by EHM » Thu Oct 09, 2014 2:55 pm
Oops! Didn't mean to leave out Jim Rutledge...you're right about him being one of the greats!
While Mike isn't necessarily a legend in the same way as the master distillers/blenders, I do think he's done a lot to help the industry. In my mind, the bourbon industry relies on educated consumers more than many other industries. It's the educated and excited bourbon drinkers that reach for Four Roses over Jim Beam and drive enough interest in the specialty bottles to make them worthwhile financially for the distillers to produce. Sure we need the guys who are experts at making whiskey...they're undoubtedly the soul of the bourbon world, but I think we also need guys like Mike to teach the rest of us how to love bourbon. And once we know enough to love it, then we' start trying all the other good brands out there and we keep the industry going. Without the Mikes of the world (and many similar people on this site) to teach us, very few of us would ever make it past that initial shot of Jim Beam in college...and that would be a shame. And yes, he does have access to a lot of books, but it's the fact that he shares what is in those books with others that impresses me. He may not be the absolute expert and we may not agree with all of his analysis, but I have to appreciate him for his passion and for helping the rest of us get a little closer to the history and the community that makes bourbon so great.
That said... I'm new here and definitely not an expert on this and don't know any of them personally, but i do appreciate the roles that each of them have played in this industry. And in a community that has seen a growing trend in negative attacks (NDP bashing, Insane price markups, misleading marketing, mean posts,...) , its kind of refreshing to hear about some bourbon history from a guy who lives it every day and still loves to talk about it...
So that's why I think Mike deserves a spot on the list...