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Executives from Jack Daniel’s parent company, Brown-Forman Corp., warned that the business is seeing pressure from cannabis, weight-loss drugs and lackluster demand from Generation Z. Brown-Forman CEO Lawson Whiting told analysts on an earnings call that the “same big three” is the reason that there has been lower demand for liquor. “We’ve been saying that for 1.5 years now. And I know on the sell-side that the world seems to be a little bit split on the extent of the pressure that it’s putting on our category. We’d be naive if we didn’t say that there isn’t some pressure coming...

The practice of liquor distillation has existed for thousands of years, and as for the art of collecting these spirits? Some say that can be traced as far back as the 1400s. While we may not be able to enjoy a 600-year-old bottle, many spirits producers are leaning into the premium and ultra-premium trend by releasing their oldest and most impressive spirits to date. Brands like Scotland’s The Glenlivet and France’s Delamain both celebrated 200-year anniversaries with rare, small-production artisanal bottles, with hefty price tags to match. The Glenlivet 55-Year Old, the first in The Eternal Collection and the oldest...

There’s a misconception that Scotch whisky (specifically single-malt) isn’t affordable. And sure, there are plenty of long-aged, limited-release bottles that will set you back the equivalent of a mortgage payment. On the flip side, there are plenty of well-priced, accessible expressions just waiting to be added to your whisky collection. It’s time to dive into what “affordable” means in the Scotch-whisky world. It doesn’t mean cheap, and it doesn’t mean bargain. It does mean that the bottle is reasonably inexpensive. To us, this means expressions that are less than $100.

This week in my Awards Series article, I return to bourbon and American whiskey. The North American Bourbon & Whiskey Competition (NABAWC) 2024 honored many USA-born spirits with points and medals. In the competition’s 10th year, 15% more entries were received than in 2023, making the competition ever more intense. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the ‘Best In Show’ whiskeys from the competition. Today, I will delve into the Double Gold medal winners. This is part one of two, so keep an eye on the Best Whiskies page for the next installment.

Premiumization, another way of saying steadily rising retail prices, has been a feature of the bourbon market over the last decade. Notwithstanding ever-rising bourbon prices, however, there are still outstanding bourbons that retail for extremely attractive prices. Below is a list, along with tasting notes, of ten heavily medaled bourbons that have consistently won in international spirit competitions and still retail on average for around $35 or less. The indicated price is the national retail average and will vary by state.

The International Whisky Competition (IWC) 2024 saw the return of numerous prominent bourbon expressions, each vying for a gold medal in the prestigious contest. There were five sub-categories of ‘Best Bourbon’ in this year’s competition. So, today I thought we would take a look at the winners. With tasting notes, prices, where to buy, and what is behind each expression – here are the best bourbons according to the 2024 International Whisky Competition. Check out more whiskey awards here.

Liquor exports are on a high, led by a 26 percent rise in whiskey shipments in the first half of 2024, complementing the strong performance of Indian-made smartphones and electronics. A Moneycontrol analysis of commerce ministry data shows that India shipped spirits worth $78.5 million in the first six months of 2024. Blended whiskey, which accounts for half of the total whiskey exports, jumped 37 percent, and exporters are now aiming to grow the market for Indian-made single malt. Premium whiskey exports almost doubled to $6.3 million in the six months to June 30 from a year earlier.

The court found that regulating home alcohol stills is not one of the enumerated powers given to the government. At https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.384014/gov.uscourts.txnd.384014.49.0.pdf UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS FORT WORTH DIVISION

There's a lot of science behind the time-honored tip.Whiskey aficionados are known for having strong opinions about, well, most things. They quibble over the concept of terroir in whiskey, turn their nose at bottlings that are chill-filtered, and debate whether age is indicative of quality. The list of contentious whiskey-related subjects is seemingly endless, but one tasting-related topic that divides enthusiasts is whether or not to add water to a glass of whiskey to open it up, and if one decides to do so, where that water should be sourced from, as well as how pure it should be. Before...

A fact to nail down right off the bat when finding the dividing line between these two spirits is that ... all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. To explain — whiskey is a catch-all term for spirits distilled from fermented grain mash; this can include any combination of grains — think corn, rye, barley, and wheat. Bourbon is a subcategory of whiskey with distinctive details. According to the American Bourbon Association, for whiskey to earn the bourbon label, it must contain at least 51% corn in its grain mix. Additionally, it needs to be: distilled to...

