Where to get “The Good Stuff” this week

There are plenty of opportunities this week to enjoy Al Capone’s favorite Prohibition Era whiskey, Templeton Rye. Start by attending River North’s “Jingle and Mingle” holiday celebration Wednesday, Dec. 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The James Hotel (55 E. Ontario St.). Enjoy music from a pianist from The Redhead Piano Bar and Dickens-era carolers as well as three separate classic cocktail bars featuring Templeton Rye favorites. Tickets are $40 in advance or $50 at the door and can be purchased at www.rivernorthassociation.com.

The End of the Noble Experiment
Congress repealed the Prohibition Act on December 5, 1933. Templeton Rye and several Chicago area bars are celebrating Repeal Day with special events and classic TR cocktails.

In Fine Spirits (5420 N. Clark St., 773-334-9463) is hosting Templeton Rye and celebrating the 76th Anniversary of Prohibition Repeal Day from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. Enjoy specials on Templeton Rye Prohibition cocktails including The Capone, Manhattan, Old Fashioned, Corpse Reviver No. 2, Old Tom Collins, Clover Club and Sidebar.

Calling all flappers, ladies and gents! Join Fion Wine & Spirits (426 W. Diversey Pkwy; 773-549-5400) for its 2nd annual celebration of the Repeal Prohibition 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 5. The $40 “Noble Experiment” package includes domestic bottles, call drinks, Segrura Viudas Cava, Prohibiton Era cocktails including the Templeton Rye Old Fashioned, plus Planter’s Punch and passed appetizers. Tickets are just $35 if guests wear a Prohibition Era costume. Templeton Rye is also giving away TR flasks and t-shirts. Call (773) 868-8073 for details.

Suburbanites can also celebrate Repeal Day with the Walnut SpeakEasy (214 Walnut Ave., Elgin, Ill.; 847-695-2420) Saturday, Dec. 5 until 2 a.m. Enjoy free live jazz, complimentary shoe shines and Templeton Rye cocktail specials while celebrating the end of the “Noble Experiment.” Guests are encouraged to don flapper dresses and gangster suits to join the celebration. Cash prizes are awarded to the best dressed. Templeton Rye also has special giveaways and promotions.

Iowa Spirits Night
Colleen Graham, author of the Cocktails Guide for the New York Times’ About.com and S&C Graham Foto Design are hosting an evening of Iowa Spirits on Thursday, Dec. 3 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the S&C Studios (220 Main St., Cedar Falls, Iowa). The open house event brings together parties from Iowa’s distilled spirits industry including Templeton Rye whiskey from Templeton, Iowa and Clearheart Spirits of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Enjoy complimentary libations while viewing artwork from several talented local artists. Visit www.scgrahamfoto.com for more information.

Give the gift of Rye this Holiday Season
Templeton Rye makes the perfect holiday gift for a special loved one. Since supply is limited, be sure to visit www.templetonrye.com to see where to find “The Good Stuff.”

Jingle & Mingle at The James Hotel

There’s no better time to celebrate the holidays than at “River North’s Jingle & Mingle Holiday Party,” hosted by the River North Business Association (RNBA) from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2 at The James Hotel (55 E. Ontario St., Chicago; 312-337-1000).

The holiday celebration features a live pianist from The Redhead Piano Bar, as well as Dickens-era carolers and a classic cocktail bar presented by Templeton Rye whiskey. Tickets for the event are $40 in advance and $50 at the door, and can be purchased by calling the RNBA office at (312) 645-1047 or visiting http://www.rivernorthassociation.com/. The event is open to the public.

There will be opportunities to win a variety of prizes, including weekend packages featuring tickets to the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks, and event passes and hotel stays. Passed appetizers and an open bar are included in the price of admission. “River North’s Jingle & Mingle Holiday Party” sponsors include: The Redhead Piano Bar, The James Hotel, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., Erie-LaSalle Body Shop and Car Care Center, Templeton Rye whiskey, KaBloom Flowers, Goose Island Brewery and Kurman Communications, Inc.

About River North Business Association:
The River North Business Association was founded in 1981 and quickly became a force in the community, representing businesses and providing member services to help them succeed. The RNBA hopes to preserve a community environment that will provide a high quality of life for all who live, work and visit River North. For more information on the participating businesses and their discount offers, visit http://www.rivernorthassocation.com/ or call (312) 645-1047.

