This is an interesting history of whiskey from the Neolithic era to modern times, by looking at the containers of the spirit. Robin Robinson is a spirits writer and has received an Icons of Whiskey Award from Whisky Magazine. He also wrote the book The Complete Whiskey Course. This book is a good read full of interesting facts about the history of whiskey.
The History of Whiskey in 100 Bottles, Barrels, and More, Robin Robinson, New York, N.Y., Countryman Press, 2025. Contents, Introduction, Bibliography, Index, Illustrated, Pp. 231.
This book starts by discussing the birth of alcohol in the form of wine and beer held in cucurbita – Latin for gourd in the Neolithic era. It moves to the Iron Age and the invention of wooden barrels. It moves to the Classical era and the beginning of Alembic stills to the Middle Ages and the birth of brandy and gin. The history continues on through the Renaissance to the modern era. Each of these periods discuss the container for the spirit and as we get into more modern times, brand names for the whiskey in the container. As each chapter gets more into the modern times, Robinson discusses individual subjects of the time with a container illustrating the subject. For example, in the Victorian era, Robinson discusses the Whiskey Ring and illustrates it with tax stamps. In the Digital Age, he writes about Four Roses and the five strains of yeast they use, illustrating with photographs of Four Roses Small Batch and the distillery.
The book is well written and a fun read. It is beautifully illustrated with lots of color photographs of bottles and advertisements, with many historical black and white photographs. It is well indexed making subjects easy to find and contains a very good bibliography of sources used. This includes online sources with web addresses.
I am happy to add this book to my spirits library. I am sure that I will make many trips to the shelves to look up an interesting fact from the book.
Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller