We're all obsessed with lists and awards, so I thought I'd just go right ahead and add to the hysteria. Let me assure you, though, I worked damn hard on this list, carefully balancing equal parts thinking and drinking. More from the blogging barman, Luke McCarthy

Harold Black is truly a modern day speakeasy–if you don't know exactly where it is, you'll never find it. After going through the non-descript wooden door and heading up the stairs, the hostesses dressed as 1920s flapper girls welcomed me into the lounge and bar area.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Woodford Reserve®, the “Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby®,” is honoring this year’s “Run for the Roses”™ with the release of its 2015 Kentucky Derby commemorative bottle. This year’s limited-edition Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby bottle features the artwork from elite equine artist Carole Andreen-Harris.

<p>Some bourbon and whiskey brands downplay the fact that they're blending products from multiple distilleries and putting their own label on it. A new local brand called Whiskey Row is doing the opposite by embracing blended whiskey. It's an unusual idea that Whiskey Row developer Stephen Thompson hopes to bring to the market someday — though the brand isn't out there in its final form yet.</p>

Four Roses, the Lawrenceburg bourbon distillery owned by Japanese beer maker Kirin, is expanding its bottling plant in Cox's Creek near Bardstown in Bullitt County. On Thursday, the bourbon maker received preliminary approval for as much as $800,000 in tax incentives from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority for an $8.4 million expansion.

Distilling is in Jimmy Russell’s blood. His father worked at the Old Joe distillery so long ago that there were only four distilleries in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. The area is now the epicenter of Bourbon country. “I grew up just five miles from Wild Turkey, so it was like my backyard,” says Russell, Wild Turkey’s Master Distiller who is currently celebrating his 60th year with the company. The “Buddha of Bourbon”, as he is...

Got a party at home? Stock up for Jim Beam (or any other bourbon whiskey of your choice) and here are two cocktail recipes that are sure to be a winner with your guests. WHISKEY SOUR Ingredients: 1 ½ parts Jim Beam bourbon whiskey; 1 part lemon juice; ½ teaspoon sugar Preparation: Combine ingredients in a mixing glass and serve over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with lemon or orange wedge &amp; cherry....

For Marianne Barnes, it's been a meteoric rise to the top. 28-year-old Marianne Barnes, a bourbon wunderkind who was recently profiled by Forbes 30 Under 30: Food and Wine, has taken one more step toward whiskey immortality. She is leaving her position as Master Taster at Brown-Forman's Woodford Reserve to join Old Taylor Reserve as Master Distiller. According to The Spirits Business, Barnes will join fellow Kentuckians Will...

I’m a sporadic podcast listener, though I do host the Louisville Family Fun podcast on Louisville.am. I’ve found that listening to podcasts is a great way to occupy your mind while you work out, making the time seem to pass more quickly. There’s no shortage of material out there thanks to modern technology, so you have a lot of options when it comes to bourbon podcasts. Here are three of my favorites:

"Bourbon is as American as apple pie,” bartender Rachel Freeman tells me. She leans against the bar at the Power &amp;amp; Light District’s newest restaurant, Cleaver &amp;amp; Cork, having set out more than a half-dozen tasting glasses filled with that golden-brown nectar.

There's a whiskey arms race unfolding across the United States right now. New whiskey bars are popping up seemingly by the day, and to stand out from the competition, it’s no longer enough to showcase a solid selection with a few hard to find labels. Instead, whiskey bars must continually up the ante. Bars stock their shelves with an ever-increasing number of bottles and attempt to lure in patrons with everything from private...

Whether you’re a Scotch connoisseur, Bourbon fanatic or Irish whiskey novice, there’s a plethora of books out there designed to enlighten and enthral. Some are encyclopaedic tomes which offer a concise and invaluable information, while others cater for a more niche and specialised consumer base. Those looking for recommendations on the world’s best whiskies selected by the best palates in the business are spoiled for choice...

The notion that women are new to bourbon only holds if you’re new to bourbon. The consensus seems to be that women have always worked in the bourbon industry in some fashion or another, though maybe not directly in the public eye. Women have certainly always been consumers of bourbon, though maybe not at the same rate over the last few decades when clear spirits were gaining popularity. In other words, women like bourbon and...

