Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Illicit liquor in the New South (thesis)

Joshua Beau Blackwell, "'Used to be a rough place in them hills': Illicit liquor, the Dark Corner, and the New South" (M.A. thesis, College of Charleston, 2008).

King of Ohio's bootleggers (book)

William A. Cook, King of the Bootleggers: A Biography of George Remus (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2008).

Brits now drink more vodka than blended Scotch whiskey

For the first time the British now drink more vodka than blended Scotch whiskey. The (London) Telegraph suggests rather weirdly that the influx of Polish workers explains the shift in taste for hard liquor. For more, see here.

Ramos gin fizz

A story about the former popularity of the Ramos gin fizz (invented in 1888), complete with an anecdote about Huey Long in 1935 here.

Soju, baijiu, and shōchū, East Asian distilled alcoholic beverages

According to Wikipedia, "mass produced [Korean distilled beverage based on rice] soju is similar to Chinese baijiu, a grain liquor, and Shōchū, a Japanese beverage." The online encyclopedia also says that "soju is sometimes mistakenly referred to as cheongju ..., a Korean rice wine similar to [Japanese] sake."

Super-premium whiskies as the "new champagne"

Whiskies are now being advertised as the "new champagne," with prices to attract snobbish rich, young, fashion-conscious drinkers, even women. For more, see here.

Growing global demand for luxury alcoholic drinks

Growing demand for champagne, single malt whiskies, and other luxury alcoholic drinks, especially in China, has prompted Scotland to build its first new whiskey distillery in 30 years and France to enlarge the area designated for champagne grapes for the first time in 80 years. Although the demand for champagne has declined in the USA, it has grown in Russia and India as well as in China. For more, see USA Today, May 16, 2008, "Makers of Luxury Spirits Make Merry."

Buying whiskies as an investment

Speculators have followed wealthy whiskey lovers into the market for rare whiskies. Such whiskies can be a prudent investment. Unlike wines, old whiskies remain drinkable a century after being bottled. For more, see here.

Whiskey more popular than brandy in South Africa

Although South Africa is the world's fifth largest brandy producer and in contrast imports nearly all of its whiskey, brandy is easily outsold by the 300 brands of whiskey available in the country. For the battle between the two spirits, see here.

Brewing and distilling on Prince Edward Island (article)

Edward MacDonald and Carolyn (Roberts) McQuaid, "Spiritual Liquors": Brewing and Distilling in 19th Century Charlottetown," Island Magazine 58 (2005): 32-39.

English whiskies to challenge Scotland's and Ireland's

For the first time in a century England is producing its own malt whiskey. The distillery is located at the edge of the Norfolk Fens. For more, see here.

Utah eases and tightens its liquor laws

The Utah legislature has changed state liquor laws to permit cocktails at the strength poured in the rest of the USA but also tightened other restrictions. For instance, wine coolers no longer can be sold at grocery stores, only at state liquor stores. For more, see here.

Caffeinated cocktails

Caffeinated tonic water, club soda, ginger ale, and other cocktail mixers now offer Californians caffeinated cocktails. For more, see here.

Nicotini cocktail

Rashed Islam, a Chicago bartender, has created a nicotine-based cocktail called the nicotini. For details, see here.

Distilling and drinking in antebellum western north Carolina (article)

Bruce E. Stewart, "This country improves in cultivation, wickedness, mills, and still: distilling and drinking in antebellum western North Carolina, " North Carolina Historical Review 83/4 (Oct. 2006).

Whiskies: from Confused to Connoisseur (book)

Dominic Roskrow, Whiskies: From Confused to Connoisseur (HarperCollins).

Beer rallies against American cocktail culture

According to the AP, beer sales in the USA rallied in 2007, led by craft beers, while the rise in spirits began to slow. For more, see here.

Bushmills celebrating 400th anniversary with a specially blended whiskey

The Irish distillery Bushmills will be 400 years old in April 2008. Located north of Belfast, it is celebrating with a specially blended whiskey. In addition a history is being written. For more, see here. For an article, see here.

Price of cheap alcohol in the USA

Globalization has helped make wine cheap in the USA. The fact that federal taxes on wine and also on whiskey and beer haven't been raised to account for inflation has helped make all alcoholic drink cheaper in the USA than 15 years ago. A New York Times columnist argues in favor of higher drink taxes because of the social cost of alcohol consumption. For more, see here.

How's Your Drink? (book review)

In the Weekly Standard, 24 December 2007, Christopher Hitchens reviews Eric Felten, How's Your Drink? Cocktails, Culture, and the Art of Drinking Well (Agate Surrey). For the review, see here.

