Here are some books about bourbon and related subjects. The book I wrote, BOURBON, STRAIGHT, is the first one below. You can order it directly from me. Just click on the cover or title to order. For all of the other books listed here, click on the cover or title to go to Amazon.com, where you can buy the book from their online store. Click on the Amazon logo below to go to Amazon's home page. Most of these books will be hard or impossible to find in your local bookstore so I suggest that you save time and frustration, and just buy them online.
BOURBON, STRAIGHT: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey. by Charles K. Cowdery (Made and Bottled in Kentucky; 2004).
Detailed, clear, authoritative, insightful, independent and fun to read, it is unlike any other American whiskey book ever written. From beginners to connoisseurs, anyone who enjoys American whiskey will want to read this book. It contains lots of history but also a tasting guide and 35 product reviews. Click here for more information.
BOURBON, STRAIGHT: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey is also available on Amazon.com. If you would prefer to buy it there, Click here.
Kentucky Bourbon: The Early Years of Whiskeymaking. by Henry G. Crowgey. (University Press of Kentucky; 1971) One of the few serious scholarly works ever done on the subject, this is a very thorough and credible account of the industry's development in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. GOOD NEWS! The University of Kentucky Press has re-published this important book (February, 2008).
The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, Volume 7, Foodways. John T. Edge, volume editor (University of North Carolina Press; 2007). Okay, it's mainly here because I wrote the article about bourbon whiskey (starting on p. 127, between "Black-Eyed Peas" and "Brennan, Ella"), but I heartily recommend the whole book. It is a very nice balance of serious scholarship and fun reading. If you are interested, as I am, in the general subject of Southern foodways, this is a must-have book.
The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible, by Leon W. Kania (Happy Mountain Publications; 2000). I haven't read this book, but it looks like just the thing for all the people who ask me about how to make whiskey and other alcoholic beverages at home. It covers home distillation, including instructions on making a still, with the warning that even owning a still is highly illegal in the United States. It is not, however, illegal to own a book about the subject, and this appears to be a pretty good one. You can review the entire table of contents on Amazon.
Maker's Mark: My Autobiography, by Bill Samuels, Jr. (Regency Books; 2000).
I haven't read this book, but I know it is the history of Maker's Mark and the author is Bill Samuels, Jr., son of the distillery's founder and its ubiquitous spokesperson. I can tell you it's a beautifully produced coffee table book with color photos of the distillery
(which is gorgeous), favorite ad reproductions, recipes and stuff like
that.
But Always Fine Bourbon : Pappy Van Winkle and the Story of Old Fitzgerald,
by Sally Van Winkle Campbell (Limestone Lane Press; 1999). Julian P. "Pappy"
Van Winkle was a giant in the Kentucky Bourbon industry. In 1893, he went
to work for William Weller, a whiskey distributor. In 1915, he bought the
company, which he ran until his death in 1965. After Prohibition, he added
a distillery to the operation and began to make Old Fitzgerald, W.L. Weller
and other famous brands. The author is his granddaughter so this is a true
insider's account, full of affection and personal details as well as lots
of great pictures.
The Evolution of the Bourbon Whiskey Industry in Kentucky, by Sam
Cecil (Turner Publishing Company; 2001). Although this is the cover from the
first edition, Amazon is selling the greatly improved second edition and
that's what you will get if you click on this link. This book contains
a lot of great material, but even the improved second edition has a few
problems. The most serious is that the author, himself a long time industry
veteran, relied heavily on material collected by Whit Coyte prior to Coyte's
death in 1987. Coyte never worked in the industry and only became interested
in its history after he retired. Cecil seems to have taken everything Coyte
recorded as true, even when his facts are contradictory or clearly wrong.
In other words, the fact checking leaves something to be desired. On the
plus side, this book contains information you won't find other places.
It is most reliable when Cecil discusses his own contemporaries and colleagues,
making his post-Prohibition material pretty solid.
The Cooper and His Trade, by Kenneth Kilby (Linden Publishing
Co., Inc.; 1990). You can't make bourbon without barrels and this book tells you
all about them. It covers history, tools, materials, techniques and the
traditional types of coopers (white, dry, wet). Once used to store and
ship just about everything, barrel-making is today a dying art, kept alive
almost exclusively by the whiskey and wine industries. The author is a
cooper himself, from a long line of them.
The Book of Classic American Whiskeys, by Mark Waymack and James
Harris (Open Court Publishing Co.; 1995). Personally, I think the Regans' book
(see next selection) is better, but that book is out of print and this
one is still readily available. (Usually ships within 24 hours.) They're
similar in that they tour all of the American Whiskey distilleries and
review the products of those distilleries. Both books were put together
in 1994-95, but not a lot has changed since then. If you are looking for
a good, brief but thorough survey of the subject, for a good price, this
probably is your best bet. My main complaint is that there is a little
too much kissing up to the distillers in it. Also, from two guys who write
and teach philosophy for a living I expected more, well, philosophy.
The Book of Bourbon: And Other Fine American Whiskeys, by Gary
Regan and Mardee Haidin Regan (Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1995). If you can only buy
one book about American Whiskey (other than mine), this is the one. The Regans cover everything: history, production methods, terminology, personalities, current bottlings
(110 of them), tourism tips, tasting tips, recipes (for drinks and foods),
and resources for further research; it's all here. Though published in
1995, most of the information is still good, as things change slowly in
bourbon country. Gary is the author of The Bartenders Bible and
Mardee is an accomplished food writer. This book is out-of-print, but used
copies are available.
The Bourbon Companion: A Connoisseur's Guide, by Gary Regan and
Mardee Haidin Regan (Houghton Mifflin Co.; 1998). More compact than The Book
of Bourbon,
it is more of a buying guide, with bottlings listed in
alphabetical order. It is also a little newer but still out-of-print. Used
copies are available.
The Social History of Bourbon, An Unhurried Account of Our Star-Spangled
American Drink By Gerald Carson (The University Press of Kentucky; 1963). This book is exactly what the title suggests, an account of the role of
bourbon whiskey (and drinking in general) in American History, and a pretty
casual account at that. In other words, it's not scholarly. Mostly it is
an entertaining read and reliable as far as it goes. Out-of-print, but
used copies are available.
Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail by William Grimes (North Point Press; 2002). There are a million books about cocktails, but this one isn't about recipes or hospitality so much as social history. Grimes is restaurant critic for The New York Times. He gives a brief history of the cocktail, "from its rise during the nation's colonial period through the invention of overwrought, fey potables at the close of the twentieth century." (From the American Library Association review by Mark Knoblauch.)
The Bartender's Bible. by Gary Regan. (HarperTorch; 1993) Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted a book of cocktail recipes? Here you go. Before becoming a writer on all things liquid and intoxicating, Gary was a bartender and bar manager. This book tells you everything you need to know about making drinks, including how to set up and stock your home bar.
The Mint Julep by Richard Barksdale Harwell. (University Press of Virginia; 1975) A whole book about the mint julep. Well, it's only 54 pages. Still, this little book proves that the julep has a very long and interesting history. It's even older than the Kentucky Derby, with which it will forever be associated. This book is the source of all my arcane mint julep knowledge. Out-of-print, but used copies are available.
Dictionary of the History of the American Brewing and Distilling Industries. by William L. Downard. (Greenwood Publishing Group; 1981) The other serious scholarly work done on the subject. This may be the correct academic name for this type of reference work, but the average person probably would call it an encyclopedia instead. Want a capsule history of the J.W. Dant Distillery Company? It's under "D." There is also brief introductory material about both industries and several tables in the back.Out-of-print, but used copies are available.
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