Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey
Product ID: 33733772
Buy anything from 5,000+ international stores. One checkout price. No surprise fees. Join 2M+ shoppers on Desertcart.
Desertcart purchases this item on your behalf and handles shipping, customs, and support to Congo.
Best New Spirits Book, 2017 Tales of the Cocktail's Spirited Awards Smithsonian Magazine : One of the "Best Books About Food of 2016" O nce and for all, America learns the likely inventor of its beloved bourbon. Bourbon is not just alcohol -- this amber-colored drink is deeply ingrained in American culture and tangled in American history. From the early days of raw corn liquor to the myriad distilleries that have proliferated around the country today, bourbon has come to symbolize America. In Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey, award-winning whiskey author Fred Minnick traces bourbon's entire history, from the 1700s with Irish, Scottish, and French settlers setting up stills and making distilled spirits in the New World through today's booming resurgence. He also lays out in expert detail the critical role this spirit has played throughout the cultural and even political history of the nation -- from Congress passing whiskey-protection laws to consumers standing in long lines just for a glimpse of a rare bottle of Pappy Van Winkle -- complemented by more than 100 illustrations and photos. And most importantly, Minnick explores the mystery of who most likely created the sweet corn liquor we now know as bourbon. He studies the men who've been championed as its inventors over time -- from Daniel Boone's cousin to Baptist minister Elijah Craig -- and, based on new research and never-before-seen documentation, answers the question of who deserves the credit. Review: Bourbon - Great book, easy to read and very informative! As a home distiller, I loved the history and present ways of making America’s spirit Review: Book Review: Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey - Fred Minnick is a Louisville, Kentucky based writer and his fourth book is Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey. Since he’s from Kentucky you may think he’s biased towards his subject matter, but he stays objective like any historian throughout the book. Through his insights on bourbon you can see how the liquor industry has adapted and changed over 200 years in developing, maintaining and growing America’s spirit – bourbon. The book focuses on bourbon’s beginnings and includes a discussion on who actually possibly created the first bourbon – was it really Elijah Craig or another individual? This is one of the more engaging chapters of the book since the author is more of an investigative reporter taking the reader along on a journey as opposed to lecturing to them about an outcome. The rest of the book focuses on bourbon’s travails – from the 1800’s through Prohibition, through the Second World War, through the upwards trend in the 1960’s, the downward spiral through the 1980’s until the resurgence of bourbon in present day. Minnick has presented the reader with a treasure trove of historical information that has been carefully researched and for any bourbon enthusiast provides an in-depth look into the spirit they enjoy. Bourbon is definitely Minnick’s passion and it’s a detailed read for anyone interested in bourbon’s history and how it got so popular today. I only with he could have spent more time diving into the luminaries of the bourbon world like Booker Noe and Bill Samuels, Jr. but that may be in the future for Fred as he possibly dives deeper into bourbon’s heritage. Chris Mielke | Editor of Southern Distilling News Twitter: @SDistillingNews [...]
| Best Sellers Rank | #59,036 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #12 in Whiskey #28 in Alcoholic Spirits #33 in Homebrewing, Distilling & Wine Making |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 out of 5 stars 690 Reviews |
M**K
Bourbon
Great book, easy to read and very informative! As a home distiller, I loved the history and present ways of making America’s spirit
A**R
Book Review: Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey
Fred Minnick is a Louisville, Kentucky based writer and his fourth book is Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey. Since he’s from Kentucky you may think he’s biased towards his subject matter, but he stays objective like any historian throughout the book. Through his insights on bourbon you can see how the liquor industry has adapted and changed over 200 years in developing, maintaining and growing America’s spirit – bourbon. The book focuses on bourbon’s beginnings and includes a discussion on who actually possibly created the first bourbon – was it really Elijah Craig or another individual? This is one of the more engaging chapters of the book since the author is more of an investigative reporter taking the reader along on a journey as opposed to lecturing to them about an outcome. The rest of the book focuses on bourbon’s travails – from the 1800’s through Prohibition, through the Second World War, through the upwards trend in the 1960’s, the downward spiral through the 1980’s until the resurgence of bourbon in present day. Minnick has presented the reader with a treasure trove of historical information that has been carefully researched and for any bourbon enthusiast provides an in-depth look into the spirit they enjoy. Bourbon is definitely Minnick’s passion and it’s a detailed read for anyone interested in bourbon’s history and how it got so popular today. I only with he could have spent more time diving into the luminaries of the bourbon world like Booker Noe and Bill Samuels, Jr. but that may be in the future for Fred as he possibly dives deeper into bourbon’s heritage. Chris Mielke | Editor of Southern Distilling News Twitter: @SDistillingNews [...]