"Whisky: You're a Divil"

Dr.Ian Roberts recently lectured on "Whisky: You're a Divil," that focused on the illicit whiskey trade in Coquetdale, Northumberland, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Illicit whiskey often was produced along the routes that cattle drovers took from Scotland into England. For more, see here.

Shortage of George Dickel Whisky No. 8

To reduce a surplus, the Tennessee distiller George Dickel closed production of Whisky No. 8 for several years. Now it is scarce. Production resumed in 2003 and so, allowing five years for aging, the drink will be available in 2008. By the way, George Dickel spells its spirits whisky and not whiskey. George Dickel is one of only two so-called Tennessee whiskies, the much better known of which being Jack Daniel's. For more, see here.

Edinburgh's museum exhibit about drink

The Museum of Edinburgh has an exhibit, "Here's Tae Us," from 10 December to 8 March 2008. Edinburgh had as many as 30 breweries at the end of the nineteenth century and now only one major brewery. For more, see here.

Imbibe! (book review)

Adam Rathe reviews in the Brooklyn Paper, December 1, 2007, a book by David Wondrich, Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to ‘Professor’ Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar (Perigee, 2007). For more, see here. Wondrich is now writing a book about alcoholic punch.

Bourbon rallies

At the end of the twentieth century bourbon whiskey was declining in prestige and sales. The affluent drank single malt Scotch whiskey, while the young favored vodka and rum. Bourbon had acquired an old-fashioned, working-class image. Fighting back successfully, bourbon distillers added super-premium whiskies and encouraged the use of bourbon in the cocktail rage. For more, see here.

Bourbon doesn't have to be made in Kentucky. Instead it has to made at lest 51% from corn and aged in charred white oak barrels. Without the charred white oak barrels, it simply is corn whiskey. Tennessee whiskey meets the standard for bourbon and then is filtered through carbon. "Straight" bourbon has been aged for two years.

Microdistilleries flourish in the USA

Obscured by the larger microbrewery boom, microdistilleries have begun to flourish in the USA. There are already a hundred, with ten or twenty more started annually. They produce whiskey, gin, and especially vodka. A New York Times story begins with an unsuccessful Kansas cattle rancher who is becoming wealthy from making vodka. He jokes that he is the seventh generation distiller in his family, simply the first to make liquor legally. For more, see here.

Why white oak for bourbon whiskey barrels?

The federal requirement that bourbon whiskey be aged in white oak barrels is the result of Congressman Wilbur Mills seeking business for Central Arkansas timber interests. Despite the reason, the result was good for bourbon whiskey which had tended to be vile tasting previously. The hot summers and cold winters in Kentucky supposedly make one year of aging the equivalent of three years of aging in Scotland. By the way, secondhand bourbon whiskey barrels are sold to the Scots who use them for their Scotch whisky. For more, see here.

Irish adults third largest per capita drinkers in Europe

Irish adults drink more alcohol per capita than any other Europeans with the exception of those in Luxembourg and Hungary. Although the Irish drink less beer than in the past, beer still comprises about half of Irish alcohol consumption. Perhaps a sign of prosperity in the Irish Republic, the Irish now drink slightly more wine than whiskey. For more, see here. Per capita consumption among Irish adults who drink may be higher than even their counterparts in Luxembourg and Hungary. Traditionally many Irish Catholics are total abstainers, often members of the teetotal Pioneers of the Sacred Heart, founded at the end of the nineteenth century. Or it may be that modernization in Ireland has shrunk the Pioneers to numerical irrelevance.

Mekong rice whiskey (with cobra blood)

Thailand's popular working class rice whiskey, called Mekong, supposedly is sometimes mixed with cobra blood. For more, see here.

Bourbon and bluegrass

Writing in the New York Times, Steven Kurutz reports on his tour of Kentucky bourbon distilleries and bluegrass music providers. For more, see here.

Jerry Thomas (1830?-1885), America's most innovative bartender (book review)

William Grimes reviews in the New York Times, 31 October 2007, David Wondrich's Imbibe! (Perigee Books, 2007), a biography of the flamboyant and creative bartender Jerry Thomas (1830?-1885) and an annotated recipe book. For more, see here. Thomas and his fellow bartenders revolutionized the drinking of spirits in nineteenth-century America. A fuller title of Wondrich's book is Imbibe!: From Absinthe Cocktail to Whiskey Smash, a Salute in Stories and Drinks to "Professor" Jerry Thomas, Pioneer of the American Bar.

Prohibition home distilling in Minnesota

this article is based on an interview with a 98-year-old woman who made and sold home distilled whiskey. The article has an appendix giving other information about drink in the state, in part based on an unpublished paper (1977) by Margaret Murray, available at the Minnesota Historical Society.

