If you didn’t know it already, September is Bourbon Heritage Month. It was officially declared in 2007 by the U.S. Senate after being sponsored by Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. Each fall, it’s celebrated to pay homage to America’s “native spirit” and its historical value, and the importance of the bourbon industry.
In my alcohol writing career, I’ve enjoyed countless glasses of bourbon. And while I’ll definitely sip my fair share of bourbon in September, to truly get the most out of this important month, it’s a good idea to learn a little about the history of this truly American form of whiskey, along with the stories and legends surrounding it.
An American legacy of Bourbon
While a case can be made for applejack and rum during the colonial days and rye whiskey in the 1700s in Maryland and beyond, there’s no spirit more entrenched in the history of America than bourbon whiskey.
“Bourbon has been produced here effectively as long as a European diaspora has existed on this continent,” says Paul Hletko, Founder of FEW Spirits in Evanston, Illinois.
“It’s woven into the fabric of American culture, from music to movies to our common vernacular. When you think of alcoholic beverages in America, you probably think of wine, beer, or bourbon. Only one of those is uniquely, and by law, American. It’s homegrown, bold, and unapologetically American,” he continues.
He adds that the largest export market for bourbon is the European Union.
“So, when consumers outside the US picture American culture, bourbon is one of those images.”
What is bourbon’s history?
As we mentioned earlier, bourbon has been produced in the US ever since people landed on the shores in the 1600s.
“So, you can’t talk about a time in the history of the United States when bourbon whiskey was not a part of it,” says Bernie Lubbers, Whiskey Ambassador Emeritus at Heaven Hill and Author of History of Bourbon.
He adds that George Washington himself distilled whiskey at Mount Vernon, and every war from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War was partly paid for by whiskey taxes.
“From Henry Clay at the Round Robin Bar in Washington, DC, sharing Mint Juleps with his fellow congressmen, to the first consumer protection legislation in the history of the United States was the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897.”
He adds, “Prohibition contributed to the Great Depression with taxes on whiskey being eliminated and income taxes increased, and with Bootlegging, Moonshining, and organized crime affecting the entire country.”
After Prohibition ended, the taxes paid by bourbon distilleries added billions of dollars to the US treasury.
“Then in 1964, the U.S. Congress unanimously declared bourbon the distinctive product of the United States, and bourbon can only be produced here,” he explains.
The invention of the term “bourbon”
The folks at Elijah Craig weave a tale about the invention of what we know now as bourbon. As the story goes, Elijah Craig, a former Baptist Minister, invented the whiskey type when he decided to mature his corn whiskey in charred barrels around 1789.
But, if you ask historians, that tale is more legend than reality. The real story of the creation of bourbon is murkier, as there isn’t one individual distiller attributed to its genesis. While Jacob Spears is often believed to be the first person to label his whiskey as “bourbon whiskey” (likely a reference to Bourbon County, Kentucky), the whiskey type was more of an evolution of countless distillers aging their whiskeys in charred oak barrels than one particular person.
Bourbon today
To say that bourbon is still popular in the US is an understatement. Back in 2000, only fourteen distilleries were producing the spirit. Today, there are more than 2,700.
Each one of these distilleries has spawned employment, taxes, tourism, and local pride, as today millions of people from all over the world visit their tasting rooms and take their tours.