Meet the Maker of Templeton Rye whiskey at Market for a dinner inspired by the "Good Stuff"

The whiskey river is flowing at Market where Templeton Rye Master Distiller Keith Kerkoff will be hosting a four-course dinner with cocktail pairings from the Iowa distillery from 7 p.m.-10p.m. this Tuesday, September 15 at Market (1113 W. Randolph St., Chicago, Ill.). The cost to meet the maker is $60, which includes the entire dinner and paired whiskey cocktails.

The Templeton Rye inspired dinner will be created by Chef Joe Rosetti and will consist of four courses, each incorporating the rye whiskey. All the courses will also be paired with a Templeton Rye cocktail complementing the dishes served.

Templeton Rye is the result of the residents from the tiny town of Templeton, Iowa during the Prohibition Era who came together to create this American classic. Over the course of its storied history, Templeton Rye became Al Capone's whiskey of choice, quickly finding its way to the center of his bootlegging empire. Speakeasies in Chicago, New York and as far west as San Francisco poured Templeton Rye as the "Best Whiskey in the House".

Age in charred new oak barrels and produced from the original Prohibition Era recipe, Templeton Rye mixes spicy and sweet undertones that are well balanced, a sign of careful aging, resulting in a clean getaway. These flavors are perfect to inspire a dish and are brought out in each course of the evening at Market, one of Chicago's hottest new sports bars.

For reservations contact Giselle Caamano at Giselle@marketbarchicago.com or (312)929-4787, ext. 314. For more information about Templeton Rye whiskey, visit http://www.templetonrye.com/. Follow them on Twitter at @templetonrye.

Templeton Rye Cocktail Demonstration at Fizz Bar & Grill

Last night, the Templeton Rye team was at Fizz Bar & Grill (3220 N. Lincoln Ave.; 773-348-6000) as part of Chicago's Whiskey Week festivities. TR brand manager, Michael Killmer took center stage in front of Fizz's packed house. After showing a short film about the history of the rye whiskey, Killmer demonstrated how to make several classic cocktails using Templeton Rye, including the Sazerac, Old Fashioned and Manhattan. Guests were treated to mini samplings of the cocktails while watching a second short film about the Templeton Rye Distillerly, located in the small town of Templeton, Iowa.

Also on hand were Templeton Rye President and Founder, Scott Bush, along with Assistant Master Distiller, Keith Kerkoff. Bush's great grandfather, and Kerkoff's grandfather both made Templeton Rye whiskey decades ago. Bush and Kerkoff got together, using the Kerkoff family recipe, to create Templeton Rye as we know it today. Although TR is currently only available in Iowa and Illinois, expect a nation-wide launch in the next three to five years.

Miss last night's event? The TR team is back in action tonight, March 31, at Binny's Beverage Depot (1132 S. Jefferson St.; 312-768-4400) 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Meet the team and get an autographed bottle of Templeton Rye whiskey.

These Whiskey Week events are the kickoff to the 9th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago, put on by Malt Advocate magazine. WhiskyFest is this Wednesday, April 1 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 E. Wacker Dr.), 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Visit http://www.whiskyfest.wordpress.com/ for more information.

To learn more about Templeton Rye, visit http://www.templetonrye.com/.

(Photos: Stephanie DeMeester, Kurman Communications, Inc.)

Enjoy Templeton Rye at WhiskyFest Chicago, April 1

Templeton Rye, a rye whiskey company based in Templeton, Iowa, will be part of Malt Advocate’s 9th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago 2009, April 1 at the Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 E. Wacker Dr., 312-565-1234), from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. VIP tickets for WhiskyFest are sold out, but a limited number of general admission tickets for $95 remain.

“Chicago WhiskyFest is on par for the best event of its kind in the country,” says Templeton Rye Founder and President Scott Bush, whose company will be making its fourth appearance at WhiskyFest Chicago. “The city has a lot of whiskey expertise. Being in the same room with many other notable whiskey brands gives people to chance to see how a rye whiskey compares to other brands.”

WhiskyFest Chicago features more than 200 of the world's finest, rarest and most expensive, single malt and blended Scotch, Irish, bourbon, Tennessee, Japanese, Welsh, Canadian and other whiskies from around the world to sample in one Grand Ballroom. High-end rums, tequilas, beer and other spirits are represented as well.

The focus is on education, and various distillery representatives are at the pouring booths to explain how the whiskies are made. Seminars, many featuring their own tastings, run throughout the evening. Guests meet distinguished members of the whiskey community, and learn first-hand how their brands are made.

