Why Bourbon?

By Chris Morris • Photo by Gustavo Borges (Pexels.com) 

Why is America’s distinctive spirit called “Bourbon”? We have reviewed what defines the many types of Whiskies crafted around the world and how they are similar and different regarding the regulations they are crafted under. These regulations are called the standards of identity. While most of these standards are technical in nature, such as the required use of oak barrels and grain when crafting a Whiskey, some of the standards include geographic descriptors. What does this mean? 

Let us use Scotch Whiskey as an example. We know there are five different types of Scotch in terms of technical standards. All of them, of course, must be produced in Scotland. That allows them to be called Scotch Whiskey. The same concept applies to Canadian, Japanese, Irish Whiskies, and more. Whiskey must come from the place, or source of origin, it is credited to. That is called a geographic descriptor. But when it comes to American Whiskies things are a bit different. Our standards of identity relate more often to the type of Whiskey rather than where it is from. For example, a Whiskey can be made according to the Rye Whiskey standards, or the Wheat Whiskey standards without having a required geographic place of origin. Geographic descriptors, of course, do exist for America’s Whiskeys. Going back to the previous example, while a Rye Whiskey might have a point of origin identified on its label, it is not required by the standards of identity. 

If that Rye were produced in Kentucky, it could be called a Kentucky Rye Whiskey but if it were produced in Indiana, it could be called an Indiana Rye, etc. However, Rye Whiskey can also be produced in Canada, Germany, France, and many other countries. There are a number of types of American Whiskeys that are defined by grain recipe, barrel usage, and other factors that result in their technical name but do not require a geographic descriptor. So where does the Whiskey type “Bourbon” come from? 

We have previously reviewed in detail the standards of identity for Bourbon. One of them is the requirement that a Bourbon Whiskey must be produced in the United States. That is due to a 1964 Act of Congress that designated Bourbon as “the distinctive spirit of America”. So, consider this point, a Scotch Whiskey must be produced in Scotland. A Canadian Whiskey must be produced in Canada; a Tennessee Whiskey must be produced in Tennessee. Must a Bourbon Whiskey be produced in Bourbon? Where is Bourbon? 

There are seven places in the world named “Bourbon.” Five are cities and two are counties. Five of the seven are found in the U.S. The original town of Bourbon is in France. Barbados has a Bourbon as do Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. 

“Bourbon,” as a place of origin descriptor for Whiskey refers historically to one of the only two counties in the U.S. named “Bourbon,” one in Kentucky and one in Kansas. The original, in Kentucky, was named after the French Royal House of Bourbon to recognize it for the military aid it provided to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. Bourbon County, Kentucky was established in 1785. The county in Kansas was named in 1855 by Kentuckians from the original Bourbon County who had settled there. 

Historians agree that the type of Whiskey we now call Bourbon was “born and bred” in Kentucky. They speculate that the first corn crop and distillation of corn mash occurred in Kentucky in the mid-1770’s. So, it is only appropriate that the name of America’s “Distinctive Spirit,” based on the use of America’s native grain, bear a Kentucky place name. That makes sense. But what we do not know is how or why the name “Bourbon” became its defining name. 

Kentucky’s counties were formed in stages, starting with at first three big ones, Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln in 1780. These encompassed the entire area of Virginia’s Kentucky County. These were divided with the creation of Nelson (1784/85), Bourbon, Mercer, and Madison (1785/86), and Mason and Woodford (1788-89). The distillation of Whiskey was well established in Kentucky prior to the formation of Bourbon County. Why then was the Whiskey from Kentucky called “Bourbon”? There are several theories on the origin of the name or rather the adoption of the name “Bourbon” as the name for the unique Whiskey that originated in Kentucky. No one disputes the fact that “Bourbon” is Kentucky born. So why wasn’t it called “Kentucky” Whiskey? For many years it was but “Bourbon” eventually won out. 

The reason for this will never be known for certain. Was it the fact that an early port for shipping goods, including Whiskey, was located on the Ohio River briefly in the original Bourbon County? Was it because an early market was French culture dominated New Orleans with its Bourbon Quarter? Was it because the portage site at the Falls of the Ohio in Louisville was controlled by a French expat community? All good theories but all speculative. 

As distribution of Kentucky’s Bourbon Whiskey spread across the country in the early and mid-1800’s its popularity grew. But given the primitive modes of transportation of the time, and the basic locality of raw resource supply (grain, barrels) the production of Bourbon Whiskey was established in many different states including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Missouri to name a few. Kentucky had lost ownership of the spirit it had created. In essence it became, as Congress recognized in 1964, America’s Whiskey. 

So no, a Bourbon does not have to be crafted in Kentucky, or Bourbon County. It must be produced in the United States. No other geographic descriptor is required. But we know that the best Bourbon is crafted in Kentucky.