Southern Comfort: The Use and Abuse of Alcohol in Southern Literature (call for papers)

Cross-listed from two H-Net discussion groups, H-South and H-Southern-Lit:

Southern Comfort: The Use and Abuse of Alcohol in Southern Literature

Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Williamsburg, VA (04/18-20/08)

Several casks of beer and wine were among the cargo the original
settlers brought to Jamestown. Since then, alcohol has occupied an
important place in southern culture. This proposed panel at SSSL will
explore the representation of alcohol use and abuse in southern
literature. Possible topics include whiskey, bourbon, and moonshine;
alcoholism and southern writers; depictions of drinking; the temperance
movement and prohibition; race, class, gender, and drinking practices;
rum and the slave trade; and tension between alcohol and religion.

Please send a three hundred word abstract and a short CV to David A.
Davis (davisda@wfu.edu) by November 20, 2007.

Sherlock Holmes and Victorian drinking lore (book)

Patricia Guy, Bacchus at Baker Street: Sherlock Holmes & Victorian Drinking Lore (iUniverse, 2007).

Old-timers quiet about the role of Gibraltar, Michigan, during prohibition

Debbie Davenport has organized a local historical society in the small town of Gibraltar, downstream from Detroit, but she faces difficulty getting old-timers to reveal the story of the whiskey and beer smuggled through its waterfront. There are many legends, but it is hard to determine the facts. For more, see here.

British drinking less alcohol (and much less beer)

Since the Licensing Act of 2003 has gone into effect, the British people are drinking less. In 2006 drinking fell 3.3%, while in 2005 it fell 2%. With a per capita consumption of 8.9 liters, Britain ranks 13th in Europe. There also has been a long-term shift in the United Kingdom from beer to wine. In 1980, 60% of the alcohol consumed was beer, 24% spirits, and only 14% wine. Now it is only 43% beer, 22% spirits, and 29% wine. For more, see here.

Venezuela's Hugo Chávez attacks alcohol and tobacco

Venezuela's leftist and anti-USA president Hugo Chávez is attempting to persuade his people to adopt the puritanical and anti-capitalist psyche of a socialist revolutionary "New Man." He has greatly increased taxes on alcoholic drinks and on tobacco and has warned that beer trucks that sell on the streets will be confiscated. The government will no longer make dollars available to import luxury whiskies, a step that will greatly increase prices. Chávez says that he himself doesn't drink and only very occasionally smokes a cigarette and then only in private. Chávez's reforms goes beyond alcohol and tobacco. He has called upon Venezuelians to avoid dousing food with hot sauce, to choose low-cholesterol foods, to obey speed limits, to stop buying Barbie dolls, and to reject breast enhancement surgeries. For more, see the AP story here.

Brewers, distillers, and cider makers in the British Isles

Recently the online Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provided a list of the brewers, distillers, and cider makers in the British Isles (with biographies in the ODNB) and an interactive map.  For details, see here.

Makers of alcoholic drinks figure prominently in the accompanying essay here.

Moonshine and murder in southwestern Virginia (book review)

Barbara Case Summerlin, The Legacy of Ada: A Mountain Woman (Hickory Hill, 2007) is reviewed at length in a local newspaper here. The book focuses on George Peters who was hanged in 1907 for the murder of an anti-moonshine minister in Carroll County.

Whiskey in Harding's White House (article)

Scott W. Petersen, "Whiskey in the White House," Manuscripts 57/1 (2005): 5-13. Whiskey in Warren G. Harding's White House.

Bootleggers: the Hollow Men of NASCAR (book review)

Charlie Danoff emphasizes bootlegging in the origins of NASCAR racing in his review of Neal Thompson, Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR. For the review, see here.

Portland, Oregon's golden age for eating and drinking

An article on Portland, Oregon's restaurants includes a few words about drinking: thirty minutes from the city the Willamette Valley produces world-class wines, the city has six micro-distilleries producing a variety of spirits, as well as "more breweries than any other city on earth." For more, see the New York Times, 27 September 2007 here.

Appalachian moonshiners on History Channel

The History Channel will repeat on September 27, 2007, 8 am and 2 pm EDT, "Hillbilly: The Real Story." The section on moonshine features Dan Pierce, historian at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The more modern part of the two-hour special points out that marijuana ("Kentucky's No. 1 Cash Crop") has superseded illegal whiskey in the economy.

Independent bottlers of Scotch whiskies

As a result of import laws, few Americans have tasted Scotch whiskies from so-called independent bottlers. For more, see here.

India: world's largest market for whiskey

India is the world's largest market for whiskey, consuming 60 million cases annually compared with the USA's 40 million. For more, see here.

