Author: Bill

Bill is the Co-Founder, Editor-in Chief, and official Bourbon-o-Phile for ModernThirst.com, and Founder and Chief Blending Officer for Four Gate Whiskey Company. He is a native of Louisville, KY in the heart of Bourbon Country. He attended the University of Kentucky in the mid to late 1990s. He has also been published on Liquor.com. He has conducted various bourbon and whiskey tastings in cities across the country, and consulted for multiple national labels. He is married with two daughters, and lives in east Louisville. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter @BillStraub and email him at [email protected].

Today marks the 29th anniversary of the recording of the single We are the World by the ensemble super group known as USA for Africa. The song was written by Lionel Ritchie and the late Michael Jackson, and sold over 10 million copies around the globe. It went on to win three Grammies, one AMA, and a People’s Choice Award. The artists who sang on the single included everyone from Bruce Springsteen, Joe Perry, Cyndi Lauper, Ray Charles, and Kenny Rogers to the Pointer Sisters, every other Jackson who ever recording a lyric, Dan Aykroyd, and Paul Simon. It was…

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Despite my reviews and posts often geared towards the bourbon snob, one of the more common questions posed to me is actually from people entirely unfamiliar with bourbon. It’s simply this: What kind of bourbon makes a good gift? The answer is simple in a lot of ways, but hard to answer correctly in a general setting. As with any other gift, giving bourbon requires a little thought and consideration. To whom are you giving the gift? What is the occasion? What is your budget? So what do I give the bourbon newbie? A bourbon novice probably isn’t going to…

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Today’s Daily toast was a tough one. While there are several notable events that occurred on this day, I don’t find myself inspired by them. The Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756 and Patton Oswalt in 1969. But I will dedicate today’s toast to the J.D. Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, who passed away on this day in 2010. No, I didn’t like the book…at all. It was one of the more painful reading experiences of my life, which says a lot, as I’m a very avid reader. Maybe…

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Today’s Daily Toast is an important one. So readers: take note. Today is an important birthday to us here at Modern Thirst. On this day in 1935, just 79 short years ago, canned beer was first invented. In Richmond Virginia, the first shipment of 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Cream Ale and Krueger’s Finest Beer were delivered to anxiously awaiting drinkers in Richmond Virginia. Their feedback was so positive that Krueger went into mass production mode immediately. This wasn’t the first attempt at canned beer. Some 24 years earlier, a first attempt was made, but the tin used in cans left…

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So what should we toast today? It’s a tough one. In 1737, John Hancock, the first man to sign the American Declaration of independence was born. His signature has gone on to become one of the most famous in American History and gave rise to a great Chris Farley bit in the movie Tommy Boy (“It’s Herbie Hancock. Duh!”) Some historians believe the first English parliament formally convened on this day in 1265. Consequently, on January 24th, 1265, those same historians believe the first case of political gridlock was reported. In 1789, Georgetown University in Washington D.C. was founded. In…

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January 22nd marks the 226th birthday of one George Gordon Byron, better known to literature buffs and overly dramatic high school teachers with over-inflated senses of self-worth everywhere as the poet and writer, Lord Byron. During his lifetime, Lord Byron wrote prolifically. So prolifically, in fact, that when his publisher re-published his life works in 1832, 3 years after his death, it took up FOURTEEN BOOKS to print it all. In his life, he was a mega-celebrity, with his wife actually coining the term “Byromania.” If my name worked that well with “mania,” I would hope it would become a…

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Raise your glass today to one of the most dominating athletes to ever play modern sports. Today is the 74th birthday of the one and only Jack Nicklaus. Jack, or the “Golden Bear” as he is often known, is the greatest professional golfer in the history of the sport. Jack turned professional in 1961, and by the time he retired, he had claimed an unprecedented, and still unmatched 18 career Grand Slam titles. He paired that with 73 all-time regular PGA victories, and summarily added 8 Champions Tour Majors (still the most all-time) and another 2 Champions Tour wins. His…

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[amazon_link asins=’B00H143UXW,B016YPDI3A’ template=’ProductCarousel’ store=’modernthirstc-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’5fd76d64-8352-11e7-b4ba-4ba8c9ca927a’] What it is: Knob Creek has, for some years now, been a staple of many bourbon diets. The entry level offering to Jim Beam’s Small Batch Collection, Knob Creek offers good flavors, 100 proof, and very good value for a top-shelf bourbon. It’s been the mainstay of my own bourbon shelf for the past several years. So it was not with a small amount of excitement and not without some pretty high expectations that I got to try the Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve. I found this at the Jim Beam American Stillhouse gift…

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Well this is an easy one.  Today is January 20th, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day in the United States.  This day is dedicated to a pioneer of human rights, who had a dream that all men and women would one day live peacefully together in mutual love and respect.  Dr. King pushed for equal rights in a tumultuous time in America, when an entire race of people in this country lived as second class citizens, and that divide between white and black was institutionalized, standardized, and the law of the land.  Dr. King lent a voice to the…

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