Kentucky Bourbon and Tennesee Whiskey in Appalachia
Synthesis-
Most people know that all bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon. The two are most commonly known as Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey throughout most of the eastern part of the United States. There are other types of whiskey, such as Canadian whiskey or rye whiskey. However, my research contains more information on Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey because of their relationship to Appalachia. Whiskey has had impacts on Appalachia since the 1700s and continues into today. Everyone knows about the coal industry in Appalachia but not many people know about the whiskey industry that takes place as well (Caleb). As far as economic impacts, whiskey has made its home as one of the main sources of income for a lot of people. In the 1700s people used whiskey as currency and in the 1800s during the agrarian flush, many people had over loads of grain, so they made whiskey and sold it or traded it (Ramsey). Not only was it a market in the nineteenth century, but it was socially something that everyone did. In the nineteenth century, the average American drank 9.5 gallons of whiskey a year. This is way more than the average American in present day. Due to the prohibition all of the legalized markets were taken out, but illegal markets with moonshine were created (Gillespie). People still wanted their whiskey, therefore making it illegal and making money off of it was a big business. Even though the whiskey market has changed multiple times, the people in Appalachia have not changed their want for whiskey. As people wanted to move to the region in the nineteenth century to make the whiskey, tourism for distilleries and breweries in the region has become popular in modern day (Robertiello).
I chose to research this topic because it was something that I did not know that much about. I figured that a lot of people would research the topic of moonshine, so I decided to research the legalized form of moonshine which is whiskey. I chose to look further into Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee whiskey because they were localized in Appalachia and I did not know the difference between the two. Thus, my topic question became “ What is the difference between Kentucky Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey and how have they impacted Appalachia socially and economically?” My research lead me to multiple resources that explained the difference and explained how they really effected Appalachia and early America economically and socially. My research lead me to discover really how much importance whiskey has on American history and Appalachian history. If I could have researched something else to extend this research, I would have researched how whiskey affected America as a whole from its beginning all the way to present day.
Website-
https://tgregg19.wixsite.com/bourbonandwhiskey
Works Cited-
GILLESPIE, JESSICA L. “The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.” The
Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, vol. 110, no. 2, 2012, pp. 204–206.
JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23387727.
Kosar, Kevin. Whiskey: A Global History. Reaktion Books, Limited. PRoQuest Ebook Central. October 15, 2010.
Ramsey, Sarah. Building a Whiskey-based Economy in the Land of Coal.100 Day in Appalachia. November 30, 2017. https://www.100daysinappalachia.com/2017/11/30/building-a-whiskey-based-economy
Robertiello, Jack. Bourbon Isn’t Having All The Fun. StateWays. September 1, 2015.
Watson, Caleb. Straight Up: Tennessee Whiskey. Vimeo. 2015
