The History of the American Still with Alan Bishop

Whiskey Lore®: The Interviews

While digging into the history of Kentucky Bourbon, I kept hearing this nagging voice in my head saying - you need to understand stills to tell this story. Yes, I do know modern stills and have seen them used on both sides of the Atlantic. But these big column stills are not what American whisky was originated on. And, in fact, some of those old style stills have all but disappeared, such as the three-chamber still, kettle stills, and saucer stills.

Knowing that Alan has dabbled in all different types of distillation using a variety of stills, I felt it was time we had a discussion about the evolution of stills and how American's have made whisky from the early days.

In this first part of our conversation, we'll focus heavily on the stills and techniques of early distillers. Then next week, we'll see the evolution in distilling and see how we got to where we are today. Enjoy this fun deep dive.