It has been confirmed that Jameson Whiskey will no longer be exported to Russia just days after a picture of a recently-distilled bottle was pictured for sale in Moscow.Fine Gael Senator Garret Ahearn had called for French distributor Pernod Ricard to be added to the EU Sanctions list if they did not stop selling the product.The company resumed shipments to Russia last year after initially stalling exports following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.In a statement, a spokesperson for the group confirmed that Jameson and other Irish Distillers products will no longer be exported to or sold in Russia.They said: "Irish...

Ukraine's Ambassador to Ireland has called for people to boycott Jameson Irish Whiskey after the company decided to continue trade in Russia.Larysa Gerasko alleges that Jameson is playing a part in financing Russian aggression in Ukraine by resuming trade in Russia.

Whiskey is for drinking, not hoarding.Regrets, I've had a few, not limited to consuming drugstore sushi, most of my high school class photos, and buying a small quantity of Ethereum (which I regret to inform you is cryptocurrency) in the spring of 2021. Not on the list: drinking every last drop of my bottle of LeNell's Red Hook Rye, which now lists for up to $100,000 on the open market. I would like to state for the record that I did not spend the equivalent of a Porsche 911 on this bottle of whiskey (maybe if I'd picked up that...

The sooty black mold smothers homes, porches, and cars, locals say. It obscures street signs, and coats the leaves and bark of trees. It cements itself to any stationary object, and it makes residents question the safety of the air they breathe. An out-of-control black "whiskey fungus," known as Baudoinia compniacensis, fueled by ethanol vapor from the Jack Daniel's facilities, has been a menace to locals in Lincoln County, Tennessee, ever since the famous liquor company started building six new barrel houses in 2018 and launched plans to build 14 more, locals say. Now, infuriated residents are demanding the company...

SALEM, Ore. -- The Oregon Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into allegations that senior officials in the state's alcohol regulatory agency violated ethics laws by diverting rare, sought-after bourbons for personal use, the state attorney general said Friday. The officials said they were paying for the whiskey, which can cost thousands of dollars a bottle, but they allegedly used their knowledge and connections at the commission to obtain the products, according to an internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The practice had purportedly been going on for many years and involved not only state...

Thats an improvement

A new kind of “gold standard” could soon permeate the whiskey industry. Whiskey distillers typically age spirits in charred, wooden casks for years, allowing the liquor to gradually absorb flavorful chemicals released from the wood (SN: 10/31/19). Now, researchers have demonstrated that swirling gold ions into a whiskey can reveal how much flavor the liquor has taken in — a quality called agedness. The method could provide master blenders with a quick and inexpensive test for whiskey agedness, researchers report October 6 in ACS Applied Nano Materials. “A tiny amount of gold gives you this really bright, strong, red or...

Day 93. Today, we discuss the latest news from the battlefront, focussing on the Donbas, and whether there are some positives Ukraine can take from the situation. Plus, an interview with Alex Ostrovskyy, Head of Whisky at The Whisky Corner.

The Government decision to introduce minimum unit pricing on alcohol this week has been welcomed by Alcohol Action Ireland. The new law will largely affect alcohol sold in off-licenses, shops and supermarkets. For that past decade, the Government has been seeking to bring in minimum unit pricing as part of a number of measures to help reduce the harm caused by excessive alcohol consumption. The aim is to change dangerous patterns of alcohol behavior particularly amongst young drinkers, who are buying cheap alcohol before they go out in what is known as pre-drinking. This alcohol will now be more expensive...

Heaven Hill Brands, a large company behind several well-known spirits, went full woke this week, expressing disappointment upon learning that some customers were using its Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey to celebrate the not guilty verdict of 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse. “We have been disheartened to learn that some individuals and businesses have been using our Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey brand to celebrate the Kyle Rittenhouse case verdict, despite the profound loss of life from those events,” Heaven Hill Brands said on social media this week, referencing Joseph Rosenbaum, a pedophile sex offender, and Anthony Huber, who pled guilty to charges of...