Bourbon Writer Fred Minnick Makes Us Bourbon Curious

by Maggie Kimberl
August 26, 2015

Fred Minnick’s new book, Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker, has hit shelves and has already sold out of the first printing. The Whiskey Wash recently caught up with him for an interview as he prepared for his latest book signing to ask him all about it.

“I have such incredible access to new consumers,” said Minnick, citing his work with the Kentucky Derby Museum. “I figured out despite how much info is available in the geek circles, ordinary people don’t know anything about bourbon.

“I was tired of brands owning the marketplace of ideas for bourbon. Initially I didn’t want to write this book because I didn’t know if I could write anything different that wasn’t already out there,” adding publishers told him it needed to be done.

Minnick said he wanted to make a resource for bourbon newbies as well as established bourbon geeks. The book covers everything from mash bills and yeast strains to marketing legends and how they shaped the brands.

“I want new consumers to have a meaty resource guide and geeks to have answers to the questions that keep them up at night,” he said.

Still, there are some myths Minnick would like to lay to rest with this book. “The biggest myth would be the back stories that lent to lawsuits are new. This stuff has been going on forever in American whiskey. They were used even before prohibition.”

Many of these legends, Minnick stated, were created to distance the bourbon industry from some of the more unsavory truths of its early days, such as unsuccessful alliances with prostitutes and ties to slavery.

The Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker listing on Amazon appears to have been replenished, and Minnick reports Barnes and Noble is almost certain to have copies on the shelf. No matter your bourbon geekery level, Bourbon Curious is sure to have something to offer.