United States

Once upon a time a long, long time ago when the settlers first arrived in America they longed for the good old distilled spirits of their homelands – you know Scotland, Ireland.  It is believed bysome – and some is always one to believe – that settlers in the early 1600’s were not only making beer with the indigenous grains of the America’s but, that they were also distilling the grain mash. Rum and whiskey were not that uncommon of a drink for the pioneers. 

In 1777 George Washington was concerned that his troops didn’t have enough liquor and suggested that public distilleries be constructed throughout the states – now that was a man with vision – as the benefits of moderate liquor use amongst the troops was not to be disputed.  As matter of fact good ol’ George had already erected stills on his properties in order to produce rum and later on planted rye in order to make whiskey.

Kentucky was well inhabited by 1800 with many thirsty Scot and Irish settlers.  They started distilling rye and corn as they were indigenous to the area and barley took a long time to become acclimatized.  It is thought that General James Wilkinson built the first distillery in 1774, however that was probably just the whiskey talking as there is no record the drunk err General having been in the area until 10 years later – but remember it was good for the troops.  It surely makes you wonder just what they were doing when the white house was torched a few years later.  It is more widely accepted that Daniel Boone’s relatives and a Stephen Ritchie both made whiskey in 1776.  Jacob Beam built his first distillery in Kentucky in 1788 although family records indicate he sold his first barrel of whiskey in 1795.  Perhaps with the liquor excise tax it was a wee bit more profitable not to keep such accurate records.

Before 1800 Kentucky whiskey was known as bourbon.  The Reverend Elijah Craig’s name has been lent to the history books as the inventor of bourbon, perhaps this was in order to fight the religious temperance forces determined to quell the use of alcohol in the late 19th century.  What better way to fight the bible than to use the bible. 

In 1798 nearly 200 Kentucky whiskey distillers were hauled found guilty of distilling whisky without a license including the Reverend Elijah Craig.  Many former distillers began supplying the larger licensed distillers with grain.  This began the American way of conducting business.  Many smaller distillers were combined to create larger concerns and thus the American whiskey industry began to take shape. 

By 1838 there were 3,594 stills in Pennsylvania, 2,000 in Kentucky, 591 in New York (mostly rum & brandy), 560 in Connecticut, 343 in Ohio and 126 in Georgia.  It has not been accurately reported as to what was distilled in these stills but there were a lot of them.  The number of stills in Tennessee were unknown at this time however it is known that roughly 801,000 gallons of whisky was produced, which was approximately one third of the output of Kentucky and Virginia.

As whisky was sold in barrels its contents were continually questioned and in 1870 a The Old Forester company began selling its whiskey in sealed bottles.  Around this time many reputable wholesalers were buying from different distillers and started blending for smoothness while other less scrupulous individuals blended small amounts of whisky with flavourless neutral grain spirits and sold their wears as straight whiskey.

The President Ulysses S. Grant was involved in what was known as the whiskey ring in which more than a few tax dollars were skimmed from the distillers.  It worked like this, the government agents reported a smaller amount of production and only half of the tax owed on the rest of the production was paid to the agents.

During the post civil war years many distillers were trying to rebuild the industry, money and taxation separated the men from the boys.  The labour intensive distillers began dying out.  The marketing and packaging of whiskey became key to ones success.  Jack Daniel opened his distillery in 1866 and Thomas B. Ripy, whose sons would build a distillery that is known today as Wild Turkey Distillery, opened his first distillery in 1869.

By 1874, more than 200,000 retailers sold whiskey, 120,000 than just 10 years previous.  By 1900 many of the smaller temperance societies had joined forces with the Anti-Saloon league to fight for the death of the saloon.  In  1909 by various means 120,000 saloons were closed and by 1910 more than 45% of the country was dry.  Mail order whisky boomed until 1913 when the Interstate Liquor act was passed.  By 1920 the National Prohibition act was passed and the country was officially dry and 13 years later it was repelled.  During prohibition hard liquor actually became more popular as it was easier to hide and packed more of a punch.  Consumption actually increased by 15% and then declined by nearly 25% after prohibition.  During prohibition gin was the drink of choice as it was easy to make.  When it was repelled the whisky industry again tried to rebuild itself, and those with deep pockets were the ones once again ready to go. The James B. Beam Distilling Company was formed in 1933. Schenley had acquired many distilleries, brand names and quite a stock of whisky during prohibition and many more in the 1930’s.  Brown-Foreman – Old Foresters, Early Times – had a stock of aged whiskey to kick off the 1933 celebration.  As well the Austin Nichols Company, whose concerns surround the food business became involved in 1935 and in 1942 introduced Wild Turkey to the marketplace.

Well that was a mere outline of the American whiskey industry, it’s sordid past and government involvement.

The basic rule is: The Scots and we Canadians spell the word     W-H-I-S-K-Y, whereas the Americans and the Irish spell it as W-H-I-S-K-E-Y, But with all rules there are the exceptions for instance the American regulations don’t spell it with the E and neither do George Dickel, Maker’s Mark, Old Forester or Early Times even though they are all American Whiskies.

American whiskey like Scottish & Irish whisky should be nosed and sipped neat, to truly appreciate the history and dedication required to create such grand libations.