Okay, it is time to incorporate some useless whiskey knowledge into the world. Have a little fun stumping your friends with this information.
Jim Beam’s wasn’t always Jim Beam
- This famous bourbon had undergone several name changes before the one we know today. Jim Beam wasn’t the founder, but he was responsible for setting up a fully-functioning distillery only 120 days after the end of prohibition. This feat earned him generational respect, and in 1943 the company’s name was changed from Old Tub to Jim Beam in his honor.
Secret stashes of Wild Turkey
- Wild Turkey uses a very particular strain of yeast in their process. In case anything happens to their main Kentucky distillery’s supply, they are rumored to have secret stashes hidden across the United States.
Fewer calories than a banana
- The average recommended dose of whiskey, two ounces, contains around 64 calories. That means a glass of whiskey has fewer calories than a banana!
The official beverage of Alabama
- While the state of Kentucky is by far the state most associated with whiskey, it doesn’t claim the spirit as its official state beverage. That honor is awarded to the southern state of Alabama.
Whiskey or Whisky?
- Most people have seen both word spellings, but few have considered the difference. Whisky, without the ‘e,’ is used only to describe whisky from Scotland and Canada. Whiskey made anywhere else, from Ireland to Kentucky, is spelled with the ‘e.’
Whiskey or penicillin?
- It’s a well-known fact that many factories in the United States were repurposed to fulfill the needs of the war machine during World War II. An often-forgotten example concerns bourbon distilleries. The distilleries were charged with the task of making penicillin to send overseas.
Barrels bear the majority
- Kentucky, home to around 4.5 million people, has more than three times as many bourbon barrels—approximately 10 million.
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