In the twentieth century, Alcoholics Anonymous went on to prove his point. Abraham Overholt (Old Overholt Rye Whiskey) established his distillery in western Pennsylvania in 1810. Not all farmers had stills, mind you, since stills were very expensive pieces of equipment. The death knell was tolling for the slower, more work-intensive, old-fashioned pot stills. And that is exactly what she did. George Ade, author of The Old Time Saloon, noted that, in Chicago, once a saloon keeper got his license, he would throw the key to his bar into Lake Michigan so that his doors could never again be locked. Fittingly, some exact dates were forgotten (whiskey was involved, after all), but this timeline will help you grasp the basics and understand its origin; who played key roles in the history of distilling, how whiskey came to be, how it evolved to be the whiskey / bourbon / rye . Wax, leather and corroded copper nameplates all adorn the unique rectangular bottle shape. The famed Carry Nation (almost six feet tall and around 175 pounds) was a member of the Womens Christian Temperance Union, and her antics were recorded by Oscar Getz in his book, Whiskey--An American Pictorial History. The yearbook goes on to note the progress that the drys had made since the Leagues conception in 1893. Sometime during the mid-1980s, people who were wont to throw $20 on the bar and stay there until it was gone, were no longer able to spend it on four or five Screwdrivers or seven or eight beers. To have lived during this period must have been similar to people who were born in the 1930s; one minute you get your first telephone installed, and before you know it, you are accessing information from libraries in Budapest. Not that she hated only alcohol, mind you, Carry also hated sex, tobacco, and Teddy Roosevelt. The Volstead Act all but destroyed many of the legitimate whiskey distilleries. Along with the rest of the country, the whiskey industry braced itself for more setbacks. The mostly Lutheran and Calvinist Germans had been victims of religious persecution in their homeland and were of hardy stock--perfect people to help form a new nation and build a whiskey industry. Thus, he teamed up with Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle, and together they lobbied for the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897.. Advertisements in magazines and newspapers of the time gave consumers the chance not only to buy whiskey at reduced rates, but also to receive special offers, such as an elegant gold-filled watch sent free to all who influence ten new customers to each order one gallon or more of our goods. If you had only four friends, you could receive the most beautiful set of Limoges China Dishes you ever saw for persuading each of them to order a gallon of spirits from the Security Distilling Company of Chicago. A bottle exists today, produced in 1848, that bears the word bourbon and the distillers name, M. Bininger and Company of New York. As the U.S. population grew and the 1800's progressed, we see a steady rise in the consumption of American distilled spirits. Tight barrels were valuable, and recyclable, and used barrels were less expensive than new ones. During the dry years, Seagram had used the same name in Canada, but American bootleggers sold an inferior whiskey that they called Golden Wedding, and thus the public was still very aware of the name. B. Dant, son of J. W. Dant, built the Cold Spring Distillery in 1865 and would soon produce Yellowstone Bourbon. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, both John Ritchie and Elijah Craig were shipping whiskey on flatboats to New Orleans, and they probably werent the only ones. According to Oscar Getz in Whiskey, An American Pictorial History, by 1860, on a per-capita basis, Americans were drinking over 28 percent more spirits than they had consumed just a decade earlier. Raise a glass to the pioneers and heroes of the American whiskey industry: Jacob Beam, I. W. Bernheim, Colonel Blanton, Wattie Boone, A. Smith Bowman, George Garvin Brown, the Chapeze brothers, James Crow, Jack Daniel, J. W. Dant, George Dickel, Basil Hayden, Paul Jones, Henry McKenna, Tom Moore, Elijah Pepper, T. B. Ripy, Robert Samuels, the Shapira brothers, E. H. Taylor, Pappy Van Winkle, W. L. Weller, and Evan Williams. Corn, an indigenous grain, was also cultivated, and although the immigrants werent used to using it to make whiskey, it was gradually introduced to the process in small quantities. Public confusion. Some distilleries installed newer versions of the continuous still so they could produce industrial alcohol, and others simply sent their low-proof alcohol to distilleries that could redistill it until it was strong enough for the war effort. Its just an old story, but there could be a grain of truth in it. Courtesy image. Although these rogues would grow more prevalent during the latter part of the century, by 1860 there was already at least one book on the market that gave instructions on how to make imitation liquors and wines. They installed grain-handling machinery that would do the work of 30 men; their two gigantic stills (one of