Bourbon's Backroads (eBook)

A Journey through Kentucky's Distilling Landscape

Karl Raitz (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2021
216 Seiten
The University Press of Kentucky (Verlag)
978-0-8131-8255-1 (ISBN)

Infos

Kentucky's landscape is punctuated by landmark structures that signpost bourbon's venerable story: distilleries long-standing, relict, razed, and brand new, the grand nineteenth-century homes of renowned distillers, villages and neighborhoods where distillery laborers lived, Whiskey Row storage warehouses, river landings and railroad yards, and factories where copper distilling vessels and charred white oak barrels are made. During the 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-along the "e;backroads"e;-to take advantage of water sources or river or turnpike transport access. As time passed, steam power and mechanization freed the industry from its reliance on waterpower and permitted distillers to relocate to urban and rural rail-side sites. This shift also allowed distillers to perfect their production techniques, increase their capacity, and refine their marketing strategies. The historic progression produced the "e;fine"e; Kentucky bourbons that are available to present day consumers. Yet, distillers have not abandoned their cultural roots and traditions; their iconic products embrace the modern while also engaging their history and geography.Blending several topics-inventions and innovations in distilling and transport technologies, tax policy, geography, landscapes, and architecture-this primer and geographical guide presents an accessible and detailed history of the development of Kentucky's distilling industry and explains how the industry continues to thrive.

Autor

Karl Raitz is professor emeritus of geography at the University of Kentucky and author of Making Bourbon. He is coeditor of The Great Valley Road of Virginia and coauthor of Rock Fences of the Bluegrass.

Inhalt

Introduction
Kentucky's Distilling Heritage
Distilling's Backstory: The Prerequisites
Distillery Configurations
Applying Technology
Complementary Industries
The Inner Bluegrass Region: Remnants and Contemporary Distillery Works
The Outer Bluegrass Region: Railroads and the Transition to Industrial Drilling
Distilling in the Ohio River Valley
Epilogue: Backroads and the Reservoir of Tradition

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.9.2021
• Zusatzinfo: 8 b&w halftones, 3 illustrations, 24 maps, 4 line drawings, 2 graphs, 4 tables
• Verlagsort: Lexington
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 180 x 180 mm
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Essen / Trinken ► Getränke
• Themenwelt: Reisen ► Reiseführer
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: 19th Century America • American History • Bourbon • bourbon barrels • bourbon distilling • bourbon industry • commercial distilleries • Corn Whiskey • Cultural History • distilling technology • elija craig • Evan Williams • evolution of bourbon • historic distilleries • historic Kentucky • History • industry history • Moonshine • Social Geography • Social History • southern heritage • southern history
• ISBN-10: 0-8131-8255-7 / 0813182557
• ISBN-13: 978-0-8131-8255-1 / 9780813182551