This insider’s guide to American distilleries, from the author of The Kings County Distillery Guide to Urban Moonshining, offers colorful lore, regional history, and tasting notes for bourbon, whiskey, and rye.
The Bourbon Drinker’s Companion is an illustrated and narrative journey into the heart of American craft distilleries, taking readers from the well-known Jim Beam Booker Noe plant to craft whiskey brewers on the West Coast to the emerging new traditional distillers of the South, in search of America’s best whiskey.
Bestselling author Colin Spoelman is back to celebrate all things whiskey as he explores the effect branding, taste, region, and distilling processes have on America’s beloved and most notorious drink. Head down to Louisville to visit Angel’s Envy Distillery, go east to Jeptha Creed Distillery in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and then be sure to hit one of America’s oldest distilleries, Buffalo Trace, in nearby Frankfurt, as you follow the road of spirits.
Complete with sidebars and infographics highlighting key whiskies, bourbons, and ryes from each distillery, as well as tasting notes, pricing information, distilling methods, and more, The Bourbon Drinker’s Companion is the perfect plus one to bring along.
Includes Black-and-white Photographs
Praise
“Full of wit and insight, Colin Spoelman's enjoyably idiosyncratic book is part travelogue, part memoir, part history. America is going through another golden age of whiskey, and one couldn't ask for a better guide.
—Clay Risen, New York Times reporter, editor, and author of American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit
“Like traveling the bourbon landscape with Hunter S. Thompson, Anthony Bourdain, and Willy Wonka. You get contrarian brilliance, insightful authenticity, and pure magic. Get on board.”
—Lew Bryson, author of Whiskey Master Class: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Scotch, Bourbon, Rye, and More
“You hold in your hands several hundred pages of cask-strength joy. Colin Spoelman guides us through America’s blossoming whiskey landscape with more charm than a Kentucky colonel fresh off his second drink. There's so much knowledge and wit here—I laughed, I learned, I couldn't put it down.”
—Reid Mitenbuler, author of Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of American Whiskey
“Who better to take you on a rousing, in-depth tour of America’s whiskey distilleries than one of the pioneers of the twenty-first-century whiskey revival. Colin’s a true insider with a modern perspective, born from the hills of Kentucky and transplanted to the wilds of Brooklyn, raising up moonshine from a hotplate inside his cramped apartment to create one of America’s leading new distilleries. He knows how this works, he’s done it; he knows how it tastes, he’s made it; he knows where to go, who to see, and what to spend your money on. Buckle in and have your ID ready; you’re in for a wild ride. Glasses up!”
—Robin Robinson, author of The Complete Whiskey Course: A Comprehensive Tasting School in Ten Classes
