Author name: Chuck Cowdery

Whiskey’s Biggest Lie

 In fact, their whiskey sucked.Back in 2016, when Beam dropped the 9-year age statement from its Knob Creek bourbon, the brand’s fans were outraged: “This is so unfair to the consumers and fans,” “Flavor/Taste profile is a joke to justify keeping …

Whiskey’s Biggest Lie

 In fact, their whiskey sucked.Back in 2016, when Beam dropped the 9-year age statement from its Knob Creek bourbon, the brand’s fans were outraged: “This is so unfair to the consumers and fans,” “Flavor/Taste profile is a joke to justify keeping …

Is Humanity Finished with Alcohol?

 The “drunk monkey” hypothesis suggests humans evolved from primates that ate fermented fruit.A recent article in The Economist features this headline: “How humankind’s 10m-year love affair with booze might end.”“Alcohol is poison” has become a po…

Is Humanity Finished with Alcohol?

 The “drunk monkey” hypothesis suggests humans evolved from primates that ate fermented fruit.A recent article in The Economist features this headline: “How humankind’s 10m-year love affair with booze might end.”“Alcohol is poison” has become a po…

Is Humanity Finished with Alcohol?

 The “drunk monkey” hypothesis suggests humans evolved from primates that ate fermented fruit.A recent article in The Economist features this headline: “How humankind’s 10m-year love affair with booze might end.”“Alcohol is poison” has become a po…

Why Did Suntory Botch Its Jim Beam Announcement?

 Major brands in the portfolio of Suntory Global Spirits.Whiskey is unlike most manufactured products in a way that even close watchers of the business have trouble grasping. Unlike most things we buy, whiskey made today will not be sold next week…

Today in Jack Daniel’s Kremlinology*

 Jack Daniel’s brand family (2025)The photograph above was used today by the Kentucky Herald-Leader to illustrate a story about quarterly results from Jack Daniel’s parent company Brown-Forman. As a public company, Brown-Forman’s quarterly results…

Getting It Right the First Time

Finished last night after I got home from the Marty Stuart concert in Skokie.I have a running joke with another writer on the whiskey beat. When we contrast our experiences with producers, she inevitably quips, “yes, but you’re Chuck Cowdery.”That I am…

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