India’s Whiskey-Drinking Elite Make Room for Wine

This is the title of an article in New York Times, 12 August 2007. The market for wine in India seems likely to grow enormously to the benefit of both imported and Indian-produced wines. This development reflects both the growing prosperity of India's upper middle class and its globalized tastes. For more, see here.

Wine-distilling and spirits (book)

C. Anne Wilson, Water of life: a history of wine-distilling and spirits, 500 BC-AD 2000 (Totnes : Prospect Books, 2006).

Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom (reprint)

Alfred Barnard, The Whisky Distilleries of the United Kingdom, with a new introduction by Richard Joynson (reprint; Edinburgh: Birlinn, 2007).

High school students prefer liquor to beer

According to a US government study, high school students who drink prefer liquor (rum, vodka, whiskey) to beer, and few drink wine. The study was limited to four states: Arkansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming. In Nebraska male high school students preferred beer to liquor. For more, see here.

Whisky, haggis and Scottish identity (article)

A. Tyrrell, P. Hill, and D. Kirkby, "Feasting on National Identity: Whisky, Haggis and Celebrations of Scottishness in the Nineteenth Century," in Dining on Turtles: Food Feasts and Drinking in History, ed. Tanya Luckins (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming 2007).

EU definitions of vodka, whiskies, liqueurs, chocolate

Professor Gary Slapper explains the legal complexities of European Union definitions of vodka, whiskies, liqueurs, and chocolate in the (London) Times, 28 June 2007, here. The "vodka belt" countries lost their fight against new vodka producers that made their drink with non-traditional ingredients, while the whiskies producers in contrast were allowed a stringent "purity" standard for the name whiskey. The EU forced Germany to admit low alcohol content French liqueurs, while countries that were chocolate purists reluctantly had to accept the sale as chocolate in their countries of British products with non-cacao vegetable fats. Slapper pointed out the economic importance of these legal decisions. For instance, 16 of the world's 20 best markets for chocolate are European countries.

Kentucky bourbon for tourists

The New York Times, 6 June 2007, reports "On Kentucky's Bourbon Trail" here.

Whiskey distilling, 1887-95 (article)

Karen Clay and Werner Troesken, "Strategic Behavior in Whiskey Distilling, 1887-1895," Journal of Economic History 62/4 (Dec. 2002)

Moonshine-style liquor in North Carolina

USA Today, 24 May 2007, reports that at age 76 former moonshine bootlegger Junior Johnson is prormoting moonshine-style whiskey called "Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon Carolina Moonshine." Johnson also is famous as an early NASCAR race driver. Many southern bootleggers, familar with driving fast cars during the Prohibition era, went on to be pioneer drivers for NASCAR.

A taste of alcohol history in Virginia

After a nearly 200-year hiatus, George Washington's still is bubbling again, churning out the same sort of rye whiskey that made the Founding Father the nation's most successful whiskey producer in the years after his presidency.

Washington's Mount Vernon estate officially opened a $2.1 million reconstruction of Washington's original distillery on March 30. It's on the exact site where it was situated in 1799, a few miles down the road from his famous mansion overlooking the Potomac River.

Read more here.

Exporting Scotch whiskies (book)

Stuart Delves, Great Brand Stories: Scotch Whisky, Creative Fire: The Story of Scotland's Greatest Export (London: Cyan Books, 2007). Also published as Scotch Whisky : The Story of Scotland's Greatest Export. According to whiskywords.co.uk, Scotch whiskies are exported to 200 countries. For the first time in 2001 over a billion bottles were exported.

Exports lift bourbon whiskey sales

Exports and premium and super-premium brands are lifting bourbon sales. For more, see here.

Bourbon Society in Louisville

Founded in 2006, Louisville's Bourbon Society sips whiskey, visits Kentucky and Indiana distilleries, and explores the history of bourbon.  For more, see here.  Recently the University Press of Kentucky commissioned Mike Veach (Filson Historical Library), a leader in the Bourbon Society, to write a history of Kentucky whiskey.  It is hoped that the book will appear in late 2009.

Whiskey museum at Bardstown

There is a brief account of the Oscar Getz Museum of Whiskey History, located at Bardstown, Kentucky, here.  Oscar Getz (died, 1983) was a distiller, historian, and collector.  In 1944, he purchased the Tom Moore distillery and renamed it Barton's distillery, apparently in memory of an old defunct bourbon producer.  Getz wrote a popular history, Whiskey: An American Pictorial History (1978).  After his death, his widow donated his whiskey-related historical collections to establish a museum in his honor.  See the report of a 1998 visit to the museum, here.

