Whiskey: A Global History (~Autumn, 2010)
by Kevin R. Kosar
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when my book, Whiskey: A Global History, is released by Reaktion Books of London.
SOME FUN WHISKEY BITS
 Whiskey Distilling in New York City
Many of the earliest distilleries in the United States were in New Amsterdam (New York City). Some turned out gin, others turned out an early form of whiskey from a variety of grains---corn, rye, wheat, oats.
The distilleries of New York City vanished long ago. In the late 1990s, I often visited the moth-balled Fernet Branca liqueur distillery. It was like stepping back in history---the factory just shut down some time in the 1970s (if I recall correctly). Tools remained scattered about, workmen's coveralls hung in the lockers. It was surreal.
Anyhoo, it seems a small whiskey distillery is opening in Brooklyn, the Kings County Distillery. Reportedly, it will be making corn whiskey and Bourbon.Labels: Bourbon, Corn Whiskey, Kings County Distillery
Whiskey Humor: Aunt Carol
For reasons unclear, whiskey has a rap for making people mean. No doubt some drinkers get vicious after a bit too much tippling, but this can happen with any alcoholic beverage---beer, wine, etc. So why does whiskey get singled out?
Beats me. In my own reading, there's evidence as going back three and four centuries in the U.S. and Irish history that associates whiskey consumption with belligerence.
Anyway, the below joke has been around for a while, and it taps into this perception.
The Aunt Carol Joke
The teacher gave her fifth grade class an assignment: Get their parents to tell them a story with a moral at the end of it.
The next day the kids came back and one by one began to tell their stories. "Johnny, do you have a story to share?"
"Yes, ma'am, my daddy told a story about my Aunt Carol. Aunt Carol was a pilot in Desert Storm and her plane got hit. She had to bail out over enemy territory and all she had was a small flask of whiskey, a pistol and a survival knife.
"She drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn't fall into enemy hands and then her parachute landed right in the middle of twenty enemy troops. She shot fifteen of them with the gun until she ran out of bullets, killed four more with the knife, 'til the blade broke and then she killed the last one with her bare hands."
"Good heavens," said the horrified teacher, "What kind of moral did your daddy teach you from that horrible story?"
"Stay the heck away from Aunt Carol when she's been drinking."Labels: Whiskey Humor
 Bob Edwards Interviews Susan Reigler on the Subject of Bourbon
In this interview, Susan Reigler offers listeners a good overview on the basics of Bourbon. Reigler lives in Kentucky and written books about the state and its food and drink.
Reigler served Edwards some Old Forester, one of my favorites, along with Four Roses, Maker's Mark, and Pappy Van Winkle.Labels: Bourbon, Four Roses, Kentucky, Maker's Mark, Old Forester, Pappy Van Winkle
 The World's First Single Malt Whisky Menorah?
Just when you think you have seen everything, something comes about to make you realize you haven't. Witness---a seven-foot tall single malt whisky menorah. Yaacov Behrman reports that the Tullibardine Distillery donated 65 liters of Scotch used to fill the menorah. The menorah was unveiled at the Chabad in London in mid-December. The whisky was sampled by and then drained from the menorah into small bottles and distributed to the attendees
You may read more about it at http://lubavitch.com/news/article/2027900/Worlds-First-Single-Malt-Menorah.html.
Photo Credit: Andrew H. Williams Photography/Lubavitch.comLabels: Scotch, Single Malts, Tullibardine
 Interview with Bill Samuels, Jr., Maker's Mark DistilleryBill Samuel's, Jr., head of the Maker's Mark Distillery of Loretto, Kentucky, was in Washington, DC today. Bill kindly made some time to sit with me at the Hawk n' Dove bar, a beloved watering hole just a couple blocks from Congress. Bill then entertained about a dozen friends of yours truly.
Bill has been at the helm of the distillery for 35 years. Oh how times have changed. Maker's Mark has boomed, going from 60-some thousand cases per year to over 900,000. We discussed the changes that happened at Maker's Mark, and in the Bourbon industry generally.
You can listen to our chat by clicking here. Fair warning---it's 20 minutes long and therefore a rather hefty 18 megabyte file, so your download may take a little time.Labels: Bill Samuels, Bourbon, Interview, Maker's Mark
 12/2009 An English Distillery Makes A Single Malt Whisky
When folks hear the words "single malt," they end to think "Scotch whisky."
In truth, though, the term "single malt" refers to the sourcing and production methods. In short, a single malt whisky is the product of one distillery using one type of malt (barley). Contrast this with, say, blended whiskey, which are the product of multiple distilleries providing multiple whiskies and neutral spirits.
Anyhoo, this month there was cause for celebration in England when St. George's Distillery produced its first single malt whisky. Reportedly, this is the first time in over a century that an English distillery has produced a whisky, let alone a single malt. But don't call it Scotch---that label may be used only on whiskies produced in Scotland.Labels: England, Single Malts
 How Much Whiskey Was Drunk in 1973?
As I worked my way through the writing of WHISKEY: A GLOBAL HISTORY, I became aware of the major data challenges surrounding whiskey consumption, production, and sales. Thanks to governments forcing their noses into the whiskey-making business, we have some numbers. However, the numbers are not always reliable, and over the years the measures used by government have changed. This makes any sort of effort to estimate whiskey use over long stretches of time difficult. For example, in any given year the government may find that 1 million bottles of whiskey were sold. That does not, though, mean that exactly 1 million bottles were either drunk or produced.
Beyond these hassles, though, are others---such as simply figuring out which government agency has the data. Take the United States, for example. Here the task has been shifted from agency to agency over the past century. Different agencies have employed different approaches to collecting and tabulating data, and therefore have produced different types of data. You might think that the go-to source for booze data would be the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Nope, not any more. The ATF does not keep tabs on booze production. Today, that job is done by Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Trade Bureau (ATTT).
The ATTT has put some statistics online, but they are spotty--- data from 1997 to 2004 is missing, and the 1980s numbers are hit or miss. And this neatly exhibits yet another problem with statistics on alcoholic beverages---too many governments simply do not make their booze statistics readily available.
Recently, I happened upon this 1973 ATF report which is chock full of data on whiskey and other distilled spirits in the U.S. (Fair warning---it is a 10 megabyte file, so it may take a while to download.)
As I get my hands on copies from other years, I will post them online. You can get notified of these postings by getting my feed.Labels: Whiskey Laws and Regulations, Whiskey Statistics
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