The lies, half-truths, and guarded secrets fueling bourbon's boom

The bourbon industry is booming in America. But as one distiller describes it, "it's just a shady business." Much of the industry's growth comes from secretive production practices, and many brands take creative liberties, or more, with the marketing of their whiskey.

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The Lies, Half-Truths And Guarded Secrets Fueling Bourbon’s Boom | NBC News

[mymotorbikeobsessions]

The key I picked up: find a price point and a flavor I like and go with it. Believe what you’re mouth tells you and not the story on the label.

[TerrySteiner]

MGP make some great whiskey and make places add extra process to change the whiskey to be unique to them. That said keep it honest. I don't care if a brand sources as long as they are honest.

[jaydarl]

I read about this some years ago and I'll admit that it burst my bubble. But an easy fix it to buy Bottled-in-Bond bourbon that have to abide to stringent rules. All the BiB I've seen are on the lower end of the price scale and hold up well against more expensive bourbons whether you are making cocktails or sipping straight, Old Granddad & Evan Williams in particular.

[williamhauser]

MGP, in Indiana, right by Cincinnati, makes some of the best bourbon in the world

[rawdog]

Do your homework before you buy, Whiskey Vault is a good place to learn.I also listen to the Best over all whiskey lists and budget lists and mid shelf lists and find sometimes the same bottles on different lists, those are the ones you want to zero in on.The ones that really perform just on taste.Youll find Buffalo Trace and Eagle Rare come up alot.

[patriot.]

Comes to Bourbon country of the world to say that NY makes some of the best bourbon in the world and gifts a bottle of it LOL

[CimInc]

Credit should also be given to what some companies actually do with sourced whiskey, such as finishing and extra aging etc - so not all sourced whiskey from the same company ends up the same, but that is not something the media wants to let you know either.

[kingofthedots]

My uncle ran the Jim Beam, and Four Roses part of the Bourbon trail in Bullit county did get to taste many samples is about taste and proof ....PERIOD ...

[aaronmund]

I went digging on Tin Cup Colorado Whiskey site and read that it's made with Indiana rye and a small amount of Colorado bourbon and rocky Mountain water... hmmmm. Not the Colorado whiskey I thought it was.

[BenRangel]

How come there’s not a bunch of local vodka brands if vodka is so much cheaper to make?

[schnabeltasse]

This film could be dangerous: It could make people believe, that marketing is just a gentle word for scam. But, we all know better.

[aikidragonpiper]

How can they get away with calling it Kentucky Straight Bourbon and be distilled in Indiana ???

[jrs]

Is MGP the new name for LDI? I remember bulleit used to say LDI on their bottles. It was a lot cheaper back then.

[Kikilang]

With the tops open on the fermentors, how does the yeast start anaerobic respiration?

[YourSpicyBurrito]

As a New Yorker, if my bourbon ain’t Kentucky, it ain’t bourbon and I need bourbon in my Old Fashioned or Manhattan.

[jameylane]

There is a finite number of spirits, and each has a "renaissance" every now and again. It was Bacardi....then whisky. It won't last, whiskey is rough on a man.

[cohoanglervancouverwa]

Micro beer breweries went thru the same growing pains 20+ years ago. Does it matter that Samuel Adams beer is made in Wisconsin or Missouri or Upstate New York and not in Boston? No. What matters is how it tastes.

Good bourbon is good bourbon regardless of whether it’s made in Frankfort, KY, New York City, someplace in Texas, or Woodinville, WA. The only way to tell if it’s a good bourbon (or a good beer) is to pour it into a glass and drink it. The label on the bottle is irrelevant.

[FG-dwcf]

Be like Mexico. Every distillery has a number assigned. EACH bottle must have a correlating number to show which distillery it comes from. Easy peasy..

[TheSanDiegan]

How is there “opaque” transparency regarding sourced whiskey? It’s very simple: does the label say “bottled by, ” “made by, ” “produced by, ” or “distilled by?” Also, you can’t fault new distillers from sourcing distillate until such time as their own distillate is ready for market. And if you don’t know this, just watch some YT reviews - you can’t swing a moonshiner by their mullet on YT w/o hearing this information from a dozen whiskeytubers. Whole story seems a little sensationalistic tbh.

[kyzersniper]

Marketing is the game...(Suckers are Born Daily)