Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:38:46.592Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The Water of Life and Death: A Brief Economic History of Spirits

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2022

Lara Cockx
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, Nazarbayev University, 53 Kabanbay Batyr Avenue, Nur-Sultan city, 010000 Kazakhstan; e-mail: [email protected].
Giulia Meloni*
Affiliation:
LICOS Center for Institutions and Economic Performance & Department of Economics, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Waaistraat 6, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; Centre for European Policy Studies, Place du Congrès 1, 1000 Brussels
Johan Swinnen
Affiliation:
LICOS Center for Institutions and Economic Performance & Department of Economics, University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Waaistraat 6, 3000 Leuven, Belgium; e-mail: [email protected].
*
e-mail: [email protected] (corresponding author).

Abstract

Spirits represent around 50% of global alcohol consumption. This sector is much less studied than other alcoholic beverages such as wine or beer. This paper reviews the economic history of spirits and analyzes recent trends in the spirits markets. The technology to produce spirits is more complex than for wine or beer. Distillation was known in ancient Chinese, Indian, Greek, and Egyptian societies, but it took innovations by the Arabs to distill alcohol. Initially, this alcohol was used for medicinal purposes. Only in the Middle Ages did spirits become a widespread drink. The Industrial Revolution created a large consumer market and reduced the cost of spirits, contributing to excess consumption and alcoholism. Governments have intervened extensively in spirits markets to reduce excessive consumption and to raise taxes. There have been significant changes in spirits consumption and trade over time. Over the past 50 years, the share of spirits in global alcohol consumption increased from around 30% to around 50%. In the past decades, there was strong growth in emerging markets, including in China and India. Recent developments in the spirits industry include premiumization, the growth of craft spirits, and the introduction of terroir for spirits. (JEL Classifications: L51, L66, N40, Q11, Q18)

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Association of Wine Economists

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Our paper benefited from helpful conversations with and suggestions from Julian Alston, Kym Anderson, Liz Ignowski, and participants in the 2018 ICAE Conference in Vancouver, Canada, and the 2019 AARES Conference in Melbourne, Australia. Research on this project was financially supported by the KU Leuven (Methusalem Program) and the Excellence of Science (EOS) Research project of FWO G0G4318N. We thank the editor, Karl Storchmann, and an anonymous referee for very constructive comments.

References

Aaron, P., and Musto, D. (1981). Temperance and Prohibition in America: A historical overview. In Moore, M. H. and Gerstein, D. R. (eds.), Alcohol and Public Policy: Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition, 127181. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland (ABFI) (2017). The Irish spirits report 2017. Dublin: Irish Spirits Association in partnership with Alcohol Beverage Federation of Ireland. Available from https://www.drinksireland.ie/Sectors/DI/DI.nsf/vPagesDI/Publications~irish-spirits-report-2017/$File/Spirits%20Market%202017.pdf (accessed April 5, 2020).Google Scholar
American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) (2018). Annual craft spirits economic briefing. Craft spirits data project. Louisville, KY: American Craft Spirits Association in partnership with Park Street and IWSR. Available from http://dsihiv6ixzmam.cloudfront.net/pdf/2018_Craft%20Spirits%20Data%20Project_092418%20FINAL.pdf (accessed April 1, 2020).Google Scholar
Anderson, K. (2020a). Consumer taxes on alcohol: An international comparison over time. Journal of Wine Economics, 15(1), 4270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, K. (2020b). Evolving from a rum state: Australia's alcohol consumption. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 64, 724749.Google Scholar
Anderson, K., Meloni, G., and Swinnen, J. (2018). Global alcohol markets: Evolving consumption patterns, regulations, and industrial organizations. Annual Review of Resource Economics, 10, 105132.Google Scholar
Anderson, K., and Pinilla, V. (eds.). (2018). Wine Globalization: A New Comparative History. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, K., and Pinilla, V. (2020) [datafile]. Annual Database of Global Wine Markets, 1835 to 2018. Wine Economics Research Centre, University of Adelaide. Available from https://economics.adelaide.edu.au/wine-economics/databases#annual-database-of-global-wine-markets-1835-to-2018 (accessed November 8, 2020).Google Scholar
