Interestingly, the Redemption Website contradicts this information by listing that only 600 bottles were produced. The log was then stood upright and filled from the top with fermented mash. Bourbon vs. Tennessee Whiskey Fast Facts. By 1945, Americans were consuming about three times as much rum as they had in 1941. Even by 1939 when Charles H. Baker Jr.s excellent book, The Gentlemans Companion, was published, the author noted that vodka was unnecessary to medium or small bars.. The Trust had effective ways of dealing with these offenders and with those who wanted to remain independent--they destroyed their distilleries. Prohibition finally ended at 5:32 P.M., Eastern Standard Time, on December 5, 1933. No, not really, it turns out she was more a *sexual dalliance in the White House than an anonymous inside source, and that it was Babcock who wired the warning and added the odd signature. 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. 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. There were few regulations about how the stuff should be made. New markets were opening up, and the whiskey business was becoming more and more profitable. Most of these were of the plainest design, though handsome in their simplicity. included instructions on how to make imitation whiskeys such as Old Rye, Old Rye Monongahela, and Old Bourbon. The author, John Stephen, M.D., who billed himself as A Practical Chemist and Experienced Liquor Dealer, noted that his methods, known as the French System, were almost unknown in this country and accused previous rectifiers of adulterating liquors with poisonous and deleterious compounds., Stephens French System of making imitation whiskey, however, was, as he predicted in his book, to become the standard method of making less-expensive whiskey. When Prohibition ended, not everyone was happy about it: Dry Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas (during Prohibition, most politicians were referred to as Wet or Dry), one of the authors of the eighteenth amendment, made a speech on January 16 (the date that Prohibition went into effect) of every year since 1920, commemorating the Noble Experiment. J. Mellon private bottlings: After Prohibition, Richard King Mellon bottled some old vintages for his private use. Think about this: Early farmers, from time to time, must have had a bumper crop of grains. Once again, just as in the case of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, whiskey was being made to help finance the armed forces. And Grant was returned to office in 1872. The bar opened in 1897 and closed its doors when Prohibition was enacted. Therefore, strong drink is a luxury that takes food from the mouths of all people. Somewhere, close to the top of the log or in the lid itself, must have been a hole fitted with the copper pipe that carried live steam into the still from a nearby kettle. The black-market price for whiskey was, in 1863, about $35 per gallon, compared to about 25 cents for the same amount at the end of 1860. Whiskey had great value during the Civil War. In 1868 Congress passed a bill that reduced the excise tax to 50 per gallon, required a tax stamp to be put on all American-made spirits, and gave distillers a grace period--known as the bonding period--of one year before having to pay taxes on liquor that was aging. Up until this point, cultural and agricultural needs and feasibilities had dictated the production of Americas whiskey, but a major event was about to occur, just a decade after the Declaration of Independence was issued, wherein whiskey would have a direct affect on the nation itself. Whiskey was a spirit of contention during the Civil War, and was, in part, the reason that Grant never served a third term in the White House. After that time, surveyors and prospectors offered land for sale at very reasonable prices to pioneers heading west. A lid of sorts must then have been fitted onto the top of the log. Taylor William Samuels (Maker's Mark Bourbon) was operating a commercial distillery in Deatsville in 1844. Whiskeys made at this distillery include Very Old Barton, Ten High, Kentucky Gentleman, Colonel Lee, Tom Moore, and Barclays. Demand was diminished--and things didnt change a great deal until some learned spirits aficionados decided that whiskey wasnt getting enough attention and started to shed some light on the intricacies of single malt Scotch in the 1980s. Why did Babcock use the name Sylph on the telegrams? So, though the public was protected and fed, in part, by the whiskey men of America, they just didnt have enough decent whiskey to drink. This bourbon was rested for 7 long years in hand-selected white oak barrels. By 1900, many of the smaller temperance societies had either given their support to or had become part of the Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893. Most of them were dismantled, and of the 17 plants operating in Kentucky prior to Prohibition, only seven were making whiskey in 1935. It seems that a certain William Bard, an agent for David Bard and John C. Owens, who as partners had laid claim to 1,000 acres of land in Kentucky County by 1780, held a lottery that same year in which the 33 lucky winners would be awarded lots on the land. Undeterred, they turned their talents to fermenting other fruits--and even vegetables. Since rum was made nearby, in the Caribbean, and therefore was easy and relatively inexpensive to transport to the U.S., it became the drink of choice of many Americans beleaguered by both the shortage of whiskey, and a lack of money. By the early 1620s, colonists in Virginia were brewing beer that they claimed would tide them over until they got used to the water. 