BOURBON AND KENTUCKY: A HISTORY DISTILLED

if one would know real bluegrass charm he first must stop at winburn farm and meet the squire nobody here is ever bored gray shadows dance on morgan soared above the fire the squire leans back among his books pioneers emerge from leafy nooks with Powderhorn let's talk of Boone and Clarke he'll say Zack Taylor - at Monterey and sip our corn the squire was windburn farms Jay Winston Coleman jr. a popular Kentucky historian in the mid 20th century the poet was the Squires old friend William H Townsend lawyer and historian who with his son-in-law Joseph H Murphy rescued this great landmark the held place along South Elkhorn Creek near Lexington hello I'm Ken Masterson Brown welcome to bourbon and Kentucky a history distilled you know - squire and bill Townsend old Kentucky bourbon was an essential ingredient to any discussion of Kentucky history bourbon you see is quintessentially Kentucky it is indispensable to Kentucky hospitality it is inexorably intertwined with Kentucky's history so let's sit back relax sip our corn and explore the history of Kentucky bourbon major funding was provided for bourbon and Kentucky a history distilled by the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau and by the ket fund for independent production [Music] [Applause] [Music] what is Kentucky Bourbon anyway the distilling of Kentucky bourbon whiskey has remained fundamentally unchanged for more than 200 years how it is now made is embedded in federal government regulations but most of those regulations were promulgated over time from a long history of distilling that ultimately set the standard for the product known today as Kentucky bourbon let's first take a look at the process of distilling Kentucky bourbon today the Woodford Reserve distillery is a wonderful place to start inside the stone walls of this old distillery are the equipment and apparatus used in distilling that are as close to those used in the early 19th century as one can find to start each distiller has what is called a grain bill or mash vil made of different proportions of distillers grains corn rye sometimes wheat and walnut barley the exact formula is often a family secret passed down through generations bourbon whiskey must contain at least 51% but not more than 80% corn these both grains are then fed into a hammer mill or rolling mill and ground into a coarse meal much like the Millers did on the early kentucky frontier the coarse meal is mixed with limestone water and backset stillage a portion of the previous batch set back for use in the next batch and cooked it around 212 degrees in a large cyprus vessel called the mash tub the water is pure naturally filtered through the region's limestone Basin it's high in calcium and free of iron it is ideal distilling water as the mixture cools to around 160 degrees the distiller adds rye then when the mixture cools to around 60 degrees the distiller adds the malted barley the liquid that is produced is known as sour mash the starches in the grains are converted into fermentable or soluble sugars no fit for whiskey to be called sour mash a portion of the previous batch must be added to the next day's batch this is called the back set it preserves the consistency of the flavor of the whiskey by blending a batch with the one before and then the one after that helps maintain a consistent pH level after fermentation is completed the finished liquid known as distillers beer is then placed in a large tank known as a beer well the distillers beer is then heated to near boiling in the copper whiskey still the alcohol boils at a lower temperature than the water and is carried off and condensed in the copper condenser or still baffles the liquid produced is known as low proof whiskey or low wine then redistill using the same mechanism into high wine once it is Reedus tilled the high wine is adjusted to the desired barrel proof by adding distilled water stored in Finnish whiskey tanks proof is the scale of measurement of alcohol content and denoted at exactly twice the percentage of alcohol 100 proof equals 50% alcohol bourbon must be distilled at less than 160 proof and put into barrels with an entry proof of less than 125 the new whiskey a clear liquid is then put into new white oak charred barrels and sealed with a wooden dowel or bung each barrel contains 53 gallons of new whiskey the charring converts a portion of the wood into charcoal and provides the new whiskey with its caramel color the whiskey ages harshness dissipates and the mellow flavors developed the fill barrels are then stored in bonded warehouses over the aging cycle roughly 25% to 30% of the whiskey will be lost due to absorption into the barrels evaporation and leakage straight whiskies are aged a minimum of two years bonded whiskies are aged a minimum of four years most bourbon whiskies are aged from four to eight years after the aging period is over the whiskey is withdrawn from the warehouse and the barrels are dumped in the gauging room the whiskey is filtered and adjustments are made to the proof by adding distilled water finished whiskey is bottled excise taxes of $13.50 per gallon are paid a proof gallon it's one gallon of whiskey at 100 proof to qualify as Kentucky Bourbon the whiskey must be distilled and stored in the Commonwealth of Kentucky for at least one year to qualify as bottled and bond the whiskey must be distilled at the same plant where it is bottled aged for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof