The Saga of American Whiskey in Label Art

August 5, 2015 — Long before art directors and focus groups, packaging has always been a science, an endeavor to attract buyers and tell a story, even if it was nothing more than a pretty label. In his latest book “The Art of American Whiskey”, spirits and wine writer Noah Rothbaum takes us on a journey from the 1800s to today using 100 whiskey labels to tell the story. Along the way, he dispenses information and comments that anyone with an interest in American whiskey or history will enjoy.

Glass was expensive so retailers used to sell whiskey from the barrel, the customer supplying his own container. Old Forrester saw a marketing opportunity. Doctors used to prescribe whiskey for just about any malady so Old Forrester sold it in a sealed, labeled bottle ensuring the medical profession and its clients knew what they were getting. That was in 1871. When Prohibition came along, a medical prescription was the only legal way to get hold of a bottle of whiskey. The distilleries packaged the bottles in fancy cartons while the bottle’s label had a genuine drug store label and instructions for use such as “mix two ounces of whiskey with hot water”.

According to Noah Rothbaum, older whiskey isn’t necessarily better. While there are many fantastic old whiskeys on the market, in some cases if it’s been aged in the barrel too long, it can end up tasting too woody. It’s OK to buy younger whiskey, under18-20 years, and you don’t have to buy the most expensive. He’s no whiskey snob saying there are very good whiskeys available for around $25.

This pictorial history traces the rise and fall of American whiskey through the 19th and 20th centuries, and its comeback after the bleak last decades of the 20th century when the counterculture rejected the values of parents and grandparents, including their taste for American whiskey. Sales are soaring and craft distilleries are popping up everywhere. It’s happy hour in the distilling business.

“The Art of American Whiskey” published by Ten Speed Press is available from Amazon for $20.00.