![Issue November 2013](http://swap.stanford.edu/was/20100322163935im_///cdn.theatlantic.com/static/newsroom/img/2013/10/23/1113_Cover_TOC/mag-issue-medium.jpg?mv599p)
The New Science of Old Whiskey
Bourbon makers attempt to perfect a 2,000-year-old invention.
Wayne Curtis is an Atlantic contributing editor.
The theory and practice of serving a drink vibrated, not stirred
How the liquor’s marketing success among both rappers and codgers has blinded consumers to its subtler pleasures
Liquor companies love to claim they use closely guarded, centuries-old recipes. usually it’s just marketing.
At the Aviary, in Chicago, bartenders experiment with cocktails that evolve as you sip them
A New Zealand bartender learns what pirates and sailors knew long ago: explosives and liquor mix just fine.
In San Francisco, two dominant trends of the cocktail world are converging, with exquisite results.
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