- [Narrator] Bourbon.
A spirit so American,
you can hear bald eagles in every drop.
Why Kentucky?
Does your granddaddy love bourbon because of Sinatra?
And what does Japan have to do
with bourbon's great comeback?
Let's find out.
This is "A Brief History of Bourbon."
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(bell dinging)
The birth of a legend.
The origin of bourbon is shrouded in myths,
and nobody knows who's the inventor.
But we know one thing;
Kentucky was the perfect place for bourbon to arise.
Limestone waters free of iron.
Changing temperatures bring out the caramelized sugars.
The woods are full of oak trees.
And there are more waterways than anywhere else in the US,
which is great if you're transporting your booze with boats.
When frontiersmen settled down,
they realized it would be easier and cheaper to use
native maize than shipping malt and barley from elsewhere.
When the first drops of corn whiskey came from the still,
bourbon was born.
Nobody made much fuss about it,
as distilling was a daily chore,
but soon things would change.
Steam, science, and sour mash.
Two cool things happened
at the beginning of the 19th century;
Steam turned Louisville into a shipping hub,
and Aeneas Coffey came up with he continuous still.
Quick, cheap, and enormous production, plus fast transport,
meant serious business.
There were two particular people who played
an important role in making bourbon better.
A chemist called Dr. James Crow realized distillation
isn't just putting beer and steam into a still
and hoping whiskey comes out.
He said, "Yeah, science!" and kept track of
alcohol levels, temperature, and ph levels
at each step of the process,
making consistency and quality essential.
Although history books say he also invented sour mash,
it was actually a woman who did that.
Her name was Catherine Spears, and she learned
that if you want your mash to start fermenting,
you have to add some of the used mash.
Its acid activates yeast and deals with microbes
that could mess up whiskey.
So thanks to this Mrs. Spears, your whiskey is non-toxic,
("Toxic") not like the other one.
The ups and downs.
The 20th century was a roller coaster for bourbon.
During prohibition, bootleggers preferred cheap,
unaged corn whisky and bathtub gin.
Or imported scotch and Canadian whiskey,
which recalibrate the American palate.
When FDR ended the dry spell in 1933,
bourbon was almost forgotten,
and old bourbon makers had to fight hard
to make it popular again.
All it took was a global war and new American dominance.
Bourbon followed g.i. Joes to new military bases
around the world, making them its best ambassadors.
Companies also recognized the power of celebrity
when Jim Beam teamed up with Frank Sinatra
and went head to head with scotch on the global market.
The beginning of the 60s saw bourbon become
the number one American spirit,
but another decline was around the corner,
as hippie youngsters refused everything their parents loved.
So they chose wine, beer, vodka, or tequila over bourbon.
It took a few decades for bourbon to recover.
In the 80s, scotch introduced single malts to much applause.
So the American distillers mimicked them
with single barrel bourbon.
The Japan went through an economic boom,
and they couldn't get enough bourbon.
Distillers rejoiced, introduced small-batch expressions,
and the industry evolved into a diverse world
we know and love today.
The golden age of bourbon actually never ended.
In 1999, the state of Kentucky created
the Kentucky Bourbon Trail distillery tour,
and now more than two million people
visit the tour each year.
In 2007, the Senate declared September
as National Bourbon Heritage Month.
Between 2009 and 2014,
Americans increased their bourbon consumption by 40%,
and by 2017, more than 1300 craft distilleries
were established in the country.
From necessity to delicacy in 300 years,
and the bourbon fever is here to stay.
Pour yourself a glass of the all-American spirit
and celebrate with us.
Cheers!
(laser buzzing)