Asbury, H. (1950). The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition. New York, NY: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Ashenfelter, O., Gergaud, O., Storchmann, K., and Ziemba, B. (eds.). (2018). Handbook of the Economics of Wine, Volume 2: Reputation, Regulation, and Market Organization. Singapore: World Scientific.Google Scholar
Australian Business Review (2014). Hobart distiller Bill Lark leads the charge for Tasmanian whisky. Australian Business Review. October 16, 2014. Available from https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/the-deal-magazine/hobart-distiller-bill-lark-leads-the-charge-fortasmanian-whisky/news-story/bf26bd89de5ad03ca4202713990d2624 (accessed April 1, 2021).Google Scholar
Australian Craft Distillery Directory (2020). Australian craft distillery directory. Available from https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00927 (accessed March 4, 2020).Google Scholar
Australian Government (2017). Excise amendment (refund scheme for alcohol manufacturers) Regulations 2017, https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017L00927.Google Scholar
Barnett, R. (2011). The Book of Gin: A Spirited History from Alchemists' Stills and Colonial Outposts to Gin Palaces, Bathtub Gin, and Artisanal Cocktails. New York, NY: Grove Press.Google Scholar
Beam Suntory (2019). Sipsmith & Beam Suntory join forces to deliver global growth in the super-premium Gin category. Available from https://www.beamsuntory.com/en/news/sipsmith-beam-suntory-join-forces (accessed October 10, 2019).Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, J., Gathmann, C., and Miller, G. (2013). The Gorbachev anti-alcohol campaign and Russia's mortality crisis. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 5(2), 232260.Google ScholarPubMed
Braudel, F. (1981). The Structures of Everyday Life: The Limits of the Possible (volume 1 of Civilization and Capitalism 15th–18th Century), trans. by Reynolds, S.. London: Collins.Google Scholar
Carrington, S. H. H. (1987). The American Revolution and the British West Indies' economy. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 17(4), 823850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colen, L., and Swinnen, J. (2016). Economic growth, globalization and beer consumption. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 67(1), 186207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, W. (2018). And a Bottle of Rum, Revised and Updated: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails. New York, NY: Broadway Books.Google Scholar
Deconinck, K., Poelmans, E., and Swinnen, J. (2016). How beer created Belgium (and the Netherlands): The contribution of beer taxes to war finance during the Dutch Revolt. Business History, 58(2), 694724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deconinck, K., and Swinnen, J. (2011). From vodka to Baltika: A perfect storm in the Russian beer market. In Swinnen, J. F. M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer, 287307. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Deconinck, K., and Swinnen, J. (2015). Peer effects and the rise of beer in Russia. Food Policy, 51, 8396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diageo (2018). Annual report 2018. Available from https://www.diageo.com/PR1346/aws/media/6212/b0000391_diageo_ar-2018_interactive.pdf (accessed September 10, 2020).Google Scholar
Diageo (2019). Our history. Available from https://www.diageo.com/en/our-business/our-history/ (accessed September 10, 2019).Google Scholar
Dillon, P. (2002). The Much-Lamented Death of Madam Geneva: The 18th-Century Gin Craze. Boston, MA: Justin, Charles & Co. Publishers.Google Scholar
Distill Ventures (2019). Who we are. Available from https://www.distillventures.com/about-us (accessed September 1, 2020).Google Scholar
The Economist (2019). Spirit of the pits. Can baijiu, China's sorghum firewater, go global? (February 2). Available from https://www.economist.com/china/2019/02/02/can-baijiu-chinas-sorghum-firewater-go-global (accessed September 10, 2019).Google Scholar
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2020). Whiskey. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (January 6). Available from https://www.britannica.com/topic/whiskey (accessed October 1, 2020).Google Scholar
Enjalbert, H. (1985). Aux origines du Cognac. In Huetz de Lemps, A. and Roudié, Ph. (eds.), Eaux-de-vie et Spiritueux, 1121. Paris: Éditions du CNRS.Google Scholar
