President Obama And His Growing American Whiskey Collection

Is President Obama a lover of American whiskey?

The short answer, it seems, is yes, especially when you look at recent travels he has made to parts of the country where he seems to then be returning to the White House with whiskey bottles in tow. Is there perhaps a secret whiskey speakeasy on the grounds of the presidential residence we don’t know about that he is stocking? Likely not, but the idea of knocking a glass of the brown spirit back with him while talking domestic politics certainly would be a cool idea.

So far this year the President has visited at least two locations where whiskey bottles have ended up in his hands. In the first instance, which occurred on March 18th, Obama made a trip to Cleveland, Ohio to, among other things, tour a local business incubator there. It just so happens this incubator is the home of one Cleveland Whiskey, a whiskey bottling company known for its rapid aging technology approach to crafting bourbon that’s considered quite controversial in some corners of the whiskey community.

After getting hold of two bottles of whiskey from the distillery, he later commented on his acquisitions before an audience, saying that “and right before I came here, I went to Magnet.  It’s a manufacturing incubator right here in Cleveland where smaller companies are making everything from airplane parts and medical devices to whiskey.  I did not sample the whiskey before I came here. Although I’m taking a sample home.”

Fast forward roughly two weeks later and President Obama found himself in the heart of bourbon country, Louisville, Kentucky, where he was talking job creation. It was here, courtesy of Louisville mayor Greg Fischer, that he was given not only a Louisville Slugger baseball bat, but also a case of bourbon.

Now, by case of bourbon, I don’t mean a small box, but rather, as Obama himself put it “a really big suitcase full of bourbon.  I mean, it’s a really big case.”

Taking a look at this case, which you can see pictured over at WHAS, one notes most of the major bourbon brands are covered in this trunk, including Jim Beam, Four Roses, Maker’s Mark, Woodford Reserve, Evan Williams and more. Perhaps with all of this bourbon he can now have that bourbon summit with not just U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), but the entire Republican leadership of Congress? What we would give to be a fly on the wall of that bourbon party!