Bourbon whiskey is strongly associated with the American South and with Kentucky in particular. As of 2014, distillers' wholesale market revenue for bourbon sold within the U.S. was about $2.7 billion, and bourbon made up about two-thirds of the $1.6 billion of U.S. exports of distilled spirits. Distilling was most likely brought to present-day Kentucky in the late 18th century by Scots, Scots-Irish, and other settlers (including English, Irish, Welsh, German, and French) who began to farm the area in earnest. The origin of bourbon as a distinct form of whiskey is not well documented. There are many conflicting legends and claims,
Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey countries until 2010, when Proximo decided to scale down sales to mostly the Colorado area, maintaining the whiskey's availability in its home state. Since 2011, Rob Dietrich has served as Stranahan's head distiller, after taking over from original head distiller Jake Norris. Stranahan's is a straight whiskey, aged in new charred oak barrels, like bourbon, with the final whiskey a blend of 2, 3 and 5 year-old whiskeys. It is distilled from a 100% malt barley base grain, with four barleys sourced from the Colorado area, and water sourced from the Eldorado spring outside Boulder. Stranahan's initially used wash from