About 250 years ago, farmers looking for a way to make their surplus corn crop profitable decided to distill it. Today, that leftover grain has become a billion-dollar industry and a symbol of the Bluegrass State's identity, economy and culture.
"How bourbon came about is (what) ... the American spirit looks like: business, independence, freedom, a little bit of luck and a lot of perseverance," said Justin Thompson.
Thompson and his colleague Justin Sloan are the proprietors of
The House of Bourbon, the world's largest bourbon store, located on West
Main Street in Lexington right across from Mary Todd Lincoln's
childhood home.
And right now, business is booming.
Thompson and Sloan started collecting rare and vintage bottles of bourbon 20 years ago, when the drink was out of favor. Then, four years ago, the state passed a law allowing the resale of distilled spirits and the duo opened their store, selling not just their stockpile but the history of the drink itself.
Bourbon is concocted from a strict formula. "By law it has to be
made with a minimum of 51% corn, aged in charred new oak barrels and
stored at no more than 125 proof and bottled at no less than 80 proof,"
Thompson said.
But its sweet, rich flavor was actually born out of
happenstance. In the early days, the best market for bourbon was on the
East Coast, so farmers had to ship their barrels down the Mississippi to
Louisiana then around Florida and up the coast. The trip took months
but also allowed the whiskey to age beautifully.
"When merchants along the East Coast started marveling about this red whiskey with its unique flavor, that marked the beginning of the bourbon industry," said Thompson.
In 1964, Congress deemed bourbon the nation's native spirit, and
there's nothing more American than enjoying a sip of the brown stuff in
a classic cocktail like a mint julep or an Old-Fashioned on the Fourth
of July weekend.
But it's only in the past 10 years that America's appetite for
bourbon has really skyrocketed -- and Kentucky tourism along with it.
While bourbon can technically be crafted in any state, Kentucky makes 95% of the world's supply. The whiskey is now the state's $8.6 billion signature industry, generating 20,100 jobs with an average salary of $95,000, an amount that has climbed by 23% since 2009.
According to the Kentucky Distillers Association, tourists to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail spend on average between $400 and $1,200 a trip -- with more than 70% of visitors coming from outside the state.
"This industry is a testament to the American spirit of making something from nothing, or making something from something leftover," said Kentucky state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, a Bourbon County Republican.
Right now, Kentucky has $2.3 billion in bourbon-related capital projects planned, including a massive $1.2 billion expansion at Buffalo Trace, the country's premier distillery dating back to the late 18th century. Buffalo Trace now crafts some of the world's most sought-after brands, including Elmer T. Lee, E.H. Taylor and Pappy Van Winkle, which can retail for more than $1,000 a bottle.
"Like works of art, they are more than likely snapped up by collectors and either kept for themselves or sold at highly inflated prices," said Thayer.
But while some labels have vaulted into the realm of luxury, the bourbon industry as a whole would never have come about without humble grit and ingenuity. Over the years, it has survived fickle consumer trends, natural disasters like flooding and drought, and government overreach in the form of Prohibition to become a symbol of our nation -- and the pride of Kentucky.
"Kentucky has two unique signature industries, horses and bourbon. And no offense to other states, but if we don't protect horses and bourbon in terms of the economic effect of both, we're West Virginia or Mississippi," said Thayer.
"And while those are fine places, we have two things that are unique to Kentucky like nowhere else."
Photo: Justin Sloan (left) and Justin Thompson of Lexington's House of Bourbon own the state's largest bourbon store. Photo credit Salena Zito.
Salena Zito is a national political reporter and columnist for
the Washington Examiner as well as a weekly columnist for the New York
Post. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through shoe-leather
journalism, traveling from Main Street to the beltway and all places in
between. To find out more about Salena and read her past columns, please
visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2021 CREATORS.COM
17 comments:
I wonder how many lives and entire families have been destroyed by bourbon. I say this as a former bourbon drinker myself, who took 10 more years than I should've to stop drinking. All I can say if to hell with bourbon.
I loathe the fact bourbon is as popular as it is now. I've been partaking in the drink for years and what I used to drink regularly is almost impossible to find these days.
Side note: I wish Mississippi's Old Soul Bourbon was better than it is.
Sigh. I remember the good ole days - just a mere decade ago- where you could walk into Briarwood or Corkscrew and pick an Old Rip right off of the shelf. The popularity killed it for me.
Kentucky thanks Don Draper. The Old Fashion became fashionable again.
I suggest watching Heist on Netflix - Bourbon Kings.
A physician said that bourbon and cigars are covid deterrents. That plus the shots make me mask free.
Yeah. Hopefully the Old Soul boys have had enough time to distill their own hooch. I agree their sourced blend is not that great.
Strange how tobacco products are no longer accepted as it once was yet corn squeezins' is so popular. The number one factor in social decay is alcohol.
Can't pay your rent or children needs new clothes, no money for groceries and the light bill is way past due, but there is always money for, you know, corn squeezins'.
Had a Maker's at lunch and it was pretty damn good.
What percent of people that are on food stamps smoke and drink. It’s theft.
Costo has SAMS beat on liquor prices- just saying-
@4:29 pm
I am sincerely sorry for your drinking history and congratulate you on your sobriety. I wish you every good thing. Alcoholism is no joke.
On the other hand, for a substantial fraction of my life I have taken two or so drinks of something pretty much every day. Most days a single shot, very rarely indeed a third drink. When I was a boy, during the 1950s, my dad, who drank not a drop, owned a saloon. He held drunkards in great contempt, particularly rum drinkers, "rummies," he called them. Sorta in his honor my drink of choice these days is a double shot of Myers dark rum over ice cubes with a lemon wedge. If I am feeling particularly frisky, I'll wedge a lime and throw it in as well.
I know it's un-American but I'd do without rather than drink the stuff.
@7:09 PM
Let it go already. Quit demonizing the poor. We all have vices. What percentage of us middle class and affluent are assholes for no real reason?
No better time than to interject this rather colorful bit of Mississippi history:
Noah Sweat was a member of the Mississippi legislature when he gave this speech in 1954. The "Whiskey Speech" concerned
the question of the prohibition of alcoholic liquor, a law that was still in force in Mississippi at the time the speech was
delivered.
My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I
want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at
any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about
whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey:
If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that
defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally
takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian
man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation,
and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.
But, if when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale
that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on
their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean
the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you
mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a
little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of
which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for
our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways
and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.
This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise
While you are busy demonizing alcohol, don't forget to hit the Kroger pharmacy up on the way home to get those scripts re-filled. I drink daily, am in generally good health and haven't taken so much as an Advil in over 20 years. Everyone is different, with different habits both good and bad. No need to point fingers just because someone is not like you.
So we can even fight over Bourbon?
We can exalt it to the symbol of American exceptionalism? And ignore the history of other countries?
I think we are becoming #1 in ornery as well as killing each other.
Sober for the most part now but I sure do try and enjoy me a Charter 8 every once in a while.
I long ago learned to never trust a man who couldn't hold his liquor.
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