Jack, Jim, and Pappy: The 6 Names Every American Whiskey Drinker Should Know

While there were illicit stills and unregulated distilling outfits, the first recorded distilleries in what is now the United States sprung up in the late 1700s in modern day Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.

While Buffalo Trace has the claim as the oldest, continuously operating distillery in the US, Evan Williams was the first to open a commercial distillery in Kentucky. Whiskey distilling was such a big deal in the late 1700s that even George Washington had stills built at Mount Vernon. Originally installed to make rum, they were later used to make rye whiskey after Washington’s Scottish-born plantation manager James Anderson convinced Washington to grow the crop and use it to make whiskey (rye would go on to become an important part of early American distilling).

These days, bourbon and other types of American whiskey are engrained in American culture just like apple pie, free beverage refills, sales tax, and red Solo cups–from budget-friendly bourbons to splurge-worthy bottles. But there were (and are) a handful of pioneers who have helped bourbon, rye, and other whiskey varieties grow in the country. These are the names you’ll see browsing liquor store shelves, and the ones that you should know a little backstory about.

When it comes to American whiskey names, bourbons are often the most prominent. But Tennessee whiskey, a distinctive whiskey style, has the most well-known name on a global scale: Jack Daniel. Born in the mid-1800s (his birthdate is assumed to be between 1848 and 1850), Daniel is famous for being the founder of arguably the most popular whiskey brand in the world: Jack Daniel’s.

Located in Lynchburg, Tennessee (which happens to be a dry county), the distillery was established in the 1830s but became a registered commercial distillery in 1866. It was also the first distillery to land a spot on the US National Register of Historic Places.

While you undoubtedly know the name Jack Daniel, one that is equally important but lesser known until recently is the name Nearest Green. Often referred to as “Uncle Nearest,” the freed slave was the first African-American master distiller and the man who taught Jack Daniel how to distill Tennessee whiskey using the Lincoln County Process.

While Nearest Green is one of the most important American whiskey pioneers, his name was largely lost until a New York Times story revealed the history and Fawn Weaver launched Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey back in 2017. One of the fastest-growing whiskey brands in the world, Uncle Nearest is finally starting to become a household name.

Jim Beam is a big name in the American whiskey world. But while Jack Daniel started Jack Daniel’s, Jim Beam didn’t start the distillery that bears his name. He simply brought it back after Prohibition, acted as master distiller, and started the process that made Jim Beam the global brand we know today.

You probably know the name “Jim Beam” and assume it’s the name of the man who created the brand. Well, the famed distillery was founded by Jacob Beam, a former farmer who began selling a corn whiskey in Kentucky called Old Jake Beam Sour Mash in the late 1700s. By the late 1800s, the whiskey was being sold across the US as Old Tub. Everything changed in 1943 when James B. Beam restarted the brand after Prohibition and called it Jim Beam.

If you only know one thing about American whiskey, it’s probably the fact that Pappy Van Winkle bottles are highly coveted, hard-to-find, and often uncomfortably expensive. But the man the brand is named for, Julian P. “Pappy” Van Winkle Sr., started his imprint in the American whiskey world when he took a job as a salesman for W.L. Weller in 1893. He worked his way up to distiller and opened the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. He was so beloved and important to American whiskey that there’s a line of whiskeys made in his honor by Buffalo Trace.

In 1972, Pappy Van Winkle’s son Julian Jr. brought back the pre-prohibition brand of Old Rip Van Winkle. In the decades since, it’s become the most sought-after whiskey brand in the US, if not the world. While you can find bottles of its 10-year-old expression for reasonable prices if you know the right people, older bottles are sold for hundreds and thousands of dollars on the secondary market.

We know that the history of bourbon whiskey began in Kentucky at some point in the 1700s. But the actual creator of the style is a bit murky. While possibly anecdotal, some believe that bourbon was first created by a former Baptist minister named Elijah Craig. That’s because, in 1789, he was supposedly the first person to age his corn whiskey in new, charred oak barrels.

Whether or not Elijah Craig invented bourbon whiskey or not, he still has a whiskey brand in his name today. A brand called Commonwealth Distillers received a trademark for Elijah Craig in 1960. Heaven Hill acquired it in 1976 and finally began releasing whiskeys under the Elijah Craig name in 1986. Since then, it’s become one of the distillery’s most beloved, award-winning brands.

No list of the names that shaped American whiskey is close to complete without Jimmy Russell. While all the other people behind those names are long gone, Russell is still the master distiller at Lawrenceburg, Kentucky’s Wild Turkey Distillery, where he’s held that position since the 1960s. He’s known for many whiskey-related innovations at Wild Turkey and created the brand Russell’s Reserve with his son Eddie (who is also a hall-of-fame master distiller).

While its history can be traced back to the 1800s, the Wild Turkey brand was first introduced in the 1940s when Austin Nichols (the non-distiller producer of Wild Turkey) began to bottle bourbon. Over the decades, the brand has won countless awards, gained a cult-like following, and launched myriad expressions including the beloved Wild Turkey 101, Wild Turkey Rare Breed, and the aforementioned Russell’s Reserve line of whiskeys.