Before Johnny and Amber, There Was Hiram and Mollie

 

It was a scandal that rocked the bourbon world in 1880, then faded from the headlines and from memory, as the more recent saga already has for many. 

It is a timeless tale: older man, younger woman, a heady mix of alcohol and sex followed by bitterness, recrimination, violence, and, always in the background, money, lots and lots of money. 

The full, sordid tale is here, in the form of my "Back In The Day" column in the Fall issue of Bourbon+ Magazine, available now. I have been on the last page of Bourbon+ with my musings on American whiskey history in every issue published so far, since the beginning. This new one wraps up four years of publication. Good for us! 

It's a little bit of fun with a serious point. The history of American whiskey is worth preserving. I do what I can, but where are the university history departments that could be doing this work in a serious and professional way?

The idea of this free sample of the magazine, naturally, is to induce you to subscribe, which I recommend. Bourbon+ covers American whiskey and everything around it like no one else. It is a beautiful magazine with good writing that goes nicely with a little 'red likker.'