Mixologist David Castagnetti of Firefly in Studio City, CA, has done bourbon-lovers a serious service by creating a Bloody Mary starring the American spirit. His version is seriously spicy — with the addition of Japanese togarashi pepper and Korean gochujang red pepper paste. Brunch will never be the same! INGREDIENTS Bloody Mary Base 48 ounces (approximately 6 cups) tomato juice 3 tablespoons creamy horseradish

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin challenged Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to a wager on Thursday night’s Kentucky-West Virginia matchup in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16. A West Virginia upset would give Tomblin a selection of fine Kentucky bourbons. If the Wildcats continue their undefeated season, Tomblin will send Beshear a basket of West Virginia staples, including pepperoni rolls, spirits, and a...

The cocktails are as much a part of "Mad Men" as Peggy Olson's late nights and Don Draper's countless acts of infidelity. Fans may be mournful about the end of the series drawing near, but as Roger Sterling once said as he held an empty bottle of vodka, "Can something be done about this sadness?"

The award-winning distillery in Park City, Utah, named the Bourbon after the assembly of the largest wildlife reserve in the lower 48 states, the 5000-square-mile American Prairie Reserve – and plans to donate 10% of the profits towards the project. This release, the second in the series of the Reserve’s namesake Bourbons, is said to have “a well-balanced marriage of honey nougat, candy corns, sweet corn bread biscuits, juicy...

LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Old Forester Mint Julep, a 60-proof ready-to-serve cocktail made with Old Forester Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky, will be available for sale in select stores as of late-March. In addition to stores, Churchill Downs® will serve Old Forester Mint Julep, recently named "The Official Drink of the Kentucky Derby®," during the 141st Kentucky Derby®.

The southeastern U.S. is experiencing a boom in new distilleries. While the Kentucky-Tennessee belt has always had its share of whiskey producers, today, distillers around the region have begun cranking out quality in everything from rum to vodka to watermelon brandy. There’s a science-minded master distiller who’s changing the way Bourbon is made at a 200-year-old company one experiment at a time, and the Moonshine Mama who...

LEXINGTON – The Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Kentucky and Southern Indiana has partnered with the seventh annual Bourbon Chase, an overnight relay race that celebrates the best that Kentucky has to offer: beautiful horse country, charming towns and communities, and historic bourbon distilleries.

NEW YORK ( TheStreet) -- Americans' thirst for whiskey goes beyond the recent craze for Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, although it's certainly helped. Some of the biggest whiskey brands in the industry, such as Beam Suntory's Jim Beam, Diageo's (DEO) Bulleit and Brown Forman's (BF.B) Jack Daniels are thriving as bars push pricey mixology menus and customers warm up to whiskey because of its low calories and carb counts. Further...

Joe Henry has been part of a Dane County farming family since 1946, growing seed corn and soybeans as well as corn, rye and wheat. But it wasn't until he and his wife and business partner, Liz Henry, took a drive around Kentucky's bourbon country that it struck him: why not turn some of that Wisconsin red corn into whiskey? "I thought well, we raise the corn, we raise the wheat, we raise the rye," Joe Henry said. "Maybe this...

LOUISVILLE — The friendly rivalry for the hearts and throats of bourbon lovers is about to get more interesting, particularly in Louisville where major distilleries are focusing their tourism efforts. Six months after opening the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Experience at the historic Stitzel-Weller campus in Shively, Diageo is adding a small still, which will make about a barrel of spirits a week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- As the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall touch down at Louisville International Airport on Friday, a peek out the window of their jet would reveal a plume of steam rising out of a manufacturing facility about 1000 feet from the tarmac. That plume of steam is one of the reasons Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, are including Louisville on their four day itinerary in the United States....

Twenty years ago, Americans didn't demand bourbon. (The fact is shocking, but true.) Clear spirits like gin and vodka were the hot trend, and — outside of Kentucky — bourbon wasn't always found on liquor store shelves, Diageo American Whiskey Ambassador Doug Kragel said. So in the early '90s, one bourbon brand made a bold decision: to sell its product overseas only. I.W. Harper was first launched in 1872 by German immigrant...

