American Still Life by F Paul Pacult
The untold story of the world's premier bourbon and the family that made it #1 American Still Life tells the intertwined true stories of America's favorite whiskey and the family dynasty that produces it to this very day. Jim Beam is the world's top-selling bourbon whiskey, with sales of over five million cases per year.
How does a sour mash corn whiskey brand go from being a Kentucky family's "adjunct farming activity" to founding a corporation that ships over five million cases worldwide each year? Pacult (Kindred Spirits: The Spirit Journal Guide to the World's Distilled Spirits and Fortified Wines) extensively researched the story of the Beam family, which is just as much a 19th-and 20th-century American historyThe young country's struggles with slavery, Prohibition and war, its sociopolitical maturation and its shift from the agricultural to an industrial economy all come into play. A prolific spirits writer, Pacult has an expert's grasp on the topic, which carries the book through its slow periods. Upstanding citizens to a man, the Beams don't always make for scintillating reading - no scoundrels, no scandals - and only Jim Beam's grandson Booker Noe, the refreshingly blunt, six-foot-four, 360-pound former master distiller, emerges as a character with any color. Trying to keep all the Beams straight might make readers feel like they've just downed a few shots of the bourbon itself. Most interesting is Pacult's examination of American popular culture and its effect on the bourbon business: how bourbon became déclassé in the 1970s, the venerable spirit losing out to sexy newcomer vodka (and its inadvertent pitchman, James Bond), and how scotch whiskey's rising popularity in the 1980s fueled the production of bourbon's answer to the single-malt, the small-batch bourbon. The book could use a few more colorful details, however, such as the bit about temperance activist Carry Nation and her ax attacks on taverns. (Aug.) (Publishers Weekly, June 16, 2003)
"...It's a fascinating glimpse of American political history..." (Drinks International, December 2003)
Cited in April 2002 in the Shuttle Sheet as “the world’s greatest wine and spirits (and everything else with an alcoholic content) critic,” F. PAUL PACULT is recognized the world over as the most accomplished and respected authority on beverage alcohol today. Pacult’s writing credits include the New York Times Magazine, Sky, Wine Enthusiast, Playboy, Whisky Magazine, Decanter, Wine & Spirits magazine, Men’s Journal, Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, Con-noisseur, Cheers, and Spirits & Cocktails Magazine. In 2001, Pacult was the recipient of the Award of Excellence from the Academy of Wine Communication.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780471444077 |
| ISBN 10 | 0471444073 |
| Title | American Still Life |
| Author | F Paul Pacult |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | John Wiley & Sons Inc |
| Year published | 2003-09-05 |
| Number of pages | 256 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |