Whiskey is where it’s at right now. Sales and revenues are up again for the second year in a row, with drinkers both home and abroad pouring the drams. Premium, small batch, and of course craft bourbons and ryes are all enjoying a huge spike in popularity. It’s a renaissance of whiskey drinking that hasn’t been seen for generations, the spirit having potentially reached a zenith in its venerable history.
This high time has bled over into popular culture, and whiskey can be found playing a supporting role in a variety of Netflix offerings. It’s hard to say what Pablo Escobar is drinking in Narcos, but after a long day protecting Absaroka County, Sheriff Walt Longmire likes to relax with a little Wyoming Whiskey Small Batch Bourbon. The authentic, 100% Wyoming product was a natural fit to cast as the lawman’s spirit of choice, according to series author Craig Johnson, and its cameo is a statement not only about whiskey’s soaring popularity but also on America’s growing appreciation of terroir and locality.
For a glimpse at some serious whiskey drinking, however, nothing holds a candle to Hell on Wheels. Not a situation goes by without its hard-living characters sharing a swig or, more likely, a bottle. In fact, whiskey flows so freely through Hell on Wheels that it’s hard to believe the first transcontinental railroad was ever completed, or that the already staggering body count in the wretched tent camp isn’t higher.
Of course there are no craft spirits in Hell on Wheels, but the series does do a fine job of inspiring viewers to pour a couple fingers of their favorite small batch whiskey and thank their forbearers that they don’t have to spend their days at back breaking labor or looking after their top-knot. We can only hope that the current whiskey resurgence motivates even half as much progress.