bourbon is not bottled at less than 80 proof single barrel bourbon is bottled from a single barrel and small-batch bourbon is generally bottled from a few select barrels now that we know how Kentucky Bourbon is made how and why did it become a uniquely Kentucky product who first distilled Kentucky Bourbon why is it made mostly from corn why is it aged in charred oak barrels and why is the scale of measurement called proof and how was that devised moreover why is whiskey called bourbon all these questions and war I will try to answer what you will come to understand is that the story of Kentucky bourbon is indeed in extra complete intertwined with the history of Kentucky to the very early settlers of Kentucky the land here particularly in central Kentucky was ideal it was the land that lured them here there were more streams and navigable rivers in Kentucky than any other state in fact that still remains true feeding those streams are countless Springs the pure water from which bubbles up out of the deep limestone bed that covers much of the state particularly in central Kentucky added to the pure limestone springfed waters in Kentucky is a soil that is second to none on earth Native American tribes up and down the East Coast had introduced the early settlers of the Seaboard colonies to the raising of corn or maize a commodity that would prove to be very suitable to Kentucky soil and climate [Music] corn would not only grow abundantly in Kentucky's often humid climate but it had many uses it could be eaten off the cob it proved to be excellent fodder for fattening livestock it could be ground into meal or flour for breads its cobs could be burned forming a means of heating one shelter and it could be distilled it was corns versatility that made it a favorite crop for Kentucky's early pioneers but even more important than its versatility the extent of land on which a settler could raise corn was the means by which the early virginia legislature chose for a settler to claim land in kentucky the more corn he raised the more acres he could claim pure limestone spring water and corn to the early settlers they were the basic ingredients for distilling whiskey they remain today the basic ingredients for Kentucky Bourbon who first distilled corn in Kentucky will never be known William [ __ ] who settled Boonesboro in 1775 is recorded as owning distilling equipment it has been said that Stephen Richie distilled whiskey in Nelson County as early as 1776 there have been claims made for other distillers Jacob Meyers and Jacob Foreman of Lincoln County Marshall Brashear of Jefferson County Baptist minister Elijah Craig of Scott County and Jacob Spears of Bourbon County were very early Kentucky in Fayette County the first known distiller was Daniel Stewart of Masterson station for sale a copper steel of 120 gallons capacity with a good copper and pewter worm Kentucky Gazette advertisement June 17 18 ein Evan Williams is credited with operating the first commercial distillery in Jefferson County in 1783 who first distilled corn whiskey in Kentucky we really don't know according to legend Baptist minister Elijah Craig of Scott County obtained a number of used oak barrels to store his distilled whiskey he reputedly burned the inside of the barrels as a means of cleaning them unbeknownst to him so the legend goes the fire converted the linings of the barrels to charcoal the raw whiskey he stored in those barrels turned out to have a smooth flavor in rich caramel color it was Craig the first distiller to age corn whiskey and charred oaken barrels most certainly not distilling was introduced into Europe they say in the 12th century by way of Egypt and Moorish Spain its introduction into the British Isles probably dates to the 13th century we know that distilling and a taste for distilled products found their way onto American shores with the earliest English settlers in 1607 [Music] like those in the British Isles the earliest settlers in America found ways to distill any and all kinds of grains and fruits into Spiritist drinks it has been written that a taste for such drinks was an absolutely ingrained characteristic of our earliest American settlers among the earliest laws in the colonies including Virginia were ones that forbade drunkenness and regulated the distilling and prices of spiritus liquors their evidence of the widespread production and consumption of distilled spirits among our earliest ancestors in America distilled spirits were fundamentally among the necessities of colonial life to be sure they were used for entertaining served at weddings and funerals other gatherings and celebrations and more than that though they provided something to drink when no good source of fresh water could be found and that was all too often but they were also used as medicinal agents for all kinds of maladies in a time when there were no curative drugs or even painkillers that we obtained over-the-counter today our ancestors had only distilled liquors to remedy they believed almost every disease as well as provide relief from everyday aches and pains to most early colonists distilled spirits were also a form of money in an age when those living on the frontier had no money no specie at all and no way of obtaining it liquor was a means by which goods and services could be procured whiskey would serve as a means of barter for many years the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains the Kentucky Gazette