Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze [Paperback]

A.J. Baime (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

A.J. Baime, a former Senior Editor for Maxim, offers a crash course on the men behind our favorite labels, including: Jim Beam - Jack Daniels - Jose Cuervo - Johnnie Walker - Baileys - Smirnoff - Bacardi - Baron von Rothschild - Captain Morgan - Dom Perignon - Beefeater - Hennessy - Mike's Hard Lemonade

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Liquor brims with history, and Baime pours it neatly into this fittingly flask-sized handbook for barflies. Written in the irreverent tone of Maxim magazine, in which the former senior editor published early musings on the topic, this raucous manual reads like an ode to a lad's drinking buddies: Johnnie Walker, Seagram, Smirnoff and the swashbuckling, hollow-legged pirate, Captain Morgan (who never produced a drop, but drank himself to death). The stories scan the globe and cover four centuries-from Prohibition-era Kentucky to 17th-century Jamaica to the dairy farms of Ireland-introducing readers to the families and marketing wizards behind the world's best-selling labels. Despite its slim size, this compilation packs a wealth of trivia in intermittent tables and sidebars, such as "Tequila vs. Mezcal" (there are many differences in the distilling processes, but the latter is unregulated and sometimes has a worm in it), or "Rum Deconstructed" (which breaks down the various distillations of rums according to their fire power and flavor). Baime also recounts liquor-influenced history, like the "gin craze" that transformed 18th-century London "neighborhoods into ghettos, mothers into whores, and children and fathers into sloths and murders" or the CIA and a Bacardi CEO's collusion to "take out" Fidel Castro in the 1960s. Infused with Baime's own bleary-eyed accounts and flavored with favorite drink recipes, this spirited "guy's guide" will make a great stocking stuffer or groomsman gift. "If nothing else, you'll be the most enlightened person in the bar. And that's worth drinking to."
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Marketing liberated labels from dreary factuality long ago, and it's not surprising that some distillers have been loose with the truth. According to Baime, Jack Daniel learned the art of whiskey making--once billed as a family secret--from a slave named Nearest Green. And though Captain Morgan drank himself to death, he never distilled a drop of rum. What a relief to learn that there was a real Jose Cuervo who made tequila! In fact, there were lots of them. Some of Baime's stories bespeak global ironies. There were Smirnov brothers who made vodka in Moscow, but the modern brand Smirnoff was popularized in America by an Englishman, and then successfully exported to Russia. And Hennessy cognac was founded in France by an Irishman of English descent. Baime was an editor at Maxim, and it shows. While his material is inherently interesting (e.g., he makes a case for gin as the first urban drug), his lad-mag prose is so high-octane, it overflies the runway. Still, definitely, sometimes soberingly, of interest to serious drinkers. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 045120980X
• ISBN-13: 978-0451209801
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,173,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A. J. BAIME is an executive editor at Playboy, where he oversees the automotive and features sections. As a journalist he has written for numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Spin, Popular Science, Maxim, and the Village Voice.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Gift!, November 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze (Paperback)

I picked this book up as a stocking stuffer for my dad... and I ended up reading the whole thing myself! Very funny, very informative and a perfect gift for those who like a bit history, humor and especially spirits... I mean who doesn't??

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clever Little Book, August 2, 2004

By 

James R. Corrigan (Harrisburg, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze (Paperback)

Take equal parts history, humor, and mixology. Shake well and pour liberally into a slim paperback. The result is "Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze" by magazine editor A.J. Baime. More than just another bartending book, "Big Shots" details the lives of colorful characters such as Jim Beam, Jack Daniel, and Johnnie Walker, whose 19th-century exploits laid the foundations for today's corporate behemoths.
According to research by Adams Beverage Group, Americans consumed 153 million cases of distilled spirits in 2002. Yet few know the history behind their favorite drinks. Despite barroom legend, the Martini evolved from an 1880s concoction invented in Martinez, California. The French monk Dom Perignon didn't discover bubbly wine, he just made it popular. True tequila never has a worm.
Baime reveals the liquor industry's dirty little secrets (Smirnoff brand vodka is actually as American as apple pie) and answers some practical drinking questions (Just what the heck is vermouth anyway?). He also offers little-known nuggets of knowledge, some of which are surprising (Jack Daniel began making whiskey at the tender age of nine), others less so (Captain Morgan was a murderer and a rapist who drank himself to death). The book's snappy narrative has an irreverent, lighthearted tone that betrays Baime's editorial background with magazines such as "Maxim" and "Playboy."
The impact of Prohibition on the liquor industry is a recurring theme, and stories of moonshiners and rumrunners abound. When the Eighteenth Amendment was finally repealed in 1933, American distillers had to play catch up with their Canadian and European counterparts, who for a decade had quietly grown rich encouraging the smuggling of their products. A British gin maker even used packaging designed to float, so if a few cases "accidentally" fell overboard near the American coastline, they could be easily recovered by thirsty Yanks. Baime explains that thanks in part to this little trick, Tanqueray is still the bestselling gin in the U.S. today.
"Big Shots" is not a comprehensive bartender's guide. Drink ingredients are listed as a sidebar only when relevant to the main text. Differences in related liquors, such as Irish whiskey versus Scotch whiskey, are clarified for the social drinker. The author also gives a crash course on cryptic liquor terminology, such as the strange markings found on cognac bottles.
Even teetotalers will appreciate this clever little book. After all, where else can you find corporate history sharing the page with a recipe for Irish Coffee?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What really goes on..., November 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze (Paperback)

It seems there are really colorful characters behind the beginning of those liquors brands which sit on everybodies shelf.
Nice to know what people are really like versus the image put forth by PR.