pappy-van-winkle

Next to expensive wines and some rare scotch, no other alcohol has inspired as much criminal behavior as Pappy Van Winkle, the cult Kentucky bourbon. That's in part because it's made in such limited quantities, and in part because chefs and other food personalities have anointed it the best bourbon in the world. Now, two…

During my extended, slightly boozy, conversation with Mississippi chef and restaurateur John Currence a couple weeks back, I interrupted his minor rant about charcuterie plates to ask him, straight up, what the deal was with chefs and Pappy Van Winkle. Proselytized by people like Sean Brock and David Chang and long sought after by bourbon…

Last month I was fortunate enough to travel down to Louisville, Kentucky for a couple days of serious bourbon sipping, hanging with the big boys and drinking my way through the region’s brown spirits bounty. One of my favorite stops was at Proof on Main at the 21c Museum Hotel. Ninety minutes off the flight…