Thoughts After the Passing of a Whiskey Legend.

Most people think of whiskey legends as having been distillers or distillery owners, but I would argue that America’s “whiskey historians” deserve some of that praise, as well. After all, if it weren’t for the researchers, how would distilling history maintain its relevance?

Brand history has always been important to whiskey consumers…but why? Folks have always been willing to pay up for products “with history”. Good whiskey has always been relatively expensive, so consumers have always needed a reason to pay more for it! Providing an excuse for value has always been the job of salesmen, so whiskey companies have always been eager to employ salesmen and advertisers who were capable of moving product. Separating and categorizing products helped to establish value, so distilling companies often publicized the age of their products and the age of their businesses (“established by” dates) to demonstrate an advantage over competition and enhance the desirability of their products.

Before Prohibition, highly paid whiskey salesmen were prized for their ability to set products apart from the competition. There was so much competition that a salesman’s personality and flair was enough to build a brand. After Prohibition, however, whiskey companies were forced to ask consumers to pay top dollar for whiskeys that had little or nothing to do with the historic brands their salesmen were pushing. New companies needed to build value on the “old” brands they purchased, so they paid advertisers to do research and find value in their “new” products. Making an old brand valuable in a new market forced salesmen to get creative in their advertising. Whiskey salesmen were suddenly peddling either skewed or false history! False advertising was nothing new in the whiskey industry, but the acquisition of brands that had been taking place since the 19-teens was unprecedented and was creating a whole new level of concocted history and half-truths in their brand backstories. In the early 1930s, a company that bought a distillery property which had been idle for decades was advertising that their whiskey had been distilled before Prohibition by a distillery they had no connection to. As the years wore on, the stories became more stretched and far-fetched…but it didn’t matter anymore. Consumers were becoming numb to the falsehoods and wholly embracing the legends and lore.

Appropriation of history is not unique to whiskey, but after Prohibition, the appropriation of history became commonplace. Buying a brand suddenly meant acquiring the 100+ years of hard work that came with establishing that brand. Consumers fell hook line and sinker to the ruse. A desperation on the part of the consumer to buy what they had been missing was an easy sell. It worked, but only until it didn’t. Consumers realized that they had been swindled, and the largest whiskey companies felt the financial backlash of consumer frustration. New marketing ploys were devised to sell the same products using new marketing techniques.

One of the most influential whiskey historians to come out of the 1940s and 50s was Oscar Getz, the man behind the museum in Bardstown. From 1957 into the 1980s, Mr. Getz gave visitors of Barton Distillery (the old Tom Moore Distillery) a tour of his vast whiskey collection, essentially creating whiskey tourism in Kentucky while doing so. His book, “Whiskey: An American Pictorial History”, was released in 1978. It was one of the first books published on the subject of American whiskey history, and while it is full of facts and wonderful information, it also reveals the salesman side of Mr. Getz through its inclusion of whiskey legends and lore. The 1980s introduced the idea of “whiskey researchers” as National Distillers sought to build legitimacy for their “old” whiskey brands. They used some of that history to update their labels with historic intrigue and release ads to boost their sales. When the whiskey boom began in the early 20-teens, whiskey books began to stack up. So much of what was being written was recycled advertising lore. So much of the information out there were stories masquerading as history, but it wasn’t all dishonest! Journalists loved whiskey, too, and several skilled writers began to dig past the fluff to uncover facts. Those were the writers that influenced the next generation of whiskey researchers.

In the early aughts, blogs became a new, more personalized way to expose whiskey history, though it was always difficult to know who was providing trustworthy information. In time, however, a few shining examples of wonderful whiskey historians found their niche in the blogosphere. The internet provided so many historic resources and whiskey-themed databases. It allowed writers to find like-minded individuals through group chats and social media, connecting people around the country that sought to learn more about whiskey. Curiosity opened the door to new perspectives on research. While whiskey research has always been a bit shunned by professional historians, the truth is that the whiskey industry has always been a major part of American history, and many writers were recognizing its importance. No amount of stigma around the topic of alcohol could ever remove the fact that whiskey funded a large portion of America’s government through taxes and enabled early businessmen to invest in establishing the country’s infrastructure. There can be no railroad tycoons or steek magnates without the seed money provided by distilling, milling, brewing, and commodity trading. Ignoring the history of whiskey is ignoring the early history of the United States! While that may seem like a bold claim, there are plenty of modern historians that can see the truth behind the statement. Film makers and podcasters are finding real potential in the history of American whiskey, educationally AND financially. I know I certainly do.

Whiskey doesn’t have to be built on folklore anymore. The facts are far more interesting than any marketing mythology designed to sell brands. We may enjoy the tall tales, but we need reality, too. Whiskey is more than just a product to sell. It’s part of our American culture and is tied to everything from politics to family life. The people we all can thank for keeping distilling history alive are the historians and the journalists that were willing to do the research. Perhaps it’s the lack of importance applied to whiskey history that enables so many amateur whiskey researchers like myself to get involved, as well, but there’s still a vast amount of information just waiting to be revised and/or uncovered. There is plenty of room for fresh insights. Harry Truman once said, “The only thing that’s new in the world is the history you do not know,” and I can’t help but agree with him. I think whiskey historians, especially those that work independently from the whiskey industry, deserve more credit for their work. I know plenty of excellent writers and researchers that have not been given their due by the whiskey industry. One of them passed away last month, and I fear his contributions will fade away without proper recognition.

Jack Sullivan was never one to advocate for himself or to seek out attention, but his blog sites have provided a wealth of information for readers since 2009. His curiosity inspired many aspiring whiskey collectors, geeks, writers, and distillers over the years. Much of his writing is used by distillery company start-ups, though he’s seldomly credited. Jack wrote over a thousand articles, each focused on a different aspect of the spirits industry and the people that built it. As impossible as it was to get everything right, Mr. Sullivan was willing to look at aspects of the industry that no one else was investigating. While most of the whiskey industry was looking down their noses at rectifiers and private bottlers, Mr. Sullivan was focusing on historic examples of the men that built the industry through their rectifying licenses. Today, we see a shift in the spirits industry as more companies are attempting to blend, compound, and flavor their products. Jack’s research will become more relevant and more important as time goes on, though his recent passing in August 2025 has made it impossible to thank him in person. He, like so many other wonderful researchers, provide knowledge and inspiration for the next generation of distillers and businesspeople.

If you’ve never read Jack’s work, I encourage you to visit the following blog sites-

Jack Sullivan’s Obituary can be found here- https://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2025/09/jack-sullivan-obituary.html

Other wonderful blog and whiskey information sites are:
(this list is not comprehensive. These are simply my own preferred sites.)

Keep reading, keep researching, avoid bias, and always remain curious. There’s a lot more to learn!