Taste of the American Spirit: The History of Bourbon
Happy National Bourbon Day. Today is a celebration of a spirit that helped shape the American identity.
Bourbon has been styled as a gentleman’s drink and recently has become competition for Scotch whiskey in terms of sophistication. The dark brown liquor is often consumed neat and paired with a cigar-or used to create the quintessential drink, the Old Fashioned. Whichever way it is imbibed, bourbon had a long road to get to the product we enjoy today and certainly made its mark along the way.
For those who aren’t connoisseurs, the term “bourbon” may be confusing when trying to differentiate between other whiskeys. The saying goes, not all whiskey is bourbon, but all bourbon is whiskey. Bourbon is a type of whiskey made with a mash of at least 51% corn, giving it a much sweeter profile than most other whiskeys. In addition, to be legally marketed as bourbon, it needs to be aged in charred, new oak barrels, meet specific ABV requirements, and as of 1964, be a product of the U.S.-though it does not have to be from Kentucky as some people may assume.
The name whiskey is a derivative of the Gaelic uisge, (oosh-ka) and was most likely first produced by monks as early as the 12th century. The distillation of grains into alcohol was a process that the first Europeans in America would have been well familiar with. It was corn, the grain that thrived in the Americas, that they knew nothing about. However, it didn’t take long for them to transform the versatile grain into booze. Liquor was being distilled from corn as early as 1620, if not earlier. Writing back to England, Virginian Captain George Thorpe exulted: “We have found a way to make some good drink of Indian corn … [even better than] good strong English beer.”
This was probably more like what carries the label “moonshine” on our shelves today; an unaged, clear corn distillate. Still, the ability to produce liquor was considered such a priority that by the time America was formed, George Washington lobbied for public distilleries to be created to supply the army with their liquor rations. Washington believed that all soldiers required four ounces of spirit a day, saying, “the benefits arising from the moderate use of strong liquor have been experienced in all armies and are not to be disputed.”
Over time, the reliance on English beer and Jamaican rum had shifted in response to the Revolutionary War. American distillers had previously made their own products using imported grains and molasses, but as the Westward Expansion continued, distillers no longer looked abroad for their ingredients. As foreign imports became more expensive, whiskey makers began focusing on what they could grow themselves.
After the Revolutionary War, farmers in Pennsylvania revolted when the newly minted U.S. government attempted to tax the liquor they produced from their corn. President George Washington squashed the Whiskey Rebellion, but the tax was nearly impossible to collect. While it never came to violence in the area of Virginia that was then Kentucky County, there was already an established network of distillers honing their craft. Eventually, the state of Kentucky was carved out of this portion of Virginia, and within it was established a county named after the ruling family in France-Bourbon.
Farmers in Bourbon County continued distilling the corn they grew into a whiskey, and there are many legends about how the barrels they aged them in came to be charred, giving its distinctive flavor. Some say that Elijah Craig used barrels from his burned farmhouse to age his whiskey and discovered it imbued the liquor with a sweet smokiness. Others claim that thrifty Americans reused barrels by burning them before repurposing them as whiskey barrels. These are more myths surrounding the origin of bourbon since charring barrels was already known to imbue spirits with desirable flavor as well as aid in sterilization as early as 1806.
It wasn’t until the 1850s that labels describing this type of whiskey as “bourbon” began to appear. The origin of how this product became known as bourbon is also shrouded in myth and mystery; possibly, the barrels were stamped as they were loaded with their port of origin (Bourbon County) or their port of call, the famed Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The most likely origin is a couple of French brothers, Jean and Louis Tarascon, who wanted to market their product as something sophisticated and borrowing from their French heritage.
Kentucky, with its limestone shelf, prides itself in creating a unique and distinct product. While not all distilleries in Kentucky use limestone water, many claim that this natural aquifer's quality is what has made Kentucky Bourbon so popular. It is estimated that approximately 95% of the world’s bourbon comes from Kentucky, and over the last few years, Kentucky distillers have been filling over 2 million barrels a year. This has followed a rise in the popularity of bourbon over the last 10-15 years and new distilleries forming to compete with long-standing brands.
Those historic brands have survived the hit of prohibition, multiple wars that switched their production to wartime medicinal manufacturing, and decades of lower-quality blends hitting the market. Today, Whiskey Row in Louisville is alive and thriving, educating men and women on the nuances of the original American Spirit-bourbon.
Whether you prefer a neat pour, a classic Manhattan, or a spicy Kentucky Mule, take a sip and raise a toast to the men and women who made something very satisfying indeed from corn and some charred oak. If you are interested in listening as you sip, pair your drink with an episode of Bourbon: Real Talk, a podcast every whiskey enthusiast can learn from.
Cheers!