them erected on an entirely new principle about which we can find no details) contained 10 tons of copper and produced enough used grain to feed 5,000 hogs. Over the course of the war, some distilleries were destroyed, some distillers died, and the rest survived as best they could. He had the scientific knowledge to be able to tinker intelligently with various aspects of his processes in order to make a better whiskey. The biggest problem that faced the wets was that not enough people in the beverage alcohol business took the drys seriously--most people thought that if they ignored the drys, they would go away. But still, these early Americans werent content. The first money used for the investigation went to reporter Myron Colony, who was hired by the Treasury Department to gather evidence against whoever was responsible for misdirecting the excise taxes. There are still shiners in America today, and apparently the greatest concentration of such people is probably in the Carolinas. Skirmishes continued between whiskey-makers and the tax collectors and resulted in a few revenue agents being tarred and feathered and others terrorized into handing over their excise books to the delinquent taxpayers, but the revolt didnt really come to a head until 1794. Even by 1939 when Charles H. Baker Jr.s excellent book, The Gentlemans Companion, was published, the author noted that vodka was unnecessary to medium or small bars.. Members lectured and wrote to prominent people on both sides of the issue trying to bank the fire a little. So who was the first whiskey man in Kentucky? The country could have used a few more men who werent afraid to voice their anti-prohibitionistic voices at the time. The biggest whiskey company was the National Distillers Products Corporation, a reputable company formed in the 1920s that was an indirect offshoot of the disreputable Whiskey Trust of the late nineteenth century. The distiller needed money, and the rest of the town needed whiskey to take the edge off the hazards of living in new territory surrounded by natives who seemed to think they had every right to live on their own land. Although we cant say for certain how many people believed their claim as patriotic party do-gooders, evidence points to up to 15 million gallons of whiskey a year, which would have generated a cool $7.5 million in taxes--an extraordinary amount of money at the time--going untaxed between 1870 and 1874. Taylor William Samuels (Maker's Mark Bourbon) was operating a commercial distillery in Deatsville in 1844. Beer was probably the first kind of beverage alcohol produced in the early settlements at Jamestown and Plymouth. Whatever his product actually was, however, was strong enough to get a whole bunch of native Americans so drunk that they scalped and killed him in 1622. Finally, small-batch whiskey, single-barrel whiskey, and wheated bourbon, were getting their fair share of attention. While all this was going on, the whiskey industry had been making good use of a loophole in the law by selling liquor by mail. His master distiller, Wilhelm Hendriksen, is said to have used corn and rye to make liquor, and since the Dutch didnt develop a formula for gin until 10 or so years later, he must have been making some form of whiskey. But this profession is beloved because it is essential, and it is respected because its pursuit is clothed with an element of danger and with a sporting risk. After news of the occurrence reached the ears of similar-minded women around the country, over 50,000 promoters of temperance followed suit. . The most avid of these budding aficionadas and aficionados worked at learning about their drinks. John H. Beam (Early Times Bourbon), Davids other son, was co-owner of the Early Times Distillery in 1860. Two of the more popular American spirits during the first century and a half of colonization were peach brandy, made mainly in the Southern colonies, and applejack (a brandy distilled from cider), which probably originated in or around New Jersey. one gallon was needed in order to make 64 hand grenades or two 155mm Howitzer shells. Did Lincoln enjoy the warmth of an occasional glass of whiskey? During this time, the liquor was kept under governmental supervision in bonded warehouses. Heres an example of how it worked according to Martin Gilbert, author of American History Atlas, 1968: In 1752, by which time there were at least 30 legitimate distilleries in Rhode Island alone, a ship called The Sanderson left Newport, with 8,220 gallons of rum on board. The Lever Food and Fuel Act was enacted later that year; designed to preserve food supplies during World War I, it made all distillation of beverage alcohol illegal. 