Courier-Journal's Derby bourbon

[bourbonmed]

Congrats to Mike Veach, quoted in today's Courier-Journal Derby magazine special. Here's the link:

http://www.courier-journal.com/html/derby2005/derbymag/kentuckys_drink.htm

Omar

[ratcheer]

Thanks for pointing that out. It was an interesting article.

Tim

[bourbonv]

Thanks Omar,

Susan is good at asking the right questions. She called me and asked me what I looked for in a good bourbon and asked me to email her my thoughts. I ended up sending her a 3 1/2 page essay and she used some of it for her article. The printed version also has a photograph of me at the Filson tasting a bourbon.

I was curious what other people think of Brown-Forman's attempt to classify bourbons into three categories. In my opinion it is not a perfect system, but it better than nothing and works well with many brands, but not all brands.

Mike Veach

[Gillman]

Mike I think this type of classification is inevitable in the packaged goods industry. Marketers need categories to work with, it helps explain the products not just to buyers but to sellers. How many times have we met salespeople who don't have an in-depth knowledge of their product, well such a system is useful to help them sell to the market. But for consumers who are particularly interested in whiskey such a classification is approximate only, a rough guide that can be helpful but should not be definitive. E.g.,I always get a laugh when I see the expression specialty bread, first it can be a value-laden term (in the way the word "ethnic" often is); second, it is imprecise; and third, it generally means, "costs more". But hey the industry needs such terms, they are better than nothing. So I say take them with a grain of salt.

Gary