Three years ago, I took advantage of my first sabbatical to take my general interest and enjoyment in whiskey to the next level, with some real study. Back in the winter of 2022 I took the online Certificate in Scotch whisky through the Edinburgh whisky academy. I also picked up a number of books to learn more about bourbon and the history of bourbon.
I started with some general introductions and then moved to some historical reviews. Some of my reading included:
- Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey, by Reid Mitenbuler.
- Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition, by Marni Davis.
- Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey, by Fred Minnick.
- Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of how Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch, and Irish Whiskey, by Fred Minnick.
One of the things that caught my attention in a number of these books (and developed in Davis’ book that particularly focuses on the Jewish experience), was the number of Jewish names that kept popping up in these histories. This was especially true in the late 1800s and early 1900s, prior to Prohibition. But post-prohibition too, Jewish individuals and companies were included in some of the largest and most successful distilleries and bourbon companies, and even more so among the distributors who are the bridge between the whiskey producers and liquor stores. The second half of my sabbatical (Dec 2024-March 2025) has provided me with the time to take a deeper dive, with a focus on the pre-prohibition era.
I’ve just become a Certified Bourbon Steward through the self-study course and online exam from the Stave and Thief Society. I also spent some time in January at two archives in Louisville, KY, one at The Temple and the other at the Filson Historical Society. Both afforded me the opportunity to find original materials that filled in the history of some of the bourbon industry figures I was researching and especially their civic and Jewish communal engagement and philanthropy that their business success afforded them. I’m now beginning to shape some of these findings into articles but also seminars that will form a series entitled ‘Jewish American History through a Bourbon Glass.’ These seminars combine an introduction to some of this fascinating history with curated and guided whiskey tastings.
I’ll be leading my first presentations in London next week for an audience that is more familiar with Scotch industry. So, in addition to sharing some of this Jewish American history, our curated tastings will also be introducing folk to key categories of traditional American whiskies – straight bourbon, bottled in bond, wheated bourbon, and rye whiskey, all sourced from Jewish-owned companies.
A few of the books that I’ve added to my library this time around:
- Bourbon: The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey, by Sam Cecil.
- Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, by Daniel Okrent.
- Jewish Louisville: Portrait of a Community, By Carol Ely.
What I have found so engaging about this research is so much more than a history of bourbon and the bourbon industry. The reason my seminar series is entitled ‘Jewish History through a Bourbon Glass’ is that the stories and individual biographies that I’ve uncovered illustrate so much about the Jewish American experience. From the classic immigration stories and journeys from peddler to successful businessmen, to confronting antisemitism, to Jewish-African American relations, to visions of what a progressive American Judaism might look like, to all of the ways that Jews created parallel institutions and pathways at times when they were shut out of other institutions… so much of Jewish American history over the past 150 years is reflected in these tales of Jews involved in the Bourbon industry. I look forward to sharing these stories as I continue to develop the series. Do be in touch if you’d like to learn more and bring me to your community.
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