Macon Magazine

DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013 MACON MAGAZINE I 37 bottoms up On a chilly night in late October, four friends gather for a bourbon tasting in a cozy alcove of Macon's Downtown Grill. Sitting next to a roaring fire, they're sipping small glasses of amber liquid that are enough to take the edge off the bitter wind picking up outside. They all agree it is the perfect night for discovering a new, favorite bourbon. These two young couples – Susannah and Tripp Maddux, Jim and Mary- Frances Burt – join a long line of newly obsessed bourbon drinkers, thanks to the uber-cool images portrayed by the characters on "Mad Men," as well as the deliciously potent resurgence of classic and prohibition-era cocktails, whether it's a Manhattan or a complicated new concoction created by your favorite "mixologist." As the palates are becoming more delicate and open to new tastes, many of these whiskey-lovers are focusing on the small-batch bourbons such as Basil Hayden and Pappy Van Winkle that have been capturing the attentions of bartenders and collectors alike. Although it has been difficult to track the definite number of new craft or small-batch bourbon makers (the Kentucky Distillers' Association only just changed its bylaws to allow craft distillers in 2010, and there are 12 members so far), craft distillery as a whole is on the rise. The American Distilling Institute counted 68 craft distillers in 2003, and now there are 275, with an expected increase to 400 by 2015, according to The Bourbon Review. The KDA rules that a small-batch brewer must have fewer than 20,000 barrels in its inventory, but many are likely to have just a handful, about half a dozen, at one time. According to a recent article in The Post and Courier, a Charleston, S.C., newspaper, the bourbon market has been revving up since the 1990s; "and that shows no signs of letting up in the 21st century. Some have dubbed it a bourbon "renaissance" as yearly sales have climbed toward the $4 billion mark. "Banish the image of bourbon as a mature man's cocktail mixed with ginger ale or cola. Today's drinkers are just as likely to be women, 20- and 30-somethings exploring crafty new cocktails, or those who get their kicks sipping an ultra- premium small-batch bourbon." KENTUCKY SPIRIT The love of bourbon is no new thing, especially in the South. Although the only geographical stipulation that the law gives bourbon is that it must be made in America, the name still resonates strongly with Kentucky's Bourbon County, where the spirit originated more than 200 years ago. The only other rules are that at least 51 percent of the grain used must be corn, and the aging process must take place in new, white oak barrels that have been charred. This leaves a lot of room for new up-and-coming small-batch bourbon makers to experiment SMALL-BATCH BOURBON ON THE RISE Jim Burt pours for (seated) Tripp and Susannah Maddux and Mary-Frances Burt. by leila regan-porter Photography by danny gilleland

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