F**R
Slow Start, Second Half Better, Like Some Bourbons
This read turned out to be more academic than I anticipated, though not deeply so. The first half is a little scattered and less coherent, the second half got more focused and linear, could almost have written the second half first then gone back in history. So if you are having trouble getting into it, jump forward and see what happens. Not saying that recent times are more interesting than older times, early 20th century was most interesting, just easier to sink into the whole topic.
K**.
Love this book
Perfect coffee table book for bourbon enthusiasts! Great size!
B**N
Excellent book
This book is educational and entertaining. A great gift for any bourbon lover.
W**Y
Acquired taste
The history of Bourbon all in one great tale. Definitely one of the better reads as far as the subject goes..
C**Y
Solid read for the Bourbon enthusiast.
This book was well researched and written, overall I thought it enjoyable of a little too similar to texts books in some regards. I think a slightly less academic presentation would have made it more readable. Also I don't care for the mini reads that take up 2-3 pages in the middle of a chapter, put that stuff out of the way so they don't break into the flow of the reading. I enjoyed it and have already recommended it to friends.
D**R
Great Topic Written Poorly
The author does not write well. Fighting thru high school-level writing made the book difficult to read. If you’re not an avid reader that’s used to professional writing and just want to learn more about bourbon you’ll enjoy the book. Had Minnick worked with a coauthor this would’ve been an excellent book.
E**E
I bought this book as a Christmas gift and am very happy with it indeed
My wife and myself are big bourbon fans dating back from our honeymoon in the states. I bought this book as a Christmas gift and am very happy with it indeed. Quick dispatch and delivery and a really asthetically pleasing book as well as informative and fun for something we both love to learn about as well as enjoy!
J**S
Gut geschriebenes Buch über die Geschichte des Bourbon
Bourbon, the native spirit of the United States, so wird Bourbon im amerikanischen Sprachgebrauch auch beschrieben. Bourbon kommt stets aus Kentucky, alles andere ist kein Bourbon. Geboren aus der Not die Zutaten zu bekommen fing man so um 1750 an Destillat aus Mais und Gerste herzustellen. Zutaten für Rum waren über die Apalachinan Mountains nur mühsam zu transportieren. Dann kam die Möglichkeit auf das Destillat in Fässer abzufüllen. Bourbon war auf dem Weg. Bis zur Prohibition ging dann auch alles gut, dann kam das Sterben der Destillen. Mit dem Ende kamen einige Destillen wieder aus der Asche, eine davon war Buffalo Trace und Jim Beam (Jakob Böhm). Dann rann der Bourbon in eine Krise, alles war alt "Old Daddy", "Old ....". Dann kam es zu einem bemerkenswerten Comeback. Dieses Buch erzählt sehr unterhaltsam die Geschichte des native spirits. Sehr lesenswert.
A**R
Five Stars
Excellent :)
L**E
!!! PARFAIT – VIVEMENT RECOMMANDE !!!
!!! PARFAIT – VIVEMENT RECOMMANDE !!!
L**A
Great but arrived damaged
Love the book but it arrived damaged so a little disappointed.
Trustpilot
2 months ago
2 weeks ago