5 whiskey, and Lem Motlows Peach Brandy shortly after gaining control of the distillery. There is solid evidence, however, that by the mid-1800s, some whiskeys were being aged long enough to give them a decent amount of color. Whiskey history is a long, adventurous story, and many brave people fought to keep the drink flowing along the way. Heres an update of a few significant people and events in the years between 1860 and 1900: Though the whiskey industry may have started on a small scale, during the years following the Civil War it developed into a form of commerce in which a substantial amount of money was to be made--major distilleries had been founded, whiskey families had staked their claims, and the foundations for many a whiskey empire had been laid. In 1640, William Kieft, the Director General of the New Netherland Colony, decided that liquor should be distilled on Staten Island. Upon his release from jail McDonald accused Grant of taking part in the Ring in his book, Secrets of the Great Whiskey Ring (1880). James E. Pepper built the James E. Pepper Distillery in 1879 and soon produced a whiskey that bore his name. This is the all-important filtration system, in which whiskey is dripped, through a minimum of 10 feet of sugar-maple charcoal before it is put in barrels for aging. A lid of sorts must then have been fitted onto the top of the log. Later that year she actually smashed up an entire saloon in Kiowa, Oklahoma. In 1867 the Chapeze brothers founded their first commercial distillery and gave birth to a whiskey that would become known as Old Charter. In 1874 more than 200,000 retailers sold liquor in the U.S., a whopping 120,000 more than just 10 years before. In December of that year the Distilled Spirits Institute (DSI) was formed in the New York offices of the Schenley Products Company. And the American whiskey distillers took note. Even so, Grant, at this point, made it clear that he wanted to clear up the whole mess and prosecute whoever was responsible for stealing the money. In 1867, she married a physician and alcoholic, Dr. Charles Gloyd, and was widowed when her husband, despite her remonstrations to the contrary, reaped the rewards of drinking too much. Everyone seemed to have it out for the distillers. Two bottles were sold in Glasgow in 2010, one to a US-based collector and one to a UK-based investor. Since there wasnt a great deal in the way of entertainment back then, almost everyone was interested in a dram of whiskey. They had fought the law. Whatever the reality of who was drinking more, the Southern populace needed food more than they needed whiskey. Though they were producing whiskey, its quality had to have been questionable. So, along with the steamboats on the Mississippi, the whiskey industry now had railroads to take its product south. Even though some documents pertaining to the case were stolen (allegedly by a man in the employ of Grant himself), Babcock was indicted. Since, as Luckner, noted, the sleazy gin mills had disappeared, and much drinking, therefore, occurred in swank nightclubs and the homes of the wealthy, Prohibitions other weird but wonderful effect was that drinking became more socially acceptable than it had been prior to 1920. A: Because charring the inside of a cask reduces it to a kind of charcoal; and charcoal (by absorbing animal and vegetable impurities) keeps the liquor [liquid] sweet and good. But this document, assuming the 1854 date is within fifty years of the publication date, is from the nineteenth century. When the first immigrants arrived on this continent, their love for alcohol in almost any shape or form led to a chain of events that would culminate in the creation of distinctive American whiskeys. After the Civil War, many of the smaller distillers just didnt have the capital to comply with the law since the tax was due upon production--as soon as the whiskey ran out of the still, the tax was due. To accomplish this, Hamilton persuaded Congress to introduce tariffs on imported goods, tax spirits, and charter the Bank of the United States, which would hold the governments revenues and stimulate economic growth by investing in American businesses. Each barrel comes from a different area of the warehouse. And Grant was returned to office in 1872. Their whiskey would eventually be known as I. W. Harper. Carson does mention, however, that the log stills were used only for a primary distillation, and the spirit would then be redistilled in a pot still. But Washington had his reasons, and although he was himself a distiller, he listened to Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, who proposed that the newly formed country should pay off its debts from the Revolutionary War. Whiskey labeled as bourbon was actually distilled from low-grade molasses. At that time, women involved with womens rights often were characterized as plain, but Willard was anything but plain. It was statewide in some instances, and under various forms of local option (towns, counties, municipalities, or city districts having the right to legislate and enforce prohibition) in others. Taxes have long been the bane of the whiskey businesss existence, and toward the end of the nineteenth century, demand was high for a fair policy that would benefit the country without crippling the entire liquor industry. J. Most goods at this time were sold locally by portions--the buyer knew to bring his or her own flour sack, barrel, tub, or jug to the purveyor, who filled it with flour, oats, lard, or whiskey. Whiskey was most often called "firewater" in the Wild West. Many of the larger