Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey

I was introduced to this book by a client from a real estate transaction we had in 2021. I was somewhat new to exploring bourbons, types, brands, costs....... I spent 1 month in Sweden reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is not only about Bourbon, but a history lesson culminating in a simple slogan. "drink the bourbon you like" -- a must-read for newbies, history buffs, and old-timers in the bourbon sphere. A++++

We read this with my boom club since we are avid bourbon enthusiasts. The book is full of micro history lessons!! Through happen stance the author of the book hopped in our book club meeting and was a pleasure to speak with. He is passionate about the topic and knows what he is talking about! Will recommend this to all my friends.

I'm not a big reader, but I'm enjoying this book. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5, is I did not receive the book cover.

Most books on whiskey take one of two forms – the short, tell-nothing type usually found in distillery gift shops or the taster’s guide (Top 100 bourbons!). Happily, Bourbon Empire is neither. In Bourbon Empire, Mitenbuler describes the often unexpected importance of spirits and whiskey, in particular, from America’s founding to the present. In doing so, Mitenbuler gives us detailed snapshots of some of the more colorful individuals in American history – men such as Harvey Wiley, a crazed cyclist and the first FDA commissioner, whose zeal to protect consumers from the pervasive use of adulterants in food dramatically improved the safety of America’s food and drink supply, to Lewis Rosenstiel, a prototypical capitalist whose poor business calculation almost single handedly and certainly unintentionally lead to today's almost obsessive focus on aged whiskey. Of course, Mitenbuler also focuses on the Founding Fathers who disagreed over whether the whiskey industry should consist of small producers or larger, more consolidated businesses – a fight that recently has become more pronounced with the advent of craft whiskey. Along the way, we learn about mobsters shooting their wives, NASCAR and bootlegging, and an American Indian massacre, for good measure.If you have any interest in whiskey or American history, or simply want to prepare yourself with colorful anecdotes at your next party, Bourbon Empire would make a fantastic addition to your nightstand table.

I am not a whiskey drinker, but was at a party the other night and got into a discussion with a friend who happens to drink a lot of whiskey and is quite knowledgeable on the subject. My curiousity was piqued since I knew so little about the topic, decided I wanted to learn more and chose bourbon as the starting point. There were quite a few choices on Amazon, but I opted for this one given the 5 star rating and positive reviews.If you want a eminently readable and thorough history of bourbon, it would be tough to find something better than "Bourbon Empire" by Reid Mitenbuler. The author combines strong tasting knowledge of bourbon to complement the top notch research he did. Mitenbuler traces the origin of whiskey in the US (drink at your own peril) to the growth of the industry after the Civil War through the temperance movement, the consolidation among global spirit companies through the present day "craft" movement. One of the great elements of this book is the lore and legend that accompanies bourbon, much of it carefully cultivated through brilliant marketing. This is great history, storytelling and education about a distinctly American product. Pour yourself a nice glass of whiskey and enjoy this great book.

Mr. Mitenbuler's book deserves a space on the shelves of history lovers as well as bourbon lovers. It does not just repeat the popular history of American whiskey; rather it adds detail, context, and perspective to an important contributor in the development of the American economy. His Acknowledgements section, Bibliography, and parts of several chapters give credit to other authors well-known to the community of American whiskey enthusiasts because they rely on historical research rather than folklore (and advertising copy) to tell the story of Bourbon. I liked Mr. Mitenbuler's somewhat novel approach - he tells the story of bourbon by telling the story of the economic development of the U.S. with a focus on how bourbon, and other American whiskeys, contributed to that growth rather than focusing just on the growth of bourbon. It certainly deserves to be included with the half-dozen or so definitive works on bourbon which is why I bought the hard copy AND the Kindle version. It looks really nice with those other six or so books, each of which is special in its own way. And each of which has been read more than once. Way more.

Bourbon Empire deserves all the praise it's gotten -- and more. The whiskey world has well-informed writers, felicitous writers, enthusiasts and no-BS types, but I doubt anyone anywhere combines so many appealing traits so well.Mitenbuler offers an education in history, chemistry, economics, and marketing, along with human pride and folly, while somehow making it feel like pure entertainment. Along the way, he punctures the mythmaking of bourbon entrepreneurs past and present -- but without the agitated-teenager bitterness that some of the sharpest American whiskey writers fall into. On the contrary: Mitenbuler celebrates the "invention of authenticity" as a part of the American whiskey tradition itself.The book's final quote, from Angus MacDonald of Coppersea Distilling, conveys the wit, humanity, and broad-mindedness you'll find on nearly every page of Bourbon Empire: "If you can come up with a plausible lie, with a set of logical reasons why that would be the truth, you might actually be right. And who's to say whether or not the last person to tell the 'real truth' about how it really was before somebody forgot didn't do the same thing?"

a great story and fun to read, clearly charts the history and lore of bourbon, America's drink