American Still Life (eBook)

Cited in April 2002 in the Shuttle Sheet as "the world's greatest wine and spirits (and everything else with an alcoholic content) critic," F. PAUL PACULT is recognized the world over as the most accomplished and respected authority on beverage alcohol today. Pacult's writing credits include the New York Times Magazine, Sky, Wine Enthusiast, Playboy, Whisky Magazine, Decanter, Wine & Spirits magazine, Men's Journal, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit,Con-noisseur, Cheers, and Spirits & Cocktails Magazine. In 2001, Pacult was the recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Academy of Wine Communication.

Foreword vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Part One: The Foundations

1 Jacob Beam and Surviving in a Harsh Land 3

2 David Beam and Pre-Civil War Kentucky 37

3 David M. Beam and the Debris of War 59

Part Two: The Dynasty

4 Jim Beam and the Making of a Bourbon Whiskey Brand 85

5 T. Jeremiah and Carl Beam: Jim Beam Bourbon Steps onto the World Stage 115

6 Booker Noe: Big Man, Small Batch 141

7 Other Beams: Behind Every Good Bourbon Whiskey 169

8 Finding a Crown for the Jewel 189

Appendix A Tasting Notes on Jim Beam Bourbons 209

Appendix B The Jim Beam Bourbon Timeline 221

Bibliography 229

Index 233

How does a sour mash corn whiskey brand go from being a Kentuckyfamily's "adjunct farming activity" to founding a corporation thatships over five million cases worldwide each year? Pacult(Kindred Spirits: The Spirit Journal Guide to the World'sDistilled Spirits and Fortified Wines) extensively researchedthe story of the Beam family, which is just as much a 19th-and20th-century American history. The young country's struggles withslavery, Prohibition and war, its sociopolitical maturation and itsshift from the agricultural to an industrial economy all come intoplay. A prolific spirits writer, Pacult has an expert's grasp onthe topic, which carries the book through its slow periods.Upstanding citizens to a man, the Beams don't always make forscintillating reading - no scoundrels, no scandals - and only JimBeam's grandson Booker Noe, the refreshingly blunt, six-foot-four,360-pound former master distiller, emerges as a character with anycolor. Trying to keep all the Beams straight might make readersfeel like they've just downed a few shots of the bourbon itself.Most interesting is Pacult's examination of American popularculture and its effect on the bourbon business: how bourbon becamedéclassé in the 1970s, the venerable spirit losing out tosexy newcomer vodka (and its inadvertent pitchman, James Bond), andhow scotch whiskey's rising popularity in the 1980s fueled theproduction of bourbon's answer to the single-malt, the small-batchbourbon. The book could use a few more colorful details, however,such as the bit about temperance activist Carry Nation and her axattacks on taverns. (Aug.) (Publishers Weekly, June 16,2003)

"...It's a fascinating glimpse of American political history..."(Drinks International, December 2003)