Kentucky Bourbon

The Early Years of Whiskeymaking

Henry G. Crowgey

Narrated by Ian Putnam

Available from Audible

Book published by The University Press of Kentucky

Bourbon whiskey is perhaps Kentucky's most distinctive product. Despite bourbon's prominence in the social and economic life of the Bluegrass state, many myths and legends surround its origins. In Kentucky Bourbon, Henry C. Crowgey claims that distilled spirits and pioneer settlement went hand in hand; Isaac Shelby, the state's first governor, was among Kentucky's pioneer distillers. Crowgey traces the drink's history from its beginnings as a cottage industry to steam-based commercial operations in the period just before the Civil War. From "spirited" camp meetings, to bourbon's use as a medium of exchange for goods and services, to the industry's coming of age in the mid-nineteenth century, the story of Kentucky bourbon is a fascinating chapter in the state's early history.

Henry G. Crowgey was professor of history at University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

REVIEWS:

“When I began reading the book, I was a mere consumer of the brown substance known as whiskey. After reading this book I not only have the pleasure of consuming it, I know a little more about how the substance became what it is today. Consumers and historians alike would enjoy reading this book and making it an addition to their library.”

—Kentucky Beverage Journal

“As an imbiber of this tasty product, this reviewer feels this short volume is a must for any Kentuckian interested in our state's heritage.”

—Northern Kentucky Heritage

“The book is the first of its kind to carefully trace the early years of bourbon in Kentucky and to draw from extensive research of 17th and 18th century newspapers, court records, diaries and journals”

—Kentucky Alumni

“The well-researched book tells the story from its subject's roots and gives an insight to early-day Kentucky.”

—National Barbeque News

“Crowgey got his hands dirty. He read letters from people in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, he dug up long out of print newspapers, scouring both the news and advertisements. He got hold of production and sales figures, government records, and eyeballed maps. In short, he did an awful lot of work in order to enable him to paint a full picture of who made Bourbon, how, where and why...Anyone who wants to claim any knowledge of whiskey in early America should grab hold of a copy.”

—alcoholreviews.com