Living in Kentucky, bourbon is just part of the landscape. We have distilleries, bourbon tours, bourbon festivals, bourbon gifts, bourbon everything. Here in Lawrenceburg, we are surrounded by it. But when I started building the bourbon section at The Kentucky Bookstore, I realized there was a whole other side of Kentucky bourbon that I really hadn’t thought much about before.
The stories.
I knew there were books about bourbon, of course, but I don’t think I realized how many different kinds of bourbon books there were until I started looking for them for the store. I kept finding another one, and then another one, and pretty soon what started as a section of Kentucky bourbon books turned into one of my favorite areas to shop for.
Because bourbon isn’t just something Kentucky makes. There are generations of people, families, distilleries, towns, traditions and some pretty fascinating characters behind it.
You can start with the history
If you really want to understand Kentucky bourbon, history is probably the place to begin. Bourbon didn’t suddenly appear one day with a fancy bottle and a tasting room attached to it. Its history is tangled up with Kentucky history itself.
That’s why I love having books that go beyond explaining what bourbon is and actually tell you how we got here. Kentucky Bourbon: The Essential Guide to the American Spirit by Susan Reigler is a great example. There are also books devoted to individual distilleries and the people who helped shape them, including Buffalo, Barrels & Bourbon, which tells the story of Buffalo Trace Distillery.
Then you have books like Mother of Bourbon, which tell a completely different part of the story. I think those are particularly interesting because they introduce you to people you may never have heard about, even if you’ve been around Kentucky bourbon for years.
That’s the part I enjoy. You start out thinking you’re going to read about whiskey and suddenly you’re reading about Kentucky history.
Some bourbon books are really about the people
The more bourbon books I bring into the store, the more I realize how much of bourbon history is really people history.
There are distillers, families, entrepreneurs, bartenders, writers and generations of people who built the industry into what it is today. Some of the stories are about enormous successes. Others involve Prohibition, businesses disappearing and coming back, family feuds, changing tastes and an industry that certainly hasn’t traveled in a straight line.
Books like Whiskey Stories are interesting to me for exactly that reason. You aren’t simply learning what’s in the bottle. You’re learning the stories behind the labels.
And I think that’s one reason a good bourbon book makes such a nice Kentucky souvenir. You can visit a distillery, take the tour and enjoy the tasting, but later you can sit down with a book and discover everything you didn’t have time to learn while you were there.
Then there are books for exploring Kentucky bourbon country
This is another part of the section that has really grown on me.
Some people coming into The Kentucky Bookstore already know quite a bit about bourbon. Others are visiting Kentucky and trying to figure out where they want to go next. That’s where books such as The Bourbon Journey and Bourbon’s Backroads come in.
I especially like the idea of getting off the main road and seeing more of Kentucky while you’re here. There is a lot to discover between the distilleries. Small towns, downtowns, restaurants, shops, historic places and businesses you probably weren’t expecting to find can end up being some of the best parts of a trip.
Lawrenceburg is a perfect example. We are right in the middle of Kentucky bourbon country, but there is more to do here than drive from one bourbon stop to the next. If you’re looking for things to do in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, come downtown. Walk around, eat somewhere local, visit the shops and, of course, come see us at The Kentucky Bookstore.
You might even leave with the book that helps you decide where you’re going tomorrow.
Maybe you just want to understand what you’re drinking
You don’t have to become a bourbon expert to enjoy learning a little more about it.
That’s why I like having books such as Bourbon 101 alongside the bigger history books. Some readers want to understand the basics. What actually makes bourbon bourbon? Why do barrels matter? What are people talking about when they mention mash bills? Why can two bourbons taste completely different?
And then there are the cocktail books and cookbooks. Bourbon has made its way into drinks, sauces, desserts and all kinds of Kentucky cooking, so naturally those books have found their way into our bourbon section too.
Basically, if you’re the person who would rather read the book than pretend you understood everything the tour guide just said, I’ve got you covered.
And sometimes bourbon stories get a little strange
This is Kentucky. Of course they do.
One of the fun things about owning a Kentucky bookstore is finding books that cross over between subjects. Bourbon can run straight into history, travel, food, crime, folklore and even ghosts.
The Haunting of a Bourbon Town is a pretty good example of what happens when Kentucky bourbon country and local ghost stories decide to occupy the same bookshelf.
Those are the books I love finding because they’re unexpected. They’re also the books people tend to notice while they’re browsing and immediately pick up to see what they’re about.
Building a Kentucky bourbon book collection
I don’t think I’ll ever be finished building this section, and that’s probably what I like most about it. I am always looking for another great book about Kentucky bourbon, another distillery story, another piece of history or something I haven’t seen before.
We do have bourbon-related gifts mixed into the area now too, because it was almost impossible not to. You’ll find bourbon glasses, flasks, Kentucky bourbon gifts and some other fun things tucked among the books. But the books are really what started it all, and they are still the heart of the section.
I want The Kentucky Bookstore to be a place where someone can come looking for a good book about bourbon and actually have choices. Maybe you want the history. Maybe you’re interested in one particular distillery. Maybe you’re planning your trip through Kentucky bourbon country. Maybe you’re buying a gift for somebody who loves bourbon and you have absolutely no idea what bottle they drink.
A book is considerably easier. And nobody has ever complained that their bookshelf was too full.
At least nobody I want to know.
There is more to bourbon than what’s in the glass
I think that’s what I’ve learned from building this part of the bookstore.
Bourbon is one of the things Kentucky is known for all over the world, but the liquid in the bottle is really only one piece of the story. There are people behind it, places behind it and hundreds of years of Kentucky history behind it. Once you start reading those stories, you begin looking at those familiar bottles a little differently.
So if you’re traveling through Kentucky bourbon country, visiting the distilleries around Lawrenceburg, planning a Kentucky bourbon trip or simply looking for a good Kentucky bourbon book, come spend a little time browsing our collection.
The Kentucky Bookstore is an independent bookstore in downtown Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, and we’re building a bourbon book collection for people who want to take home more than a bottle.
Come take home a story, too.
And I’m curious: If you could read the behind-the-scenes story of any Kentucky distillery or bourbon brand, which one would you choose?