On May 1, 2020 the first installment of “Bourbon News & Notes,” a weekly Friday morning column written by Susan Reigler, appeared here at Food & Dining Magazine’s web site.

For those readers who may have been looking for “Bourbon News & Notes,” we’re in the process of making a few changes, and Susan’s column currently is on hiatus. I don’t know just now whether or when the column will return, but kindly note that you can read Susan’s “Gifts for Bourbon Lovers” in the Winter 2021 print edition of F&D, followed immediately by her longer-form profiles of the Fork & Barrel and Morning Fork restaurants on Frankfort Avenue.

It has been my great pleasure as F&D’s digital editor to work with Susan these past 18 months. My own bourbon knowledge has grown exponentially through the simple act of laying out her column each week.

I’m by no means qualified to put my name to a continuation of “Bourbon News & Notes,” which will be retired for now, and yet we receive a steady stream of e-mails and iformation releases about bourbon. Every second or third Friday I’ll try to gather a compendium of links and news items gleaned from these.

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Founded in 2011, the Bourbon Women Association was the first female-focused consumer group in the bourbon industry, and currently has 15 branches with members in 39 states and Australia. An recent information release detailed a new educational outreach from the Bourbon Women.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 9, 2021) — The Bourbon Women Association Board of Directors announced formation of the new Bourbon Women Education Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit tasked with raising and dispersing funds for Bourbon Women educational opportunities, including the Amber Circle training and leadership cohort program and other educational opportunities that support women and people from diverse backgrounds in the beverage alcohol and related industries. For more information, visit bourbonwomenfoundation.org.

In a similar vein, Trouble Bar has launched a pioneering private barrel program.

Louisville bar’s barrel program among first to be founded by women, by Jason Thomas (Louisville Business First)

Trouble Bar in Shelby Park has announced it has acquired a license allowing it to sell liquor by the bottle, as well as by the pour, and intends to use the license exclusively to launch a private barrel program.

The program will be one of the only selection programs led by a bar and its bartenders, and will be one of the only private barrel programs in the country founded and led exclusively by women.

There’ll soon be another place to pursue your bourbon muse.

‘Vintage’ bourbon bar, bottle shop to open on one of Highland’s busiest streets, by Ben Tobin (Louisville Courier Journal)

(Owen) Powell and his business partner Danielle Elder are launching a new venture on one of the busiest roads in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood: A 1920s-feel bourbon bar and bottle shop. Neat Bourbon Bar & Bottle Shop will be located at 1139 Bardstown Road, with the goal to open it in December, according to Powell and Elder.

Finally, in a news release the Kentucky Distillers’ Association revealed that four distilleries have been added to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour®, as showcasing “micro distilling craftsmanship.”

The newest additions are:

KDA President Eric Gregory commented.

The new members swell the ranks of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour® to an all-time high of 23 distilleries. The KDA created the statewide journey in 2012 as the nation’s first attraction to feature the burgeoning boutique distilling movement. Coupled with the 18 larger-scale distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tour, the KDA now boasts a record 41 immersive experiences for Bourbon and spirits lovers to enjoy when visiting the Bluegrass State. The KDA founded the Kentucky Bourbon Trail® tour in 1999.

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