published in Lexington carried advertisements in 1791 for produce that could be bought with cash or whiskey here James Dunn a customer of Lexington merchant John Moylan purchased all of his goods in 1792 with whisky distilled spirits also proved to be a means of keeping the peace it seems the early white settlers of the Atlantic Coast colonies quickly found out that the Native Americans like the colonists themselves enjoyed distilled spirits early Virginia laws attempted to control the trade of rum brandy and whisky to the Indian tribes but the laws were impossible to enforce most of the distilled beverages of the Atlantic Coast colonies were made of sugarcane fruits usually peaches and apples or rye rye was the most common whiskey along these Seaborg it was produced in mostly northern states because rye a grain that grows well in non humid climates was plentiful their rum Brandy's and rye whiskey where the liquors found most often in the original colonies Virginians on the other hand preferred the use of corn for their whiskeys corn grew well in Virginia and rye really didn't it was simply too humid in most of Virginia for ride to flourish so great was distilling that during the revolution states enacted laws that vigorously enforced barring the use of unreasonable quantities of wheat and other grains for distilling into whiskey those grains principally corn wheat rye oats barley and buckwheat were needed to feed the troops yet at the same time the troops needed whiskey General George Washington a noted distiller of whiskey himself wrote in 1777 to Congress it is necessary there should always be a sufficient quantity of spirits with the army to furnish moderate supplies to the troops in many instances such as when they are marching in hot or cold weather in camp or went on fatigue or in working parties it is so essential that it is not to be dispensed with the benefits arising from the moderate use of strong liquor have been experienced in all armies and are not to be disputed Kentucky's early settlers came by means of two routes the most famous was the Wilderness Road that started at Long Island on the Holston River not far from present-day Bristol Virginia passed through the Cumberland Gap and ended at the south bank of the Kentucky River in present-day Madison County were a stock hated fort known as Boonesboro was erected the other means of settling Kentucky was by a river route from western Pennsylvania down the Monongahela River to Fort Pitt present-day Pittsburgh then by the Ohio River to limestone Kentucky now Maysville or to the mouths of the Licking Kentucky salt or green rivers all of which provided water routes to the interior of Kentucky those traveling the two routes were settlers from Virginia the Carolinas Pennsylvania and Maryland mostly they were Virginia's every one of them brought not only a taste for distilled spirits but an absolute need to use such products for themselves their households or for uses money indeed among the earliest of Kentucky settlers was William caulk of Prince William County Virginia in his diary caulk recorded on March 22nd 1775 that he and his party of settlers stopped at fort chisel in southwestern Virginia on their way into Kentucky where he said and Kim took we got some good loaf of bread and good whiskey caulk began distilling spíritus liquors at Boonesboro it seems as early as 1775 simply speaking with the establishment of permanent settlements at Harrodsburg in 1774 Boonesboro in 1775 and st. Asaph's present-day Stanford in 1775 distilling became part of Kentucky life as settlements grew in number in Kentucky so did distilling every single settlement on the Kentucky frontier was established along a freshwater source water was essential to life it was also essential to distilling the Craig family who settled here at Bryan station and defended this fort in 1782 gave Kentucky some of its earliest commercial distillers there was Captain John Craig who commanded the garrison here in 1782 who ultimately settled in what became Woodford County and there was Tolliver Craig who ultimately settled in what became Scott County the first grain crop in Kentucky was not surprisingly corn there was lots of land to grow corn and the settlers grew lots of it so much so that by 1780 the settlers of Boonesboro were actually advertising for the sale of their surplus corn whiskey made by those early settlers in Kentucky was in part used to keep the peace General George Rogers Clark secured hundreds of gallons of Kentucky whiskey to serve to the Native American tribes at each and every one of his peace councils north of the Ohio River the early Kentuckians claim large landholdings mostly using warrants from their native Virginia given to them for their service in the military and the Revolution they found they could grow corn in abundance and even after their harvest produced enough for their subsistence and for their livestock's use there was ample left to distill the earliest commercial distilleries were usually established in Kentucky in conjunction with a grain mill each mill was set up on a stream where the water could be diverted to a mill race and used to operate a water the wheel was connected to a wooden shaft with a gear mechanism that turned the millstones for grinding the grain a Miller would grind corn and other grains for his neighbors and in return would be given a portion of the grain as payment for his work usually no money changed hands because it was not existent as