Wine, tariffs, and India's middle class

The International Herald Tribune discusses a problem for the expanding Indian middle class. Middle class Indians, especially younger ones, are attracted to red wine instead of the British inheritance, whiskey soda. Unfortunately, tariffs make imported wine unaffordable. For more, see here.

Distilling in Scotland (article)

Christine Jones, "Distilling the past," Scottish Industrial History 20 (2000): 23-36.

New malt whiskey distillery in Scotland

Diageo, the drinks company, is building its first new malt whiskey distillery in Scotland to satisfy growing demand in Brazil, Russia, China, and Mexico. For more, see here.

Chicha (fermented rye) at Tinku on Bolivian high plains

The New York Times, 13 Feb. 07, reports about the fighting and the drinking (chicha from fermented rye) at what is called Tinku on the Bolivian high plains. For more, see here.

Bourbon whiskey industry (book)

Sam K. Cecil, The Evolution of the Bourbon Whiskey Industry in Kentucky (1999; reprinted Padukah, KY: Turner, 2003). Well illustrated.

Cocktails in London

According to the New York Times, 7 February 2007, London is the world's best city for cocktails. For more, see here.

Cocktails in London

According to the New York Times, 7 February 2007, London is the world's best city for cocktails. For more, see here.

Seven hundred Scottish distilleries

Misako Udo, The Scottish Whisky Distilleries (at first self-published in 2005 at Edinburgh by Distillery Cat Publishing, it is now available from Edinburgh's Black & White Publishing in a 2007 edition). In over 600 pages the book describes 700 distilleries, fewer than a hundred of which are still in operation. As well as addressing larger topics, the book identifies distillery cats (in one instance, stoats) which explains the name of the original publisher. Born in Japan, Udo since 1988 has lived in Scotland where she works as a tour guide. For more, see a 29 January 2007 Scotsman article here.

Jennie Jerome Churchill and the manhattan cocktail

Supposedly, the manhattan cocktail was first created at a 1874 party for Winston Churchill's mother, then Jennie Jerome. Originally, it was made with rye whiskey, then the most popular American whiskey in the northeastern states. For more, with recipes, see here.

New Zealand's home production of alcoholic drinks

New Zealand is one of the few developed countries where it is legal to produce whiskey, wine, and beer for personal consumption. For more, see here.

British drinks bookseller

British mail-order bookseller for wines-beers-spirits (John Thorne):

Dear Bibliophile,

It has been difficult for me to sell new books because I cannot offer a discount like certain well known companies. It is therefore time to join them, because I certainly can't beat them, thus I have become an affiliate of a site called Pickabook. They offer some 2,000,000 new books, many at a discount. These include some of the more expensive technical books. For more details of the site go to [http://www.liquidliterature.co.uk/PickabookInfo.htm], or to go straight to their site at [http://www.awin1.com/awclick.php?mid=48&id=67970] Direct links for specific titles can be found on my site and over the coming weeks I will be adding many more. Obviously they also sell books on many other subjects and a wide range of fiction. To enable me to get commission on any orders you may place with them, will you please ensure you follow a link from my site every time you visit Pickabook. Any comments concerning the site or their service will be read with interest.

I will of course continue to list second hand, out of print books and the more obscure new books that are available from small publishers or authors.

Hopefully you are visiting my site regularly to see what has been added. Notable additions on the Beer page include a 1920 publication from Whitbread, a 1931 booklet from Truman with a foldout section of illustrations that measures 40 inches, and a legal document concerning the acquisition of property by The Cheltenham Original Brewery Company Limited from Wintle's Brewery Limited in 1937.

Those interested in whisky books might like to follow the link to Classic Expressions on the links page.

Please remember to treat LiquidLiterature.co.uk like a catalogue and browse as often as you can, and hopefully you will find something of interest.

Apologies for the links being disabled, but had problems with over zealous spam stoppers when sending a test batch of e-mails.

John Thorne
Books on Wines-Beers-Spirits
Mail Order Only - Catalogues Issued
www.liquidliterature.co.uk

Pakistan's 21-year-old "Scotch" single malt

The only whiskey distillery in Pakistan located at Rawalpindi is now selling a 21-year-old "Scotch" whiskey. Legally, it can be sold only to non-Muslims (about 5% of the country's population, plus foreigners residing in Pakistan) but much of it is resold to Muslims who drink alcohol despite the ban ordained by their religion. The government of Pakistan, officially an Islamic state, won't allow the whiskey to be exported, although there probably would be a market among people of South Asian origin who live in the West. The whiskey is produced by Murree Brewery which began in 1860 at a hill station in the old British India where beer was brewed for British soliders serving in the locality. Nearly all the more than 400 workers at the brewery and distillery are Muslims who at least officially are non-drinkers. For more, see here.

