Get an MBA in Bourbon

September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, a month-long celebrations designated in 2007 to honor America’s “Native Spirit.” For bourbon lovers, this is the perfect time to pour a glass and relax around an autumn fire. But here’s something to consider as you sip and savor this month – you can now get an MBA in Bourbon Education! 

Midway University in Midway, Kentucky offers a degree in Tourism and Event Management with courses in Bourbon history, distillery operations, Bourbon hospitality and a special opportunity to travel to Scotland to visit the Malt Whiskey Trail. Plus there are special independent courses that are focused on the Bourbon industry in Kentucky.

According to Dr. Tricia Day, Tourism & Event Management program coordinator at Midway, “Our goal is to take Bourbon education to the next level. We want to bridge the gap between the manufacturing side of the industry and the enthusiasts’ interest in bourbon as a craft.” 

Students can take the classes online. Only a few courses have an in-seat attendance requirement. Those that do include hands-on experiences like trips to area distilleries for tastings.

Courses offered include Bourbon Women: Craft to Consumption, Fermentation, Distillation and Maturation, Kentucky Bourbon Tourism and Distilleries and The Bourbon Experience and Hospitality. Of course, there are the required core business classes like Strategic Management, Business Law and Global Business, but to have an MBA in Bourbon in 18 months – I’m thinking this is one crafty degree.

Of course, the education will be fantastic but will the degree prove to be useful? Yep! The Kentucky Bourbon Industry generated 15,400 jobs in 2015 (That’s a 77 percent increase from just a few years ago.) with an annual payroll of $700 million. Bourbon in on the rise and this could present the perfect opportunity to get into the industry. And you can begin classes at any time. For more information contact Midway at 800-952-4122 or visit Midway University.

Cheers!

Joy

My new book The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide will be hitting bookshelves across the country this month. Click here for book information.

Join In the Month-Long Celebration of Our Native Spirit

 

By Joy Neighbors

September is National Bourbon Heritage Month. Known as America’s “Native Spirit,” Bourbon has an extensive history in the U.S., especially in Kentucky.

Elijah Craig

While Bourbon can be made anywhere, Kentucky holds claim as its birthplace. It is said that Baptist minister Elijah Craig first aged whiskey in a charred oak barrel imparting that reddish hue and distinctive taste that is the mark of a fine Kentucky Bourbon.

White Oak Barrels

Bourbon’s taste appeal comes from the amount of time it spends aging in charred white oak barrels extracting those perfect flavors of caramel, wood, nuts, spice and smoke – the taste profile of a fine Bourbon. And that caramel color is the real thing. Unlike Scotch, Bourbon is bottled the way it comes out of the barrel – in all its amber tones and rich flavors.

Just as Portugal is the only country that can call a dessert wine Port, and only Spain can craft a Sherry; only the United States can produce Bourbon Whiskey, thanks to an act of Congress in 1964. In 2007, the U.S. Senate passed the resolution decreeing September as National Bourbon Heritage Month, and so we celebrate.

In honor of the beverage, a weeklong celebration known as the Kentucky Bourbon Festival is held each autumn in Bardstown, Kentucky – “Bourbon Capital of the World.” This year will mark the 25^th anniversary of the festival, which will be held from September 12- 18. https://www.kybourbonfestival.com

Take time this month to hoist a glass of Kentucky Bourbon and celebrate National Bourbon Heritage Month in style with our only designated “Native Spirit!” 

Cheers!

5 Tips for Celebrating National Bourbon Heritage Month

It all began in 2007 when Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning sponsored a bill that proclaimed the month of September as National Bourbon Heritage Month.

Bourbon was first designated as "America’s Native Spirit” in a 1964 Act of Congress. But the Commonwealth of Kentucky has been home to bourbon and its rich, cultural history for over 200 years.

If you're looking for a way to get your Kentucky Bourbon groove on this month, here are five ideas to get you in the “spirit” of things...

Experience the Difference

Not all wines are the crafted the same, and neither are all bourbons. To discover what type of bourbon you prefer, grab a glass and explore the three main bourbon groups: traditional (corn), wheat and rye.

Traditional (corn) bourbon contains at least 70% corn with equal parts of barley and rye. Evan Williams, Jim Beam and Wild Turkey distilleries craft traditional bourbons.

Wheat bourbons contain a higher amount of wheat with corn and barley blended in. This type of bourbon is softer and sweeter than the traditional. Wheat bourbon producers include Maker’s Mark, Pappy Van Winkle and Old Grand-Dad.

Rye bourbons are heavy on rye and provide a spicy, more robust flavor profile. These bold bourbons are the mainstays of Buffalo Trace, Four Roses and Woodford Reserve distilleries.

Explore the Legacy

Brush up on your bourbon whiskey knowledge at the Oscar Getz Museum in Bardstown Kentucky. Located in Spalding Hall, this museum contains a 50-year collection of rare whiskey memorabilia, from authentic moonshine stills, to advertising art, to rare whiskey bottles, with artifacts that date from pre-colonial tines to post-Prohibition.

Celebrate the Heritage

Every September, Bardstown Kentucky – Bourbon Capital of the World – hosts the Kentucky Bourbon Festival, and this is the week! Today through Sunday (September 15 – 20, 2015) you can sample bourbons from master distillers as well as regional micro-distilleries from around the state. Enjoy historical tours, bourbon tastings and distillery trips: the trifecta for bourbon lovers.

Travel the Trail

The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, established in 1999, provides visitors with tours, tastings and information about the art and science of bourbon production. Nine distilleries make up the trail, which covers bourbon’s beginnings in the 1700s, up through the “bourbon experience” of today. The trail has averaged nearly 2.5 million visitors a year for the past five years – a great sign that bourbon is the favored “native spirit.”

Take the Craft Tour, Too

The Bluegrass State is also home to a burgeoning Craft Bourbon Trail.  This state-of-the-art tour highlights almost a dozen micro-distilleries scattered throughout Kentucky, offering handcrafted samples served with a side of entrepreneurial history and passion.

And remember, while whiskey can be made any where in the world, bourbon can only be made in the U.S.

Cheers!

Joy