Bourbon's Backroads: A Journey through Kentucky's Distilling Landscape

by Karl Raitz

Overview

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 "backroads"—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 "fine" 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813182292
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

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

What People are Saying About This

Geoffrey L. Buckley

"Raitz leaves no stone unturned as he explores the social, cultural, economic, and technological settings that enabled the bourbon industry to flourish in nineteenth-century Kentucky. Meticulously researched, authoritative, and highly readable, Bourbon's Backroads does more than tell the story of whiskey production, however. It throws open a window on nineteenth-century America, offering insights into our past that only a gifted and seasoned writer like Raitz can impart."

Paul F. Starrs

"From the 1700s through the 2010s, Raitz brings us through the technical, financial, transportation, artisanal, and industrial techniques that make Kentucky bourbon whiskey what it is. He tracks a shift from a farm-based craft tapping limestone-filtered waters to the steam-powered industrial distillation of bourbon whiskey. No surprise that the innovations owe much to Kentucky's location and geography. Here's something more than worth a read, especially given the rich illustrations and annotations. Granted, not everyone's a tippler. But this book gives us something to read and relish, ideally with an appropriate tumbler of the subject at hand."

Warren R. Hofstra

"In this age of craft distilling and artisan whiskey, Kentucky bourbon stands out as an icon of American taste and culture. What Karl Raitz demonstrates in this superb volume is that bourbon is also an expression of a cultural landscape and historical geography that is as deep, rich, and complex as the whiskey that has made Kentucky famous. Geographers, historians, and whiskey aficionados will want to savor this book."

From the Publisher

"From the 1700s through the 2010s, Raitz brings us through the technical, financial, transportation, artisanal, and industrial techniques that make Kentucky bourbon whiskey what it is. He tracks a shift from a farm-based craft tapping limestone-filtered waters to the steam-powered industrial distillation of bourbon whiskey. No surprise that the innovations owe much to Kentucky's location and geography. Here's something more than worth a read, especially given the rich illustrations and annotations. Granted, not everyone's a tippler. But this book gives us something to read and relish, ideally with an appropriate tumbler of the subject at hand." — Paul F. Starrs, author of Let the Cowboy Ride: Cattle Ranching in the American West

"In this age of craft distilling and artisan whiskey, Kentucky bourbon stands out as an icon of American taste and culture. What Karl Raitz demonstrates in this superb volume is that bourbon is also an expression of a cultural landscape and historical geography that is as deep, rich, and complex as the whiskey that has made Kentucky famous. Geographers, historians, and whiskey aficionados will want to savor this book." — Warren R. Hofstra, Shenandoah University in Virginia

"Raitz leaves no stone unturned as he explores the social, cultural, economic, and technological settings that enabled the bourbon industry to flourish in nineteenth-century Kentucky. Meticulously researched, authoritative, and highly readable, Bourbon's Backroads does more than tell the story of whiskey production, however. It throws open a window on nineteenth-century America, offering insights into our past that only a gifted and seasoned writer like Raitz can impart." — Geoffrey L. Buckley, coeditor of The American Environment Revisited: Environmental Historical Geographies of the United States

Editorial Reviews

"a rich narrative both in history and geography that can be enjoyed by the fire or as you traverse the backroads of Kentucky.

Dawn M. Drake

Karl Raitz's Bourbon's Backroads is a great read for bourbon fans who want to dig deep into the history of Kentucky's signature spirit. Fascinating and revealing.Raitz's book (is) an important contribution to typical writing on bourbon history, which often rehashes the same, rather tired nostalgia and stories of frontier distilling, great whiskey innovators and namesakes, Prohibition-era struggles and hijinks, and the industry's recent resurgence since the 1980s. Bourbon's Backroads is dense with rich detail that will titillate bourbon history buffsa great book for people who consider themselves to be emerging bourbon aficionados who are starting to study bourbon history and heritage. If you have taken distillery tours or have started reading up on bourbon in the press or in books, you will love (this book).

Bowling Green Daily News

[Raitz's] extensive research details how geography, landscape and architecture led to the development of Kentucky's distilling industry over two centuries. The book is recommended for geographers, historians and bourbon lovers.

The Kentucky 100

Exceptionally researched and immediately captivating for those wishing to get into the finer points of bourbon's rich history of technical innovation and adaptability.

DrinkHacker

"In this age of craft distilling and artisan whiskey, Kentucky bourbon stands out as an icon of American taste and culture. What Karl Raitz demonstrates in this superb volume is that bourbon is also an expression of a cultural landscape and historical geography that is as deep, rich, and complex as the whiskey that has made Kentucky famous. Geographers, historians, and whiskey aficionados will want to savor this book." — Warren R. Hofstra, Shenandoah University in Virginia

"[Raitz's] extensive research details how geography, landscape and architecture led to the development of Kentucky's distilling industry over two centuries. The book is recommended for geographers, historians and bourbon lovers." — The Kentucky 100

From the Publisher

From the 1700s through the 2010s, Raitz brings us through the technical, financial, transportation, artisanal, and industrial techniques that make Kentucky bourbon whiskey what it is. He tracks a shift from a farm-based craft tapping limestone-filtered waters to the steam-powered industrial distillation of bourbon whiskey. No surprise that the innovations owe much to Kentucky's location and geography. Here's something more than worth a read, especially given the rich illustrations and annotations. Granted, not everyone's a tippler. But this book gives us something to read and relish, ideally with an appropriate tumbler of the subject at hand.

Paul F. Starrs

Raitz leaves no stone unturned as he explores the social, cultural, economic, and technological settings that enabled the bourbon industry to flourish in nineteenth-century Kentucky. Meticulously researched, authoritative, and highly readable, Bourbon's Backroads does more than tell the story of whiskey production, however. It throws open a window on nineteenth-century America, offering insights into our past that only a gifted and seasoned writer like Raitz can impart.

Geoffrey L. Buckley

In this age of craft distilling and artisan whiskey, Kentucky bourbon stands out as an icon of American taste and culture. What Karl Raitz demonstrates in this superb volume is that bourbon is also an expression of a cultural landscape and historical geography that is as deep, rich, and complex as the whiskey that has made Kentucky famous. Geographers, historians, and whiskey aficionados will want to savor this book.

Warren R. Hofstra