Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last

by Wright Thompson

A few companies still put their liquor in the barrel at less than the maximum allowed proof, like Michter’s at 103 and Maker’s Mark at 110. That’s rare,

The term brand name comes from the whiskey business, according to Reid Mitenbuler, author of the excellent book Bourbon Empire.

bourbon is supposed to be a vehicle and not a destination.

Myth is both the deliverance and the curse. We tell ourselves a story to survive and then that story consumes us, destroys us. The mask eats the face.

Bourbon booms are tied mostly to a sense of nostalgia and longing—to memory—and