Carol Peachee is a fine art photographer and cofounder of the Kentucky Women's Photography Network. She has published several books and is the winner of the 2010 Elizabeth Fort Duncan Award in photography from the Hopkinsville Art Guild. Jim Gray is a combat veteran and Retired Special Warfare Combat Craft (SWCC) Master Chief with 22 years' experience in Combatant Craft Operations. He served on both active and reserve duty, including service in the Northern Persian Gulf. Upon retirement, while working with Vantage Systems Incorporated, he sailed high-risk waters as a maritime security specialist, protecting multimillion dollar yachts and crew while at sea and pierside from the threat of pirates.
"Peachee's stunning photos of historic distilleries capture the
rich heritage of our native spirit." -- Kentucky
Monthly
"Beautiful photography of rust, crumble, abandon... this
would make a thoughtful holiday gift, especially if included with a
bottle of something crafted in Kentucky." -- Southern Jewish
Life
"Peachee captures the vibrant and haunting beauty of the
distilleries. The Birth of Bourbon is a tour of Kentucky bourbon
heritage that might have otherwise been lost if not for Peachee's
determination to save it. The results not only document what
remains, but they also showcase the beauty of these sites through a
meditation on impermanence, labor, time, presence, and loss." --
Broadway World
"This beautiful collection of amazing photos is wrapped up in a fascinating coffee-table book. With more than 200 photos, this book will interest bourbon lovers, photographers and artists as well as those who savor history." --
" The Birth of Bourbon: A Photographic Tour of Early
Distilleries [...] is an evocative exploration of bourbon's past.
Peachee, a fine art photographer and cofounder of the Kentucky
Women's Photography Network, has documented what's left of lost
distilleries like Buffalo Springs and Atherton to the current
renewal of the Old Taylor and James E. Pepper facilities. It's a
very handsome book with more than 220 photographs." -- Louisville
Courier-Journal
"[A]ward-winning photographer Carol Peachee takes readers on
an unforgettable tour of lost distilleries as well as facilities
undergoing renewal. The pictures in this book speak more than a
thousand words each. The author takes the idea of a private tour of
a distillery to a whole new level. [She] approaches the subject of
bourbon from a very different perspective and reminds the reader
that the fashion of bourbon is not a new idea but is fragile." --
Distillery Trail
"Bourbon is a worldwide phenomenon, with drinkers as far away as Japan and Australia. But there's also a homegrown market for people interested in bourbon, and The Birth of Bourbon taps into that. Peachee's obvious talent and eye for lighting, contrast, detail, and framing make each picture captivating." -- Andrew McMichael, professor of history at Western Kentucky University
"Carol Peachee has done an excellent job of preserving glimpses
of America's distilling heritage. Many of the old distilleries
depicted in these images are long gone, while others are being
repurposed, but changed. These images preserve the past as the
future changes the distilling industry." -- Michael Veach, author
of Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage
"Like an archaeologist with a camera, Kentucky-based
photographer Carol Peachee has been on a mission to document a
spirited slice of Bluegrass history. [Her] photos do more than
capture industrial artifacts -- they also stand as a testament to
generations of life and livelihood." -- Garden & Gun
"Peachee provides valuable glimpses into the social,
economic, cultural, and historical situation of these distilleries
and their workers. This book serves as a valuable addition to the
history of Kentucky, the bourbon industry, industrial archaeology,
and photography." -- Kentucky Library Association
"The pictures in this book speak more than a thousand words
each. The author takes the idea of a private tour of a distillery
to a whole new level. The Birth of Bourbon approaches the subject
of bourbon from a very different perspective and reminds the reader
that the fashion of bourbon is not a new idea but is fragile. A
must for bourbon history enthusiasts." -- Albert Schmid, author of
The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook
"The story of distilling, like the story of America, starts with the human need to secure a place that can produce enough to feed and shelter a family, the willingness to do hard work, the cleverness to do it efficiently, and the desire to do it well. It is America's story from its beginning to this moment." -- Sarah Tate, founding partner of Tate Hill Jacobs Architects, Lexington, Kentucky
"With plentiful limestone-filtered springwater and an ideal climate, your old Kentucky home was God's gift to whiskey makers, and early settlers put grain to copper still and bourbon soon ran from it. But Prohibition cut the number of distilleries from more than two hundred to sixty-one, stranding scores of warehouses, grain hoppers, barrel rooms, boiler houses, and other grand relics that dot the Bluegrass State even today. The 238 mesmerizing, richly saturated color photos in this abandoned-distillery tour offer Americana at is best." -- Foreword Reviews
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