American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye

Clay Risen is an editor at the New York Times, where he has written extensively on whiskey, rum, and other spirits. He has also written for The Atlantic, Smithsonian, and the Washington Post. He is the author of A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination (Wiley, 2009) and The Bill of the Century: The Epic Battle for the Civil Rights Act (Bloomsbury, 2014). Risen grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and lives in Brooklyn, NY, with his wife and two young children.

Praise for American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye  “A comprehensive and opinionated guide for the intermediate tippler . . . It’s a detailed, admirably cranky directory. Risen’s tasting notes for each are erudite and fun.”—Wall Street Journal  “Risen is something of a Renaissance man . . . a Leonardo da Vinci of whiskey. American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye . . . should have a proud place on the bookshelf (or by the bar) of anyone who is an enthusiast of bourbon and other American whiskeys. Very useful for shopping purposes . . . Bring this book with you.”—Los Angeles Review of Books  “Risen delicately walks readers into whiskey’s past, present, and future. . . . His words are meant for whiskey lovers, as he dissects every brand’s story and scores products on an NR (not recommended) to four-star scale. An American whiskey treasure worthy of four stars.”—Whiskey Advocate  “A whiskey novice’s best friend . . . It’s a book I plan on keeping around for constant reference.”—Saveur