23 gallons of industrial alcohol were required in the manufacture of a Jeep. They spent it on the good stuff. Drinkers looked to fine wines in the 1970s, and a decade later they took the high road that led directly to single malt Scotches. The battle eventually was won by the blenders, but back on this side of the Atlantic, similar battles were being waged. However, the treasury was not to be deterred. Further amendments to the law made it possible to actually distill whiskey (during distilling holidays) that would be used for medicinal purposes. You would think that you could trust something called the Whiskey Trust. But imported European barley took a long time before it became acclimatized to its new home. That year saw the birth of yet another organization, The Association Against the Prohibition Amendment, made up of many brewers, distillers, and some very wealthy and influential people, DuPont family members among them. One of the women who had joined the Womens Crusade and was president of the WTCU. In New York, when a law was passed that made it illegal to sell drinks on Sunday except when they were accompanied by a meal, many hotels took to placing a sandwich on each table. So, along with the steamboats on the Mississippi, the whiskey industry now had railroads to take its product south. The Stitzel distillery joined forces with the Weller company to form Stitzel-Weller. Furthermore, we can track the creation of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey back to their very roots--a rare opportunity when the subject is food or drink. They settled in western Pennsylvania, western Maryland, western Virginia, and the western parts of North and South Carolina. 9: Alcohol and the City 1800-1900. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 added Missouri, Arkansas, and parts of Louisiana to the U.S., as well as a huge expanse of land that would eventually become Iowa, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, most of Kansas, and parts of Montana, Wyoming, Minnesota, and Colorado. The theory that whiskey improved with age was proved once a whiskey-maker tasted his product after its journey downriver to New Orleans. In 1816, a company, registered in New England, incorporated in Kentucky under the name of the Hope Distilling Company; it was a very big venture--many years before its time. Finally, small-batch whiskey, single-barrel whiskey, and wheated bourbon, were getting their fair share of attention. The Tom Moore Distillery was reopened as the Barton Distillery after Prohibition; it was later taken over by Oscar Getz and is now owned by Barton Brands. It wasnt politically correct, it wasnt good for the body, and it was no longer a laughing matter. Lem Motlow, who took over the Jack Daniel distillery when Jack retired in 1907, introduced Lem Motlows Tennessee Sour Mash, Jack Daniels No. The Best Peated Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Blind Tasted And Ranked. Since most people were used to the bold body and heady flavors of good whiskey, gin was far preferable to vodka, a spirit that was virtually unknown in America at the time. According to this booklet, over 12,000 saloons had been closed by various means in the year 1909, and over 41 million Americans were living in dry territory. Skirmishes continued between whiskey-makers and the tax collectors and resulted in a few revenue agents being tarred and feathered and others terrorized into handing over their excise books to the delinquent taxpayers, but the revolt didnt really come to a head until 1794. *The Civil War toe the whiskey-making states apart. Some of them filtered the whiskey they purchased in bulk in order to rectify it, taking out some impurities and rendering the whiskey somewhat smoother. 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. Advertisements in magazines and newspapers of the time gave consumers the chance not only to buy whiskey at reduced rates, but also to receive special offers, such as an elegant gold-filled watch sent free to all who influence ten new customers to each order one gallon or more of our goods. If you had only four friends, you could receive the most beautiful set of Limoges China Dishes you ever saw for persuading each of them to order a gallon of spirits from the Security Distilling Company of Chicago. Indeed, had Prohibition not come to an end, the government would have had enormous difficulties fulfilling their need of industrial alcohol (beverage alcohol at 190? In December of that year the Distilled Spirits Institute (DSI) was formed in the New York offices of the Schenley Products Company. These scalawags blended small amounts of straight whiskey with huge quantities of flavorless neutral grain spirits (distilled out at a very high proof in Coffeys continuous still) and a few flavorings; and yet they sold their product as straight whiskey.. Weak homebrew beer (typically around 1 to 2% ABV) was the closest thing to potable water in european (and colonial) homes since medieval times. 19 gallons were needed to produce one 16-inch naval shell. The spirits they made were probably not the smoothest of potions, mind you--but they were liquor all the same. Since 1776, when corn cultivation in the area had been encouraged by Virginias corn patch and cabin rights, the pioneers had found that, not only was corn a relatively easy grain to cultivate, but it also made a distinctive style of whiskey. As stated in an article in True West Magazine, the period's popular brands of U.S. whiskey included Thistle Dew, Old Crow, Hermitage, Old Kentucky, Old Reserve, Coronet, Log Cabin No. Leslie Samuels (Makers Mark) reopened his Deatsville distillery in 1933, and sold T. W. Samuels bourbon (named for the first Samuels to open a commercial distillery). The Lever Food and Fuel Act was enacted later that year; designed to preserve food supplies during World War I, it made all distillation of beverage alcohol illegal. By his accounts, this bar was indeed one worth frequenting. They had no points to pay on the closing, no smooth broker taking