Including a substantial portion of the 10th anniversary Garryana 😢 www.seattletimes.com/life/food-dr...

Yeah, this is not a surprise. If Balcones restarts production again under Diageo ownership that WILL be a surprise.

Fascinating thread about the evolution of alcohol metabolism in primates.

[tapping the sign] vinepair.com/articles/hop...

Can confirm, we had lunch once and i he went deep into talking about his grandfather who was into the occult and how that influenced Dan’s artistic career and other endeavors. Fascinating, cool, kind man.

As an American whiskey writer who’s gone on weird press trips/to OTT events, some of the details in here are all too familiar. Others made my eyes pop. Kudos to Claire for recognizing in advance what a shitshow this was bound to be and declining to be part of it.

This is my go to podcast for when I can’t fall asleep—I call it “soothing British academics”—but it is unfortunately often too interesting, thus prolonging my insomnia. Lovely tribute from @brandyjensen.bsky.social

On aging whiskey in unusual woods, by @whattastesgood.bsky.social: imbibemagazine.com/distillers-l...

If you've ever had an amburana whiskey and thought, "Huh?" you'll want to read my latest piece for Imbibe. Whiskey distillers and blenders weigh in on using non-oak woods for aging. imbibemagazine.com/distillers-l...

News I didn't expect to see in 2025: Another historic Scottish distillery revival, Coleburn, closed in 1985. Most American drinkers will never have had a chance to try the old stuff because v little seems to have made it to the 21st century. I tasted it once, iirc around 25 yo, & it was tremendous.

Nice look at an aspect of the booze-o-sphere I knew nothing about!

I've been wanting to write about the weird world of military liquor sales for years and @theassemblync.bsky.social gave me the chance. Please read for the insane quote about how overthrowing a country was easier than getting placement on base: www.theassemblync.com/culture/food...

Whiskey from Tennessee =/= Tennessee whiskey. Let me 'splain it to you. vinepair.com/articles/whi...

Time to re-up this article from a couple years ago. Currently considering my options for that first post-partum pour. www.businessinsider.com/professional...

Constellation selling a brand is always good for that brand.

Constellation has sold off Copper & Kings to a newly formed spirits company called Bourdon (not a typo, the founder's surname). Maybe a positive move considering the brand has languished since Constellation bought it five years ago, though I don't see ppl flocking to American brandy en masse.

I suspect this is just one domino

James Saxon is out at Compass Box, marking the end of the Glaser era for good. However, Angela D'Orazio, formerly of Mackmyra, has been named creative director of whisky making. She's supremely gifted and will bring a lot to the role. I look forward to tasting whatever she creates!

What can today's distillers learn from the last bourbon bust? I try to answer that question, with the help of some folks who actually lived through it (ahem Eddie Russell) in my latest article for @vinepair.com vinepair.com/articles/bou...

That should have said Four CORNERS gin. Perils of the similar naming conventions. Don’t ask me how many times I’ve had to pause and double check whether I’m talking about Westland or Westward (also, incidentally, the fruit of Christian Krogstad’s skills).

Irish Distillers has offloaded the Knappogue Castle and Clontarf brands to the fairly new spirits company Cobblestone Brands, which also owns Star & Key rum and Four Pillars gin (made by the superbly gifted Christian Krogstad).

Independent bottlers are well-regarded in the UK but still an enigma in the American whiskey space. A few pioneering companies are trying to change that, even developing standards of identity to help people understand IBs better. www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-revi...

Well this is fascinating!

After Trump announced 25% tariffs on Canadian goods back in February, many of the country's liquor authorities pulled American spirits off the shelf in retaliation. Numbers on the damage from March 5 through April are in and woof: American spirits sales down by 66.3% across Canada.

If you want to feel some faith in the justice system, visit your local family court. I've accompanied a friend several times in the past six months and always come away with respect and admiration for the way the judge handles thorny situations (the kind that make *me* want to scream) fairly.

