* Signed bookplate * Bourbon is a $10 billion industry filled with folklore, half-truths, and downright lies and no one carries more influence than one man in an ascot: Fred Minnick. His podcast and newsletter set the trends that move the market. So when Fred let it slip on BBC radio that vintage, long forgotten '69 Old Crow was his favorite bourbon of all time, confused shrugs were followed by soaring prices—from $40 to $3,000 in a single year. It was an unconventional choice. A 150 year legacy brand, once loved by presidents, statesmen, and novelists, Old Crow was confined to the bottom shelf for the last 35 years after being acquired and dismantled by the Jim Beam brand.