Sometimes I let my mind wander about a subject and today, I pondered the subject of whiskey legends. I have always said that in distilling history, there are two types of history – the verified facts and marketing legends. I thought I would look at some of the legends today.

The marketing legends are useful in that there can be a grain of truth in the history. Let’s start with the origin legend that Elijah Craig invented Bourbon. He was an early distiller and a Baptist minister. This is verified truth. However, I have not found any contemporary source to support that he invented Bourbon. The story comes from the 1870s when prohibitionists were attacking the distilling industry and the industry liked the idea that a Baptist minister created Bourbon. My argument against this legend is that it would not have taken thirty years for Bourbon to be advertised in a newspaper. The earliest mention of Bourbon in a newspaper is 1826.

The next legend is that Evan Williams was the first registered distiller. Williams was an early distiller in Louisville and the legend comes because Reuben T. Durrett, one of the founders of the Filson Historical Society, wanted the first of many things to be a Kentuckian. The fact is that the first registered distiller came from the Whiskey Rebellion, the law that created the requirement of registering distillers, and most likely the first distillery was probably somewhere in the east where the law was more easily enforced.

The Whiskey Rebellion brings us to the next legend. The legend is that the rebellion is what brought distillers to Kentucky. The fact is that Kentucky had plenty of distillers in the State before the rebellion. These distillers were also part of the rebellion. Why would a distiller pack up everything in Pennsylvania and move to Kentucky? During the time of the Whiskey Rebellion the Federal Marshals had just as much jurisdiction in Kentucky as they did in Pennsylvania. Those that had to flee the law fled to Spanish territory such as New Orleans.

The last legend I will look at is that Old Forester was the first bottled Bourbon. There were bottled Bourbons before 1870 when Old Forester was created. The earliest bottle I have seen referenced is from Bennigers Grocery store in New York City. Old Crow had a contest in the 1960s where they were hoping it would be an Old Crow bottle. It was not. The fact is that Old Forester is the first Bourbon sold only by the bottle.

There is nothing wrong with these legends in that they help distilleries sell whiskey. I always take these stories with a grain of salt and as long as the verified facts are out there, and people understand facts aren’t necessarily legend, I don’t see a problem with a few tall tales.