the Miller accumulated grain in excess of his needs he found it profitable to convert it to whiskey mostly he used corn but he also added other grains rye wheat malted barley thus a distillery was set up on the same site the early distilleries began as very small establishments they were seasonal operations because the grain needed to make the whiskey was harvested in the fall and with the availability of colder water for cooling the distilled spirits they would operate more efficiently then stone and even log mills dating from the late 18th century still docked the Kentucky countryside here along Boone Creek near Lexington one can see two old mills that were at one time also distilleries just up from the Kentucky River along lower Howard's Creek in Clark County stood one of Kentucky's earliest industrial complexes it consisted of this grist mill that also served as a distillery completed around 1787 and operated by John and Rachel pace Martin until they sold it to the noted frontiersman Captain John holder in 1790 the distiller Captain John holder married Frances Calloway one of the three girls captured by the Indians while they were in a across the Kentucky River from Boonesboro in July 1776 along with Daniel Boone whose daughter Jemima was captured folder helped track down and rescue the girls John holder and Frances Callaway are buried just up the hill from their early distillery the whiskey made here would be taken down to the Kentucky River where we put on wharves constructed by Captain holder then put on flatboats down the Kentucky River to the Ohio and down the Ohio to the Mississippi and on to New Orleans and what is interesting is that this occurred as early as the late 1780s and early 1790s the ledger of Lexington merchant John Moylan shows whisky distilled at Boonesboro by John holder along Laura Howard's Creek and elsewhere was taken to New Orleans by flatboat to be sold in 1793 that journey down in back took ten months that same year the Kentucky Gazette ran advertisements for the hiring of men to take whiskey to New Orleans they'd be paid in money and whiskey in fact roylene's ledger shows him paying his crews with whiskey interestingly John Moreland had many illustrious customers who regularly purchased whiskey Colonel Robert Patterson a hero of the Battle of blue licks and the founder of Lexington General Robert Todd general Levi Todd another hero of the Battle of bluelux and grandfather of Mary Todd Lincoln Colonel Thomas Marshall father of Chief Justice John Marshall Humphrey Marshall and dr. basil Duke among many many others after the Revolutionary War the New Republic found itself strapped for money to finance the new federal government and retire war debts the new government by enacting the excise act of March 3rd 1791 proposed by secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton imposed a tax of 9 cents per whiskey actually produced or 60 cents per gallon on the capacity of all stills the new tax brought about a violent backlash particularly among farmers in western Pennsylvania what made the tax so onerous was that Congress required that it be paid in specie or coin which most of the early settlers did not have their trade was conducted with barter the whiskey producing farmers of four western Pennsylvania counties rebelled taking up arms against the federal tax collectors President George Washington then authorized the use of 13,000 federal troops under Major William Lennox to quell the rebellion in Kentucky there was considerable unrest to tax collectors were robbed burned in effigy assaulted and abused what made it even more difficult for the tax collectors here the chief of whom was Colonel Thomas Marshall of present-day Woodford County was that the lone United States District Judge Harry Innes of Franklin County and many members of the bar were content that the law should not be fully executed although he was appointed to the bench by Federalists President George Washington judge Ennis had become an opponent of the tax the federal government filed lawsuits against no less than 177 central Kentucky distillers for unpaid taxes between 1794 and 1799 judge Ennis a purchaser of large amounts of Kentucky whiskey found in favor of the federal government in every case but enter judgments against each distiller for only one-half of the amount the federal government claimed was due he then gave each distiller liberal terms for paying the judgment distillers from Pennsylvania found homes in Kentucky they could set up their distilleries here with more confidence of being free from federal government interference eventually most distillers submitted to being licensed and taxed here Evan Williams of Louisville was given a license to distill whiskey in Jefferson County on December 23rd 1799 the commercial production of distilled corn along with other grains was a natural outgrowth of the tremendous production of those grains still so many Kentuckians were distilling their surplus corn that in order to realize any money for the distilled product the distillers had to find a market it quickly revealed itself New Orleans soon the Ohio and Mississippi rivers were filled with flat boats taking cargoes of mostly Kentucky corn whiskey to the great market to the world New Orleans where New Orleans was the market for Kentucky whiskey Kentuckians relied upon New Orleans to furnish them with goods and fineries here in 1824 waybill shows a steamboat bound to Louisville from New Orleans carrying four copper