Revival of rye whiskey?

Rye whiskey, once popular in the northeastern United States and today sometimes confused with Canadian whiskey, is making a modest comeback. For more, see here, where it is called "America's signature whiskey."

Whiskey merchant's diary (book)

Joseph J. Mersman, The whiskey merchant's diary: an urban life in the emerging Midwest , ed. Linda A. Fisher, MD (Athens: Ohio University Press, 2007. Joseph J. Mersman (1824-1892) was a German-American liquor merchant who lived at various times at Cincinnati and St. Louis.

Scotch whiskey since 1975 (article)

S. R. H. Jones, "Brand building and structural change in the Scotch whisky industry since 1975," Business History 45/3 (2003): 72-89.

Moonshine whiskey and NASCAR stock car racing (book)

Neal Thompson, Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR (Crown, 2006). NASCAR stock car racing had its origins during the 1930s (and earlier during state and national Prohibition) when moonshine runners in their fast Ford V-8s transported untaxed corn whiskey to market from southern Appalachian stills. For instance, Lloyd Seay, who was NASCAR race champion in 1941, was killed in a quarrel among rival bootleggers.

British bookseller specializing in alcoholic drinks

Paul Travis is a British bookseller who specializes in alcoholic drinks including their history.  For more, see here.

Whiskey shots for over US$80

The (London) Telegraph, 20 Nov. 2006, reports the growth in Britain of sales of premium spirits at a rate of 15% a year. Including vodka, gin and tequila as well as whiskies, they are defined as costing at least 35 pounds a bottle. At the highest end, there are prestige whiskies such as Johnnie Walker Blue Label that cost as much as 50 pounds a shot glass (over US$80). Surprisingly, Johnnie Walker Blue Label is a blend, not a single malt. About half of its sales are by the shot and not by the bottle. At the same time as this boom in high-end spirits, mainline blended whiskies are losing market share, declining from 13 million cases in 1980 to 8 million cases in 2005. For more, see here.

Rebirth of brewing and distilling in the United States in 1933 (article)

K. Austin Kerr, "The Rebirth of Brewing and Distilling in the United States in 1933: Government Policy and Industry Structure," Business and Economic History On-Line 3 (2005). For the full text, see here.

Bronfman dynasty and Seagram empire (article)

Graham D. Taylor, "'From Shirtsleeves to Shirtless': The Bronfman Dynasty and the Seagram Empire," Business and Economic History On-Line 4 (2006). For the full text, see here.

Drinks and drugs at North American Conference on British Studies, 17-19 Nov. 2006

A number of papers related to drinks and drugs will be presented at the meeting of the North American Conference on British Studies, in conjunction with the Northeast Conference on British Studies, 17-19 November 2006, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Session:

Intoxicating Drink in Early Modern English Society: Three Commodities
(Chair and commentator: Keith Wrightson, Yale University)

Wine and Citizenship in Restoration England (Philip Withington, University of Leeds)

Beyond Queen Gin: Spirits in the Eighteenth Century (John Chartres, University of Leeds)

"Most Cherishing to Poor Labouring People": Beer as a Foodstuff in Early Modern England (Craig Muldrew, Queen's College, Cambridge University)

Other sessions: 

Non-Governmental Organizations, the State and Illegal Drugs, 1967-1977 (Alex Mold, London School Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

Social Drinking and Disaffection during the Interregnum (Caroline Boswell, Brown University)

British Planters, Cheap Tea and New Markets: Creating a Taste for Indian Tea in North America and South Asia (Erika Rappaport, University of California, Santa Barbara)

Bronfmans and Seagram (book)

Nicholas Faith, The Bronfmans: the Rise and Fall of the House of Seagram (New York: St. Martin's Press, 2006).

Chivas Regal and Glenlivet prestige Scotch whiskies (book)

F. Paul Pacult, A Double Scotch: How Chivas Regal and The Glenlivet Became Global Icons (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2005).

Jim Beam bourbon whiskey (book)

F. Paul Pacult, American still life: the Jim Beam story and the making of the world's #1 bourbon (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2003).

bourbon whiskey

Charles K. Cowdery is the author and publisher of Bourbon, Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey (Chicago: Made and Bottled in Kentucky, 2004) and of a 2003 DVD, Made and Bottled in Kentucky, a 59-minute documentary.  Originally it was produced in 1992 and broadcast on Kentucky Educational Television and other public TV stations.  Cowdery is editor and publisher of the Bourbon Country Reader and contributes to other whiskey-related publications such as the Malt Advocate, Whisky Magazine, and Nightclub & Bar Magazine.

early USA's whiskey rebellion (book)

William Hogeland, The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the frontier rebels who challenged America's newfound sovereignty (New York: Scribner, 2006).

smuggling and the whisky wars in Scotland (article)

Ian R. Mitchell, "The Whisky Wars in Scotland," History Scotland 5/6 (2005): 34-39.

bonded warehouse (article)

Morgan McCloskey, "Spirits in Bondage," Old Limerick Journal 35 (1998): 10-11.

advertising Scotch whiskies (book)

John Hughes, Still Going Strong: A History of Scotch Whisky Advertising (Stroud: Tempus Publishing, 2005). Also published without the word Scotch in the title.