Euromonitor (2012). Asia Pacific markets drive Pernod Ricard's growth. Analyst insight from Euromonitor International. Available from https://blog.euromonitor.com/asia-pacific-markets-drive-pernod-ricards-growth/ (accessed October 3, 2020).Google Scholar
Euromonitor (2018a). Spirits in France/ Russia/ in the US – Analysis. Euromonitor International Passport Country Report June 2018. Available from https://www.euromonitor.com/spirits (accessed October 8, 2020).Google Scholar
Euromonitor (2018b). Craft spirits: Distilling the facts behind the buzz. Euromonitor International Strategy Briefing. Available from https://www.euromonitor.com/craft-spirits-distilling-the-facts-behind-the-buzz/report (accessed October 9, 2020).Google Scholar
Euromonitor (2019). Euromonitor International passport: Economies & consumers 2019. Available from https://www.euromonitor.com/consumers-in-2019/report (accessed October 6, 2020).Google Scholar
Fairley, T. (1907). The early history of distillation. Journal of the Institute of Brewing, 13, 559582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faith, N. (1986). Cognac. London: Hamish Hamilton.Google Scholar
Flaubert, G. (1913). Dictionnaire des Idées Reçues. Paris: Conard.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (2020) [datafile]. FAOSTAT detailed trade matrix. Available from http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/TM (accessed March 24, 2020).Google Scholar
Forbes, R. J. (1947). Distillation: The invention of the rectifying column. Transactions of the Newcomen Society, 26(1), 105112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forbes, R. J. (1948). A Short History of the Art of Distillation: From the Beginnings Up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal. Leiden: E. J. Brill.Google Scholar
Forbes, R. J. (1956). Food and drink. In Singer, C., Holmyard, E. J., Hall, A. R. and Williams, T. I. (eds.), A History of Technology, Volume II, The Mediterranean Civilization and the Middle Ages c. 700 BC to c. AD 1500, 103146. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Francis, A. D. (1972). The Wine Trade. The Merchant Adventurers. London: Adam & Charles Black.Google Scholar
French, J. (1651). The Art of Distillation. London: Printed by Richard Cotes. Available from http://www.levity.com/alchemy/jfren_ar.html (accessed April 10, 2019).Google Scholar
Garavaglia, C., and Swinnen, J. (2017). The craft beer revolution: An international perspective. Choices, 32(3), 18.Google Scholar
Gately, I. (2008). Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol. New York, NY: Gotham Books.Google Scholar
Gough, J. B. (1998). Winecraft and chemistry in 18th-century France: Chaptal and the invention of chaptalization. Technology and Culture, 39(1), 74104.Google ScholarPubMed
Gow, H. R., and Swinnen, J. (1998). Up- and downstream restructuring, foreign direct investment, and hold-up problems in agricultural transition. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 25(3), 331350.Google Scholar
Griffenhagen, G. (1987). Medicinal liquor in the United States. Pharmacy in History, 29(1), 2934.Google ScholarPubMed
Grigg, D. (2002). The worlds of tea and coffee: Patterns of consumption. GeoJournal, 57(4), 283294.Google Scholar
Hanson, D. J. (1995). Preventing Alcohol Abuse: Alcohol Culture and Control. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.Google Scholar
Hart, J., and Alston, J. M. (2020). Evolving consumption patterns in the US alcohol market: Disaggregated spatial analysis. Journal of Wine Economics, 15(1), 541.Google Scholar
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) (2020). Excise Notice 39: Spirits production in the UK. Available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-39-spirits-production-in-the-uk/excise-notice-39-spirits-production-in-the-uk (accessed April 3, 2020).Google Scholar
Holmes, A. J., and Anderson, K. (2017) [datafile]. Annual database of national beverage consumption volumes and expenditures, 1950 to 2015. Available from https://www.adelaide.edu.au/wine-econ/databases/alcohol-consumption/ (accessed December 3, 2020).Google Scholar
Hopkins, A. (2015). Tito's bid to oust lawsuit dismissed. The Spirits Business (November 23). Available from https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2015/11/titos-bid-to-oust-lawsuit-dismissed/ (accessed March 28, 2020).Google Scholar
Hu, T-Y. (1950). The Liquor Tax in the United States, 1791–1947. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Huetz de Lemps, A. (1985). Les eaux-de-vie et liqueurs en France vers 1825 d'après Cavoleau. In Huetz de Lemps, A. and Roudié, Ph. (eds.), Eaux-de-vie et spiritueux. Paris: Éditions du CNRS.Google Scholar
Huetz de Lemps, A. (1997). Histoire du Rhum. Paris: Éditions Desjonquéres.Google Scholar