stills for worms two cylinders copper piping another material for distilling whiskey with the rise of commercial distilling in Kentucky there was a concurrent rise in competition for better and better whiskey's as early as 1792 a Fayette County distiller advertised in the Kentucky Gazette that he had old whiskey for sale whiskey quickly began to be distinguished in the markets between old whiskey and new whiskey the Kentucky Gazette published in Lexington carried a reference to seven-year-old whiskey for sale in its November 6 1818 edition it was soon understood that the older the whiskey the higher the price because it was smoother distilleries that were formerly log additions to mills were being built of more substantial material in the first decades of the 19th century with the credible growth of distilling came the manufacturing of distilling equipment newspapers in central Kentucky began advertising the manufacture and sale of pot stills still baffles and boilers here is a good example of a pot still actually made by Michael fishel in 1807 at his copper and tin Smith shop on Main Street in Lexington Kentucky and advertised in the Kentucky Gazette probably one of the best-known early whiskies in central Kentucky was that first distilled by Revolutionary War veteran Jacob Spears at his grist mill located in Bourbon County at the confluence of stoner Creek and Cooper's run Spears hailed from Rockingham County Virginia he came to Kentucky first to fort Harrod where he served in the militia and then came out here and settled along the banks of stoner Creek just downstream from here opened a grist mill and began distilling whiskey like all other Millers Jacob Spears later moved his distillery up here to northern Bourbon County near the Harrison County line and here he and his three sons carried on the distilling enterprise this is the site of one of the earliest and most well known distilling operations on the Kentucky frontier amazingly it's still intact the distillers house built in the early 1790s the spring house from which he drew his limestone water to make his whiskey the distillery was located behind the spring house probably a log structure and across the road the stone warehouse where he aged his whiskey in charred oak barrels Jacobson Noah recalled making as many as 14 trips by flatboat from limestone now Maysville to New Orleans with the barrels of Jacob Spears as whiskey and returning on foot up the Natchez Trace the whiskey made by Spears was well aged and advertised as Spears old whiskey it gained a reputation as one of the very best in Kentucky other members of the spears family like Abraham Spears also made whiskey apart from the spears family Bourbon County boasted of many early and very fine distillers nearly all of whom were veterans of the Revolutionary War there was John Miller for whom Millersburg was named Captain John Hingston and Thomas Hampson for whom hangsen Creek was named and then there was John Hamilton the refugee of the western Pennsylvania whiskey insurrection Christian Spears and Solomon Keller but probably the most noted of all those distillers early distillers of Bourbon County was Isaac Ruddell Isaac ruddle was a native of Frederick County Virginia he was in command of ruddle station when it was besieged by Indians and British in June 1780 he surrendered the fort was taken captive six years later he came back here Isaac runnel built a grist mill and distillery here along the banks of Haig Sand Creek in 1788 he died in 1808 and after his death in his estate was administered the inventory recorded to large pot stills distilling equipment and to show how advanced an operation his was a steam boiler the same type of boiler used in distilling that was invented by dr. Samuel Brown of Transylvania University another Bourbon County distiller was John Corliss whose 1825 account book for his distillery illustrates his purchases of corn rye wheat barley and wood and payments for hauling and milling grains often he paid for produce and services with his whiskey still another well-known Bourbon County distiller was William bean Northcutt who noted in his remarkable diary how he left his distillery to join a regiment of Kentucky dragoons to follow General William Henry Harrison's expedition to the Ohio country in the war of 1812 by 1810 Bourbon County boasted of 128 distillers one of every five farmers in the county was a distiller a statistic that mirrored much of the Commonwealth of Kentucky that year Bourbon County distillers produced over 146,000 gallons of whiskey worth over $48,000 why was this Kentucky whiskey called bourbon because of the good feeling that existed between Americans and the French at the end of the Revolutionary War due to that country aiding American forces many Kentucky towns and counties were given names that evidenced that good feeling among them are Louisville for sales in Paris and the counties of Fayette and bourbon Kentucky's first three counties were Fayette Lincoln and Jefferson six years before statehood in 1786 bourbon county was carved out of Fayette it's name given in honor of the Royal House of France so large was Bourbon County then that it included what is now 34 counties in the northeastern and eastern section of Kentucky in that area known as bourbon county was one of Kentucky's most noted port towns known originally as limestone because of a stream that empties into the Ohio River here but for more than 200 years since then maysville historian