Bourbon in Washington, Oh My!

 

Kash Patel's personalized
bottle of Woodford Reserve.

The Atlantic isn’t letting up on Kash Patel. Today, Sarah Fitzpatrick, the reporter responsible for the magazine's April 17th exposé, dropped a new story headlined, “Kash Patel’s Personalized Bourbon Stash.” It seems the FBI Director is using personalized 750ml bottles of Woodford Reserve as a gift for folks he wants to impress, a sort of 90° proof calling card.

This is only a story because it’s Kash Patel, a relentless self-promotor who likes to spell it “KA$H,” including on his personalized bottles. A spokesperson for Brown-Forman confirmed that “consumers who purchase Woodford Reserve occasionally have images and messages engraved on the bottle,” adding the disclaimer that, “these engravings occur after the point of purchase.”

An FBI spokesperson confirmed what Patel is doing. “The bottles in question are part of a tradition in the FBI that started well over a decade ago, long before Director Patel arrived. Senior Bureau officials have long exchanged commemorative items in formal gift settings consistent with ethics rules. Director Patel has followed all applicable ethical guidelines and pays for any personal gift himself.”

He did not say if those previous commemorative items contained whiskey.

The FBI, of course, was a product of Prohibition enforcement but, overall, the pearl clutching about this revelation is laughable. Although it’s not the way it used to be in Washington, alcohol has fueled politics since both were invented. Back when legislators remained in the capital for the entire legislative session and landlines were the only way to communicate “back home,” socializing with colleagues, lobbyists, and others from the government and its periphery was a way of life. Alcohol, mostly whiskey, was part of it. This certainly extended to gift-giving.

What was true in Washington was just as true in state capitals.

One bourbon brand still sold today was created by a politician as a gift for, as in Patel’s case, anyone he wanted to impress. His name was Charles Farnsley. He was a politician who served in the Kentucky House of Representatives (1936-1940), as mayor of Louisville (1948-1953), and in the U. S. House of Representatives (1965-66).

The Farnsleys were old Louisville money. Charles was the nephew of Alex Farnsley, an investor who backed “Pappy” Van Winkle and Arthur Stitzel in the formation of Stitzel-Weller during Prohibition. Between his stint in the state legislature and his election as mayor, Charles Farnsley was a lobbyist for local bourbon makers, including Uncle Alex’s Stitzel-Weller.

A statue of Mayor Farnsey on Main Street in Louisville

In 1936, while a member of the Kentucky House, Charles created a bourbon brand called Rebel Yell, a unabashed tribute to the Confederacy. Stitzel-Weller made it for him. Initially, he just gave bottles out as gifts, which he continued to do in his capacity as an industry lobbyist. The whiskey became so popular that Stitzel-Weller began to distribute it commercially, first locally, then throughout the South. 

Charles Farnsley was a contradiction. Although he pined for the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy, as mayor he desegregated Louisville’s libraries and public swimming pools. In Congress he enthusiastically supported the 1965 Voting Rights Act and other Great Society legislation.

Rebel Yell was briefly discontinued a couple times but has mostly been sold ever since. Over the years everything associated with the Confederacy has been removed, including half of the name. Today it’s just “Rebel,” an MGP/Luxco product. It never was a big brand and still isn’t. 

Suntory’s Booker’s Bourbon started in much the same way, as a gift that salespeople for what was then Jim Beam Brands gave to customers and other friends of the company. For many years Brown-Forman had a gift brand they called President’s Choice used for the same purpose. Virtually every liquor company has done something similar, and most have personalization options for consumers.