{"id":290397,"date":"2021-07-03T15:45:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T12:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-humble-grain-bourbon-rose-to-embody-us-exceptionalism\/"},"modified":"2021-07-03T15:45:21","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T12:45:21","slug":"how-humble-grain-bourbon-rose-to-embody-us-exceptionalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-humble-grain-bourbon-rose-to-embody-us-exceptionalism\/","title":{"rendered":"#How humble grain bourbon rose to embody US exceptionalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#How humble grain bourbon rose to embody US exceptionalism<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. \u2014 About 250 years ago, farmers looking for a way to make their surplus corn crop profitable decided to distill it. Today, that leftover grain has become a billion-dollar industry and a symbol of the Bluegrass State\u2019s identity, economy and culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHow bourbon came about is [what] \u2026 the American spirit looks like: business, independence, freedom, a little bit of luck and a lot of perseverance,\u201d said Justin Thompson.<\/p>\n

Thompson and his colleague Justin Sloan are the proprietors of The House of Bourbon, the world\u2019s largest bourbon store, located on West Main Street in Lexington right across from Mary Todd Lincoln\u2019s childhood home.<\/p>\n

And right now, business is booming.<\/p>\n

Thompson and Sloan started collecting rare and vintage bottles of bourbon 20 years ago when the drink was out of favor. Then, four years ago, the state passed a law allowing the resale of distilled spirits and the duo opened their store, selling not just their stockpile but the history of the drink itself.<\/p>\n

Bourbon is concocted from a strict formula. \u201cBy law it has to be made with a minimum of 51 percent corn aged in charred new oak barrels and stored at no more than 125 proof and bottled at no less than 80 proof,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n

But its sweet, rich flavor was actually born out of happ<\/a>enstance. In the early days, the best market for bourbon was on the East Coast, so farmers had to ship their barrels down the Mississippi to Louisiana then around Florida and up the coast. The trip<\/a> took months but also allowed the whiskey to age beautifully.<\/p>\n

\"Justin
Justin Sloan (left) and Justin Thompson of Lexington\u2019s House of Bourbon own the state\u2019s largest bourbon store.<\/figcaption>
Salena Zito<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen merchants along the East Coast started marveling about this red whiskey with its unique flavor, that marked the beginning of the bourbon industry,\u201d said Thompson.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 1964, Congress deemed bourbon the nation\u2019s native spirit, and there\u2019s nothing more American than enjoying a sip of the brown stuff in a classic cocktail like a mint julep or an old fashioned on the Fourth of July weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s only in the past 10 years that America\u2019s appetite for bourbon has really skyrocketed \u2014 and Kentucky tourism along with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While bourbon can technically be crafted in any state, Kentucky makes 95 percent of the world\u2019s supply. The whiskey is now the state\u2019s $8.6 billion signature industry, generating 20,100 jobs with an average salary of $95,000, an amount that has climbed by 23 percent since 2009.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bourbon
Bourbon is now a luxury item, with the Pappy Van Winkle brand often retailing for more than $1,000 a bottle. <\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the Kentucky Distillers Association, tourists to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail spend on average between $400 and $1,200 a trip \u2014 with more than 70 percent of visitors coming from outside the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis industry is a testament to the American spirit of making something from nothing, or making something from something leftover,\u201d said Kentucky state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, a Bourbon County Republican.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Right now, Kentucky has $2.3 billion in bourbon-related capital projects planned, including a massive $1.2 billion expansion at The Buffalo Trace, the country\u2019s premier distillery dating back to the late 18th century. The Buffalo Trace now crafts some of the world\u2019s most sought-after brands, including Elmer T. Lee, E.H. Taylor and Pappy Van Winkle, which can retail for more than $1,000 a bottle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLike works of art, they are more than likely snapped up by collectors and either kept for themselves or sold at highly inflated prices,\u201d said Thayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The
The Buffalo Trace, the country\u2019s premier distillery, dates back to the late 18th century.<\/figcaption>
Salena Zito<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But while some labels have vaulted into the realm of luxury, the bourbon industry as a whole would never have come about without humble grit and ingenuity. Over the years, it has survived fickle consumer trends, natural disasters like flooding and drought, and government overreach in the form of Prohibition to become a symbol of our nation \u2014 and the pride of Kentucky.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKentucky has two unique signature industries, horses and bourbon. And no offense to other states, but if we don\u2019t protect horses and bourbon in terms of the economic effect of both, we\u2019re West Virginia or Mississippi,\u201d said Thayer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while those are fine places, we have two things that are unique to Kentucky like nowhere else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Salena Zito is the author of \u201cThe Great Revolt: Inside the Populist Coalition Reshaping American Politics<\/a>.\u201d<\/em>\n <\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#How humble grain bourbon rose to embody US exceptionalism” BOURBON COUNTY, Ky. \u2014 About 250 years ago, farmers looking for a way to make their surplus corn crop profitable decided to distill it. Today, that leftover grain has become a billion-dollar industry and a symbol of the Bluegrass State\u2019s identity, economy and culture.\u00a0 \u201cHow bourbon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":290398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/07\/bourbon.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[111060,111076,108503,71467,93345],"class_list":["post-290397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-7-3-21","tag-bourbon","tag-distilleries","tag-kentucky","tag-whiskey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290397\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}