Series Info/Source: I got this as a free Audible Originals audiobook through Audible. This is a stand alone audiobook.

Audiobook Quality (3/5): The narration was okay. There are some parts where the narrator/author stutters or mis-speaks which does give this more of a live lecture feel, versus a professional audiobook.

Story (4/5): This was a decent listen. It's broken into a series of lectures, starting with a general history of alcohol and then proceeding to bourbon and following bourbon through history. It was informative and interesting if you are interested in history, especially the history of alcohol.

Writing Style (3/5): The pace of the audiobook is pretty fast and a lot of information is thrown at you quickly. I thought the way the information was organized was fairly well done and easy to follow. It is done in a lecture type of style which worked fine for this.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was a good overview both of the history of liquor and, more specifically, bourbon. It starts with a more general history and then progresses to the history of bourbon. Information is thrown at you quickly but it was well organized and moved at a good pace. The narration didn’t sound very professional, more like a live lecture type of style, but it was okay. I would recommend it if you are interested in this topic. ( )

As the graphic and description indicate, this is part of the "Great Courses" and "In this 10-lecture journey through the story of an undeniably American libation" and "listeners will: Hear the stories behind the earliest bourbon whiskies right up to the current "bourbon bubble"".

So just as the history of America includes the history of England and Europe, so the history of bourbon includes history of whisky and spirits. So pay short attention to the people who neither read the description nor looked at the graphic.

This is an excellent listen that tells the story of bourbon in America, its development, its brands, its styles, and its futures. ( )

Bourbon is a type of American whiskey, distilled from a mash made primarily of corn
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (Dec. 2019)

My lede is the main take-away from this 10-lecture course. I was generally ignorant about bourbon whiskey otherwise and based on hearing the most popular brand names in this Great Courses overview I also now realize that I have never even drunk it. Off the top of my head, I would have said that Jack Daniel's was a bourbon, only to discover when I looked it up that it brands itself as Tennessee whiskey. So that displays my lack of information on the subject.

I still enjoyed this overview of the American Bourbon industry and history which covered whisky from around the world as well. There was quite a lot of information about historical naming and branding of which a lot seems to be based on apocryphal or completely invented history in order to add a layer of ancestry and gravitas to the marketing. Even the whole concept of modern day "branding" is based on the historical burning of an identifying proprietary mark with a heated brand into the wooden barrels used in whiskey storage and aging.

There was an unnecessary swipe at vodka drinkers which seemed a bit hypocritical and snobbish to me:

Really, no one drank vodka straight unless they wanted to get hammered..

Ok, buddy, whatever you want to think about other drinkers in order to make yourself feel better.

History of Bourbon was originally released in December 2019 and was also one of the ten free Audible Original audiobooks for members in the month of June 2020. It is available to everyone for a standard price. ( )

Good overview of the history of bourbon. Easy to listen to — some of the lectures reminded me of the various alcohol tastings I've participated in where you get a brief overview of how the alcohol is made before tasting it. ( )