I wasn't sure where to post this but this thread seems as good a place as any. A friend sent me a link to an interesting article at the New York Times website about the booming bourbon industry . . .
at NYTimes.com, Mickey Meece wrote:Bourbon is one product America still makes better than anyone else — and, in at least one way, it always will be. That is because Congress decreed in 1964 that “bourbon whiskey is a distinctive product of the United States.” Three elements make bourbon unique: American corn, pure limestone water and new, charred oak barrels.
Regardless, people here and abroad are drinking more of it these days. Global supplier sales of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey are expected to reach $3.8 billion this year, versus $3.7 billion in 2010, according to a forecast from Euromonitor International. (Bourbon is a type of whiskey, so researchers group them together.)
Distillers are expanding their market with premium small-batch and single-barrel products, along with flavor infusions like honey, cherry and spice. Among the whiskey brands likely to be sitting under Christmas trees this year are the industry’s top five: Jack Daniel’s, from Brown-Forman; Jim Beam, from Beam Inc.; Evan Williams, from Heaven Hill Distilleries; Maker’s Mark, also from Beam; and Early Times, also from Brown-Forman, according to the 2011 Liquor Handbook.
“Bourbon is growing at a faster rate than the total spirits category and outperforming most of the other spirit segments,” declared Danny Brager, vice president of the beverage alcohol team for Nielsen. Still, in total dollar sales, bourbon ranks fourth behind vodka, rum and cordials.
Bourbon’s All-American RoarThe piece also includes a couple of quotes from Chicagoans -- Sable bartender Fred Sarkis and whiskey expert Chuck Cowdery.
=R=
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