Banter

Reflections In Bourbon Lead To Reflections In Life

The holiday lights twinkled in the Glencairn, home to three fingers of my favorite pour of bourbon. With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, the shopping, wrapping, decorating, traveling, and just plain running around, it’s nice to sit back, relax, and enjoy a sip or two in quiet.

Scotch Whisky Reviews

Once, Twice, THREE times the whisky…Ardbeg Whisky Review

Just in time for the cooler weather, this month’s post features a trio of award winning scotch whiskies from the Ardbeg distillery. Over the years, Ardbeg has put out many special limited release bottlings, but the ones we will be looking at today make up their core range.

Food

Orange Bourbon Cranberry Bread

We are in full swing of the holiday season & my favorite holiday will be coming up this month, Christmas! I love this time of year! The holidays allow for us to take a step back from our every day lives, to reflect & enjoy what is most important, our families, friends & loved ones.

Drinking Accessory Reviews

How Valuable is that Drop of Cube in your Whiskey?

You’ve spent your hard-earned money on that bottle of whiskey. You want to really enjoy the experience as the Master Distiller intended. You want to open up the hidden flavors, so you add a bit of water or ice. If you’re adding ice, maybe you’ve got one of those fancy ice ball molds.

Industry News

Booker’s: Why This One Is Different

Beam Suntory has completed its trilogy of controversial 2016 announcements, as it confirmed late last week it would be raising the price of Booker’s from $59.99 to $99.99, and also reducing output from six batches to four.

Events

Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon and the New Hampshire Liquor Commission

Spend enough time as a booze aficionado, and you realize everything bad can be blamed on Prohibition. Okay, maybe not everything, but certainly the patchwork liquor laws across the United States.

Banter

Monks BBQ & The Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

“Oh Lordy, look what Monk has his hands on now! A bottle of George T. Stagg and a bottle of William Larue Weller. If you’ve never had the opportunity to try them, now is your chance.” So read the Facebook post from Monks BBQ. William LaRue Weller is my favorite bourbon.

Banter

I Talked to my Doctor and He Prescribed Whiskey

January 16, 1919 was a dark day for America. The 18th Amendment passed, prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liquors in the United States. The Volstead Act was then passed to lay out the guidelines for enforcing the 18th Amendment.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

2016 Willam LaRue Weller Bourbon Review

William LaRue Weller is the best bourbon on the market. That is my humble opinion. I have never owned a bottle, but I have been fortunate enough to have tried every release since 2011 and my opinion has never swayed.

Book Reviews

Amaro: The Spirited World Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs with Cocktails, Recipes and Formulas Book Review

If you read articles on cocktails and drinking trends, the word “bitter” will inevitably come up. If you get serious about cocktails, you will inevitably go through a “bitter, brown, and stirred” phase. The Italian word for bittersweet is amaro.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Jim Beam Double Oak Bourbon Review

The first question that came to my mind after reading the press release was how would this new expression differ from Jim Beam Black. Like the new Double Oak, Jim Beam Black shares the same mash bill as the original White Label, but it’s aged for almost twice as long.

Banter

More Than Just A Great Pour, Whiskey Has Always Held A Place In Our History And In Our Lives

A fire was sparked and a whiskey romance was rekindled. But let’s face it, the attraction has always been there, from as long ago as the 1700’s.

Gear News

2016 Bourbon & Banter Holiday Gift Guide

It’s hard to believe but it’s that time of year already. Yep, time to stock up on gear for your favorite bourbon lover – even if that bourbon lover is yourself. Take our advice and be generous to yourself this year.

Banter

What’s in the Decanter?

About two years ago, I was given a beautiful, hand-blown glass decanter from a family member as a gift. I placed the decanter on top of the whiskey cabinet, and for a while, it sat there empty. I wasn’t exactly sure what to put in it.

Flavored Whiskey Reviews

Cleveland Christmas Spice Flavored Bourbon Review

My phone was humming on the kitchen counter and calling for my attention. “Guess who’s at Walmart?” the voice on the other end of the line said dryly. “What?” I asked. The mobile signal was momentarily choppy. “Guess who I just saw here at Walmart?” “Who?” “You’ll never guess.”

Events

Find Us AT Whiskey In The Winter

If you’ll be at Whiskey in the Winter this weekend we’d love to meet you and enjoy a drink together. But we know some of you can be a bit shy – despite the presence of 300+ whiskeys.

Flavored Whiskey Reviews

Camp Robber Whiskeyjack Review

If you’re going to make decent whiskey, you need a lot of time. But time is money, and your whiskey is going to need years. So how does a distillery make money in the meantime? The answer is usually vodka and its juniper cousin gin.

Food

Sweet Potato Cornbread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce

Food is a way of life in the south, and looking at southern cookbooks, magazines, and television shows, one could easily assume our favorite part of the meal is dessert.

On The Road

Get To Know: Mint Julep Tours

As a frequent and enthusiastic visitor to the famed Bourbon Trail, I have had the opportunity to work with Mint Julep Tours, a tour company based in Louisville, KY that offers both custom and public bourbon distillery tours. I have used their services on four different occasions.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2016 Review

Here’s what I can add about the bourbon: It’s a limited annual release, effortlessly commanding more than double the $80 retail price in the gray market. These bottles make for a very popular birthday gift, both for drinking buddies and those who have had children in that particular year.

Banter

What Do You Look For In A Whiskey Review?

In four months, Bourbon & Banter will celebrate our 5th anniversary. Since launching in February 2011, we’ve drunk a lot of bourbon, made a ton of new friends and learned more than a few things about what makes a blog something people want to read day-after-day.

Banter

Blind Tasting: Non-Kentucky Brown Water

Recently five good buddies and I made our annual pilgrimage from Louisville, KY to the mountains of western North Carolina for our Fall weekend of The Man Trip Trinity: unabated football watching, bourbon drinking, and consumption of grilled dead animals.

Bourbon Whiskey Reviews

Four Roses Showdown

Have you ever wondered how much difference there is between two barrels of bourbon with the same mash bill, yeast, age, and storing conditions? How about which of your local liquor stores do the best barrel picks?

Banter

Airtable – A Useful Way to Manage Your Burgeoning Liquor Collection

You’ve got neat glasses (even a NEAT glass), ice molds, boxes, bottle tags, maybe some tickets from your favorite distillery tours and pictures to go with them. A corner of the house is filled with whiskey bottles and all the accouterment that go with them.

Cocktails

2016 Cocktail Trends and Bourbon

The average bourbon connoisseur may be vaguely aware of the emergence of a number of trends in the world of craft cocktails. While the more sanguine amongst you may raise a weary eyebrow at the use of ‘artisanal’ ingredients, home-aging, or fancy garnishes and sparklers.