Welcome to a different pour of Proof of Life—your weekly reminder that bourbon information does not must suck (and neither does your inbox).
This version? It is loaded. We’re floating concepts for a bourbon-fueled Colorado getaway, unpacking trade drama (spoiler: distributors are nonetheless the worst), and spotlighting the whole lot from a tequila truth-teller getting raided to a bottle public sale honoring a bear extra beloved than most politicians. There’s even an ice cream price breaking your summer season food plan over.
We’ve additionally opened the vault—this version is obtainable to everybody for a restricted time, together with entry to our previous newsletters. If you happen to get pleasure from what you learn, do us a strong and share it together with your bourbon-loving mates. Let’s develop the Ingesting Class the proper means—one pour, one put up, and one snicker at a time.
Now let’s get into it.
HELP US SCOUT A COLORADO TAKEOVER
We’re kicking across the thought of internet hosting a Bourbon & Banter neighborhood journey to Colorado this August, and we wish to know—who’s in?
The itinerary remains to be coming collectively, however right here’s the tough thought:
✈️ Thursday Evening: Fly into Denver and checking into our motels.
🚌 Friday: Bus trip to Breckenridge for a VIP distillery tour, lunch at Breckenridge Brewing, an unique mixing lab expertise, and dinner again on the distillery with potential shock VIP visitors. Then it’s again to Denver for the evening.
🥃 Saturday: Non-public barrel session at Legal guidelines Whiskey Home with Al Legal guidelines himself—sure, you will be drilling barrels and sipping straight from the supply. (Pops and Steve Coomes have finished it and might affirm: it’s well worth the journey.) Adopted by lunch and a go to to a different prime distillery—we’re at present chatting with Leopold Brothers to spherical issues out.
🍽️ Sunday: Fly residence.
If this feels like your type of weekend—good whiskey, nice individuals, and 0 vacationer traps—we’d love to listen to from you. This is able to be a paid journey (masking journey, meals, lodging, and experiences), so we have to know who’d critically think about making the trek earlier than we lock it in.
👉 ? Curious? Able to pack a Glencairn in your carry-on? Reply the ballot query beneath. We’ll use the suggestions to switch and finalize the journey if there are sufficient bourbon followers able to climb just a few mountains (and crack just a few barrels).
If you cannot see the ballot above, click on right here to submit your enter.
BOOZE BIZ BUZZ
The Satan Wears Distribution Rights
Within the three-tier booze circus, distributors stay the unchallenged ringmasters, flexing their energy whereas small suppliers are left juggling flaming bottles of money circulate and damaged guarantees. The legislation forces retailers to pay wholesalers on time (30 days or much less in lots of states), however shocker—no such rule exists requiring wholesalers to pay suppliers in return. Some small producers are ready six months or extra to receives a commission, with no authorized recourse.
In the meantime, state regulators shrug and say, “Hey, we simply implement the principles—we didn’t write this lopsided mess.” And that mess? It’s obtained franchise legal guidelines defending wholesalers from large suppliers, however not a rattling factor shielding small manufacturers from getting stiffed.
So what occurs when a provider will get ghosted? They both eat the loss, accept pennies on the greenback, or lawyer up—assuming they’ve obtained the cash, time, or bourbon left to trouble.
The repair? Straightforward: if wholesalers get assured fee phrases, so ought to suppliers. It is fundamental booze karma.
🥃📋 SIP REP: The center tier isn’t simply bloated—they’re principally the boss hogs of the booze enterprise, cashing checks whereas small manufacturers pray for fee. If justice is blind, then the three-tier system handed her a cocktail and despatched her residence early. Repair the rattling imbalance—or not less than let the little guys deliver a lawyer and a Louisville Slugger to the contract desk.
Buffalo Hint Flood Restoration: Progress, Pours & Pop-Up Outlets
One week after floodwaters surged by means of Buffalo Hint, cleanup crews have made critical headway—over 75% of particles and injury has been cleared, energy’s again on in key areas, and bottling strains are buzzing once more inside Blanton’s Bottling Corridor and the primary bottling facility.
