Bad Whiskey Writing Part VII
By Richard Thomas
When I wrote the last installment of our periodic series on shoddy whiskey journalism in May, I had hoped that it would be at least 2016 before I had enough examples to compose a new chapter. Alas, it took only four months, and the blame starts with Men’s Journal and Elon Green’s “A Beginner’s Guide To Corn Whiskey.” In this article, Green made the blunder of including White Pike from Finger Lakes Distillery on an already short list of recommendations. The problem is that White Pike isn’t a corn whiskey, which by law is defined as a whiskey with 80% or more corn in the mashbill, whereas White Pike is made with only 59% corn.
Writing for the British newspaper The Independent, Samuel Muston was almost as sloppy as Green in drawing up list of “The 10 Best Bourbons.” Lists of this type always produce quibbling and debate among readers over what should or should not be on them, which is part of both the fun and the point. However, the inclusion of Clarke’s Bourbon, a sub-par brand sold by the Aldi supermarket chain, is execrable.
My guess is that Muston slapped the list together without having tried at least some of the entries, and Clarke’s got in because of its silver medal at the International Wine And Spirits Competition (IWSC). The problem is that winning a silver at the IWSC isn’t all that difficult, with plenty of stinkers having slipped in over the years, making the award almost meaningless in the eyes of many expert observers. Bottom line: there are plenty of bourbons available in the UK that are superior to Clarke’s, and it shouldn’t be anywhere near a list bearing the word “best” in the title
Worst of all was Anthongy Colangelo’s mistake-riddled, poorly written bourbon shortage article for Australia’s The New Daily. Focusing just on the objective problems, Colangelo confused Buffalo Trace, the esteemed distillery located in Frankfort, Kentucky, with Buffalo, New York. He also couldn’t keep the terms “brewery” and “distillery” straight. I have come to expect articles flogging the dead bourbon shortage horse to rely on sensationalism rather than quality, but this stuff was just plain bad.
As these examples show, the old adage “don’t believe everything you read” is just as true for whiskey writing as it is for anything else, and the only surprising aspect of this seventh time around for “Bad Whiskey Writing” is that Business Insider didn’t provide any fodder for it. I understand that everyone makes mistakes, of course, but glaring mistakes like these come from a lack of fact checking and a casual disrespect for the subject. So, when it comes to whiskey, stick with the sources that know it and love it.