For the first time since Woodrow Wilson was president, a member of the Brown family (as in spirits giant Brown-Forman) will be responsible for the Old Forester brand. Campbell Brown is the great-great grandson of George Garvin Brown, the founder of Brown-Forman. The company says the Brown family is getting behind the lagging brand, emotionally and financially. The family already controls 70 percent of Brown-Forman.

A Louisville media producer hopes to take his bourbon reality show to a bigger audience. Chaz Rough, president of media production company Primitive Inc., has produced three episodes of a show called "Bourbon Living." One of them is below; it and the others are on YouTube now. During the show, Rough visits bourbon-related places. In Episode 1, he takes a tour of Woodford Reserve Distillery in Versailles, for instance. In...

The explosive growth of bourbon has spawned yet another new product. Limestone filtered spring water bottled in Kentucky. Not only is it drawn from the same aquifer used to make bourbons in Kentucky, but in taste tests, Old Limestone recently took Gold at the 2015 North American Bourbon and Whiskey Competition in Denver, Colorado. "It’s long overdue,” said CEO and founder Douglas "Doug" Keeney. "A little water brings out the...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wild Turkey officials say there were no signs anyone had broken into their Kentucky warehouse where five barrels of aging bourbon were taken in a heist that ultimately led authorities to a backyard where the whiskey was found. In other words, it looks like an inside job. Dave Karraker, a spokesman for Campari America, the U.S. subsidiary of Wild Turkey owner Gruppo Campari, says tests showed the purloined...

Remember Marianne Barnes? She was recently named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for her work at Brown Forman. Barnes started off as an intern and made her way up to Master Taster, making her one of the highest ranking women in the bourbon industry. Barnes was recently hired by the regenerating Old Taylor Distillery in Frankfort to be the Master Distiller when operations finally resume. What’s more, she has become a partner in...

The special release, which is being rolled out across the US this month in very limited quantities, has been created using barrels whose staves have been allowed to dry in the open air for 13 months, more than twice as long as standard barrel staves. Buffalo Trace claims the process allows the whiskey to extract more “rich and complex” flavours from the wood.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- Liquor producer Brown-Forman Corp. is putting a descendant of its founder in charge of its original whiskey, the latest sign that it intends to rejuvenate the long-struggling Old Forester bourbon brand. Campbell Brown — a fifth-generation descendant of company founder George Garvin Brown — is being promoted to the new position of president of Old Forester, effective May 1, the company said Tuesday....

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ky. - (WKYT) - He’s accused of stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of bourbon and on Tuesday, Gilbert Curtsinger was back in front of a judge. He was arrested last week accused of stealing five barrels of Wild Turkey Bourbon and hiding it in his backyard. "Most agencies might have a case like this once in a career, we've had two in three years," said Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton. The two cases Sheriff...

ST. LOUIS (KTVI) – Some will make a St. Patrick’s Day toast with a little Irish whiskey later today. Did you know: more women are drinking whiskey these days? Experts claim it’s not a trend, but rather a renaissance. Lindsey Wehking, blogger of ‘Bourbon and Banter,’ visits Fox 2 News in the Morning to discuss an overview of women and whiskey, and why it’s coming back into favor presently.

Brown-Forman Corp. said it plans to invest an additional $20 million on a $50 million effort to revive its Old Forester bourbon brand and named Brown family member, Campbell Brown, president of the unit, which sold just 112,000 cases last year, down from its 1972 peak of 1 million cases.

Entrepreneur is on the ground for SXSW. Check back for highlights from the festival as well as insights on trends from thought leaders and innovators. Didn’t make it to SXSW this year? Fear not. We’ve got the highlights for you, with this roundup of what’s cool and what make us smile. Competitor cut off by Twitter Ramping up to SXSW, Meerkat was a buzzy app, acquiring high-profile followers like Jared Leto and dubbed by major...

Pappy Van Winkle is an excellent bourbon that is hard to find to low production volume. If you see this "white whale," buy it, Tommy Tardie of the whiskey bar Flatiron Room tells Business Insider Video. He also shared what makes this bourbon so good and what other brands are worth trying.

