Besides fried chicken and a horse race, Kentucky is also known for its bourbon, particularly Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey. It's a common misconception that for a whiskey to be labeled as bourbon, it must be distilled in Bourbon County, Kentucky. This is not true. While there are legal standards for bourbon, the distillery location is not one of them. Bourbon is distilled in North Carolina and other places. Yet most bourbon is indeed distilled in Kentucky, the whiskey was developed there, and the word itself came from Bourbon County.
Kentucky is known as the home of bourbon for its history in the state, and that history comes from the confluence of the state's geography and climate and the people who settled there. Read up on what makes bourbon, how it differs from regular corn liquor, and why Kentucky was the perfect place to make bourbon what it is today.
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