The World Of Rye And Bourbon

The author takes a trip to Louisville, Kentucky, to explore the fascinating world of American whiskies.

- Danny Carroll

I regularly attend small whisky tasting group sessions in Mumbai where, on occasions, we turn our attention to American whiskies and Bourbons. And what I have always found is that, while all of us have picked up extensive knowledge about Scotch whiskies, we had very little idea, beyond the basics about the American whiskies. Every time I am in the US I do pick up a few bottles and enjoy drinking them. But I had never made an effort to know more about them. So recently when an opportunity came up to visit some of the distilleries in Kentucky, I grabbed it with both hands.

In case you are not familiar with Kentucky, as of 2018, it had 68 distilleries making Bourbon and Rye, employing 24,000 people and generating US$10 billion in revenue. Bourbon has a special status in America being declared as its only native spirit by the US Congress in 1954.

I have a friend in Mumbai who is from Louisville, Kentucky, so he gave me a long list of places that I should visit, which gave me a fabulous start on my journey. Nothing like local knowledge. When we arrived in Louisville, after a four-hour drive, we headed straight for lunch and my first ‘flight’ of whisky. A ‘flight of whisky’ means that you get to taste three different types of whisky at a fixed price. I started with three Bourbons that were only available in Louisville. The Bourbons were fabulous. The only problem was, they were similar to the Bourbons that I picked up in the years previously so they would not provide a unique experience for my whisky tasting group.