He had the scientific knowledge to be able to tinker intelligently with various aspects of his processes in order to make a better whiskey. Dating back to 1608, this brand has stood the test of time and not much has changed since the beginning. This version is Barrel 2 and bottled at 97 Proof. Just over six months later, when Prohibition was repealed, the beer, wine, and spirits industries had to devise codes of their own. We might as well ask who was the first person to bake bread. 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. So who was the first whiskey man in Kentucky? Oscar Pepper (James E. Pepper and Old Crow Bourbons) built the Old Oscar Pepper Distillery in 1838. Even before the turn of the century, the rum business had been winding down. It reads that there were only 1800 bottles produced in this one-time release. For the 18 year old rye whiskey, a special placard listing the specs was placed inside. Interestingly enough, cider-makers who didnt possess a still would, during the winter months, leave cider outside to freeze. 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. While Presidents Johnson and Grant were going through their personal and political strifes, the excise tax that Lincoln had been forced to impose in 1862 had taken its toll on the whiskey industry. In that year, after further reducing the taxes but still not getting cooperation from the Pennsylvanians, George Washington, for the first time in the history of the United States, rallied federal troops to quell the uprising. None, however, were as successful as Aenaes Coffey, who, in 1831, patented his perfected continuous still in Britain. First, they made beer. After taking office in 1869, the politics of Reconstruction plagued him, and his administration was beset by scandal after scandal. Carry Nation died of a stroke in 1911. Among its offering is a whiskey, sold in ceramic jars and bottles, that Canale names Old Dominick. Why gin? However, some documents had been discovered that pointed to reasons other than friendship for Grants change of heart. It has come to solve the liquor problem.. Not all farmers had stills, mind you, since stills were very expensive pieces of equipment. This was typical of the time. Browns goal was to assure the public that they would finally know exactly what whiskey was in the bottle. One such quote was from Deut. The glassware and packaging for "The Ancients" was supposed to be unique and eye-catching and indeed, it was. Jack Daniels No. By 1820, over 25 percent of the total U.S. population lived west of the Appalachians, and by that time, steamboats had replaced the flatboats and were plying the Mississippi laden with Kentucky whiskey. J. 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. There is no doubt that liquor was being abused, and one fellow, George Garvin Brown, creator of the Old Forester brand and a founder member of the Wine and Spirits Association (W S A), did take steps to counter the prohibition movement. Laird settled in Monmouth County, New Jersey, in 1698 and set about applying his knowledge of distillation to apples rather than barley malt. Since they didnt yet use any kind of crop rotation, the land they were farming was tired and worn out after seven or eight years. 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. This figure, of course, is somewhat difficult to comprehend until you learn that the same table estimates that, using the same criteria, in 1970, consumption was at 2.5 gallons. In it, McDonald maintains that his actions in the Whiskey Ring were a direct result of instructions from Babcock, and since, according to McDonald, Babcock was widely regarded as being the Presidents chief advisor, he regarded any requests from Babcock as having emanated from the highest authority. Sylph, again according to McDonalds book--and we should take into consideration that he wrote the book to throw most of the blame for the Whiskey Ring scandal on others--was a woman with whom he had arranged a liaison for Babcock, not Grant. Jere had worked with his father for two years before his death. And that is exactly what she did. There must have been cases of individuals who stored whiskey and realized that it tasted better as time went by, but nevertheless, the practice of choosing to keep whiskey in the wood so that it would mature didnt become commonplace until sometime during the early- to mid-nineteenth century. Later that year she actually smashed up an entire saloon in Kiowa, Oklahoma. The company bought the Old Fitzgerald brand name*by 1933 veach in 1933 and went on to become part of United Distillers in the 1980s. J. W. Dant (Yellowstone and J. W. Dant Bourbons) set up his still (the famous log) in 1836. The sandwich was never eaten--but many drinks were sold. What he actually said was that although many people were injured by alcohol, they didnt seem to believe that it was from the use of a bad thing, and that they thought it merely from the abuse of a good thing. But Hay could not believe it, the rebels drink more and worse whiskey than we do, he wrote. 20 Washington with liquor 1870s Until the 1870s, schnaps, a distilled spirit, was included as part of wages in Denmark. There are still shiners in America today, and apparently the greatest concentration of such people is probably in the Carolinas. A lid of sorts must then have been fitted onto the top of the log. Although many pre-Prohibition brands of whiskey made their way back to the shelves after Repeal, they werent always identical to their older namesakes. Taylor William Samuels (Maker's Mark Bourbon) was operating a commercial distillery in Deatsville in 1844. I. W. Harper, Old Charter, and Cascade (George A. Dickel) brand names were purchased by Schenley in the late 1930s, and Schenley itself was later acquired by United Distillers. .. Not only did the geographical aspects of Kentucky make it a tough area to invade, if Washington had decided to pick on Kentuckians rather than Pennsylvanians, he would have run the risk that the state would up and leave the union and join up with the Spanish, who controlled the land west of Kentucky. At one point he advocated reducing taxes on such products saying that nations where cheap wine was available for the common man did not suffer the same insobrieties as those where whiskey was the least-expensive ardent drink. . A similar trust of that time was the Kentucky Distilleries and Warehouse Company (KDWC), formed in 1899. Two quotes from Lincoln often are used out of context and make him sound like a drinking man; both are taken from a speech he made to the Springfield Washington Temperance Society in 1842. Eventually, the distillers gave in to Washington. A Few Other Whiskey Men Who Appeared in Kentucky Before 1800, All of these families helped bring the tradition of American whiskey-making into the nineteenth and right through to the twentieth century. Around when did water become a viable option? The adventurous and the curious started moving farther away from the East Coast, boosting the whiskey business as they progressed westward. No--it didnt contain neutral spirits or added flavorings or colorings. And dont think they didnt complain. 