Blanton's Bourbon: Making History, One Barrel At A Time

A bottle of Blanton’s — the Flatiron Room barrel pick, to be precise. (Photo by me)

In 2021, I wrote about the history of Blanton’s Bourbon for The Bourbon Review, a Kentucky-based mag without a huge online presence and with a paywall for certain articles, including mine. I believe it was written at the behest of the brand, meaning it was sponsored content and not a genuine editorial piece. But I wasn’t out to do a hatchet job anyway. It was fashionable at the time, and probably still is now, to trash Blanton’s and compare it unfavorably to what they were doing 10-20 years ago. And truth be told, I haven’t had a lot of vintage Blanton’s — I actually have a rare mini (or “airline bottle” as they used to be called) from the early ‘90s which I was going to share with the editor/publisher of The Bourbon Review when the piece was published, but one thing led to another and it never happened. Anyway, I still think Blanton’s is a very fine bourbon, although not one I drink very often, perhaps because of all the negative opinions about it.

Anyway, the other day, I got a message from someone I didn’t know on Instagram, referring to it and also noting I’d missed a semi-important fact about Blanton’s famous equine bottle stoppers. To be honest, I’d forgotten I even wrote the damn thing. Once a piece is done and it’s been published and the check has cleared, it’s on to the next one and the old stuff is ancient history (my forgetfulness is part of why this website exists, so I can find my writing all in one place). But it led me to investigate whether the article had finally made it online, and if so, whether I’d gotten the info incorrect. Well, I found it at the Bourbon Country Visitor’s Guide, a publication I’d never heard of. Alas, freelancers don’t generally get paid when their stuff gets picked up elsewhere, so I didn’t see a dime from the BCVG. But at least I finally get to share it with you here. The layout is pretty wonky, but at least they spelled my name right. And I did mention the info about the bottle stoppers, by the way. Link is -> HERE <-.