Have you ever heard of the Bottled-in-Bond Act?
We haven’t either, but we’re quite glad it exists, because before it was passed in 1897, distillers could put whatever they wanted into bourbon to add color and flavor.
Think iodine, tobacco and paint thinner.
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the passage of the act, The John G. Carlisle Bottled-in-Bond Competition & Celebration is scheduled for March 3 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Smoke Justis in Covington.
The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and meetNKY are hosting the event, which celebrates the influence John G. Carlisle — who served as speaker of the House, secretary of the Treasury and U.S. Senator before he died in 1910 — had on guiding the act to Congress.
“We recognize the Act not only as America’s first product protection legislation, but also as no less than the world’s highest quality standard for a brown, aged spirit,” says Jay Erisman, “Whiskey Man” and co-founder of New Riff Distilling, whose entire distilling philosophy is based on the Bottled-in-Bond tradition. “We’re proud to provide a new riff on this greatest of Kentucky whiskey traditions—and bring it back home to Northern Kentucky where it started with John G. Carlisle.”
The March 3 event includes a four-course meal with four blind pours and a guided tasting of some Bottled-in-Bond varietals. Vote for the best, which will receive the John G. Carlisle Award.
Tickets are $40 per person. Purchase them here.