a percentage, and no rent to pay until the Revolutionary War ended (The Treaty of Paris, September 3, 1783). John D. Rockefeller, Sr. had paved the way with Standard Oil and all it took after that was a few clever men in Peoria, Illinois. Suddenly though, from out of the woodwork, Betty Ford, Ringo Starr, and Liz Taylor came clean, publicly said goodbye to John Barleycorn, and a new interest in sobriety was born. They had fought the law. This 100-proof bourbon (and rye) got its 9-year-old age statement back in 2020 after it was removed for a few years . The below information has been republished with permission of the authors, Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan. Decrying prohibition during that period was somewhat akin to promoting cigarettes in 1995--although it doesnt amount to treason, it just isnt politically correct.. Once again, people were demanding straight rye whiskey--not the blended product that had been poured as rye at many a bar since as far back as the 1950s. James E. Pepper built the James E. Pepper Distillery in 1879 and soon produced a whiskey that bore his name. The famed Carry Nation (almost six feet tall and around 175 pounds) was a member of the Womens Christian Temperance Union, and her antics were recorded by Oscar Getz in his book, Whiskey--An American Pictorial History. Greed, of course, was the motivating factor in all these shenanigans, and what the Whiskey Trust didnt count on was that some of the smaller distilleries within the trust would make as much whiskey as they desired, and simply lie about their production figures. 1, O.K. The corn question is relatively easy: Since corn was the predominant grain within the state, the majority of distillers in Kentucky most likely used corn to make their whiskey. 14: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth; and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou and thine household., After quoting the passage, Brown commented, The context shows that for the convenience of those living at a distance from the place appointed by God for feasts in His honor, authority was given to sell for money that which was required for tithes and feasts and provide the same at the place appointed by God for His worship. And whereas Grant had originally claimed to have been grievously betrayed by McDonald, he now said that McDonald was a reliable friend, and cited McDonalds friendship with Babcock as good enough reason to believe him innocent of the charges. And since around 13,000 men turned out to do battle, Washingtons authority was firmly established. According to Gerald Carson in his book, The Social History of Bourbon, one such tax collector, who had employed the services of a dozen soldiers to guard his house, had it burned to the ground nonetheless. The plant produced Tom Moore Bourbon in 1879, and Mattingly & Moore Bourbon by 1896. Tennessee enforced statewide Prohibition in 1910. But these enterprising farmer-distillers, much like the earlier distillers of plums and berries, were distilling whiskey more or less for themselves and neighbors. Over the whole of the eighteenth century, about 250,000 Scots-Irish Ulstermen and Ulsterwomen came to America. 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. Virginians and pioneers from North Carolina, on the other hand, usually made their way to what became the Bluegrass State through the Cumberland Gap--a route that took them through the Appalachian Mountains on the Wilderness Trail.. Lincolns secretary, John Hay, when recording the 1863 arrival of the Sons of Temperance at the White House, noted that the group blamed the defeats of Union troops on intemperance among the soldiers. 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. 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. Hard drinks were not sold in "shots". Since the distillation of beverage alcohol is, in simple terms, the separation of alcohol from water, they were actually performing a form of distillation by freezing instead of heating. One embarrassment was Jay Gould and James Fisks 1869 attempt to corner the gold market. Whiskey bonds became a very valuable commodity. In 1640, William Kieft, the Director General of the New Netherland Colony, decided that liquor should be distilled on Staten Island. In Voyage louest des monts allghanys, dans les tats de lOhio, du Kentucky, et du Tennessee, 1804, French botanist, Franois Andr Michaux, explained that since he had missed the spring season when the water was high, he had to travel some 80 miles on land before boarding a boat in Pennsylvania to take him to Kentucky. However, since it takes 10 full days for the whiskey to travel through all of the charcoal, we think he was referring to his new, though slow, method of filtration. His whiskeys, Old Crow and Old Pepper, were very popular during the Civil War, and he has always been hailed as the man who not only made good bourbon, but also knew exactly why his bourbon was good. In 1804, Franois Andr Michaux wrote, Kentuckians have preserved the manners of the Virginians. These were to be trying times for the President. The traditional price for a bottle of cheap whiskey in a cowboy saloon was two bits (25 cents). Bonding helped the whiskey men a little since it meant that they didnt have to pay their taxes as soon as the spirit ran out of the still, but 12 months wasnt a very long grace period considering that whiskey under two years old isnt worth drinking, and it doesnt really gain much character until it has been in the wood for three to four years. In 1913, an article appeared in The Louisville Courier-Journals special Southern Prosperity edition wherein whiskey dealer S. C. Herbst proclaimed that his Old Judge and Old Fitzgerald brands were the last Old Fashioned Copper Pot Distilled Whiskeys.. rye and malted barley Aged in oak barrels for an average of 5 . Liquor in the 19th