Dead Distillers: A History of the Upstarts and Outlaws Who Made American Spirits

About this book

Founders and award-winning distillers of Kings County Distillery Colin Spoelman and David Haskell follow up their successful Guide to Urban Moonshining with an extensive history of the figures who distilled American spirits. Dead Distillers presents 50 fascinatingand sometimes morbidbiographies from this historic trades bygone days including farmers scientists oligarchs criminals and the occasional US president. Readers may be surprised to find the names George Washington Henry Frick or Andrew Mellon alongside the usual suspects long associated with boozeJasper Jack Daniel Jim Beam and Julian Pappy Van Winkle. From the Whiskey Rebellion to Prohibition to the recent revival of craft spirits the history of whiskey moonshine and other spirits remains an important part of Americana. Featuring historical photos infographics walking-tour maps and noteworthy vintage newspaper clippings Dead Distillers is a rich visual and textual reference to a key piece of American historyand a spirited portrait of the unusual and storied origins of forgotten drunkenness.