Barrel Strength Bourbon: The Explosive Growth of America’s Whiskey

The art of creating and consuming bourbon is exploding, Carla Carlton's Barrel Strength Bourbon is a must read for all bourbon aficionados.

Barrel Strength Bourbon provides an in-depth examination of the bourbon industry in Kentucky, the creation of an American spirit, its resurrection following Prohibition, its astronomical growth in the past decade, and its potential for the future.
Readers will meet the colorful family of characters who craft bourbon by hand, visit the picturesque distilleries along rural backroads and urban centers, and learn the secrets of an American original.

The author, Carla Harris Carlton, gives readers an up-close look at how bourbon is made, how the industry was built, and how the close-knit families of bourbon crafters continue to grow a multibillion-dollar global industry while staying true to their Kentucky roots.

Readers will learn how to nose, taste, and appreciate a spirit that, while created from time-tested recipes, is evolving so quickly that new varieties and brands appear weekly on liquor store shelves.

The author, a leading bourbon journalist who routinely helps select barrels for special edition bottlings and tastes new products before most bartenders do, takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of distilleries and rickhouses, shares anecdotes from her chats with bourbon legends, and provides insight on what to expect next from one of the fastest growing spirits on Earth.

Also available are two companion ebooks:

Spirited Perfection: Building Your Bourbon Bar (ASIN: B07333YXMM)
In the past 10 years, choosing a bourbon has gone from underwhelming to overwhelming and author Carla Carlton is here to help you navigate this boom. In this book, she offers tasting notes on various bourbons and rye whiskies so you know what to stock at home. Carlton also helps you choose the appropriate bar tools, glassware and mixers to have on hand.

Still Life: The Resurgence of Craft Bourbon (ASIN: B07335HMMM)
The art of creating and consuming bourbon is exploding. Today you will find craft bourbon distilleries in all 50 states. As mixologists and distillers find the space, market and financial success to fully explore their trade, the world is taking notice. It's in the middle of this expanding industry that author Carla Carlton takes the time to connect all the dots for you, the bourbon enthusiast. She concisely maps out the seeds of the newest trends and shows why certain classic bourbon brands and bottles have grown while others have been washed away.

These special edition e-only books are a wonderful and informative read on their own, but are also the perfect chaser to Carlton's Barrel Strength Bourbon, now out in bookstores and online everywhere.

Carla Harris Carlton is an award-winning bourbon journalist and speaker who writes regularly about bourbon in various newspapers and magazines. She also covers all aspects of the industry in her blog TheBourbonBabe.com, which draws readers from around the globe. Her work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, as well as in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Carla is a founding member and current board member of Bourbon Women, an organization begun in Kentucky in 2010 for women who are passionate about exploring bourbon and the culture that surrounds it. Bourbon Women now has more than 600 members in 23 states and three countries.

Carla comes by her taste for whiskey honestly: Her grandmother worked the bottling line at Seagram’s in Louisville, Kentucky, in the late 1930s, and her grandfather grew his own mint for his yearly Derby Day julep. Her personal bourbon collection recently topped 100 bottles.

Carla lives in Louisville with her husband, Chad, and their children, Harper and Clay, who know way more about bourbon than they probably should.

Also available are two companion ebooks:

Spirited Perfection: Building Your Bourbon Bar (ASIN: B07333YXMM)
In the past 10 years, choosing a bourbon has gone from underwhelming to overwhelming and author Carla Carlton is here to help you navigate this boom. In this book, she offers tasting notes on various bourbons and rye whiskies so you know what to stock at home. Carlton also helps you choose the appropriate bar tools, glassware and mixers to have on hand.

Still Life: The Resurgence of Craft Bourbon (ASIN: B07335HMMM)
The art of creating and consuming bourbon is exploding. Today you will find craft bourbon distilleries in all 50 states. As mixologists and distillers find the space, market and financial success to fully explore their trade, the world is taking notice. It’s in the middle of this expanding industry that author Carla Carlton takes the time to connect all the dots for you, the bourbon enthusiast. She concisely maps out the seeds of the newest trends and shows why certain classic bourbon brands and bottles have grown while others have been washed away.

These special edition e-only books are a wonderful and informative read on their own, but are also the perfect chaser to Carlton’s Barrel Strength Bourbon, now out in bookstores and online everywhere.