The father and son team of Meryl Kerkoff and Keith Kerkoff, Master and Assistant Master Distillers at Templeton Rye, respectively, will also be at WhiskyFest pouring Templeton Rye and telling Templeton Rye stories at the rye whiskey’s event booth, number 13. Meryl Kerkoff learned how to make the rye whiskey from his father, Alphons, and Keith is meticulous about keeping up the quality production started by his grandfather.

Bush, a noted craft distiller, will be part of a six-person panel discussing the practice from 8:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. at WhiskyFest.

About Templeton Rye
When prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920, enterprising residents of tiny Templeton, Iowa, population 350, came together to create an American classic known as Templeton Rye Whiskey, or “The Good Stuff” to those in the know.

Over the course of its storied history, Templeton Rye became Al Capone’s whiskey of choice, quickly finding its way to the center of his bootlegging empire. Speakeasies in Chicago, New York and as far west as San Francisco, poured Templeton Rye as the "Best Whiskey in the House." Later legends suggest that a few bottles even found their way inside the walls of Alcatraz to the cell of prisoner AZ-85.

Available legally for the first time, the infamous small batch rye whiskey returns. Aged in charred new oak barrels and produced from the original Prohibition Era recipe, Templeton Rye provides a smooth finish and a clean getaway. Find out more at www.templetonrye.com.

About WhiskyFest Chicago
Malt Advocate’s 9th Annual WhiskyFest Chicago 2009 will be at the Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 E. Wacker Dr.), from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. April 1. General admission tickets are $95. Business or business casual attire is preferred. yFor more information, please call the hotel at (312) 565-1234 or visit WhiskyFest’s blog at www.whiskyfest.wordpress.com.

Templeton Rye Event, March 25

Can't wait to get your hands on Templeton Rye? Don't forget In Fine Spirits (5418 N. Clark St., Chicago) is hosting a "Behind the Scenes at Templeton Rye" event today, March 25, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Learn more details about the event here.

"Behind the Scenes at Templeton Rye" Event March 25

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, In Fine Spirits and Templeton Rye will host a seminar and tasting, featuring Templeton Rye Prohibition Era Whiskey, a small batch rye whiskey made in the tiny town of Templeton, Iowa (population 350).

Scott Bush, president of Templeton Rye, and Michael Killmer, brand manager, will lead guests through a virtual distillery tour, and provide tastes of the product itself and cocktails based on Templeton Rye. Chef Marianne Sundquist will also pair food with the Templeton cocktails. The event will last approximately ninety minutes, in a casual format with plenty of time to interact with the Templeton Rye representatives.

“We are very pleased to host Templeton Rye, a very high quality, small batch whiskey,” said Shane Kissack of In Fine Spirits. “Templeton’s is truly a part of the history of Prohibition in Chicago, and a great ingredient in classic and modern cocktails.”

In Fine Spirits offers its wine and spirits classes, events and special tastings in its second floor event facility. With 1,600 square feet of space accommodating small and large groups, this venue is also ideal to plan private parties and receptions.

Space for this event is limited: to RSVP, call In Fine Spirits at (773) 334-9463, or purchase tickets online on our website, http://www.infinespirits.com/.


About Templeton Rye Whiskey
When prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920, many enterprising residents of tiny Templeton, Iowa, population 350, came together to create an American classic known as Templeton Rye Whiskey, or "The Good Stuff" to those in the know. Over the course of its storied history, Templeton Rye became Al Capone’s whiskey of choice, quickly finding its way to the center of his bootlegging empire. Speakeasies in Chicago, New York and as far west as San Francisco poured Templeton Rye as the "Best Whiskey in the House". Later legends suggest that a few bottles even found their way inside the walls of Alcatraz to the cell of prisoner AZ-85. Available legally for the first time, the infamous small batch rye whiskey returns. Aged in charred new oak barrels and produced from the original Prohibition Era recipe, Templeton Rye provides a smooth finish and a clean getaway. Find out more at http://www.templetonrye.com/.

About In Fine Spirits
In Fine Spirits offers Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood a destination to discover affordable, high quality wine and spirits in an educational format. Engaging classes, special tasting events and a friendly and knowledgeable staff in the retail store and bar can guide you in your exploration. For more information, visit our website: http://www.infinespirits.com/.

In Fine Spirits
5420 North Clark Street, Chicago, Illinois 60640
T: 773 334 9463
http://www.infinespirits.com/