Kentucky Whiskey Barons

Empire, Betrayal, and the War on Drink

In the shadow of the rickhouses and under the twin spires of Churchill Downs, two rival Kentucky families build a whiskey empire on blood, barrels, and betrayal. From the late 1800s bourbon boom to the brutal dry years of Prohibition, the Reddings and the Boones fight for dominance against each other—and against the rising tide of temperance crusaders, corrupt sheriffs, and Washington powerbrokers eager to claim their cut. Alliances are forged with ink, broken with knives, and tested every first Saturday in May at the Kentucky Derby, where fortunes change in a single race. Kentucky Whiskey Barons is a sweeping saga of ambition, violence, and legacy—where family loyalty is fragile, the law is for sale, and every debt is paid in blood.