Hugh Henry Brackenridge, “Provincial Honors to an Exciseman” (1807)

A passage from Hugh Henry Brackenridge's Modern Chivalry, in a critical edition written by a graduate student, is now available at my other website. It describes the warm reception western Pennsylvanians gave to excise officers, men sent to collect the taxes on whiskey that sparked the Whiskey Rebellion. Link here.

At this instant the advancing crowd raised a loud shout, crying Liberty and no excise! liberty and no excise! down with all excise officers!

Indian whiskey not Scottish

Scots cheer a court ruling prohibiting deceptive labeling practices from an Indian whiskey producer. April 25 story here from the Times online.

92% chance it'll put hair on your teeth

A Scottish distillery is to produce one of the world's most alcoholic single malt whiskies, it has emerged. An ancient recipe is to be used by Bruichladdich to distil with an alcoholic content of at least 92% on Islay in the Western Isles.

The Scotsman reports.

'We didn't realize it was the image of a Hindu goddess,' says Brown-Forman's vice president of corporate communications

Alarmed by the protest mail that had begun pouring over its telephone lines and into its e-mailboxes, the makers of a popular brand of whiskey-flavored liqueur earlier this week removed an offending window display in an Athens, Greece, bar carrying the image of Goddess Durga sitting on a tiger holding bottles of the beverage in all her eight hands.

Indiawest Online reports.

Pink whiskey for women

A strawberry-flavored whiskey developed with women in mind has gotten rave reviews from whiskey experts. Strawberry Kiss whiskey liqueur will soon go on sale in Scotland. Surprisingly, the pink-colored beverage has has received top rating from traditional whiskey experts, The Scotsman reported.

Glenmorangie's Master Distiller and bosses from the Whisky Shop are among more than 40 experts who have tasted the whiskey and proclaimed it excellent, the newspaper said. The drink was concocted by a pair of Edinburgh businessmen who spent eight months in a home kitchen perfecting the secret recipe.

Read more.

Drinkers switch to premium tipples

Demand for "premium" vodkas, whisky, rum and tequila is likely to outpace average growth in the US drinks industry for several more years as drinkers switch from beer and lower-priced spirits, an industry body said yesterday.

The Financial Times reports.

Italy's Campari seals whisky deal

Italian drinks firm Campari has acquired three Scottish whisky brands from France's Pernod Ricard in a deal worth 130m euros ($154m; £89m).

The BBC reports.

Whiskey Merchant (Book)

Linda A. Fisher, A Self-Made Man: The Private Life of Joseph J. Mersman, Whiskey Merchant (Athens: Ohio University Press, forthcoming Spring 2007).

Scotch meets shochu

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a quasi-governmental body, has recently decided to help the association of shochu distilled spirits makers in Hitoyoshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture on the southernmost major Japanese island of Kyushu, to develop a new brand of liquor, blending local Kuma shochu and Scotch whisky. Shochu is a clear alcoholic beverage, a cousin to Korea's soju. Asia Times reports.

Whiskey in Romania

Forbes reports (9 September 2005) that U.S. distillers recently unveiled a wide selection of American whiskies in Romania, mixing cocktails and preparing spirit-spiked dishes targeting a growing consumer market in this former communist country. Read more here.

'I won't pay a tuppence more than £95,000'

Reuters reports (15 August 2005) that a rare bottle of Irish whisky is up for sale at a record £100,000, making it the world's most expensive single malt. The whisky dates from the late 1800s and is believed to be the last surviving bottle from the Nun's Island Distillery in County Galway, western Ireland, which ceased production in 1913.

Bourbon and Related Books

Charles K. Cowdery wrote, produced, and directed "Made and Bottled in Kentucky" for a public TV station and edits and publishes the Bourbon Country Reader re American whiskies.  He is the author of the privately printed Bourbon, Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey (Made and Bottled in Kentucky, 2004).  His website mentions several related books including those listed below.

