Clay Risen, a reporter at The New York Times, is the author of a series of best-selling spirits books including American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation’s Favorite Spirit, Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland, and Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Original Spirit. When he’s not writing about whiskey, he writes about American history, including, most recently, The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century.

A graduate of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and the University of Chicago, Risen grew up in Nashville and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife and two young children.

Critical Acclaim for Risen's American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit

“A comprehensive and opinionated guide for the intermediate tippler . . . It’s a detailed, admirably cranky directory. Risen’s tasting notes for each are erudite and fun.” 
—Wall Street Journal

“Risen is something of a Renaissance man . . . a Leonardo da Vinci of whiskey. American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye . . . should have a proud place on the bookshelf (or by the bar) of anyone who is an enthusiast of bourbon and other American whiskeys. Very useful for shopping purposes.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books

“Risen delicately walks readers into whiskey’s past, present, and future . . . His words are meant for whiskey lovers, as he dissects every brand’s story and scores products on an NR (not recommended) to four-star scale. An American whiskey treasure worthy of four stars.” —Whiskey Advocate