669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky?

Podcast: Freakonomics Radio (LS 83 · TOP 0.01% what is this?)
Episode: 669. Why Is 95 Percent of the World’s Bourbon Made in Kentucky?
Pub date: 2026-04-03

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Is it tradition … or protectionism? And what happens when the bourbon boom turns into a glut?

 

SOURCES:


Andrew Muhammad, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee.
Brad Patrick, executive in residence and lecturer at the University of Kentucky Gatton College of Business and Economics, bourbon fellow at the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits.
Danny Kahn, master distiller and distillation and aging operations director at Sazerac.
Ken Troske, labor economist and chair of the economics department at the University of Kentucky.

 

RESOURCES:


"America's Bourbon Boom Is Over. Now the Hangover Is Here," by Aaron Tilley and Sadie Gurman (The Wall Street Journal, 2024).
Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey, by Reid Mitenbuler (2015).
"Code of Federal Regulations: Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits," (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations).

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