Bourbon -
An American History
The First Settlers
(15th and 16th
Century)
The Indians, the native
Americas knew neither fermented juices nor
distilled liquids.
The only alcoholic food probably were
fermented fruits. The distillation of alcoholic liquids
was brought
to the new world
with
the immigrants from Europe.
Not only the English but
especially Scottish and Irish settlers didn’t want to miss their whisk(e)y in
their new homeland. Since the American continent was settled first in Central
America and the Caribbean, rum dominated as the spirit in North America. Famous
families like
the Roosevelts (they placed two US presidents) built up their wealth at the
beginning of the 17th century by the distillation of imported molasses
(Caribbean rum).
 The
dominance
of rum came to an end, when the north European immigrants became more numerous
in North America
and
they did not want to give
up their typical
meals and beverages. The settlement of North America took place from the east
coast with its large immigration cities Boston, New York (earlier called New
Amsterdam) and Philadelphia. Since grain (rye, wheat) prospered well on the
soils, there was very soon a grain excess, which the farmers made durable and
more easy to transport by distillation. With this
'refinement'
of the grain the farmers could earn themselves a nice extra profit since their
living
otherwise was meager. In such a way the first rural distilleries developed in
the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
But before that they had to
work hard to find and cultivate the suitable ingredients for the whiskey
production. The barley necessary for the fermentation grew only very weakly on
the soils and didn’t give good yields. Corn, already bred by the Indians with
good yields, promised better results. Very soon they found out that corn could
easily be mixed with barley, rye and wheat.
Peat
which was needed for the heating
of
the drying fires
back in Scotland and Ireland
was not found
in the new world. However
there were sufficient forests, which could cover the heating need. Unfortunately
the smokey
taste in the original
whiskey
was lost. They tried to compensate this
by the
addition of hops,
the use of rye and the flaming of the barrels. And in the untouched wilderness
of the new continent plenty of clean and iron-free
water could be found.
The
transition of rural distilleries
besides farms
to
real
whiskey
distilleries took place towards the end of the 18th century. Around 1850 there
were already over 3.000 registered pot stills
only in
Pennsylvania.
The war of independence (19.4.1775 - 3.9.1783)
 After
the end of the war of independence against Britain the young America needed an
additional state income, in order to be able to pay its
war
debts. Thus
George Washington, the first president of the United States,
raised the first taxes on alcoholic distillates in 1791. George Washington knew
very well the possibilities which were in this tax, since he himself owned a
distillery.
 The
settlers however did not want to accept this so easily.
The
first rebellion against the new state broke out. It needed more soldiers
than 10 years before against the Englishmen to
win.
The end of the rebellion was bloody. Since also the new tax burdened the
settlers in Pennsylvania up to their tolerance limit, they decided to migrate
through the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachen further to the west into the states
Kentucky and Tennessee, where the arm of the new
tax
law was not yet
so strong and where the tax collectors turned up only rarely.
The Origin of Bourbon
The American
whiskey received the name
extension
Bourbon indirectly
by the assistance of the French in the war of independence of the young nation
against the English crown. After the victory over the English troops a county
(district) in the border area between the today's Indiana and Kentucky was named
in honor of the French
Royal Dynasty
Bourbon (Bourbonen - french
family 1579-1792).
At first,
the region of
origin
of
the whiskey was noted with the signature Bourbon on the barrels. The name
extension
Bourbon was increasingly getting
popular
for all the
whiskies from the entire region, since whiskey from the Bourbon County was soon
famous for its good quality. The Bourbon County was divided several times
over the years
and
shifted in the coming centuries. However today there is still a county east of
Lexington, which carries the name Bourbon. Unfortunately there are no more
distilleries in the entire county.
In
the year 1964 the American
Congress
passed a resolution which clarifies the conditions
under what
an American
whiskey may call itself Bourbon.
Kentucky with the Bourbon
County (in red)
The origin of today's distilleries
Every
single
of
the
distilleries
today is
connected with the famous name of
an
American
whiskey pioneers and their dynasties. There is the first large scientist Dr.
Crow of the old Pepper distillery (today Labrot & Graham) or the
family of the
Beams, which personally care today in the 7th
generation personally about their whiskey. Around 1850 there were predominantly
pot stills
in the distilleries,
which could manufacture in an individual distilling process some 100 to 10,000
liters
of alcohol. Only the arising of the continuous column
stills
permitted the production of whiskey in larger quantities by individual
distilleries. Thus the way was free for the optimization of the whiskey
production, until it reached today’s high level
at
about 1900.
World War I (1914 - 1918)
Many
distilleries were forced to change from whiskey production to gun powder. The
whiskey became accordingly scarce.
The Prohibition (1919 - 1933)
 Again
it was politics that made life hard for the American whiskey.
The large ethnic group of
the
Puritans
accomplished at the beginning of the 20th of century to literally dry up
America. First in 1917 the production and the possession of alcoholic beverages
was only forbidden in wartime. After the end of the war some states held on to
it (e.g.: Tennessee). These states of were also called the dry states. In 1919
it finally reached the entire United States. The prohibition forbade all
consumption of alcohol. Even beer was forbidden. The Volstead act became in 1920
in the 18th Amendment a constitutional amendment.
From today's
and Central European point of view one cannot understand this tendency of an
individual group of people in a country. All supplies of whiskey were destroyed.
The mechanism of all distilleries were removed and used for other purposes.
Famous distillery families like the Beams, had to earn their
living
by a laboriously built up bus factory. Other distilleries such as Early Times
were able to keep up an
emergency production while the alcohol was used for medical purposes.
 The
prohibition was destroying for the American distilleries. But
it permitted nevertheless a substantial expansion of production of other whiskey
producers (Canada, Scotland). But Canada suffered soon under
Prohibition. Smuggling at the large American border was
strong. In the north the Canadians supplied the USA with Rye whiskey.
In the east the Dutchmen took care of the illegal import. In Florida and at the
American south coast the ships from the Caribbean states landed. The prohibition
could not at that time prevent the consumption of alcoholic beverages, as well
as today’s America is unable to stop the import of drugs effectively. The huge
size of the border made this venture the pure utopia.
As a consequence in 1933 America abolished the failed law of the prohibition
with the 21. Amendment.
World War II (1933 - 1945)
The Second World War brought
Bourbon to Europe. The older ones among the readers of this article will still
know the half
gallon bottles from the PX stores,
with which the American GIs improved their
monthly salaries by selling whiskey
to the German population.
For now the
history of the American whiskey ends here. After some ups and downs in the sales
figures after the Second World War, Bourbon captured a
steady
place in the
hearts of the enjoying
consumers.
The dismantling of artificial trade barriers and the increasing globalization
made it possible also for The Whisky Store to increase
its offer of American whiskey to over 100 different bottles. Currently a trend
can be recognized
which leads away from the mass products such as Jim Beam or Jack Daniel's.
Increasingly Small Batch and Single Barrel Bourbons can be found in our shelves.
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