Century. For some of them, this meant traveling a couple of hundred miles through dangerous country where native Americans were wont to attack, and it also meant leaving their farms for relatively long periods when there was work to be done--and whiskey to be made. (This time period remained in effect until the Forand Act of 1958 increased it to 20 years.) But this profession is beloved because it is essential, and it is respected because its pursuit is clothed with an element of danger and with a sporting risk. It has no interest apart from the church. *motlow died in 1947. One of the first acts to upset the American drinker, designed to raise money for the crown, was the taxation of the sugar, molasses, and rum being imported *from the any of the colonies or plantations in America, not in the possession of or under the dominion of his Majesty. Although not mentioned by name, the tax was directed specifically at the main competition for British traders in the Caribbean--the merchants of French West Indies. The book serves as an indication that a number of cheap whiskeys were being produced just before and (in larger quantities) after the Civil War. They wanted their own liquor. 5 whiskey, and Lem Motlows Peach Brandy shortly after gaining control of the distillery. The tradesmen started watering down their whiskey in order to pay less and get more. Overall, the Civil Wars effect on the whiskey business, by no means negligible, was to whittle down the number of whiskey distilleries and distillers--a fact that probably didnt upset temperance advocate--and onetime tavern keeper--Abraham Lincoln. Well, something was done, and when the law was enforced in 1907, all grain spirits other than straight whiskey had to be labeled compound, imitation, or blended. Consumers interpreted this language to mean that the only true whiskey was straight whiskey, and this wasnt really fair to the producers of blended products, so when Taft took office in 1909, he decided to establish further standards of identity and clarify the definition. All of the ingredients needed for whiskey-making were available to these early Kentuckians, but in a quest for the origins of a specific style of whiskey, its necessary to work backwards. However, since the majority of brewers and distillers thought of the drys as not much more than religious fanatics, they chose not only to ignore them, but foolishly carried on doing business as usual--a bad move, and one that would eventually lead to their downfall. John H. Beam (Early Times Bourbon), Davids other son, was co-owner of the Early Times Distillery in 1860. By 1934, his company owned the George T. Stagg Distillery (Ancient Age) and the James E. Pepper Distillery (James E. Pepper whiskey) among others. During the years of Reconstruction more and more people, most of them experienced whiskey drinkers, went West. Barley was also grown in these states, and it was familiar to the farmers and distillers. In the years between the Civil War and 1900, the very ways in which whiskey was packaged and marketed were also updated and modernized. And by this time, aged whiskey was preferred by far over the raw spirit that had been acceptable some 60 years previous. Taxes have long been the bane of the whiskey businesss existence, and toward the end of the nineteenth century, demand was high for a fair policy that would benefit the country without crippling the entire liquor industry. Lems peach brandy was made in an old pot still. Whether or not they were one and the same whiskey, bottled under different labels, is not known--but certainly possible. Thus, he teamed up with Secretary of the Treasury John G. Carlisle, and together they lobbied for the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897.. The company was acquired by the Jim Beam Brands Company in the 1980s. Even though some documents pertaining to the case were stolen (allegedly by a man in the employ of Grant himself), Babcock was indicted. The mail-order business continued, but with not nearly as much spirit as before. I. W. Harper Bourbon won a gold medal at the Exposition Universal, in Paris, France, in 1900 and another at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904. this 85 proof whiskey . DSI went on to merge with the Licensed Beverage Industries (formed in 1946) and the Bourbon Institute (formed in 1958) to become the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) in 1973. The country drank and drank, hardly knowing what was in the glass, everyone was out to achieve the high of all highs, and no one cared much how they did it. One such quote was from Deut. By the turn of the century, over 350,000 people had settled in Kentucky. Many proofs were bottled, including 113 proof, 121 proof, 122 proof, 123 proof, and 127 proof. In modern terms, those seven gallons are the equivalent of 1.7 bottles of a standard 80-proof liquor per person, per weeknearly 90 bottles a year for every adult in the nation, even with. In fact, according to Mike Veach, archivist at United Distillers, it is more probable that Elijah Craigs name was used to fight the prohibition movement in the late nineteenth century simply because he was a Baptist minister. Decorative glass and ceramic bottles containing whiskey were a novelty that had been around since the early 1800s. He made whiskey using corn as the predominant grain, he insisted on aging it in charred casks, and he used a sour-mash starter. George Garvin Brown (Old Forester) and his half-brother, J. T. S. Brown, went into the wholesale whiskey business in 1870. . And these tables were not present only in the posh bars, working-class saloons offered similar meals, but the fare on their tables--pickled eggs, frankfurters, stews, and thick, hearty soups--was not nearly as sumptuous as that at the Waldorf. In order to put people to work, Roosevelt proposed a New Deal for the country.