Foreword: This is the first of three posts featuring individuals whose activities and decisions indelibly have shaped the liquor industry in America. Not “whiskey men” in the sense generally used on this blog, these three figures were simultaneously agents of change and stabilizing forces in a business historically riven by chicanery and conflict.
John G. Carlisle, a Kentucky senator and later U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, was the individual most responsible for the development and passage of the Bottled-in-Bond Act of 1897. After decades of internecine wrangling over quality, branding, and taxation of whiskey, the act made the Federal Government the watchdog on authenticity, gave distillers a monetary incentive for participating, and helped insure an accurate collection of taxes. The act has stood essentially as first written 123 years ago — strong testimony to its value.
Prior to the passage of the Act, much of the liquor being peddled nationwide under the rubric of straight whiskey was adulterated. Unscrupulous distillers, rectifiers, and dealer were adding other substances to flavor and color their products. Some like water and food coloring were harmless,. Others like iodine, tobacco and paint thinner were harmful, particularly at a time when whiskey was being recommended for childhood ailments. A cry went up across America for authentication of whiskey quality. The result was the first consumer protection legislation in American history.
The requirements were stringent. Participating distillers were required to put their products into federally bonded warehouses for at least four years and bottled it at 100 proof (50% alcohol by volume). They also agreed their whiskey would be the output of one distiller, one distillery and one distilling season. The owners stipulated the labels on their bottles would identify where the whiskey was distilled and where it was bottled if at a different location.
At the same time significant benefits accrued to distillers. They were quick to use Bottled-in-Bond in their advertising as a guarantee, as shown in ads scattered through this post. Many of these featured Uncle Sam as insuring a pure and high-quality product. In truth, the Act set a relatively low bar that did not reflect the skill of the distiller, the purity of the ingredients or the sanitary state of the process.
Perhaps an even more important effect of the Bottled-in-Bond Act for distillers allowed them to delay payment on stored whiskey until warehouse aging was completed. Before the Act whiskey makers were taxed on the amount of liquor put in a barrel before the aging process. This was a cause of anguish because distillers all knew that least 10% of the liquid would have evaporated when the time came for bottling the whiskey. They called the lost portion “the
angel.” Moreover, fires at distillery were an ever present threat to destroy warehouses in which whiskey was being stored When the tax was assessed in advance, the
Feds were not of a mood to give it back. [See my post of March 25, 2019 for incidents].
The new regime also facilitated the collection of liquor taxes, at the time a major source of national government income. Federal agents were assigned to each distillery. They were able to control access to the liquor and prevent whiskey being syphoned off during the aging process. The widespread criminality that was uncovered with the exposure of the “Whiskey Ring” during the Grant Administration was still fresh in everyone’s mind. The new Act meant greatly improved accounting for and collection of liquor taxes.
The Bottle-in-Bond Act could have had no better advocate than John Carlisle. Born in Kentucky, the center of Bourbon whiskey distilling, he knew the state well, serving most of the 1860s as a Democrat in the Kentucky House of Representatives and in the Kentucky State Senate. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1871. At the end of that term he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and was elected to seven terms. Soon recognized for his abilities Carlisle became the leader of a group known as “Bourbon Democrats.” The title had nothing to do with whiskey, referring rather to the conservative wing of the party. He was elected three times as Speaker of the House. A Harpers cartoon of the time shows Carlisle being scolded by Uncle Sam for Congressional inaction.
As Carlisle’s political star rose he became a friend of President Grover Cleveland, who failed to tap him for a cabinet post during his first administration. One night while the two were engaged with others in a poker game, Carlisle bluffed the ex-President into losing a pot. Pretending to be angry, Cleveland warned him never to do that again, but promised if elected President again he would give him a cabinet post. Re-elected, Cleveland made good by making the Kentuckian Secretary of the Treasury.
That was a perfect launching platform for Carlisle to introduce needed reforms into the whiskey industry. In his efforts he was aided by advice from Col. Edmund Haynes Taylor, a prominent Kentucky distiller with strong ties to the Nation’s Capital. [See my post on Col. Taylor, January 10, 1910]. Together they crafted a legislative enactment that not only gained widespread support in its day but has passed the test of a century and a quarter virtually unchanged. Carlisle was honored by having his portrait as the centerpiece of federal revenue stamps.
While Carlisle’s political career was largely a success, his personal life was one filled with grief. He married Mary Jane Goodson in January 1857. By all accounts she proved to be an able and constructive partner. But John and Mary witnessed the deaths of all five of their children. Two, John G. Jr. and Liliborn died in infancy. Three others, George, Logan and Laura, died in their 30s. Mary Carlisle pre-deceased her husband by five years. John Carlisle died at the age of 75 in July 1910 at Covington, Kentucky, the family home. He is interred there with family members at Linden Grove Cemetery, Range V, Lot 54.
Because the whiskey industry and the drinking public are both quite different today, “bottled-in-bond” might seem like an antiquated concept. Yet it continues to have relevance. As one author has put it: “…The proof and age aspects defined by bottle in bond can go a long way, with upstart distilleries popping up in every and corner of the country and many brands choosing to be very tight-lipped about just where their sourced whiskey actually comes from. So maybe bottled in bond still means something; a statement that a brand not only recognizes bourbon distilling as an integral part of American history, but a declaration and adherence to certain standards that are universally recognized as helping to produce decent, if not always excellent, whiskey.”
Note: This post was drawn from a variety of sources. The quote above is by Jonah Flicker, dated September 24, 2015, on www.pastemagazine.com.
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