Bourbon

A few favorite facts about my current spirit of choice.

From Bon Appetit...

• In 1789, frontier farmers violently rebelled against their new American government for trying to tax their whiskey (which they used as currency and bank for surplus crops. They also drank it, obvs). George Washington rode at the head of an army out west to quash the rebellion. He succeeded (as he was wont to do), and some of the disgruntled distillers fled further west, to Kentucky, where they'd go on to invent the bourbon we know and love.

• Faced with the choice of hauling barrels of whiskey over the Appalachians to sell east, or rafting the suckers down to New Orleans, Kentuckians wisely chose the river route. Still, though, the trip from the still to the city could take up to 9 months, which let the white whiskey sit for a bit. Sophisticated New Orleanians, with a taste already for French brandy, paid more for the mellower booze, so smart Kentuckians started letting it sit before sending it to market.

• Barrels can only be used once for bourbon. After they've worked their magic, some become furniture or firewood. Others are repurposed for aging soy sauce or--most often--all those Scotch whiskies across the pond.