Leon W. Kania, The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible (Happy Mountain, 2000)
Bill Samuels, Jr., Maker's Mark: My Autobiography (Regency, 2000)
Sally Van Winkle Campbell, But Always Fine Bourbon: Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald (Limestone Lane, 1999)
Sam Cecil, The Evolution of the Bourbon Whiskey Industry in Kentucky (2001; 2nd ed., Turner, 2003)
Kenneth Kilby, The Cooper and His Trade (Linden, 1990)
Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan, The Book of Bourbon; and Other Fine American Whiskies (Houghton Mifflin, 1995)
Mark Waymack and James Harris, The Book of Classic American Whiskeys (Open Court, 1995)
Gary Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan, The Bourbon Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide (Houghton Mifflin, 1998)
Gerald Carson, The Social History of Bourbon: An Unhurried Account of Our Star-Spangled American Drink (University Press of Kentucky, 1963)
William Grimes, Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail (North Point, 2002)
Richard Barksdale Harwell, The Mint Julep (University Press of Virginia, 1975)
Henry G. Crowgey, Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking (University Press of Kentucky, 1971)
William L. Downard,, Dictionary of the History of the American Brewery and Distilling Industries (Greenwood, 1981).

Scottish Distilleries (Book)

David Stirk, The Distilleries of Campbeltown: The Rise and Fall of the Whisky Capital of the World (Glasgow: Angels' Share, 2005).

Whiskey Advertising (Book)

John Hughes, Still Going Strong: A History of Whisky Advertising (Stroud: Tempus, 2005).

Nosing Out A Younger Market for Whisky

The Scotsman reports (3 March 2005) that a new whisky has been unveiled which is designed to break with the drink’s old-fashioned image. The product, called J&B-6ºc, has been produced with a lighter colour and smoother taste in a bid to woo younger drinkers. Find the full story here.

Pretty sure it's mine: workers find nearly 200-year-old whiskey bottle in chimney

The Boston Herald reports (18 May 2005) from Holliston, Massachusetts that workers restoring a chimney in an old house found what they believe to be a 193-year-old bottle of whiskey on a hidden shelf just above the fireplace.

Cure cancer with single malt whisky...so says whiskey consulant

All Headline News reports (9 May 2005) from London that single malt whisky can heal cancer, as it has got high levels of a powerful antioxidant that kills cancer cells. Dr. Jim Swan, an independent consultant to the global drinks industry, made this startling claim at a medical conference in Scotland. Dr Swan, is currently assisting four new distillery start-ups, and spoke to the EuroMedlab conference hosted by the Association of Clinical Biochemists.

According to his research findings, single malt whisky contains “more ellagic acid than red wine”. The ellagic acid is an effective “free radical scavenger” that “absorbs” or “eats up” rogue cells that occur in the body during eating, Swan’s speech claimed at the EuroMedLab 2005 conference.

“So, whether you indulge in the odd tipple or you are a serious connoisseur, whisky can protect you from cancer – and science proves it,” he quipped.

Scotch Whiskey Marketing after 1975 (Article)

S.R.H. Jones, "Brand Building and Structural Change in the Scotch Whisky Industry since 1975," Business History 45/3 (2003): 72-89.

The National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University

The website of the National Brewing Library at Oxford Brookes University, UK, can be found here. The National Brewing Library was officialy opened on 10 December 2002. It comprises approximately 4,500 volumes relating to brewing, distilling, beer, whisky and other alcoholic beverages, and dependent trades, mainly in the English language. The collection aims to be the primary and most comprehensive source of information in the UK, on the scientific, technological, historical and social aspects of the above.

Japanese Whiskey?

The Times of India reports (25 April 2005) that until now it was technology and automobiles over which Japan held a major sway globally, but now Scotland's global dominance vis-a-vis whiskey is under threat from the Japs. Japanese distillers, according to drinks writer Michael Jackson, are slowly but steadily edging out Scotch whiskey producers with their brand of malts. Find the full story here.

Whisky at $48 500 a bottle

News 24 reports that the last six bottles of the world's oldest and most expensive Scotch whisky have been put on sale in Hong Kong for US$48, 500 a bottle. The bottles of 1937 Glenfiddich Rare Collection have been bought by a Hong Kong dealer and put on sale in the territory's Free Duty shops. The whisky, which works out at a price of US$1,724 a shot, was flown to Hong Kong in two batches for fear the planes carrying them might crash.

Beef and whiskey imports plummet in Korea

Chosen reports (4 February 2005) that in a report on the import trend for meat and alcoholic liquors, the Korea Customs Service said that whisky and brandy imports decreased by 15 and 36 percent, while the cheaper wine and beer grew by 27 and 8 percent. Total alcohol imports fell 8 percent to $378 million from a year earlier, the first do