📘BOURBON 4b: Did Bourbon Whiskey Have Its Roots in Pennsylvania?

Why would an established Pennsylvania distiller leave behind a thriving network of farms, mills, and family connections to start over in Kentucky? As we follow Jacob Spears from the Monongahela River to Bourbon County, an unexpected collection of marriages, land transactions, and family migrations begins to challenge a familiar explanation for how Pennsylvania whiskey makers arrived in Kentucky. Meanwhile, the young United States is struggling to supply its frontier armies. We'll follow the merchants who connected Pennsylvania and Kentucky's agricultural economies, uncover evidence of whiskey production for military contractors, and return to the disastrous battle that opened Chapter 4. Along the way, the relationship between war, commerce, and whiskey becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. This is Chapter 4b of The Lost History of Bourbon, presented as a reading from an early manuscript draft. Unlike regular Whiskey Lore Stories episodes, these chapters are presented without music or sound effects. The manuscript is a work in progress, and some details may change. READ THE TRANSCRIPT: https://www.whiskeylore.org/episodes/bourbon-4a-did-americas-first-army-help-spread-american-whiskey MORE WHISKEY HISTORY: https://www.patreon.com/whiskeylore