Tuthilltown Spirits is now letting the alcohol settle in 2 gallon barrels. This, they say, cuts the time to mature the drink to just four months. Distillery in South Carolina claims it has cut the process to eight hours. They first filter the whiskey to speed up the aldehyde and acid reaction. Whiskey lovers all over the world claim the key to the perfect bourbon is time.

Bourbon is undeniably on a major roll. Over the last few years, sales of the whiskey have shot up around the world. While we love that bars and stores now boast big selections of the spirit, we still hear plenty of misinformation about the liquor. So to set the record straight, we’ve debunked some of the most common bourbon myths. Cheers! 1. Jack Daniel's is bourbon. The spirit is a Tennessee whiskey, not a bourbon. What’s...

Take a seat and pour yourself a drink (no, no, a different one). You may need it to listen to this news. If bourbon is your drink of choice, you may have heard quiet rumblings the last few years of something unsettling afoot: a possible shortage coming down the pipeline. A bourbon shortage would be an interesting type because — unlike other possible food shortages (the coffee shortage, for instance) — it's not just a matter of...

Five barrels of stolen Wild Turkey bourbon — worth up to $30,000 — were found in a Kentucky backyard, officials said Thursday. And the suspect may have a connection to another famous bourbon heist. Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton said his deputies on Wednesday responded to a phone tip of bourbon in barrels behind a home in a rural part of the county.

Pouring bourbon, drinking bourbon and diva stomping around town, being overbearingly proud of my womanhood, have been pastimes of mine since I was legally able to do so (really, I’ve been diva stomping since birth — see also Google images for Beyonce — that’s how I came out of my mother’s womb).

ST. PAULS, N.C., March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Eagle Rare Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey has named Alana Miller of St. Pauls, North Carolina, as the winner of the Grand Prize 2015 Rare Life Award. Eagle Rare will donate $50,000 to Miller's charity, Blind Cat Rescue &amp; Sanctuary, and host an awards ceremony in St. Pauls on March 14. The Rare Life Award is an annual recognition program created to honor individuals who exhibit...

Here’s a cocktail in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. But you’re going to have to cut me some slack. Why? Because I know what you’re expecting. Any cocktail for this holiday should include either Guinness beer or Irish whiskey, right? Logically, that makes sense. But my whiskey of choice is always bourbon, so I tend to gravitate to cocktails built on that. The good news is that if you want to stay true to the spirit of the holiday...

Two local companies are coming together to put a twist on mustard. It’s a new product rolling down the assembly line at Boetje’s Mustard. They came up with the idea to add bourbon to the list of ingredients. Boetje’s pitched the idea to the Mississippi River Distilling Company, who was all for it.

Today, I’d like to talk about the bourbon slush. Never heard of it? Not surprising. It’s from northern Kentucky, and I had never heard of it until I was introduced to it by my friend, Kat, who grew up in the region. Just beware: It is a potent cocktail. You will want to drink many of them, but try to show restraint or you will be regretting it in the morning. Or as Kat, says, “It goes down so smoothly that it can sneak up on you!”

Bourbon is a wonderful thing, just wonderful, and perhaps no television show in American history has realized this, or had as much fun with it, as “Justified.” A subplot of the show is that it’s (sort of) to bourbon what “Sideways” was to California wine — a lovingly told inside joke.

For Garrison Brothers’ new bourbon, the barrel it ages in has never been so important. Garrison Brothers has released a new whiskey, the Single Barrel Bourbon, a 94-proof big brother to the distillery's flagship bourbon.

Small-batch bourbon that’s aged around the world by boat, is commanding prices from $65, at the low end, to more than $100 a bottle. Bourbon is in Trey Zoeller’s blood, going back eight generations. His great-great-great grandmother was among the first female distillers and his father, Chet, is a bourbon scholar. Zoeller has been producing artisanal whiskey under the label Jefferson’s Bourbon since the 1990s. Most distillers...

Myer Farm Distillers, based Ovid, Seneca County, is slated to release its first straight whiskey called John Myer New York Straight Four Grain Whiskey—Single Barrel on March 28 at a tasting room event from 4 to 6 p.m. A limited release of 14 cases will be available on-site, officials said. The event, which is free and open to the public, takes place at 7350 State Route 89, along the Cayuga Wine Trail from 4 to 6 p.m.