Rant/Rave: Bourbon

[stlouie_lipp]

Leave it to politicians to take the fun out of bourbon.

President Obama said Wednesday he “would enjoy a Kentucky bourbon” with Sen. Mitch McConnell

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/ ... ar-BBdaQib

[33anda3rd]

Add Makers Mark to the growing list of distilleries and 'distilleries' having fraud charges or lawsuits filed based on label claims running from stretching-the-truth to preposterous.

It's not quite the same as the Templeton lawsuit, because Templeton doesn't distill, Makers does. It's right in line though with the suit brought against Tito's, also in hot water for calling something machine-made "handmade."

[lukethedrifter]

Lead plaintiffs Travis Williams and Safora Nowrouzi claim they purchased overpriced bottles of Maker's Mark in grocery stores in Southern California in November. Williams said in the lawsuit that he paid $32.99, while Nowrouzi paid $58.99

Nowrouzi should sue himself.

[thrill]

If you pay that much for Maker's are you just lazy? Have you never seen what a bottle costs?

Also, how could anyone think Maker's is "small batch" or "handmade" when it's in every liquor store or grocery store in the country?

[33anda3rd]

Also, how could anyone think Maker's is "small batch" or "handmade" when it's in every liquor store or grocery store in the country?

Because the label says so.

[SHOW]

I personally give zero craps. If it's good, it's good. And for such large batch stuff it's great that they can automate to achieve consistency from batch to batch and deliver on customer expectations. Just don't insult us by putting 'handmade' on the label. It's a lie, the same as 'handmade' here...

[SHOW]

...and "the infamous small batch rye whiskey returns..." here

[SHOW]

I've stopped carrying Templeton and Tito's both. Like I said, I don't care that they're not distilling their own or that it's not handmade, I just care that their marketing is a lie. I carry Bulleit, and it's an LDI product. But Bulleit does not go out of their way to claim their rye is 'handmade' or some small-town Iowa tradition that predates prohibition.

[lukethedrifter]

They should just put "handmade". Quotes make everything okay.

[jim]

They should just put "handmade". Quotes make everything okay.

Agreed. Sort of like when you go to World Series game because you have to "work".

[Popeye_Card]

Don't even get me started on the "World" Series...

What exactly makes something "handmade" anyway? Should I also sue virtually every cheap beer manufacturer who puts "Premium" on their label?

Is this really the "best" "premium" beer that Milwuakee produces? I JUST PAID $2,300 FOR A 12 PACK OF THE BEST!!!!

[33anda3rd]

What exactly makes something "handmade" anyway?

In distilling it's actually an important distinction to make because some people will make buying decisions based on that.

When the distillation is happening there are three stages: heads, hearts, tails. The heads is the first part of the distillation and it's undrinkable. Very high proof. The tails come at the end and are very low proof. In between is the hearts, the good/best part of the distillate. A distiller making a spirit by hand is making "cuts"--the point where he decides the distillation has gone from heads to hearts, then from hearts to tails, and he's cutting the heads and tails out to only bring us the hearts. That's important, his palate and where he makes those cuts is huge in what's in the bottle. In an automated system it's on a timer. Handmade, the hearts are probably a smaller percent of the total distillation, with the distiller monitoring closely and tasting as he goes to get to exactly the right cut points.

If we go back to the traditions of good Cognac and Armagnac in France, that stuff you see distilleries where it's like 4th, 5th, 9th generation making the stuff. It's a family craft and art and tradition passed down. You can't make a brandy that approaches that stuff on an automated system. The relationship of the distiller to the still (probably the same one great X5 granddad used) and their understanding of the taste and what they're going for is why people drink it.

[haltz]

It seems like Tito is saying that a human is still deciding the cut points.

We taste our product to ensure head and tail cuts, all of which are done at our distillery in Austin, Texas, are made to our exacting standards to deliver the highest quality. The artistry involved in knowing when it’s time to make those cuts is something that cannot be duplicated by even the most sophisticated machines.

There are a few options here, one of which being that he's outright lying.

ETA: I'm looking at the Tito's site. Using a pot still to make vodka seems like a waste of time and they also market it as gluten-free since it's distilled from corn and not wheat like a lot of other vodkas.

Ever since the Food and Drug Administration settled on regulations for gluten-free labels in August, companies have started shilling products like Shaquille O’Neal’s gluten-free Luv Shaq vodka, reports the Scientific American. But there’s no need for such labels on distilled spirits, argue some critics.

That’s because during the distillation process, heating up the alcohol removes it from the rest of the mixture used to make it.

Distillation involves heating, which vaporizes the alcohol as a way to remove it from the mixture. “Distilled spirits, because of the distillation process, should contain no detectable gluten residues or gluten peptide residues,” Steve Taylor, co-director of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Food Allergy Research and Resource Program tells Scientific American. “Proteins and peptides are not volatile and thus would not distill over.”