After gaining traction through the late 1990s, the first decade of the twenty-first century seemed like a return to the glory days of bourbon. Demand was high, which prompted the development of “premium” brands, and consumers were rediscovering bourbon neat and in long-forgotten cocktails. Surprisingly, demand went from high to skyrocketing, and beginning around 2005, the market has been flooded with seemingly uncountable new “super-premium” brands, which are gobbled up despite astronomical prices, and former reasonably priced standard brands are difficult to find. Bourbon’s popularity as a drink has been coupled with an eagerness to learn about its history and its personalities.
My primary acknowledgment, therefore, is to bourbon enthusiasts everywhere. Without the renewed interest in “America’s Native Spirit,” the historical significance of bourbon law on the development United States would be a footnote, at best, in an obscure textbook. Just as important to an endeavor like this, my parents, along with attorney (and now Muskegon County circuit judge) Tim Hicks, fostered my early love for the law, without which I never would have made the tripartite connection between bourbon, history, and law.
While researching and writing this book—with tremendous help from my wife, Laura, who toiled at the court archives in Frankfort—several bourbon-themed books have been released. One of the best and most thorough books is Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey, by Reid Mitenbuler. It is a must-read for those interested in the interplay between bourbon and American history. I had the opportunity to discuss some of the remarkable James E. Pepper and Col. E. H. Taylor Jr. lawsuits with Reid, and those discussions helped inspire me to write this book.
Mike Veach, formerly of the Filson Historical Society and from the early to mid-1990s the North American Archivist for United Distillers, has graciously shared his research and vast knowledge of bourbon history with enthusiasts. He also wrote the definitive history of Kentucky bourbon history, Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage, and has served as an expert witness in bourbon lawsuits. I owe Mike special thanks for his frequent and lively bourbon history discussions and for his helpful comments on an initial draft of my manuscript.
Colin Spoelman and David Haskell of Kings County Distillery in New York—the 2016 Distillery of the Year, according to the American Distilling Institute—also write when they are not distilling from local grain. Their second book, Dead Distillers: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits, provides a fascinating look at the lives and deaths of the people who influenced American whiskey.
Last but certainly not least, I owe a debt of gratitude to Fred Minnick, the influential best-selling author of three recent whiskey books, notably Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey, and most recently Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey. Unlike the work of anyone else, Fred’s books, articles, and interviews propelled the wave of bourbon enthusiasm to new heights. He also encouraged me while helping me navigate the foreign process of publishing, provided valuable comments on an early draft of my manuscript, and wrote a foreword that would have convinced Carrie Nation herself to give my book a chance.
And a special thanks to Tom and the team at Potomac for believing in Bourbon Justice.
On the less formal side, whiskey blogs have been a daily read for me over the past five years. Often addressing “inside baseball” or advanced, in-the-weeds subjects, these bloggers, along with the Twitter bourbon community, help inform the public and effect important changes in the industry, especially those related to transparency. I also learned that the bourbon community is among the most generous of all. The “Bourbon Crusaders,” for example, hosted charity events honoring Jim Rutledge and Parker Beam, raising tens of thousands of dollars to support research and finding cures for Crohn’s disease and ALS. And everyday bourbon enthusiasts are surprisingly quick to share new releases and “dusty” icons alike.
While those books, blogs, and enthusiasts enlightened and inspired me, I might not have developed a passion for bourbon without meeting the people behind the scenes. My first private barrel selection was at Four Roses, and it was the first time that I met master distiller Jim Rutledge. Jim’s experience goes back over fifty years to his days at Seagram’s, where he started in Research & Development in Louisville, before moving with Seagram’s to New York and finally to Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. Jim is the mastermind who finally got the rotgut off the shelves and the real Four Roses available again in the United States, although it took years of his efforts and the demise of Seagram’s before it was a reality. Plus, Jim is gracious with his time, meticulous with his art, and proud (without arrogance) of the brand he built. I got to know Jim through many more barrel selections, and he has always been happy to share his deep knowledge, through his Four Roses retirement party in August 2015 and beyond. Since Jim’s retirement, Four Roses has continued to fire on all cylinders with new master distiller Brent Elliott.
Kentucky’s first female master distiller since Prohibition, Marianne Barnes, has continued to inspire the bourbon community with progress at the historic landmark Old Taylor Distillery in Millville, Kentucky, and me, personally, with technical discussions about recipes and barrel-entry proof. Marianne and the visionaries behind Peristyle LLC have resurrected the Old Taylor Distillery as Castle & Key Distillery and began distilling in 2017.
Chris Morris of Brown-Forman / Woodford Reserve made time for me for dinner at a Louisville bourbon destination—Bourbon’s Bistro—and shared the results of his archaeological investigation at the Old Oscar Pepper property and the litigation between James Pepper and his own mother over control of the distillery. The care taken by Brown-Forman in the mid-1990s to reestablish the Labrot & Graham Old Oscar Pepper Distillery as a premiere distillery foreshadowed bourbon’s resurgence, and Brown-Forman continues to treat that history with deserved respect.
Bill Samuels Jr. is one of the many gregarious entertainers of the group. He can regale a crowd with stories about his father setting off on his own, his mother developing the perfect red wax in her kitchen, and getting started with a yeast strain from (gasp) Pappy Van Winkle himself—not always the official yeast story from Maker’s Mark. With some people affability and charm cover a lack of substance but not so with Bill. A crab and crawfish boil hosted by Bill and his wife, Nancy, as part of a bourbon fantasy camp called the “Kentucky Bourbon Affair” proved to be my perfect opportunity to dive into some substantive Maker’s Mark details with Bill, like aging (and barrel rotation), entry proof, his take on cask strength bottling, consumer impressions, and upcoming releases.
There are many, many more inspirational people beyond the master distillers and primary spokespeople. Brand ambassadors like Bernie Lubbers and Al Young, tour guides like Freddie Johnson, passionate distillers like Lisa Wicker, and brothers reigniting a family legacy like Steve and Paul Beam round out company that we all want to keep. Bourbon and its people are quintessential Americana.