Boozy Book Reviews: American Whiskey by Richard Thomas
A new book offers a snapshot of the modern American whiskey landscape
All photos by Maggie Kimberl
Richard Thomas, owner and Managing Editor of The Whiskey Reviewer, has just released a book simply called American Whiskey, which boasts information on over 300 whiskeys and 110 different distilleries. It’s not a history of the industry, but rather a snapshot of what the industry looks like today, making it a great way for whiskey enthusiasts to learn more about the American distilling landscape both inside and outside the powerhouse regions of Kentucky and Tennessee.
While Thomas’ book gives a brief overview of the major points in American whiskey history—also addressing some popular myths that have been used as marketing tools—he advises readers to look elsewhere for more detailed accounts of the history. The real focus of the book is whiskey as it is today.
Readers can learn about the definition and process of making whiskey from grain to glass, as well as the different categories and labeling qualifications that fall within American whiskey—including bourbon, rye, corn whiskey, other grain whiskeys, single malts and blends. After these introductions to the basics, the bulk of this book is dedicated to exploring distilleries by region in the United States, with sections for the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West. Not every distillery is included in this book—according to Thomas there were 1527 distilleries in the U.S. as of 2018, and 570 of them were making whiskey. Rather, this book mostly highlights the ones that have been around long enough to have an aged product on the market, as well as include major players in the industry.
With 570+ whiskey-producing distilleries in the United States, even just figuring out which ones to include in the book had to be difficult enough. So what did the author have to say about the most difficult part of the process?
“Although I had been paying attention to American small distillers since about 2008, when I took stock of my tasting notes I still found I had to put in some more work if I wanted to cover a broader geographical area,” Thomas reports. “I wrote the book over five months, and during the last three I evaluated over seventy new whiskeys just for the book.” That’s a lot of whiskey! “By summer 2020, I was happy to drink just beer for a while,” he says.
Thomas is a Kentuckian by birth but has spent time as an expat, giving him broader exposure to world whiskies. Still, there are bound to be surprises when going from focusing on major distilleries to delving deeper into the tiny craft distilleries that dot the American landscape these days. One of the biggest was mash process, which is explained in the book.
“I was actually rather surprised by how few small distillers use the sour mash method,” Thomas says. “I knew sweet mash was more prevalent in the craft sector, but the scale wasn't something that occurred to me until I started looking at it systematically. The technology used today has advanced far enough that it's just more economical to go with sweet mash production when one is working on a smaller scale. I hadn't added the numbers on that up until I had organized data on it.”
Just 25 of the 110 distilleries in this book are in Kentucky, which makes this a rich resource for anyone who wants to gain a better understanding of the distilling trends outside of the major whiskey-producing hubs.
“There aren't too many books that address whiskey-making as a national thing, and when they do it’s with a sidelong glance,” says Thomas. “So, I hope the book gives them a better idea of what is getting made in their own region... and maybe to provoke a few spirited debates about who is America's number three whiskey state, after Kentucky and Tennessee.”
In terms of volume my guess would be Indiana (cough - MGP - cough) but certainly there are other yardsticks by which to consider such an analysis.
My one gripe about this book is that there were some missed opportunities to highlight women in the industry. Lisa Wicker of Widow Jane and Elizabeth McCall of Woodford Reservel both get nods, which is awesome, but Becky Harris of Catoctin Creek and Andrea Wilson of Michter’s would also make great spotlights.
American Whiskey is on sale now for $25.