- Excursions are nonetheless paused, however as of April 14, guests with prior reservations can get pleasure from a restricted retail expertise on the Freehouse pop-up, full with choose bottles and complimentary outside tastings.
- Stroll-ups and full excursions stay off the desk for now, however extra reservation slots could open quickly on a first-come, first-served foundation.
- The staff plans to roll out neighborhood reduction efforts within the weeks forward. Within the meantime, you possibly can donate to the Franklin County Flood Reduction Fund right here.
🥃📋 SIP REP: It’s good to see Buffalo Hint bounce again so shortly—credit score to the crews, contractors, and possibly just a few prayer circles. However in case you had been hoping for an informal stroll and a Weller pour this weekend, you’re gonna want a reservation, a backup plan, and perhaps some rain boots simply in case.
Graeter’s Bourbon Ball Ice Cream Assessment
I saved the bourbon for final as a result of even with the whole lot else being so unbelievable with this ice cream, Graeter’s has achieved what is usually very tough and what one other whiskey ice cream in the marketplace failed at (you understand the one…)
Bernheim Barrel Proof Assessment A225: The Wheat Bomb Returns
I maintain harping on the Bernheim Barrel Proof A launch from 2024, however it actually did stand out to me in a short-lived collection that, whereas persistently good, hasn’t produced many very memorable expressions. This newest launch, nonetheless, is nipping at its heels.
New Maker’s Mark Wheat Whisky is groundbreaking in some ways
There have been a number of terrific entries to the class over the previous few years, a few of which we’ve reviewed. However this one’s a standout: lush in aroma and texture and fruit-centric like middle-age rye whiskies.
Assessment: Excessive West Noble Share’s Daring Amburana End
This one undoubtedly received’t be for everyone, so I extremely advocate you take a look at drive it at a well-stocked watering gap first.
Is Booze the New Tobacco or Simply Having a Midlife Disaster?
Beverage alcohol remains to be nursing a multi-year hangover, and the query circling the trade like a fruit fly over spilled Fireball is: Is that this a brief stoop—or are we heading for a full-blown way of life breakup with booze?
In response to new survey information from Numerator, the reply is… principally cyclical, however with some structural baggage. In different phrases, individuals aren’t dumping alcohol due to Ozempic or weed—they’re broke, busy, or on a food plan.
- Quantity’s down throughout beer, wine, and spirits—YTD alcohol is the worst-performing main class in tracked retail, down 4.5%.
- Prime causes for consuming much less? Worth hikes (23%), financial anxiousness (15%), and lighter paychecks (9%).
- Structural stuff like new diets (13%) and shifting to non-alc drinks (9%) are creeping in, however weed (2%) and GLP-1s (3%) barely register.
So no, the bourbon apocalypse isn’t right here but—however if the trade retains pretending that is only a “Dry January” factor, it is in for a tough decade.
🥃📋 SIP REP: Let’s be actual—bourbon isn’t taking place due to semaglutide. It’s down as a result of the worth of the whole lot is up, and individuals are trimming their luxuries, not their waistlines. But when we don’t cease performing like that is only a blip, we’ll be the following Blockbuster Video with higher drinkware.
Additive-Free Tequila Will get Raided, Silenced, and Probably Cartel’d
Seems in case you attempt to inform the reality about what’s in your tequila, you would possibly get a go to from the feds. That’s what occurred to Grover Sanschagrin and the Additive Free Alliance (AFA), who dared to shine a lightweight on which manufacturers don’t pump their juice filled with vanilla flavoring, glycerin, and thriller sweeteners. Their crime? Making a grassroots, non-profit certification program the Mexican authorities didn’t authorize—which actually upset the large manufacturers, their buddies in authorities, and perhaps just a few of us who’d slightly you not ask too many questions.
After refusing to roll over, Grover and his staff obtained hit with cease-and-desist letters, manufacturers had been threatened, the CRT axed its personal additive-free label, and in a actually suspicious flip, Grover’s home was raided and marked as a “crime scene.” Now they’re residing in exile, and small additive-free manufacturers are slapping stickers over their labels and hoping their shipments nonetheless clear customs.
