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Praise for BUFFALO, BARRELS & BOURBON "This book is more than just a history of a world-class distillery. Pacult uses the story of Buffalo Trace to tell the very story of bourbon itself-the very story of Kentucky itself-with expert verve and wit. An immediate classic."
-Clay Risen, author of
American Whiskey, Bourbon & Rye: A Guide to the Nation's Favorite Spirit "I could listen to Paul Pacult tell stories about the Buffalo Trace Distillery for days on end. That's a lot to ask of a guy, though, so I read his engaging book instead. And man, did it ever speak to me. It's an exhaustively researched and deftly written historical tome that is guaranteed to make you thirsty.
With Buffalo, Barrels & Bourbon, Paul Pacult continues his longtime reign as America's finest spirits scribe."
-Dan Dunn, author of
American Wino: A Tale of Reds, Whites, and One Man's Blues "Historically, a 'buffalo trace' was the path ground away by a herd of migrating bison. There were no maps to guide the pioneers along those trails, but in
Buffalo, Barrels & Bourbon, Paul has provided an excellent map to the trail of one of Kentucky's legendary distilleries. While the Buffalo Trace brand may be just a couple of decades old, it is built on a legacy dating back to the days of the pioneers, and Paul's extensive research provides the definitive guide to the story of Buffalo Trace from the Lees, Taylors, and Staggs to today's award-winning distillers."
-Mark Gillespie, Host/Executive Producer, WhiskyCast
List of contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Glossary xv
1 "This River Runes North West and out of Ye Westerly Side . . ." 1
Sidebar: The Unforgivable Extermination of Tatanka 12 2 "This Map of Kentucke: Drawn from Actual Observations . . ." 15
3 ". . . As Crooked as a Dog's Hind Leg . . ." 29
4 ". . . 10,530 bls. Flour; 1374 Whiskey; 1984 Beef and Pork . . ." 35
Sidebar: The Kentucky River's Natural Wonders 41 5 ". . . The Machinery Is of the Best . . . for Making Copper Distilled Whisky." 43
Sidebar: Kentucky Whiskey Production: Grain 49 6 ". . . Bourbon Production . . . Was at Best Crude and Unreliable . . ." 51
7 ". . . That in Consideration of Five Hundred Dollars . . ." 61
8 "Rev. Dr. McLeod Thanks God for Duffy's Pure Malt Whiskey" 69
9 "The Most Valuable Assistance That We Got in St. Louis . . ." 75
10 ". . . An Early Nineteenth Century Residence Situated in the Middle of an Expansive Lawn . . ." 83
11 ". . . Raised the Daily Production from 400 to 600 Barrels . . ." 95
12 "Despite Many Salacious Rumors, He Is Mostly Remembered As . . ." 103
13 "Show Up Next Monday Morning . . ." 115
Sidebar: The Indelible Impact of American Whiskey's Greatest Generation 127 14 Sazerac: The New Orleans Company and the Fabled Cocktail 131
Sidebar: The Sazerac Cocktail and Resurrection of Sazerac House 140 15 "Experimentation Is in Our DNA . . ." 143
16 "Resistance Is Futile" 153
Sidebar: Freddie Johnson's Promise 167 17 ". . . Projecting Forecasts in 2020 for the Next 100, 120 Years . . ." 169
Appendix 181
Timeline 185
Notes 189
Bibliography 199
About the Author 203
Index 205
About the author
F. PAUL PACULT has been hailed in
Imbibe magazine as "an all-knowing spirituous oracle, a J.D. Powers of liquor" and by Forbes.com as "America's foremost spirits authority." He is an award-winning educator and journalist, as well as the author of seven books, including
American Still Life, A Double Scotch, and
The New Kindred Spirits. For twenty-eight years, he was the editor of the widely acknowledged "bible" of spirits reviews,
F. Paul Pacult's Spirit Journal. He is a Life Member of both the Bourbon Hall of Fame and the Kentucky Distillers Association's Order of the Writ.
