Blitz makes bourbon history..

....just a little bit. A while ago I went on the Knob Creek web site to take a look around. I had to register and become a member. One of the features was something called "Bernie Lubbers" label reading quiz. It was six questions related to contents of a bourbon label. I got one question wrong. The question was:

True or False: Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on a bourbon label.

I said False, but on the quiz explanations page it stated that: "Although bourbon can be made in any state, Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on a bourbon bottle." My contention was that this statement was not true. The bourbon "Virginia Gentleman" is an example. I emailed all of the "Whiskey Professors" at Jim Beam to ask for a legal reference to their claim. I was contacted by Knob Creek customer service and told that there was a problem with the web site. I said 'no, there's a problem with the question'. They continued to insist that it was a web site question and that they were looking into it. All the while, I posted the same question on a thread on the Straightbourbon.com website. I will post a link to that thread at the end of this post. No skipping!! After a while, they just changed the true/false part of the quiz, but did not change the answer explanation. So, even if you got the question right, it gave you an explanation that contradicted the answer. I continued to email the company to get it fixed.

Eventually, one of the 'Whiskey professors' emailed me and admitted that the statement on the web site was false. They changed the quiz answer explanation finally, and sent me a complimentary "Knob Creek" aluminum drink mixer.

Bottom line, the giant Jim Beam Brands company had to change their "Whiskey Professors" website because of little old Blitz. Maybe I should be the next 'Whiskey Professor'.

Link to Straightbourbon.com thread.

It's been a while since I have posted. Hopefully I won't have another stretch like this again. Anyway, nothing major to discuss today. I will just catch you up on some small developments since I have last posted.

Knob Creek Bourbon-Blitz Special Edition

The folks at Knob Creek (Jim Beam) have a fun little feature available to fans of their bourbon. You can order a custom label from them to affix to your own bottle. I ordered one a few weeks ago and it arrived recently. I just got one for my personal use, but I can imagine there a many fun uses for this, such as groomsman gifts, reunions, golf trip commemorative, etc. Here is mine:

New Bourbon Acquisitions

I picked up a couple of bottles in the last two weeks. First I got a bottle of Old Grandad 114. Most people don't know this, but Old Grandad is a Jim Beam Product. I don't know the exact history, but it's a product they picked up in an acquisition sometime in the past. First of all, it's 114 proof, so a little ice or water is in order. I gotta tell you, I love this bourbon. It has quickly jumped to my top five, and when you add that this is only about $25 a bottle, it's an outstanding value. I already know that I have an affinity for the Jim Beam products, but this one is giving Knob Creek a run for its money. I really recommend this whiskey.



I also picked up a bottle of Weller 12. This is from Buffalo Trace distillery, which is my other favorite distillery with Jim Beam. It's a 'wheater', so it is smoother than some of the 'rye' type bourbons, which makes it a good choice for the newer bourbon drinker. It's also aged 12 years, which adds to it's smoothness. I have heard people refer to this as the 'ultimate' wheated bourbon, because it is aged longer than the more popular 'Makers Mark', but it doesn't have the price tag of the Pappy Van Winkle 15 or 20 year old bourbons. It's very good and I am sure I will enjoy this bottle, but I must say from sampling this bourbon, and other 'wheat' bourbons recently, that I have conlcuded that I am more of a 'rye' guy. I like to bite of 'rye' bourbons a little more than the smoothness of the 'wheated' bourbons.