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. So, although the new law did help somewhat on the financial side, the distillers still paid taxes on their product considerably before they could sell it at a decent price. 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. . We do know that he was a whiskey distiller in the late eighteenth century, and that his whiskey was probably known as Kentucky whiskey or maybe even bourbon, but theres no real evidence to prove that he was the first person to make bourbon. According to William L. Downard, author of the Dictionary of the History of the American Brewing and Distilling Industries, Peorias whiskey business was an offshoot of the citys active grain mills--surpluses were used to make whiskey. Whether or not they were one and the same whiskey, bottled under different labels, is not known--but certainly possible. In December of that year the Distilled Spirits Institute (DSI) was formed in the New York offices of the Schenley Products Company. But these enterprising farmer-distillers, much like the earlier distillers of plums and berries, were distilling whiskey more or less for themselves and neighbors. Etc. Undeterred, they turned their talents to fermenting other fruits--and even vegetables. 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 . The most avid of these budding aficionadas and aficionados worked at learning about their drinks. The straight wooden staves that are used to form a barrel must be heated in order to bend the wood into the familiar barrel shape. One embarrassment was Jay Gould and James Fisks 1869 attempt to corner the gold market. In February, 1933, he conducted what Time magazine described as, a pathetic one-man filibuster against Repeal. His oration lasted over eight hours, but nonetheless the following day the Senate voted to take up the Repeal resolution by 58 votes to 23. Thus, even though flavor wasnt of primary importance, distillers always ran the risk of blowing themselves to kingdom come should a still decide to explode. We will not be surprised to see one or two pot-still American whiskeys on the market within the next five years or so. Other such organizations within the industry existed in various parts of the country around this same time, but the distilling industry in Peoria, having started with one distillery in 1844, had actually outgrown its counterpart in Kentucky by 1880. Rates were based on the alcoholic strength of the product, spirits made from home-grown products were taxed less than those made from imported goods (rum, made from imported molasses, therefore, was more-heavily taxed than whiskey), and an annual tax was levied on each still, dependent on its capacity. Less than 10 years later, Carry married David Nation, a lawyer and minister of the Christian church who eventually divorced her because of her slightly insane ways of demonstrating her distaste for alcohol. In 1904, the Cascade Distillery (George A. Dickel) was enlarged, making it the largest distillery in the whole of Tennessee at that time. In order to put people to work, Roosevelt proposed a New Deal for the country. And since around 13,000 men turned out to do battle, Washingtons authority was firmly established. For those who insist on having a name, we say James Crow invented bourbon sometime between 1823 and, say, 1845. They were shipping whiskey to all sorts of colorful Western towns--Laramie, Tombstone, Dodge City--but it wasnt always too good; much was completely unaged and cut with water. Whiskeygate--the Tale of the Infamous Whiskey Ring. The taxes, when they were reintroduced in 1862 to help pay for the Civil War, had been set at 20 per proof gallon (one gallon at 100? The below information has been republished with permission of the authors, Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan. Whatever brought settlers to Kentucky and however they arrived, the hardy souls who arrived after the corn patch and cabin rights deal was over bought or bartered small parcels of the large tracts of land held by speculators. Liquor, beer, and wine have long been popular targets of taxation for governments in need of a few extra dollars for two very simple reasons: Beverage alcohol is produced from food, be it fruit, sugar, or grain, but it is not necessary to sustain life. Robert Samuels (Makers Mark Bourbon) arrived in Kentucky in 1780 and probably set up his still shortly thereafter. When whiskey is first distilled it is clear--it looks exactly like vodka. Now and then one is caught, that must happen pro forma and then he must do time or, if he is wealthy enough, get someone to do time for him. The sporting attraction of the forbidden and the dangerous leads to violations. The book is full of questions and answers on many different subjects, one of them being: Q: Why are water and wine casks charred on the inside? 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. George A. Dickel died in 1894 from injuries sustained in an 1888 fall from a horse. Nobody stopped making bourbon, rye, or Tennessee whiskey simply because sales werent as good as expected; they dealt with the situation as best they could. The theory that whiskey improved with age was proved once a whiskey-maker tasted his product after its journey downriver to New Orleans. They were sold in a small glass which normally held a gill (4 ounces) and cost 5 cents. Add to that the fact that, in some circles, drinking is also a sin, and it becomes relatively easy to convince a nation that drink should be taxed. 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