Bourbon's backroads : a journey through Kentucky's distilling landscape
Bibliographic Information
Bourbon's backroads : a journey through Kentucky's distilling landscape
Karl Raitz ; cartographic design and production by Dick Gilbreath
South Limestone, c2019
Available at / 1 libraries
Note
Summary: "This book is about one of Kentucky's signature industries, whiskey distilling. It is also about the landscape that the industry created and the heritage that the landscape represents. Bourbon Backroads can be read in the traditional way; simply retire to an arm chair and read about how distillers made that bright amber liquid in the cut glass tumbler standing on your side table. Or, one can use the book as a guide to visit and experience the places where bourbon's heritage was made; distilleries long standing, relict, razed, or brand new; distiller's homes on Main Street, villages and neighborhoods where laborers lived, storage warehouses on Whiskey Row, river landings and railroad yards, and factories where copper distilling vessels and charred white oak barrels are made. Reading the story of fine bourbon distilling can be engrossing; standing in the landscape where it began and continues to thrive is akin to participating in an interactive theater performance!"--Provided by publisher
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
With more than fifty distilleries in the state, bourbon is as synonymous with Kentucky as horses and basketball. As one of the commonwealth's signature industries, bourbon distilling has influenced the landscape and heritage of the region for more than two centuries. Blending several topics -- tax revenue, railroads, the mechanics of brewing, geography, landscapes, and architecture -- this primer and geographical guide presents a detailed history of the development of Kentucky's distilling industry.
Nineteenth-century distilling changed from an artisanal craft practiced by farmers and millers to a large-scale mechanized industry that practiced increasingly refined production techniques. Distillers often operated at comparatively remote sites -- the "backroads" -- to take advantage of water sources or transport access. Some distillers adopted mechanization and the steam engine, forgoing water power -- a change that permitted geographical relocation of distilleries away from traditional sites along creeks or at large springs to urban or rural rail-side sites.
Based on extensive archival research that includes private paper collections, newspapers, and period documents, this work places the distilling process in its environmental, geographical, and historical context. Bourbon's Backroads reveals the places where bourbon's heritage was made -- from old and new distilleries, storage warehouses, railroad yards, and factories where copper fermenting vessels are made -- and why the industry continues to thrive.
by "Nielsen BookData"
