Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker

As I was getting into bourbon and realizing I could taste the difference between say a Maker's Mark and Wild Turkey 101, or even between regular Makers and Maker's 46, or two single barrels of Wild Turkey, I realized I wanted to know and understand more. Why were they different? Why are some bourbons more expensive than others? Are expensive bourbons really worth chasing or can I be just as happy with what I can find every day? How do you find a great every day bourbon? This book is a great read that really gives you a nice foundation on how bourbon was created as a category, who were the early distillers, how is it made, and how to taste and understand the differences between the overwhelming numbers of bourbons on the shelf, with more coming every day! What’s also great about the book is that it is an engaging read. Fred really does a great job presenting the information and moving through the history, production, and tasting in a way that has you salivating just as you get to the tasting part!Which leads to the second half, how to taste. This is about half of the book, which was great for me. Learning how to taste properly and understand what I like, allowed me to wade through the hype of overpriced and hard to find bourbons, and figure out what my daily drinkers would be. These detailed notes really helped me calibrate my pallet and start tasting the differences between bourbons and even barrels (I have more Wild Turkey single barrels now than most people have whiskey, lol!), as well as pick up the nuances you read in all professionally written tasting notes. While your pallet will certainly differ from others (some like wheated, some like low rye, some like high rye, etc.), I always found the best way to improve yourself is to learn from the experiences of a master like Fred and then take that knowledge to develop your own tastes.At the time I read this book I was getting interested more and more in bourbon, and this read really pushed me from excited enthusiast toward full blown whiskey geek! Pick it up and join the resurgence!

If you are curious about bourbon this is a great book to get you going. It starts off with a history of the drink as well as a definition of what bourbon is."All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon."The history section is very interesting, but cursory enough that I will probably check out Bourbon Empire at some point. The next section talks about how bourbon is made and what influences the flavor, exploring the distilling processes, what secondary ingredients, after corn, are used (rye or wheat), the quality of the ingredients, the yeast, the wood in the barrels, and how long it is aged."Bourbon is all about the barrel."The third section explores how to taste a bourbon. It makes a great reference as it groups bourbons into different categories based on the prominent flavor of the drink (grain-forward, nutmeg-forward etc). Each section also covers various bourbons and provides information such as the distillery, mashbill, proof, distillation and filtering techniques, age, and barrels per bottling (for blends).

This is a great gift for someone (wisely) now becoming interesting in bourbon. Helps you understand the process behind the spirit, but of great utility are the profile notes and chapters. Once you find some dominant flavor you like, this points you in the right direction of the various brands to try in the store or in the bar. When you watch to switch it up and try something new, just turn to a new chapter and read the taste profile for something that catches your eye. A handy and easy read for any bourbon enthusiast!

Fred Minnick's Bourbon Curious is a wonderful collection of bourbon history, facts, and legend. It's a quick read, and perfect for somebody new to the bourbon world that wants a little background, or a great way to find a page, point to the fact, and dispel a myth with somebody who *knows* that bourbon has to be made in Kentucky in order to be bourbon. I especially liked Minnick's tasting notes at the back of the book, and I have looked at them several times when tasting the bourbons on my shelves to see if my tastes are in the same ballpark as those of a trusted bourbon expert.

I'm a Stave & Thief Society Executive Bourbon Steward. I purchased the Kindle version of this book to expand my knowledge and to determine if it was something I wanted to recommend to my fellow bourbon drinkers. Mr. Minnick's writing style is clear and entertaining. The book is jam packed with information everyone who enjoys bourbon, or simply wants to know about bourbon, ought to know. It is, without a doubt, the best book about bourbon I have ever purchased, and, I have purchased more than just a few.I highly recommend this book. You will not be disappointed.

This book was extremely helpful with learning about bourbon, the different bourbon brands,owners, history, and tasting notes. It was very helpful.

I purchased this book for my boyfriend who has become quite the bourbon drinker over the past two years. He started trying a few brands and has now become quite the sampler. I thought that he needed something that would explain the notes he was tasting and somewhere to jot down some of his likes and dislikes so that he can progress in his knowledge of all things bourbon. He seems to be impressed with this book and the information it contains! He read the book on our overseas flight recently and was very excited to talk about the contents! Recommend this for anyone interested in learning about or furthering their bourbon knowledge!

Great insight into everything's thing about American bourbons this is a great book!

Bought as a gift. It arrived quickly. He liked it.

This was for my son who likes to try different types of bourbon. I don't know yet if he's read it, but he did say it looked an interesting read