A market guide records products, prices, ownership, sourcing, packaging, ratings, availability, and professional language at a particular time; volatile fields must carry an observation date and later verification.
Some fields—such as declared mash bill or still type—may remain stable for long periods, but stability must be demonstrated rather than assumed from the guide's format.
The North American Whiskey Guide from Behind the Bar — complete literature noteBourbon Whiskey: Our Native Spirit — full-source synthesisBourbon Curious — full-source synthesisBourbon, Straight — full-source synthesisKentucky Bourbon Country — full-source synthesisAmerican whiskey regions, provenance, production, and change — SpoelmanMalt Whisky — Full-Source Literature NoteThe book's repeated profiles combine durable specifications with fast-changing commercial fields. Importing them into a single timeless product record would obscure change and create false currency. Model each observation with source, date, field-level confidence, and current-verification status.
Retained at Developing. Berkey and LeBlanc supply a 2014 product guide; Lubbers independently supplies a dense 2011–2012 directory of distilleries, personnel, routes, venues, products, ages, proofs, prices, and tourism statistics that is valuable precisely as a dated snapshot, not a current guide.
A Zettel is one durable idea in your own words—not a quotation, source summary, or draft-book claim.
Atomic idea
State one complete idea. It should be understandable on its own and specific enough to connect to other notes.
Reasoning
Explain why the idea is true or useful in Rationale and Implications. Record meaningful objections or exceptions in Counterpoints.
Provenance
Connect one or more Literature Notes. Direct source relations are legacy-only; trace evidence through the literature-note and excerpt chain.
Connections
Apply approved Tags for retrieval and one or more Themes only when the note genuinely advances those interpretive threads.
Maturity checklist
Bourbon Curious — September 29 complete-review qualification
The Hudson age conflict157 and ambiguous unheaded profile217 show that even a dated guide can contain internal uncertainty. Retain conflicting fields instead of filling them from adjacent products. Booker's375-barrel account191 conflicts with Atlas single-barrel wording; neither should silently overwrite the other.
Existing statement, maturity and other source contributions retained.
North American guide re-examination — September 29, 2026
Dated does not mean internally reliable. The North American Whiskey Guide (2014) contains conflicting age and mash fields (PDF61,233,247,273) and duplicated Wiser notes(315–319). Proposed Academy catalog exercise: retain source/date and field-level conflict flags before comparing with Risen2013, Bourbon Curious2015 and Atlas2021. A newer observation does not silently repair an older one.
Source synthesis:
Spoelman — September 29 full-source qualification
The2024 guide adds field-level conflicts, not just age-related drift: PDF169 lists VanBrunt84proof in prose and92in its card;333 gives Glyph43proof versus86card. Record conflicts explicitly alongside Berkey/LeBlanc2014 and Risen2013 rather than choosing whichever guide is newest.
Existing statement, maturity and other source contributions retained.
Kentucky Bourbon Country (2020) — full-reading audit
PDF sheet 22 says the observations were collected over six years. A 2020 publication date therefore does not date every observation to 2020. Hours, fees, products, ownership and visitor arrangements require current verification. Conflicting employment/payroll figures on sheet 17 also show why dating a claim is necessary but insufficient: the underlying figure still needs checking.
Existing maturity and other-source contributions retained. Locators refer to the 317-sheet supplied PDF; proposed applications remain internal.
Malt Whisky — fresh contribution audit
PDF224 dates the directory to2010, while copyright439–442 lists revisions through2011 and reprints through2014. Publication history does not make every directory observation contemporaneous. Internal conflicts also require retention: Deanston label280 versus prose281 differs in ABV; Glenglassaugh301 mixes closed/restarted status; Auchentoshan239/Aultmore241 repeat a tasting paragraph. Record both observation date and field-level reliability. Visitor details413–424 are historical, not current planning information.
This bounded contribution follows reading all442 supplied screens; it preserves other-source evidence, relations and maturity. It does not certify all linked works, attached/cloud copy identity or browser rendering. Proposed Academy uses remain internal.