The US State That Rivals Kentucky In Bourbon History

Bourbon and Kentucky are forever linked, so much so that many folks believe bourbon can only be produced in that Southern state (which isn't true). Today, Kentucky is the bourbon capital of the U.S., accounting for around 95% of its production. But it wasn't always that way. There are other states, including North Carolina, with deep historic ties to this American spirit. In fact, North Carolina was commercially distilling whiskey before Kentucky even became a state in 1792. North Carolina's first commercial distillery was part of the Moravian religious community in Winston-Salem and began in 1756. North Carolina's Old Nick Williams Distillery, which was resurrected in 2014, got its start in 1768.

Evan Williams, who opened Kentucky's first commercial distillery (and was the namesake of the Heaven Hill Distillery brand of whiskey), began his operation in 1783. Likewise, Buffalo Trace, which can claim to be the oldest continuously operating distillery in the U.S., began in 1787. During the mid-1700s, whiskey distilling was one of North Carolina's major industries. By around 1810, North Carolina had more stills across the state with its whiskey, producing a higher economic value than Kentucky's (although Kentucky produced around 900,000 more gallons than North Carolina that year). But Prohibition, which began in 1909 in North Carolina, destroyed its bourbon industry.

Bourbon's history is filled with legends and mysteries — even the liquor's name has several possible origin stories — but we do know that North Carolina once had a thriving bourbon industry. One city, Statesville, was once known as the "Liquor Capital of the World" with around 450 distilleries shipping their whiskey through the city by the 1880s. But that was soon to change.

Prohibition came early to the state. Beginning in 1903, legislators began restricting production, and by January 1, 1909, a statewide ban on alcohol went into effect — more than a decade earlier than the rest of the nation. Prohibition against distilled spirits lasted much longer in North Carolina than elsewhere. It wasn't until 1979 that the state lifted the ban. The first legal post-Prohibition whiskey distillery, Piedmont Distillers, didn't open until 2005.

Today, the state's bourbon history is coming to light, and the bourbon industry is making a comeback. There are more than 30 whiskey distilleries in North Carolina. Besides Piedmont Distillers, which makes The Clover Straight Bourbon Whiskey, among other spirits, there's the aforementioned Old Nick Williams Co., and the award-winning Weldon Mills in Durham. Then there's Southern Distilling Company, located in Statesville, which is doing its part to teach the world about North Carolina's long-forgotten connection to bourbon.