern could have made those calls or sent the questions via email and copy pasted the responses. In the end very little was revealed and the writer showed a stunning lack of curiosity.

It seems his intent for the article was to have some Bourbonia rumor/questions answered by those knowledgeable, rather than by our shushing membership (as learned and in-the-know-as we are ), liquor store owners, distributor reps, bartenders, distillery tour guide, or a"guy who knows a guy, who...". The basis for a story of interest to many of us here, I would guess. I think he executed that pretty well. No, the article doesn't rival the discovery and release of the Pentagon Papers, but I thought it was a worthy story, nonetheless. It certainly answered a number of questions in my mind.

I wonder if John Hansell can afford Woodward and Bernstein...?

[jburlowski]

I don't recall AAA 10 year ever being widely available.

It's was primarily (although not exclusively) a KY product.

[jburlowski]

Direct from the horse anyway.

But which end...........?

[tanstaafl2]

I wonder if John Hansell can afford Woodward and Bernstein...?

Maybe Woodford and Bernheim would be more affordable!

[mbroo5880i]

I thought Fred did a fine job with the article. I don't believe he was hoping to win a Pulitzer but was just writing about a topic he enjoys. I saw he took a lot of heat on the website it was posted on. I respect that he allowed comments and chose to respond to them.

[sailor22]

I don't believe he was hoping to win a Pulitzer but was just writing about a topic he enjoys. I saw he took a lot of heat on the website it was posted on. I respect that he allowed comments and chose to respond to them.

Very good points and thanks for pointing that out. He and the publication should be commended for not nuking the negative comments like so many publications do. Good on em.

[risenc]

The criticism against this article is a classic case of shooting the messenger. Minnick didn't set out to write a piece of hard-hitting investigative journalism -- he makes that very clear. He just wanted to get the distilleries on record responding to x,y and z rumors. People may or may not believe the responses, but it's unfair to attack the author for not writing the article you'd like to read.