Huetz de Lemps, A., and Roudié, Ph. (eds.). (1985). Eaux-de-vie et Spiritueux, Actes du Colloque de Géographie Historique, Bordeaux-Cognac. Paris: Éditions du CNRS.Google Scholar
Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) (2018). The alcohol industry. The Institute of Alcohol Studies Factsheet Series. Available from https://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/Factsheets/FS%20industry%20012018.pdfGoogle Scholar
International Wine and Spirit Research (IWSR) (2019). World's fastest-growing spirits brands collectively gain 11% volume in 2018. Press Release June 10. Available from https://www.theiwsr.com/wp-content/uploads/Press-Release-IWSR-Top-100-Worlds-Fastest-Growing-Spirits-Brands_10Jun19.pdf (accessed March 4, 2020).Google Scholar
Jones, B. (1963). A Prohibition problem: Liquor as medicine 1920–1933. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, 18(4), 353369.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerr, W. C., Greenfield, T. K., Bond, J., Ye, Y., and Rehm, J. (2004). Age, period and cohort influences on beer, wine and spirits consumption trends in the US national alcohol surveys. Addiction, 99(9), 11111120.Google ScholarPubMed
Kiely, M. (2015). Judge dismisses most Tito's “handmade” lawsuits. The Spirits Business (September 25). Available from https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2015/09/judge-dismisses-majority-of-titos-handmade-lawsuits/ (accessed April 1, 2020).Google Scholar
Kinstlick, M. (2018). The U.S. craft distilling market: 2017 update. (Update of the 2012 white paper.) New Paltz, NY: Coppersea Distilling. Available from http://coppersea.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Craft_Distilling_2017_white_paper_update.pdf (accessed March 2, 2020).Google Scholar
Kockmann, N. (2014). 200 years in innovation of continuous distillation. ChemBioEng Reviews, 1(1), 4049.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lachiver, M. (1988). Vins, Vignes et Vignerons: Histoire des Vignobles Français. Paris: Fayard.Google Scholar
Ludington, C. (2013). The Politics of Wine in Britain: A New Cultural History. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacLean, C. (2003). Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History. London: Cassell.Google Scholar
Makela, K., Room, R., Single, E., Sulkunen, P., and Walsh, B. (eds.). (1981). Alcohol, Society and the State. Volume 1: A Comparative Study of Alcohol Control. Toronto: Addiction Research Foundation.Google Scholar
Manthey, J., Shield, K. D., Rylett, M., Hasan, O. S., Probst, C., and Rehm, J. (2019). Global alcohol exposure between 1990 and 2017 and forecasts until 2030: A modelling study. The Lancet, 393(10190), 24932502.Google ScholarPubMed
McGovern, P. E. (2009). Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine, Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Meloni, G., and Swinnen, J. (2013). The political economy of European wine regulations. Journal of Wine Economics, 8(3), 244284.Google Scholar
Meloni, G., and Swinnen, J. (2014). The rise and fall of the world's largest wine exporter—and its institutional legacy. Journal of Wine Economics, 9(1), 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meloni, G., and Swinnen, J. (2017). Standards, tariffs and trade: The rise and fall of the raisin trade between Greece and France in the late nineteenth century. Journal of World Trade, 51(4), 129.Google Scholar
Meloni, G., and Swinnen, J. (2018). Trade and terroir. The political economy of the world's first Geographical Indications. Food Policy, 81, 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Multhauf, R. (1956). The significance of distillation in renaissance medical chemistry. Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 30(4), 329346.Google ScholarPubMed
National Research Council Panel on Alternative Policies Affecting the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (1981). “Regulating the Supply of Alcoholic Beverages.” In Moore, M. H. and Gerstein, D. R. (eds.), Alcohol and Public Policy: Beyond the Shadow of Prohibition, 6178. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216427/ (accessed 1 April 2021).Google Scholar
Needham, J., Ping-Yu, H., Gwei-Djen, L., and Sivin, N. (1980). Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 4, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nelson, M. (2005). The Barbarian's Beverage: A History of Beer in Ancient Europe. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Nicholls, J. (2009). The Politics of Alcohol: A History of the Drink Question in England. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Nye, J. V. C. (2007). War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689–1900. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Brien, P. K. (1988). The political economy of British taxation, 1660–1815. Economic History Review, 41(1), 132.Google Scholar
