Tales of the Cocktail® New Orleans 2016

We are no longer living in bourbon’s stone ages.

Forty years ago, a bourbon distiller would lose his job if he tried to age bourbon in a used barrel, add a two syllable grain or, egad, actually experiment with new yeasts. But today, experimentation, funky grains and used wine casks are bourbon’s future. 

Welcome to the New Age of Bourbon, a time when the old guard have eased up their relentless and clandestine effort to keep bourbon the same. Since 2000, more than 200 finished barrel bourbons and unconventional mashbills havesuccessfully hit the market, won awards and created a healthy new subcategory in America’s spirit. Now that these NewAged Bourbons are proven to be more than just a fad to die when hipsters find a barbershop, what do we do with them?

In The New Age of Bourbon, an esteemed panel explain the trends creating this new style and explain how they actually do give an old tried-and-true spirit new flavor profiles. The seminar will explain how distillers are able to sneak “used cooperage” past the pesky U.S. law that states bourbon must be aged only in “new charred oak.” This seminar also focuses on how the New Aged Bourbon nuances can lead to new style of whiskey cocktails.