John Filson wrote that limestone is the first part of the Kentucky country Maysville was described by one traveler as the oldest and most accustomed landing place on the Ohio making Maysville even more important was the macadam eyes Turnpike once a Buffalo Trace connecting Lexington with Maysville now us 68 completed in 1826 on that road in 1826 ran an estimated 7,000 636 wagon loads of goods from Lexington and Paris of which there were 2095 barrels of whiskey according to the Turnpike committee's report of that year signs such as this one were visible along the road connecting Lexington Paris Millersburg maze lick and Maysville well up into the early 20th century because Maysville was such an important port on the Ohio River and Maysville was in Bourbon County until 1789 products originating in the vicinity acquired a designation identifying them with the county the creation of Mason County of which Maysville became the county seat in 1789 did not change the identification of produce from the region with the former County Association thus the whiskey that passed through Maysville was known as Bourbon County whiskey here stout and Adams Maysville Commission Merchants offered bourbon whiskey for sale in an 1821 edition of the famous Western citizen newspaper from Paris Kentucky it may be the very first such advertisement for just bourbon ever thus the Maysville merchants must be credited with naming the whiskey produced in the region they served as bourbon whiskey bourbon was born it turned out to be a good marketing name wholly by chance as New Orleans was heavily populated by people of French extraction the name Bourbon had a welcome ring New Orleans over time became the world marketplace of Kentucky Bourbon throughout the very early period of whiskey distilling in Kentucky no reference has ever been found extolling its amber color there are innumerable references to whiskey being aged there are many references to aging whiskey and oak barrels as Kentucky became more and more settled but no evidence exists that the color of whiskey was ever important both barrels were the principal means of holding and transporting grains and produce in Europe and many of the Seaboard colonies for many many years prior to the settlement of Kentucky most of the barrels used to aged whiskey in Kentucky once they were available here had been used for something else before but even new barrels were unsanitary the SAP in the wood staves would ruin whiskey that had been stored in the barrels thus as had been done for years before Kentucky was ever settled once oak barrels became available they were seared and then charred on the inside to burn off all impurities and in new barrels to burn off all sap blisters aging whiskey and charred oak barrels gave it a smooth flavor the longer the whiskey was aged the smoother it became that was what was important to Kentucky's early distillers and their customers the fact that the whiskey gained an amber color meant little or nothing nevertheless the Bourbon that became popular in the markets of New Orleans was old smooth and amber in color by the time of the Civil War bourbon was the accepted name for a product that was uniquely Kentucky good whiskey was always considered to consist of one half water and one half alcohol such was called proof spirits the method by which the early Kentuckians ascertained the appropriate ratio of water and alcohol was by bearing proof of gunpowder the whiskey was proved as having the necessary ratio by pouring it into a dish containing gunpowder and igniting him if it took fire it was said the whiskey was above proof if not it was under or below proof one of Kentucky's largest and most famous whiskey distillers was none other than its 1st and 5th Governor Isaac Shelby born in Maryland raised near present-day Bristol Virginia along the Holston River Isaac Shelby became a hero of the revolution he and his wife settled in Lincoln County on a beautiful tract of land and built a brick and stone house named Travelers Rest by the time he became governor of Kentucky in 1792 Shelby's farm distilled more than two thousand gallons of whiskey a year he even contracted with one customer to deliver 703 gallons in 11 barrels at one time Kentucky's second governor James Garrett was also a distiller a native of Stafford County Virginia a colonel in the Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War he came out here to Kentucky and settled in Bourbon County and built this gorgeous stone home Garrard represented Bourbon County in the Virginia legislature and in all the conventions leading up to statehood for Kentucky in 1792 a Baptist preacher he distilled whiskey commercially here on his farm at Mount Lebanon in 1787 Garrard was actually indicted by the Bourbon grand jury for selling whiskey by the Small's yet nine years later he was elected second governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky another notable distiller was general green clay of present-day Madison County father of noted abolitionist Cassius Marcellus clay general green clay was one of the original settlers of Boonesboro he would periodically advertise in the Kentucky Gazette the sale from his own distillery of 1000 gallons of whiskey and 500 gallons of peach brandy the famous Elijah Craig the Baptist minister and very close relative of all the Craig's of Bryan station chose a site near here to build his grist mill and distillery in 1789 along royal spring branch just downstream from the great