Editorial Standards

The Bourbon Road is an independent bourbon and whiskey podcast produced by The Bourbon Road LLC in Simpsonville, Kentucky. The site at thebourbonroad.com publishes episode notes, scored tasting reviews, distillery profiles, and industry news. This page describes how we source, write, and correct that work so readers know what to expect.

Who writes for us

Articles are authored by named people — primarily host Jim Shannon and co-host Todd Ritter, occasionally by past co-hosts (Mike Hiatt, Brian Hyatt, Randy Minnick) or by named guest contributors. Every post shows a byline. We don't publish anonymously or under pen names.

How we source stories

• Tasting reviews come from bottles we have personally tasted, usually as part of an episode recording. Scores use our published 5.0 scale and reflect the hosts' impressions on the day of the pour.
• Distillery profiles and interviews are based on first-hand visits, conversations with the people involved, and material published by the distilleries themselves.
• News articles are sourced from official producer announcements, press releases, regulatory filings (TTB COLA database), and reputable industry trade press. We attribute clearly when we are summarizing someone else's reporting, and we link out to the original source whenever practical.

Fact-checking

Before publishing news or distillery information, we verify proof, age, mash bill, price, release date, and any quoted statements against at least one primary source — most often the producer's own press release, label filing, or website. When a fact cannot be verified, we either omit it or flag it explicitly ("the producer has not disclosed…" / "we were unable to confirm…").

Corrections

If we get something wrong, we fix it. Material corrections — a misstated proof, a wrong distillery attribution, an error in a person's name — are updated in the article body and noted with a brief correction line at the top or bottom of the post. We do not silently rewrite the historical record. Email team@thebourbonroad.com to flag an error.

Sponsorships and paid relationships

Some podcast episodes include sponsored ad reads from named partners. These are clearly identified in the episode itself. Sponsorship of the podcast never determines what we cover in editorial content or how a bottle is scored. If a written article is sponsored, paid, or otherwise the result of a commercial relationship (e.g., a press trip or a complimentary tasting sample), we disclose that at the top of the article. Most of our content is not sponsored.

Affiliate links

We may occasionally include affiliate links to retailers when those links benefit readers (e.g., a direct path to buy a hard-to-find bottle). Affiliate participation does not influence which bottles we review or how we score them. When an article contains affiliate links, we say so.

AI use

Show notes for back-catalog episodes are generated from full audio transcripts by a language model and then reviewed before publishing. Tasting summaries on detail pages are produced the same way and tied back to the source transcript. All written blog articles are authored by humans; AI is not used to generate article prose.

Independence

The Bourbon Road is independently owned and operated. We are not a wholly-owned property of, or financially controlled by, any whiskey producer, distributor, retailer, or trade group. Hosts and contributors are not compensated by producers for favorable coverage.

Contact

Editorial questions, corrections, story tips, or feedback: team@thebourbonroad.com.