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For over 25 years now, I have had a debate with John Lipman about whether Bourbon or Rye Whiskey was the first aged whiskey. John has put forward that it was Rye whiskey being aged before Bourbon. Here are my arguments for Bourbon.

The first mention of Bourbon is from 1821. Bourbon is aged corn whiskey. The aging is what sets Bourbon apart from corn whiskey. I believe that Bourbon came about because Kentuckians could not sell their corn whiskey in New Orleans for a profit, so they decided to make it taste more like French Brandy, which had been aged in charred barrels since the 15th century. The earliest documentation for the aging in charred barrels that I have found is from 1825 in the Corliss-Respess Papers at the Filson Historical Society. In one letter, a Lexington, Kentucky merchant tells John Corliss that he likes their whiskey, but he has been told that if Corliss charred the barrels “as little as an 1/8 of an inch,” it will greatly improve the flavor. This is a Lexington merchant telling a Bourbon County distiller how to make his whiskey “Bourbon”. Also, in the Filson there is a diary from one of the Tarascon brothers, merchants in Louisville in the early 1810s, and the diary mentions the prices of spirits for sale in New Orleans. He gives the price of French Brandy and “American Brandy” which he states is not real brandy because it is made from corn. These are my arguments for Bourbon being the first aged American whiskey.

Now, let me look at the arguments against Rye whiskey being the first aged whiskey. Rye whiskey had some market in New Orleans, but the majority of their whiskey was made in Pennsylvania and sold in the northeastern part of the United States. Unlike Kentucky, who had to look for western markets because of the difficulty of getting to the eastern markets, Pennsylvania had better access to the eastern markets. They were selling their rye whiskey and did not need to send it to New Orleans to make a profit. Another argument comes from 1853 in Lacour’s Manufacture of Liquors, a book of rectifying recipes for spirits, in which he states in his recipe for Monongahela Rye, that the whiskey is “to be colored to suit fancy. Some customers prefer this whiskey transparent, while others like it just perceptibly tinged with brown; while others, again, want it rather deep, and partaking of red.” This indicates that rye whiskey was not always aged as late as the 1850s. 

Rye whiskey was not always aged whereas Bourbon had to be aged. I have not seen any documentation as to when rye whiskey was first aged but I have seen documentation for the aging of Bourbon. I would be happy to change my opinion if someone came across papers from Pennsylvania or even Maryland, stating that they were aging rye whiskey in charred barrels before 1821. Until then, I will continue to argue that Bourbon is America’s first aged whiskey.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller