Is swirling your bourbon glass just a pretentious habit you see in movies… or is there actually a *secret* to unlocking incredible flavor hidden within that simple motion?
In Episode 5 of Chasing the Unicorn: Your Quest for the Perfect Pour, we’re settling the swirl debate once and for all and diving into the captivating **SCIENCE OF SWIRLING BOURBON!**
Get ready to have your mind blown (and your nose enlightened!). We’re revealing the scientifically proven reasons why swirling is *essential* for truly experiencing the full aromatic complexity of bourbon.
About John F. Schuster II
John F. Schuster II is the host of Chasing the Unicorn Podcast and the editor and publisher of the American Whiskey Industry Brief. A retired U.S. Army Major who spent twenty-six years across the Navy and Army — and an Executive Bourbon Steward — he built a career on systems and on teaching, and now points both at American whiskey. The Cut is his daily take on what moved in bourbon and why it matters, made the way he makes everything: for someone, not everyone. More at momentfirst.com.
About Shauna Hann
Shauna Hann is the editor and a contributor across Chasing the Unicorn Podcast and the American Whiskey Industry Brief, and co-host of Beyond the Cut. A teacher of more than twenty years — including at West Point and across the U.S. Army — she brings historical depth and structural rigor to the work, and a gift for making complex things simple. More of her work is at shaunaonthego.com.
Sunday morning, two bourbon clocks. The Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Spring 2026 allocation closes today at end of business — Heaven Hill’s wheated bonded program at $44.99 and 92 points from Whisky Advocate has absorbed
More bottles than entrants. Bardstown Bourbon Company opened the Discovery Series 11 distillery lottery Thursday morning, and the math is the headline — 7,800 bottles available against 6,200 first-day entrants. That’s a 1.26 ratio,
Heaven Hill just poured concrete for a bet most of the industry hasn’t made out loud yet. The distillery broke ground today on six new warehouses outside Bardstown — about 42,000 barrels of new
Monday’s Cut opens with the value move that resets the premium bourbon shelf. Heaven Hill confirmed the Elijah Craig 18-Year Straight Bourbon at $89.99 this week — the brand’s first formal 18-year age statement,
Tonight in Boston, two hundred pours. Whiskey Riot Boston 2026 Spring opens at six o’clock tonight at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center in South Boston, and runs through Sunday afternoon. Roughly 240 American
Sazerac, the Louisiana-based owner of Buffalo Trace and Pappy Van Winkle, formally offered $15 billion in all-cash for Brown-Forman on April 15, 2026 — the largest American whiskey deal since Beam Inc.’s 2014 sale.
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