Okay, let's get something straight right from the beginning...
I could not possibly be more respectful of Chuck Cowdery than I am.
Period.
Chuck is one of the "gods" from whom I learned about what American whiskey is all about. He is also one of (maybe the ONLY one of) my "mentors" who has always stressed the idea of looking beyond the "generally accepted" marketing hype and checking out whether what we're being told actually corresponds to what our own intellegence says. They are often not the same thing. And Chuck isn't afraid to provoke us into thinking that way. Thank you, Mr. Cowdery.
Of course, that doesn't mean I agree with him. Way, WAY, NO!! But it's never been Chuck's point that you agree with him.
It's never been mine, either, and I'm another person who often gets quoted as if I knew what I was talking about.
In this particular case, I totally agree with the good commentator from Chi-town.
I'm not even sure that many who think they disagree would, if they realized what Chuck is saying here... Please take these thoughts into consideration:
(1) "Bourbon" is a particular KIND of whiskey. It has particular qualities that are common to the familiar brands, and which are also LEGALLY applicable to other expressions. The fact is, though, that "Bourbon", like many other "heritage" things, is very narrowly defined in people's minds and is, basically, a fantasy product that exists only as a number of recognizable brands -- even if the actual whiskey no longer bears any resemblance to the whiskey that those brands once represented.
(2) Very good whiskey, often made with processes that are different from "standard" bourbon-distilling processes -- including different maturing styles, is being made today by distillers (and bottlers) that tastes delicious... and TRIES to, but should NOT, attempt to call itself "bourbon"
(3) Among those, there are many very fine-tasting products that have, among their flavor characteristics, the peculiar -- and for many people, quite desireable -- flavor that is inherent in short-term, small-barrel aging. The point -- and I believe this is Chuck's point -- is that that particular flavor is NOT characteristic of what people normally associate with good "bourbon". In fact, it is a flavor that is considered to be INAPPROPRIATE for whiskey that is labelled as "bourbon".
I totally agree. My position (and it might be Chuck's as well, although I can't remember him ever actually expressing it as such) is that "BOURBON" is NOT the "be all" and "end all" of American whiskey, and that products that have (and appreciate) the flavor that comes from aging in small barrels should be compared to each other, and not to a standard that is different.
(4) By the way, when I say "...a standard that is different" it is important to understand that does NOT mean a standard that is "inferior". I believe the term "American Whiskey" needs to be brought out from its present position as "whiskey that isn't good enough to be called "straight bourbon or rye" and given it's rightful position as American whiskey that is NOT "straight" rye or bourbon, even if it really does qualify as "straight" whiskey, but has other features (such as as small cooperage, or non-oak barrels, or whatever) that should put it into a different class of comparison from "traditional" bourbon, rye, scotch, etc.
In other words, it's not that Mr. Cowdery objects to the (sometimes very delicious) new spirits being marketed; it's that he (and, really I as well) object to the makers of these new spirits limiting themselves to calling it "bourbon" when it's really something else entirely. I say, Vive le Differance, and to H#!! with existing categories!