Here at Chasing Neat, we aspire to help people learn more about this “distinctive product of the United States” through many different ways: field trips to distilleries, tastings, interviews, and videos. But occasionally we set down our Glencairn glasses and pick up a good book to pass the time and fill ourselves with something that isn’t a delicious brown liquid. With the overwhelming boom in bourbon’s popularity these past two decades, there is no shortage of good books to choose from but if you were to ask us – and that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? – then these are the places we’d start if you want to begin filling up your bookshelves along with your bar.
Bourbon Curious: A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker
by Fred Minnick
Full disclaimer on this one: this is the book yours truly began his bourbon education with, so there is a bit of a bias towards this book, but having said that, I honestly cannot think of a better book to start your journey off with than this one. Why? Well, for one thing, it has perhaps the best opening line to any book on the subject: “Please treat yourself. Pick up a bottle of bourbon, twist the cork off, and smell those sweet and succulent vanilla and caramel aromas.” Talk about knowing your audience!
Secondly, the way Minnick debunks bourbon myths, provides distillery production methods, and creates an easy-to-read interactive tasting journey that helps you select bourbons based on flavor preferences and bourbon styles is absolutely mind-blowing if you’re entirely new to this world.
You want the history behind the biggest names? Got ‘em.
You want recipes? Got those too.
You want tasting profiles and notes on just about every bourbon you’re likely to come across? Yup, got those as well.
As a novice bourbon enthusiast, this is where to start.
Also, the second edition of this book is a small hardback thing that looks great sitting on a shelf or propped up beside some bottles.
Bourbon: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American Whiskey
by Fred Minnick
While we are talking about Fred Minnik I may as well toss out another of his books on his and our favorite subject. But while Bourbon Curious reads like a primer on the how of drinking bourbon, this is more the why behind it all.
With this book, Minnick traces bourbon’s entire history, from the 1700s with Irish, Scottish, and French settlers setting up stills and making distilled spirits in the New World through today’s booming resurgence. He also discusses the role this drink has played throughout the history of the United States – Congress doesn’t pass laws for just any spirits after all – and also peppers in tons of illustrations and photos that you’re not likely to see outside of a museum or distillery archive. And most importantly, Minnick explores the mystery of who most likely created the sweet corn liquor we now know as bourbon.
I’ll let you read it yourself to see who the likely innovators are.
The Bourbon Bible
by Eric Zandona
This book, which again looks absolutely amazing in its hardback version, reads half like a tasting guide and half like a cookbook. With over 140 of the finest bourbons in the world profiled in the book – with pictures! – it is a great way to zero in on those bottles that suit your tasting profile. Zandona also is kind enough to pass along some recommendations for the best way to drink each one as well. Such a helpful guy!
So whether you’re a purist and drink your bourbon neat, or you like to mix it up (literally) from time to time, this book will definitely be of help to you, especially if you’re trying to build your collection around a specific flavor profile.
I should also give a shout-out to Zadona’s other book on the subject: The Atlas of Bourbon & America Whiskey which includes a great selection of maps and regional information on American bourbon, rye, single malt, and more.
Dead Distillers
by David Haskell and Colin Spoelman
We’ll take a dip back into the historical side of bourbon literature with this book, which sees the two founders and distillers of Kings County Distillery, Colin Spoelman and David Haskell, dive into an extensive history of the figures who distilled American spirits. The book reads like a collection of 50 biographies, ranging from short and sweet to long and occasionally morbid. Farmers, scientists, oligarchs, criminals, and the occasional US president all pop up in this book, with more than a few surprising tidbits you definitely didn’t learn in school.
What I think I enjoyed most about this book was the supplemental information it had – how many books can you name that have walking tour maps for graveyards included in them?
That is how the book is laid out, by the way, it focuses on several different graveyards throughout the United States that these distillers and bootleggers are buried in. And maybe it is just the season – as I type this Halloween has only just passed – but a tour through those graveyards with a good drink in hand sounds like a cool idea…
Bourbon’s Backroads
by Karl Raitz
From one book with maps to another! With a state so intertwined with distilling as Kentucky, it makes sense that you’d use maps to tell the story of how they have shaped the state, and how the state has shaped them. Blending several topics that at first glance have nothing to do with distilling – tax revenue, railroads, geography, and architecture – this book and geographical guide presents a detailed history of the development of Kentucky’s distilling industry from its time as a frontier state to the powerhouse we know it as today.
As the title suggests, the “backroads” tell the story of those days when distilling was done off the beaten path, which if you’ve ever been on a modern distillery tour will make you marvel at how far we’ve come.
But Always Fine Bourbon
by Sally Van Winkle Campbell
I generally try to steer clear of the Pappy Van Winkle hype – it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not good enough to warrant the price you see it sold for – or maybe my pallet is just not refined enough, who knows? But this book gives a ton of insight into those days when Pappy was running things at the Stitzel-Weller distillery, and more information on the Van Winkle family as a whole. Not surprising given who the author is.
Coming in at just over 200 pages, it makes for quick reading too. I think it took me about three nights to get through. And because it reads like more of a family history than a true history book, it is remarkably easy to read. So if you have any interest in what went into the creation of the most famous and sought-after bourbon on the planet, this is the book for you.
Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey
by Reid Mitenbuler
Reid Mitenbuler’s 2016 book takes a different approach to anything else on this list, namely, it isn’t about the history or the people that made bourbon what it is, but rather takes a look at the companies and brands that have shaped the industry over its history. Now don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of history in this book – Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Evan Williams, and more all make appearances and Mitenbuler explores many of the myths that surround each of these men and the companies that bear their name, but make no mistake, the focus here is squarely on the business side of things – both the good and the bad.
The fun part is that given how the book is now going on eight years old, many of the thoughts Mitenbuler has on the direction of the industry can be actually seen today. The final chapter of the book, Another Second Act, shines a light on the – at the time of his writing – “upstart” craft distilleries getting into the bourbon game and what is considered “authentic” American whiskey.
Sound familiar?
Pappyland: A Story of Family, Fine Bourbon, and the Things That Last
by Wright Thompson
Remember when I said I try to stay away from the Pappy hype? Yeah, this is where that statement falls completely apart, and all because of the man behind the book itself: Wright Thompson. The man is a menace. I’ve yet to read anything he’s written and not enjoy it. His article for ESPN about the Masters golf tournament and fatherhood is a must-read in my opinion. So when he announced that he’d be writing a book about bourbon, I was all over it.
Then the topic was announced: Pappy Van Winkle.
Ugh. Why did it have to be that overpriced and overhyped bourbon?
But when it came out I, like I always do when he writes something, picked it up. And I hated him for how much he made me care about this stupid bourbon, or rather, the people who poured their blood sweat, and tears into preserving it.
It focuses on Julian Van Winkle and his quest to preserve and protect the drink that bears his father’s name, and also perhaps the greatest mission statement I have ever seen in my life: “We make fine bourbon—at a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.”
You’ll enjoy this book, and if you have any taste (haha) any of Thompson’s other works as well.
So there you go, my list of books that I would recommend if you want to know more about this silly little drink we all love a little too much. What did I get wrong and what glaring omission did I leave out entirely?
Let us know!
