by:
Pacult, F. Paul

Publisher:
John Wiley & Sons
Published:August 8, 2003
ISBN:0471444073
Format:Hardcover
Pages:240

Description: From Publishers Weekly
How does a sour mash corn whiskey brand go from being a Kentucky family's "adjunct farming activity" to founding a corporation that ships over five million cases worldwide each year? Pacult (Kindred Spirits: The Spirit Journal Guide to the World's Distilled Spirits and Fortified Wines) extensively researched the story of the Beam family, which is just as much a 19th- and 20th-century American history. The young country's struggles with slavery, Prohibition and war, its sociopolitical maturation and its shift from an agricultural to an industrial economy all come into play. A prolific spirits writer, Pacult has an expert's grasp on the topic, which carries the book through its slow periods. Upstanding citizens to a man, the Beams don't always make for scintillating reading-no scoundrels, no scandals-and only Jim Beam's grandson Booker Noe, the refreshingly blunt, six-foot-four, 360-pound former master distiller, emerges as a character with any color. Trying to keep all the Beams straight might make readers feel like they've just downed a few shots of the bourbon itself. Most interesting is Pacult's examination of American popular culture and its effect on the bourbon business: how bourbon became declass# in the 1970s, the venerable spirit losing out to sexy newcomer vodka (and its inadvertent pitchman, James Bond), and how scotch whisky's rising popularity in the 1980s fueled the production of bourbon's answer to the single-malt, the small-batch bourbon. The book could use a few more colorful details, however, such as the bit about temperance activist Carry Nation and her ax attacks on taverns.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap
Beverage alcohol has been a part of American culture since the first European settlers arrived with their family recipes for beers and spirits and founded their own distilleries and alehouses. Yet it wasn't until Kentuckians began distilling whiskey from corn in the late eighteenth century that America would find its national drink-bourbon whiskey. Today, bourbon is as American as apple pie and Jim Beam is the biggest name in the business.

When first-generation American Jacob Beam... read more

Book Description
"Barrel proof and unfiltered! As usual Pacult has delved deep, and revealed many hitherto unknown facts about the Beams. Best of all, though, this is a fascinating, page-turning look into America's royal family of whiskey." -Gary and Mardee Haidin Regan
authors of The Book of Bourbon
Publishers of ardentspirits.com

"With his ‘Old Jake Beam Sour Mash,' Jacob Beam launched a whiskey dynasty. It's a superb story, and no one spins a great story better than F. Paul Pacult, America's most respected authority on distilled spirits."
-Robert Whitley
Wine & Spirits Columnist
Copley News Service

"This is a stellar piece of documented history written in a most accessible style. With legions of disciples, F. Paul Pacult is a legend in the making."
-Robert Plotkin
Spirits Author
BarMedia

"Highly regarded as America's preeminent authority on spirits, Paul Pacult relates a fascinating story of authentic pioneer and entrepreneurial endeavor, intertwined in a family saga spanning generations, all in the background of creating one of the most enduring and recognizable global brands, Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey. Pacult portrays figures larger than life up against the major events of our country's history, with a cast of characters and style that reads like a novel."
-David Talbot
Associate Publisher
Wine Enthusiast Magazine

"An epic American story told with passion and insight."
-Anthony Dias Blue
Wine & Spirits Editor
Bon Appétit