Too often when a bartender is asked which bourbons his or her bar carries, the list invariably includes Jack Daniel’s sour-mash Tennessee whiskey. But as most residents of the Volunteer State know, Tennessee whiskey is an entirely different libation from bourbon, even though they share many traits. Bourbon must be made in the United States, but contrary to popular belief, it can be made anywhere in the country. It is by a unique combination of history and geography that 95 percent of all bourbon is now made in…

There’s more than one strategy for success in Thoroughbred racing, which means every owner has a chance to win at Churchill Downs.
It’s nearing two o’clock in the afternoon and the SoCal sun is beating down on Santa Anita Park just east of Pasadena. It’s the second day of November—the 30th running of the Breeders’ Cup—and the mercury has reached its zenith for the day. Down by the paddock, the owners and trainers dressed in their race-day best—be it bow ties and fedoras or wide-brimmed hats and form-fitting c…

Since its debut nine years ago, Hublot’s Big Bang collection of wristwatches has ballooned to include a diverse range of styles, from sleek and highly mechanical to fun and colorful. Though the line has become extremely varied over the years, the circular shape of the watches’ cases has never changed—until now. The Hublot Spirit of Big Bang is the latest addition to the collection and a radical departure for the series, thanks to its unique tonneau case, which derives its name from the French word for “tun” (a…

An infamous electric guitar, revered Scottish racing vehicles, the first American gold coin, and more.
$3.2 million
During an RM Auctions sale in Paris in early February, a handful of noteworthy racecars crossed the block, including a 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder and a 2008 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Le Mans prototype, though few met their reserves. One that did, a 1982 Porsche 956 Group C Sports-Prototype, sold for €2,352,000 (about $3.2 million).
Porsche’s 956 was the German automaker’s first model to featu…

When Joe Bortz was 8 years old, his father bought him a bicycle. This was no ordinary bicycle; it was a newspaper-delivery model—one with a smaller front wheel, which was necessary to accommodate a large frame-mounted basket just below the handlebars. Whether or not the bike was the elder Bortz’s idea of a subtle hint remains a mystery. Bortz never picked up a paper route, but the bike still saw plenty of use.
As a boy, Bortz was fascinated by automobiles, and he spent his afternoons riding his bike to the di…

The Car
From the outset, Enzo Ferrari committed his racing team, Scuderia Ferrari, to success on the track. Following a victorious 1953 campaign—which resulted in a World Sportscar Championship—Ferrari set his sights on another world title and commissioned engine designer Aurelio Lampredi and Italian coachbuilder Pinin Farina to design a new V-12-
powered spider. The resulting racecar, known as the 375 Plus, led Scuderia Ferrari to victories at Le Mans, Silverstone, and the five-day Carrera Panamericana road…

At the beginning of the 20th century, the maker of the most stylish and practical custom luggage in Paris was not Louis Vuitton or Goyard, but Pauline Moynat. The only prominent female practitioner of the era, Moynat created distinctively curvaceous bags and witty conceptual pieces, such as a round trunk designed to hold a spare tire that could also, in a pinch, be filled with water to serve as a bathtub. She founded her business, Moynat, in 1849, and by 1854 she owned the patent for canvas coated with gutta-p…