And He's Off!

I'm referring to one Robert Parker who is apparently the “Big Deal” of wine reviewers. He noticed that bourbon has become very popular and decided to way-in on the matter.

His attempt to review said spirits on the K & L Wine Merchants site (http://spiritsjournal.klwines.com/klwinescom-spirits-blog/2013/5/7/robert-parker-tackles-bourbon.html) has raised the hackles of bourbon bloggers everywhere.

While Mr Parker is being widely criticized for his lack of knowledge exposed in the piece, others are concerned that the Parker “sheeple” as one blogger put it, will now seek to add bourbons to their collection putting more pressure on what is already a seller's market.

In the best tradition of Talk Soup and The Daily Show satire, SKU has returned volley.

http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2013/05/skus-guide-to-wine.html

If you are not sure why Parker's review was so laughable then head over to the The real bourbon forum at Straightbourbon.com and view the “Amusing-yet-scary” thread

http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?19988-Amusing-yet-scary

Or have it all boiled down by a real expert – Chuck Cowdery on his blog piece entitled “God-Like, Robert Parker Conquers (His Word) Bourbon in One Fell Swoop.

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2013/05/god-like-robert-parker-conquers-his.html

For someone with such chops the article was surprisingly poorly researched.

I was wondering when Henry Rollins made a bourbon... oh wait....

Reading thru the Straight Bourbon thread was fun- haven't read it for a long time.
I loved the: " they love it ( Blanton's ) because of the cute little guy on the Horsey....

It would be an ok article if it just wasn't so arrogant. It's interesting to see a famous wine critic try new things, but to sell it that it was a "conquering" of an entire class of spirits that he knows little to nothing about it atrocious. No Wild Turkey? Shame.

It reads like an expose on a fad for a fashion magazine. You find the most expensive offering in a certain trend, proclaim it the best, extoll it's virtues with hyperbole, and that's a wrap!

I'm not surprised at the outrage exhibited by some serious Bourbon people - read Scotch & Ice Cream blog for an example that's over the top.

I particularly loved his reference to "Justified", one of my favorite shows. The really bad guy liked his coffee with "a kick" which meant add a little Pappy's. Oh what a waste, but what do you expect of a guy from Detroit that makes a living dealing meth from Harlan County?

Parker has a great palate. He nailed most of the tasting notes. His reasoning for why a Bourbon exhibited certain flavors were laughable in some cases but I thought it was a fun read.