distilleries built massive continuous stills between 1865 and 1900; whiskey was becoming big business, and continuous stills were more economical. What a pleasant surprise on Rainey Street. The following morning they discarded the frozen portion, leaving them with very strong cider--the alcohol content was concentrated in the liquid that didnt, or couldnt, freeze. of Louisville, points out that, although quinine and laudanum were used medicinally in the mid-1800s, few other medicines, apart from whiskey, were available. Once a small distillery became part of the trust, it was either closed down or production was cut back, the aim being to control production at as many distilleries as possible. When a movie cowboy orders three fingers of red-eye (although a dictionary will tell you that red-eye is cheap whiskey), he is actually demanding the good stuff--it dont get red until its aged. Another major development of this era was the 1825 invention of The Lincoln County Process by Tennessean Alfred Eaton. Others, either those not versed in the art of distillation or too concerned with time and money, would not adhere to the art of the distiller wherein only the center section of the whiskey is deemed suitable for consumption. They used grains to feed their cattle or farm animals--if they had them. Whether or not they were one and the same whiskey, bottled under different labels, is not known--but certainly possible. Barley was also grown in these states, and it was familiar to the farmers and distillers. Their company would later merge with the Weller company and become known as Stitzel-Weller. March 4, 1801: Thomas Jefferson takes his seat as the third U.S. president, where he will stay until 1809. Wine is aged in toasted barrels, and indeed bourbon casks are toasted before they are charred. No, not really, it turns out she was more a *sexual dalliance in the White House than an anonymous inside source, and that it was Babcock who wired the warning and added the odd signature. This is a higher corn content than Montana 1889 Whiskey. Among its offering is a whiskey, sold in ceramic jars and bottles, that Canale names Old Dominick. He made whiskey using corn as the predominant grain, he insisted on aging it in charred casks, and he used a sour-mash starter. in the manufacture of rubber, antifreeze, tetraethyl lead (used in the production of aviation gasoline), rayon for parachutes, and ether, among other things. During Prohibition, not only did heady flavor of juniper help disguise just how poorly the liquor had been made, it also gave the drinking public what they wanted--a highly flavored spirit. He certainly wasnt the first to take out his frustrations on whiskey-producers, just four years earlier Britain had introduced a prohibitive tax on Highland stills in Scotland and declared that the whisky produced there couldnt be distributed outside the Highland region. All of the ingredients needed for whiskey-making were available to these early Kentuckians, but in a quest for the origins of a specific style of whiskey, its necessary to work backwards. Tastes had changed, and blended whiskeys had become increasingly popular. Bourbon was becoming a little more sophisticated. The Anti-Saloon League had structured its tactics to make sure that a number of individual states went dry before lobbying for national prohibition, and they were succeeding at an alarming rate. Also, drinks like beer and whiskey were a lot lower in alcohol content. Trade was brisk for the mail-order whiskey suppliers, but dont think for a second that the Prohibitionists were going to stand idly by while thousands of gallons of whiskey were being mailed to their hard-fought-for dry states and counties. Though the first glass factory in American was built in Jamestown in 1608, it would be 1903, when Michael J. Owens invented the first automatic bottle-making machine, before selling whiskey in bottles was financially viable for most distillers. Its important to remember that the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. was well on its way at this point. Imports included Dewar's Scotch, Jameson Irish Whiskey and Canadian Club Whiskey. These were to be trying times for the President. Whiskey has always been stored in wooden casks, but not always for very long, and not always in charred barrels. If trouble occurred, perhaps the name Sylph could help secure a show of friendship from the President. In the second example Lincoln often is erroneously quoted as saying that injury from alcohol arose from the abuse of a good thing rather than from the use of a bad thing. This bourbon was rested for 7 long years in hand-selected white oak barrels. The ploy seems to have had the desired effect. It reads that there were only 1800 bottles produced in this one-time release. Beam family members, however, not being the sort to lay claim to falsehoods, say that their records indicate that it was 1795 before their forebear actually sold his first barrel of whiskey. Fact was, that by passing on the taxes to the general public, whiskey had become too expensive for the common man. 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