Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey Kindle Edition

The majority of the book is quite dry with lots of numbers and facts, long-winded arguments about who invented bourbon, and the various intricacies of prohibition. The last half of the book is quite a bit more interesting, however, and I would still recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn a bit more about the history of bourbon. Also wasn't a fan of the side stories that broke up the chapters and interrupted the flow of the book.

I am a bourbon enthusiast, and I enjoy reading Fred Minnick's reviews on Whisky Advocate. This book, however, suffers from a few serious issues:1. The first part of the book attempts to reveal the individual who first created bourbon. The longer Minnick presents his various cases, the more I felt the topic was irrelevant. Rather than focus on a potential who, it would've been far more interesting had he focused on the hows and whys of the nascent industry.2. The majority of the rest of the book shows a lot of solid research. It is packed with facts and other historical data, but does little to personalize a personality-heavy industry. More background on ours Lee Brown, a giant in the industry, would have been colorful. Pappy Van Winkle's story also makes for great reading, but was sorely lacking.3. The last part of the book, which Chronicles Bourbons fall and rebirth, is the best part of the book. Gone are the dry numbers and constant discussions of various tax schemes, and the reader can enjoy find it tales about scrappy brands and larger than life master distillers. It's a shame more of the book was not written in this vein.

Fred Minnick has compiled in one volume an erudite approach to the history of bourbon. Impeccably researched, he is not afraid to blaze new trails of discovery in things like "who is the father of Bourbon". The book is dense, rich, and demands to be read and reread. It is a must for anyone interested in getting the advanced course in bourbon whiskey and the people who have shaped it into what it is today. I recommend the hard cover book as it is beautifully put together. Something gets lost in translation to the kindle version. Its not as pretty to look at. Keep up the great work Fred!

This read turned out to be more academic than I anticipated, though not deeply so. The first half is a little scattered and less coherent, the second half got more focused and linear, could almost have written the second half first then gone back in history. So if you are having trouble getting into it, jump forward and see what happens. Not saying that recent times are more interesting than older times, early 20th century was most interesting, just easier to sink into the whole topic.

In Bourbon the author connects the political history of America to bourbon, discussing the recent failed "Bourbon Summit" with Obama and McConnell and outlining why Thomas Jefferson's Whiskey Tax Repeal was not a popular move. Bourbon is every bit of an American history book as it is a bourbon history book. There are no tasting notes, but the photography, illustrations, and sidebars break up the narrative into an easy-to-read book. You can as easily flip through it and read the captions and sidebars to get the gist of the book. It's extremely interesting. I pre-ordered the hardcover and was offered the Kindle edition for a few dollars more. For a couple of extra bucks you get both (bonus to have on hand for the beach and one for the coffee table).

This book was well researched and written, overall I thought it enjoyable of a little too similar to texts books in some regards. I think a slightly less academic presentation would have made it more readable.Also I don't care for the mini reads that take up 2-3 pages in the middle of a chapter, put that stuff out of the way so they don't break into the flow of the reading.I enjoyed it and have already recommended it to friends.

Great Book! I read it pretty quickly and enjoyed the different sections. The historical part wasn't too long and will suffice for most, if you want a deep dive you can get another book. I actually got two other book on bourbon. I liked the tasting section also and how to train your nose and taste buds. It helps you to understand how some descriptions come to be. If you want a first book on this American Wiskey I think this is the one.

Great little book about the history of bourbon and its place in American culture. I'm a huge fan of whiskies from all around the world, and it's great to understand a bit more about one of our own American contributions. Not that American whiskey is limited to bourbon, of course, but it clearly leads the pack. Grab the book and check it out yourself.

My wife and myself are big bourbon fans dating back from our honeymoon in the states. I bought this book as a Christmas gift and am very happy with it indeed. Quick dispatch and delivery and a really asthetically pleasing book as well as informative and fun for something we both love to learn about as well as enjoy!

very good intro to bourbon for the novice, which I was (arguably still am)

Bourbon, the native spirit of the United States, so wird Bourbon im amerikanischen Sprachgebrauch auch beschrieben. Bourbon kommt stets aus Kentucky, alles andere ist kein Bourbon.Geboren aus der Not die Zutaten zu bekommen fing man so um 1750 an Destillat aus Mais und Gerste herzustellen. Zutaten für Rum waren über die Apalachinan Mountains nur mühsam zu transportieren. Dann kam die Möglichkeit auf das Destillat in Fässer abzufüllen. Bourbon war auf dem Weg. Bis zur Prohibition ging dann auch alles gut, dann kam das Sterben der Destillen. Mit dem Ende kamen einige Destillen wieder aus der Asche, eine davon war Buffalo Trace und Jim Beam (Jakob Böhm). Dann rann der Bourbon in eine Krise, alles war alt "Old Daddy", "Old ....".Dann kam es zu einem bemerkenswerten Comeback. Dieses Buch erzählt sehr unterhaltsam die Geschichte des native spirits. Sehr lesenswert.

!!! PARFAIT – VIVEMENT RECOMMANDE !!!

Excellent :)