The Angel’s Share Is Feeding the Devil’s Mold

TOP SHELF

The black fungus bourbon won’t talk about — but your siding sure will.

You love bourbon.

You chase rare bottles, camp out before dawn, and proudly display your dusty unicorns.

But what if your favorite pour was quietly wrecking your house?

Angel’s Share? More Like Mold’s Buffet

Every time a barrel breathes, bourbon evaporates.

Distillers call it the angel’s share.

Whiskey fungus calls it brunch.

Meet Baudoinia compniacensis — a soot-black, clingy little bastard that thrives off the ethanol vapor drifting from aging rickhouses. It doesn’t just settle on barrelhouse walls. It latches onto everything:

• Your car

• Your house

• Your lawn furniture

• That “Live. Laugh. Love.” sign you’ve been meaning to take down

You can scrub it. Pressure wash it. Curse at it.

It’ll still come back for another round.

The Fungus That Just Won’t Quit

Dr. James Scott (a legit fungus hunter from the University of Toronto) has been studying this stuff since 2001. His verdict?

“It’s destructive as hell.”

No, it won’t kill you.

But it will wreck your vinyl siding and make your maple tree look like it went goth.

And if you’re thinking of spraying it off without a mask — don’t. Inhaling spores is a hard no.

Boomtown Blues: Bourbon’s Dirty Secret

Bourbon’s booming.

95% of the world’s supply flows from Kentucky.

Distilleries have exploded 250% in the last decade.

1.7 million new barrels hit the racks each year.

But while Jim Beam and Buffalo Trace are building rickhouses like they’re on bourbon steroids…

Their neighbors are watching their white houses turn soot-black.

One Louisville business owner thought the grime was normal city funk — until he learned the truth.

It wasn’t pollution. It was whiskey.

Lawsuits, Loopholes, and Losing Battles

Locals have sued.

They’ve begged for ethanol-capturing tech (like brandy makers use in California).

But in Kentucky?

The courts side with the barrels.

Distillers argue that filtering emissions would “ruin the flavor.”

And the legal system seems to agree.

One rare win?

Lincoln County, Tennessee, pulled Jack Daniel’s seventh barrelhouse permit over zoning.

But that’s a drop in a rickhouse.

Bourbon Pride, Blackened Neighborhoods

Even folks living under layers of Baudoinia still love their bourbon.

Tourism’s booming. Jobs are flowing. And let’s be real — bourbon is Kentucky’s identity.

But here’s the rub:

You can love the juice and still ask the industry to clean up after itself.

Because while the angel’s share sounds poetic …

The devil’s fungus is what stays behind …

Coating homes, souring tempers, and staining the legacy of America’s native spirit.

TL;DR

• Whiskey fungus lives off evaporating bourbon

• It clings to everything and doesn’t wipe off easy

• It’s not deadly, just destructive

• Residents want distilleries to use better tech

• Courts mostly protect the bourbon biz

• The culture loves bourbon — but wants cleaner neighbors

Final Pour

The bourbon industry may be aging its barrels with love…

But it’s aging its neighbors’ homes with mold.

Time to filter the angel’s share — before it turns more fans into foes.