Full lawsuit against Diageo for allegedly selling adulterated tequila as 100% agave is up and boy does it look bad. Kudos to Mezcalistas for their ongoing reporting on this. www.mezcalistas.com/casamigos-la...

The silver lining of bourbon oversupply: Castle & Key's updated flagship bourbon is 6 years old and $40, compared to its debut at 4 years and $50.

Fawaffle is so brilliant that I’m feeling glimmers of hope

Re-upping this since I got a press release about "the first ever double bonded rye, meaning a blend of two bottled-in-bond ryes from two different distilleries." There's a reason that THIS IS NOT A THING. Stop the madness, y'all!

Essential reading for everyone who has ever been frustrated by the crappy selections and surly ignorance on display in their local ABC store

Since I have a 1-year-old I’ve been listening to a lot of Raffi, and I’ve come to believe he should be considered one of the biggest influences on elder millennial indie folk.

I've had a couple big scotch stories publish recently. First, for The Unicorn Review, my picks for the "new scotch canon"—the bottles that everyone needs to try as part of their scotch journey, beyond the same-old recommendations. www.unicornauctions.com/unicorn-revi...

Delighted that my first byline at @foodandwine.com is about New Zealand's whisky scene, which is truly one of the most dynamic in the world right now. (One reason why: Home distilling is perfectly legal!) Keep an eye on these guys! www.foodandwine.com/new-zealand-...

Diageo has put its Dublin distillery, Roe & Co., on an "extended pause." Pretty sure that means it's never coming back. And did their Lebanon, KY distillery ever re-start production? Ominous signs, y'all. www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2025/06/roe-...

@vinepair.com asked me to write about the 10 most influential scotches of the 2000s (so far) and it was not that easy! I'm curious what other people's lists would include. Please comment with your opinions! vinepair.com/articles/mos...

lol a tipster just alerted me to the fact that blanton's is just selling sets of its stoppers at this point. participation trophies for cybertruck dads trying to find new male friends after a tough divorce

Published while I was on a beach, my latest for The Food Section, about distillers collaborating with hotels to make hyper-local gin! thefoodsection.com/gin-is-inn As always, you can use the code BARTON to get past the paywall.

Bartender geeking out on whiskey, New York Sun, March, 1884.

I'd been spotting bottled-in-bond whiskies that were not distilled by the name on the front label and wondering what was up. Were they following the law—both the letter and intent? So I did some investigating for @vinepair.com. vinepair.com/articles/wha...

Mad Enough To Blog It™️:

Still shocked at the number of people I talk to who think (rightly!) AI is a threat to digital media and are fighting to keep it out of our work and then admit to using ChatGPT for like meal planning and making funny pictures. It’s all the same shit!! Stop it!!

How many college campuses have their own distillery? And classes that teach students how to create, market, and sell a bourbon brand? @universityofky.bsky.social does, and I wrote about it for The Food Section. thefoodsection.com/selling-scho... Use code BARTON to get past the paywall!

I've grown weary of hearing how a barrel finish or cask strength is "innovative." True innovation in whiskey is actually really hard! But Matchbook Distilling is doing it, and how. www.newwinereview.com/whiskey/matc...

I can’t stop reading this. Every detail just gets worse and weirder. The bong, the fake tree… attempting to comp the meal! Hats off to Mackenzie for her composure, in the moment and in this piece.

This is unexpected www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2025/05/loch...

Spirits additives have been in the news a lot, almost solely related to #tequila, despite the fact that they're widely used across categories.

The tequila additives controversy has been written about a lot (by myself included!) but I've seen no one, outside of geeky insider circles, talking about additives in rum and cognac. For @vinepair.com I examine the issue and find a lot of nuance. vinepair.com/articles/exa...

Irish whiskey is undergoing a market correction, a temporary blip, a ‘little pause’ - archive.is/lrOXJ

They really thought this one out!

First Pope-related pitch came in before 9 a.m. but I really hope it's not the last