How Do I Decide Which Booze To Write About?

A wheated bourbon that won’t take the paint off your deck. (Photo courtesy of Green River)

A lot of folks — mostly booze publicists — ask me what makes me decide to write about some spirits but not others. For something like my Whisk(e)y Of The Week articles in Forbes, it comes down to two factors: Do I like it? And do I have something to say about it?

I have plenty of terrific booze at home that I’ll likely never write about, for various reasons — one of which is that I have nothing very compelling to say about it, apart from, you know, “Yum.” As a reader of spirits reviews, I find the stories behind the booze much more interesting than the tasting notes. If I know that the reviewer likes or dislikes it, and get a rough idea of what it tastes like, I don’t really need the endless lists of flavors and aromas detected. You know what I’m talking about: “Nose: elderberries, treacle, sandalwood, cornstarch, cherry Hubba Bubba….” I’m sure some people like that sort of thing, but it usually makes my eyes glaze over.

Because I try to write reviews I’d want to read, I prefer to tell stories more than telling you whether the apples I tasted on the finish of my bourbon are Gala or Fuji. In an ideal world, of course, I’d have interesting tasting notes as well as interesting tidbits to tell. And this week, I hit the jackpot. It’s not a rare, limited edition, super-pricey whisk(e)y, which is what I often write about, but a $35 bourbon that, while very tasty, is not going to change anyone’s life, including mine. But it gave me the opportunity to write about one of my favorite Frank SInatra albums AND I got to mention my favorite breakfast cereal, which as far as I’m concerned doesn’t get nearly enough love, in the tasting notes. Win-win! And heck, we can all use a good affordable wheated bourbon in our lives.

Read all about it (“it” being Green River’s new wheater, my latest Whisk(e)y Of The Week) by clicking the link right -> HERE <-!