In the late 19th and earlier part of the 20th century, American brandy was a booming industry. The period of Prohibition and its subsequent repeal would be its Achilles heel, however, as it got lost to the popularity of cheaper to produce whiskey and vodka and French brandies like cognacs. Mention brandy to the average drinker today, and you might get a confused stare or elicit a vision of aristocrats retiring to a drawing room with a snifter and a cigar. "We are a nation that drinks brandy; we just don\'t talk about it," says Joe Heron, founder of Copper & Kings American Brandy in Louisville, Ky. But all that may be changing as the growth of craft distilling inspires new interest in America\'s reportedly first distilled spirit and it finds its way back into cocktail culture. (Chicago Tribune)

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