1911 Beverages de luxe

îimch larger quantifies of whisky hâve been made in distilleries erected on more scientiîic and économie principles than had been previously made. The first whisky made in Kentucky was prodnced exclusive- ly from corn, which was grown right on the farms where thèse small stills had been set np. Later, it was fonnd that the intro- duction of some rye with the corn, in the mash, increased the yield of spirits prodnced and improved the llavor. Still later, it was found that barley, malted, further increased the yield. The fertile county of Bourbon was the largest producer of whisky in Kentucky in those eariy days, and it is said that the first still was erected there. The whisky made in that county became known as "Bourbon Whisky." Later, other counties be- came celebrated for the quantity and character of their produc- tions of whisky, such as Nelson, Anderson, Fayette, Daviess, Marion, etc., and in Kentucky, before the Civil War, the county in which the whisky Avas produced became, as it were, a trade mark for ail the distilleries in such county, so that, among Ken- tuckians, whisky was known by the county in which it was dis- tilled. But, outside of the State of Kentucky, Bourbon County, ^Yhich had been the largest producer of whisky, became the most important source of supply for the deniand for the goods from without the borders of the State, and, consequently, Kentucky whisky was linked with the name of that county. Bourbon, therefore, became a generic name, as known outside of the State, to ail whisky made in the whole State of Kentucky of which the largest percentage of grain, from which it was made, consisted of corn. Kentucky, having succeeded so weli in establishing a legiti- mate commerce with Bourbon whisky, the distillers began to manufacture other whisky with a larger percentage of rye, and sometimes with a total of rye, known as "Bye Whisky," so that for more than a quart er of a century ail whisky made in Ken- tucky has been known as either Bourbon or Bye whisky. As indicative of the improvements made in the scientific distillation of whisky, I will cite the fact that the jieid per bushel of grain of about two gallons and a quart of whisky has about doubled within the last haif century. In nry own expérience in the busi- ness, now past fôrty years, I remeraber buying a crop of old- fashioned sour mash whisky, the yieid of which was only two and one-fourth gallons per bushel. Such a small yield as this now would entail on the producer the pay nient of the Govern- ment tax of $1.10 per gallon on the deficiency for his failure to obtain as much spirits from each bushel of grain as the Govern- ment, after surveying the distiller}, holds should be the mini- mum amount produced in the plant.