- Reality: A bottle labeled “100% agave” can legally include as much as 1% components—and nobody has to let you know.
- Actuality: Small manufacturers are rising like loopy by telling the reality, whereas the massive canine are slashing costs and shedding floor.
- Downside: The CRT, supposedly a impartial regulator, is essentially funded by those self same large manufacturers.
- Excuse: The federal government says “additive-free” is “complicated to shoppers.” (Translation: it is complicated to income.)
🥃📋 SIP REP: Let’s name this what it’s—regulatory protectionism dressed up in NOM codes and paperwork. When a few tequila nerds get raided for beginning a truth-telling motion, you gotta surprise who’s actually calling the photographs—authorities officers or the cartels that do not like competitors. Both means, the message is evident: communicate up, and also you would possibly simply get stickered, sued, or silenced. Welcome to the darkish facet of agave.
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NEW RELEASES
Listed here are some new releases price a glance—shared for consciousness, not endorsement. #DrinkCurious, however select correctly. 🥃
Hen Cock Revives Ryeteous Blonde for Summer time Sipping
Hen Cock Whiskey is bringing again Ryeteous Blonde—its fan-favorite rye completed in Goodwood Brewing Blonde Ale barrels—for a restricted time beginning Could 1. Initially launched in 2020, this summer-ready pour blends daring rye spice with malty beer sweetness, delivering notes of honey, biscuit, crisp apple, lemongrass, and toasted oak.
At 100 proof and priced at $69.99, this restricted version rye is a part of their new #RyeteousSummer marketing campaign, designed to have a good time daring adventures and yard bottle sharing. Accessible at choose retailers, Circa 1856 in Bardstown, and on-line (besides in MI, SD, TN, and UT). Extra Information
🥃📋 SIP REP: Whiskey completed in beer barrels doesn’t at all times work—however this one? May simply be your summer season MVP. Consider it as “Kentucky Spring Break in a Glencairn.” Get it earlier than it disappears like your PTO.
Warbringer Large Cockerel Rides In—Unaged, Unfiltered, Unapologetic 🐔🔥
Scotch legend John Campbell (sure, that John Campbell from Laphroaig) shocked the whiskey world by heading to Sespe Creek Distillery in California final 12 months—and now he’s doubled down on the sudden together with his first launch: Warbringer Large Cockerel Aguardiente.
Neglect aged and polished—this unaged beast is a nod to California’s unique spirit, with deep roots in Gold Rush grit and Mexican custom. Distilled from 60% mesquite-smoked corn, 15% fire-toasted corn, and 25% malted rye, it’s obtained extra smoke than a campfire poker sport and extra perspective than a rooster on moonshine.
At 98 proof and $35, it’s a wild trip by means of toasted pumpkin seed, molé, flan, and mesquite hen—sure, actually. Seize a bottle if you would like.
🥃📋 SIP REP: Look, we’re all for honoring historical past—however let’s name this what it possible is: a inventive method to slap a cool backstory on what’s primarily a dressed-up white canine. Positive, the mash invoice sounds tasty and John Campbell’s title provides some critical clout, however is there actually a thirst for an Aguardiente revival, or is that this only a intelligent rebrand to maneuver younger juice whereas extra aged stuff sleeps? Both means, props for the swagger—and if the flavour lives as much as the pitch, we’ll gladly eat our smoked flan-flavored phrases.
Lengthy Reside the Queen (of the Tetons) 🐻🥃🐾
Wyoming Whiskey is bringing again the excitement round Grizzly Bear #399 with a charity public sale that includes the final bottle of Queen of the Tetons bourbon—bottle #399 itself. Beginning April 22, this one-of-a-kind collector’s bottle might be auctioned off on BlockBar.com, with 100% of proceeds benefiting the Grand Teton Nationwide Park Basis.
The winner can even obtain a backup bottle to truly drink, plus a signed, framed print from legendary wildlife photographer Thomas Mangelsen, whose work helped make #399 a nationwide icon.
Beginning bid? $300. Elevating consciousness and funds for conservation? Priceless.
Be a part of the motion and bid your self.
🥃📋 SIP REP: A bottle you received’t wish to open, a bear that captured hearts, and a whiskey model doing it proper. Between the artwork, the pour, and the aim—this one’s for the historical past books and the again bar.
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If you happen to’ve laughed, discovered, or rolled your eyes so onerous you wanted a neck adjustment whereas studying Proof of Life, do us a strong: share it with somebody who wants a bit extra fact (and so much much less influencer fluff) of their bourbon life.
We’re constructing one thing actual right here—and the extra of us we get into the Ingesting Class, the higher the pours, the picks, and the banter get. Ahead the e-mail, tag a pal, shout it from the rickhouse rooftop. Simply assist us maintain the sign robust.
As a result of bourbon’s higher when it’s shared—particularly with individuals who really get it.
📆 DATES TO REMEMBER
I suck at remembering dates. As such, I’ve developed a strong behavior of placing issues on my schedule as quickly as I get the data. Let my lack of reminiscence enable you maintain monitor of key dates associated to booze.
Bookmark our neighborhood calendar so that you’re at all times within the know.
April’s Group Remedy Session ⚕️- 4/29
Be a part of your fellow Ingesting Class members for our month-to-month group remedy session on April twenty ninth at 7:30 pm CT. A Zoom hyperlink might be despatched through electronic mail and Discord earlier than the session date. Be sure to’re subscribed to Service Bulletins to receivew these updates.
Exhausting Reality Distilling would be the focus of our subsequent neighborhood tasting on 5/20/25. 30 pattern kits from the model might be obtainable for Ingesting Class members to register for subsequent week. Free Drinkers might be invited to register to attend (w/o pattern kits) shortly thereafter.
West Fork Whiskey VIP + Non-public Barrel Decide – 6/6
Able to drink like an insider? Be a part of Pops, Brent, and fellow Bourbon & Banter Ingesting Class members for a one-of-a-kind, behind-the-scenes expertise at West Fork Whisky’s 35,000 sq. ft. whiskey wonderland. We’re getting a non-public VIP tour and choosing a personal barrel for the Bourbon & Banter Group. E mail invitations went out earlier this week to Ingesting Class members to enter the lottery to hitch us for the barrel decide.
Exhausting Reality Distilling VIP Expertise + Get Misplaced Tour – 6/7
We’re conserving the weekend rolling after the West Fork Whiskey barrel decide with a Saturday that’s all about whiskey, broad open areas, and a bit journey. Collectively we’ll head to Exhausting Reality Distilling for lunch, a behind the scenes VIP tour and an unforgettable afternoon exploring the 325 acre Exhausting Reality property through ATVs. E mail invitations went out earlier this week to Ingesting Class members to register and safe their spot.
If you happen to’re eyeing any of those occasions and considering, “Rattling, that feels like my type of occasion”, this is your signal: be part of the Ingesting Class.
Our paid members get first dibs on barrel picks, tastings, and particular occasions—plus entry to the type of unique experiences we do not put up throughout social. In order for you in, it is easy: improve your membership and pull up a stool. The good things begins right here. 🥃💼🧔🏻♂️
That’s it for this week’s pour of Proof of Life. In case your glass is empty, we hope your curiosity isn’t.
As at all times, thanks for studying, sipping, and stirring the bourbon pot with us. If you happen to favored what you noticed, smash that thumbs up on the backside of your electronic mail—it helps us know what’s working (and what’s simply neat, not neat-neat).
And in case you’re not but a member of the Ingesting Class… properly, you are lacking out on first dibs for barrel picks, tastings, and the type of behind-the-scenes bourbon content material the influencers don’t need you to see. Simply saying.
Till subsequent week—
Keep curious. Keep sincere. Keep hydrated (with whiskey).
—Pops
Chief Ingesting Officer 🥃💼🧔🏻♂️
