Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey

I am not a whiskey drinker, but was at a party the other night and got into a discussion with a friend who happens to drink a lot of whiskey and is quite knowledgeable on the subject. My curiousity was piqued since I knew so little about the topic, decided I wanted to learn more and chose bourbon as the starting point. There were quite a few choices on Amazon, but I opted for this one given the 5 star rating and positive reviews. If you want a eminently readable and thorough history of bourbon, it would be tough to find something better than "Bourbon Empire" by Reid Mitenbuler. The author combines strong tasting knowledge of bourbon to complement the top notch research he did. Mitenbuler traces the origin of whiskey in the US (drink at your own peril) to the growth of the industry after the Civil War through the temperance movement, the consolidation among global spirit companies through the present day "craft" movement. One of the great elements of this book is the lore and legend that accompanies bourbon, much of it carefully cultivated through brilliant marketing. This is great history, storytelling and education about a distinctly American product. Pour yourself a nice glass of whiskey and enjoy this great book.

I was introduced to this book by a client from a real estate transaction we had in 2021. I was somewhat new to exploring bourbons, types, brands, costs....... I spent 1 month in Sweden reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is not only about Bourbon, but a history lesson culminating in a simple slogan. "drink the bourbon you like" -- a must-read for newbies, history buffs, and old-timers in the bourbon sphere. A++++

This was my first foray into the history of bourbon and definitely seemed like a great entry point for a broad overview of the subject. Mitenbuler has the tendency to focus on one or two brands per era that he uses almost as mini-case studies to illustrate his point, which I found effective in connecting the history of the drink to many of the names, peoples, and brands that someone who only really knows about the modern bourbonscape can connect to. At times he does get a bit repetitive, and he does come dangerously close in some of the later chapters to something that could be seen more as marketing than may be appropriate (I do not believe he crosses the line, but I could see other people viewing these later chapters in a bit of a harsher light.) Additionally, this book is grounded heavily in the current atmosphere surrounding whiskey, which is great if you're reading it 2015, but may be a little less powerful in the future (barring any updates to the text.)

Bourbon Empire deserves all the praise it's gotten -- and more. The whiskey world has well-informed writers, felicitous writers, enthusiasts and no-BS types, but I doubt anyone anywhere combines so many appealing traits so well. Mitenbuler offers an education in history, chemistry, economics, and marketing, along with human pride and folly, while somehow making it feel like pure entertainment. Along the way, he punctures the mythmaking of bourbon entrepreneurs past and present -- but without the agitated-teenager bitterness that some of the sharpest American whiskey writers fall into. On the contrary: Mitenbuler celebrates the "invention of authenticity" as a part of the American whiskey tradition itself. The book's final quote, from Angus MacDonald of Coppersea Distilling, conveys the wit, humanity, and broad-mindedness you'll find on nearly every page of Bourbon Empire: "If you can come up with a plausible lie, with a set of logical reasons why that would be the truth, you might actually be right. And who's to say whether or not the last person to tell the 'real truth' about how it really was before somebody forgot didn't do the same thing?"

Bourbon Empire will clearly be lauded by bourbon experts, but for the rest of us, I think the book offers something deeper - a perspective on American history that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. Bourbon Empire is thought-provoking, well-researched, and unexpectedly, downright hilarious at times. The book reminds us that reality is often far more interesting than fiction, and it adeptly carries the reader on a journey from the backwoods of American history right up to the shelf at your present-day local liquor store. While the entire book was excellent, I particularly enjoyed the attention given to bourbon's place in colonial history through the civil war - where information is not quite so easy to find or piece together in an engaging fashion such as the author has done here. Overall, Bourbon Empire is a must-read because of the sheer knowledge it conveys as well as its value as a unique and entertaining angle on American history and culture.

Mitenbuler's written a hell of a fun biography of that brown stuff your grandpa and no one else drank when you were little. He pulls off the tall task of being comprehensive covering bourbon's long, rich history while keeping things interesting and engaging. The writing's not dry (whiskey pun!) and is filled with Gladwellian nuggets ready to wow dinner parties (e.g. a "shot" is thought to be the amount of booze an old timey soldier could get in exchange for one bullet). There's plenty here to entertain drinkers and teetotalers alike as bourbon's path speaks volumes to the history of our fair US of A and how our relationships with liquors have evolved to reflect the times. Filled with colorful characters, it's easy to understand why it's not just your gramps drinking bourbon in today's day and age.

a great story and fun to read, clearly charts the history and lore of bourbon, America's drink