Who is the typical bourbon drinker? Judging by the marketing for most whiskeys, a safe guess would be a white man, of middle age, and Southern by birth or at least aspiration. It could be a blond woman in full Kentucky Derby pastels, holding a mint julep . Many people would probably not picture someone like Samara Rivers, because African-Americans like her are almost completely absent from bourbon marketing. That’s why Ms. Rivers founded the Black Bourbon Society, a national organization for African-American whiskey fans that since its creation two years ago has grown to more than 4,700 members.

Source: New York Times May 20, 2019 16:56 UTC