royal spring in present-day Georgetown then Lebanon Kentucky Craig operated a grist mill a fulling mill of paper mill a rope walk and a distillery he was one of the most enterprising of all distillers on the Kentucky frontier although he did not distill bourbon first and he was not the first one to use charred oak barrels he nevertheless created a quality product that was well throughout Central Kentucky and beyond maybe the most remarkable early Kentucky distillers a woman Catherine Spears Frye carpenter a native of Rockingham County Virginia her first husband John Frye was killed at the Battle of bluelux in August 1782 she then married Adam carpenter settled at carpenter station in present-day Casey County Kentucky and raised ten children and Katherine carpenters own handwriting is her recipe for sour mash whiskey which she produced and sold commercially until her death in 1848 there's one other distiller worth mentioning Thomas Lincoln this is not the father of President Abraham Lincoln but his great-uncle the Thomas Lincoln of whom we speak was the brother of Abraham Lincoln's grandfather he purchased land along the South Hill corn Creek near Lexington from none other than Elisha Craig's brother Lewis Craig in 1792 there he began a distillery during the next 15 to 16 years Thomas Lincoln became one of the most prosperous distillers in the region he produced an excellent brand of bourbon whiskey out of this old stone steel house from January to may 18 1 the Customs House of the port of Louisville recorded the exportation of 40 2562 gallons of whiskey and 6157 gallons of peach brandy that hardly represented the total amount of exported Kentucky whiskey as much of it was shipped out of limestone in other ports by 1812 that figure jumped to 110,000 gallons of whiskey in that same year though Kentucky actually produced two 220,000 773 gallons of whiskey worth over seven hundred forty thousand two hundred forty two dollars by 1819 the Port of New Orleans reported that Kentucky's shipments of what was becoming known as bourbon whiskey amounted to two hundred thousand gallons per month small wonder that at the Battle of New Orleans four years before General Andrew Jackson while observing the Kentucky regiments stream into the defense lines remarked I have never seen a Kentuckian without a gun a pack of cards and a bottle of whiskey in my entire life bourbon distilling continued to grow in the 19th century slowed by the Civil War it rebounded with the return of peace by 1868 Kentucky produced more than seven million two hundred thousand gallons of bourbon a year and it continued to grow even more prohibition nearly brought the industry to a standstill but the repeal of prohibition enabled it to return now bourbon distilling is a global industry still a Kentucky product bourbon whiskey enjoys an extraordinarily large market in Europe Asia and even Australia but the distilling of bourbon remains the same as it always was corn and spring water formed the basis of the liquor it remains pure Kentucky in fact as always it continues to be marketed by invoking its early Kentucky origins James eat peppers bourbon distilled in Lexington until the distillery closed in 1961 used the motto born with the Republic on all of its labels indeed bourbon was born with the Republic Evan Williams bourbon today uses the motto since 1783 denoting what it is claimed Williams began his distillery in Louisville the bullet bourbon is marketed as frontier whiskey old cabin still bourbon whiskey speaks for itself as does Old Crow a bourbon name for the famous early Kentucky distillers Ames Crow and the Elijah Craig of course Kentucky tavern and Knob Creek invoked the early years of Kentucky's existence small batch bourbon named 1792 invokes the year of Kentucky statehood Buffalo Trace recalls the times when Kentucky was first explored and settled and Buffalo traces like the Lexington to Maysville Road once existed ancient age reminds buyers on its label that it is distilled on the site of Leestown Station now Frankfort settled in 1775 Faerie old barton is reminiscent of names used by the earliest distillers in Kentucky maker's mark has always tried to tie itself to Kentucky's first bourbon Maker's the progenitor settling in Kentucky in 1780 and distilling whiskey shortly thereafter Jim Beam uses its past generations of Beam family members to link itself with Kentucky's frontier bourbon distillers the first beam named Jacob settled Kentucky in 1788 he established a grist mill and then became a distiller bourbon as you can see is inexorably intertwined with Kentucky's colorful history in fact it's an ongoing celebration of it small wonder that my old friends Squire Coleman and bill Townsend could never sit down by the fire here at the helm place and talk about Kentucky history without sipping their corn [Music] [Applause] [Music] major funding was provided for bourbon and Kentucky a history distilled by the Lexington Convention and Visitors Bureau and by the ket fund for independent production to order bourbon and Kentucky a history distilled on DVD please visit witnessing history online.com or call eight five nine four five five nine three three zero

Channel: Witnessing History Education Foundation

Views: 49,134

Rating: 4.9253497 out of 5

Keywords: Documentary, Kentucky, Bourbon, Distillery, American History, pandemic, History, History Lessons

Id: WB9gL1EJeYI

Length: 53min 30sec (3210 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 27 2019