Okrent, D. (2010). Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York, NY: Scribner.Google Scholar
Olmsted, L. (2013). A craft distillery worthy of the word “craft.” Forbes (May 10). Available from https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/05/10/a-craft-distillery-worthy-of-the-word-craft/ (accessed April 2, 2020).Google Scholar
O'Shaughnessy, A. J. (2000). An Empire Divided: The American Revolution and the British Caribbean. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Partington, J. R. (1937). A Short History of Chemistry. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Patrick, C. H. (1952). Alcohol, Culture, and Society. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.Google Scholar
Pernod Ricard (2008–2019). Annual Reports. Available from https://www.pernod-ricard.com/en/our-news-and-press/our-publications-and-reports/ (accessed February 14, 2020).Google Scholar
Phillips, R. (2014). Alcohol: A History. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, R. (2016). French Wine: A History. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Pinilla, V., and Ayuda, M. I. (2002). The political economy of the wine trade: Spanish exports and the international market, 1890–1935. European Review of Economic History, 6, 5185.Google Scholar
Plouvier, L. (2008). L'art distillatoire en al-Andalus. In Horizons Maghrébins–Le droit à la mémoire, N°59. Manger au Maghreb - Partie II, 170176.Google Scholar
Poelmans, E., and Swinnen, J. (2011). From monasteries to multinationals (and back): A historical review of the beer economy. Journal of Wine Economics, 6(2), 196216.Google Scholar
Pokhlebkin, W. (1992). A History of Vodka. London: Verso Books.Google Scholar
Room, R. (1991). Cultural changes in drinking and trends in alcohol problems. In Clark, W. B. and Hilton, M. E. (eds.), Alcohol in America: Drinking Practices and Problems. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Rothery, E. J. (1968). Æneas Coffey (1780–1852). Annals of Science, 24(1), 5371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roueché, B. (1963). Alcohol in human culture. In Salvatore, L.P. (ed.), Alcohol and Civilization, 167182. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Smith, A. (1776 [1904]). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. In 5th edition compiled by Cannan, E.. London: Methuen and Co., Ltd. Available from http://www.econlib.or/ibrar/mit/mWN.html (accessed April 1, 2021).Google Scholar
Southern African Craft Distillers Institute (SACDI) (2016). Official press release for the inaugural SACDI conference. Southern African Craft Distillers Institute. Available from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/official-press-release-inaugural-sacdi-conference-hendre-barnard (accessed April 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Spirits Europe (2018). Key data exports. Spirit drinks remain one of the EU's most valuable agri-food. Spirits Europe. Available from https://spirits.eu/policies/external-trade/key-data (accessed April 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Stephenson, T. (2016). The Curious Bartender's Gin Palace. London and New York: Ryland Peters & Small.Google Scholar
Storchmann, K. (2012). Wine economics. Journal of Wine Economics, 7(1), 133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinnen, J. (ed.). (2011). The Economics of Beer. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinnen, J. (2016). Economics and politics of food standards, trade, and development. Agricultural Economics, 47(S1), 719.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinnen, J. (2017). Some dynamic aspects of food standards. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 99(2), 321338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinnen, J. (2018). The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swinnen, J., and Briski, D. (2017). Beeronomics: How Beer Explains the World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Swinnen, J., and Van Herck, K. (2011). How the East was won: The foreign takeover of the Eastern European brewing industry. In Swinnen, J. (ed.), The Economics of Beer, 247266. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tarschys, D. (1993). The success of a failure: Gorbachev's alcohol policy, 1985–88. Europe-Asia Studies, 45(1), 725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, F. (1930). A survey of Greek alchemy. The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 50(1), 109139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, A. T., and Shipman, F. M. (2016). Distilled spirit. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. (February 21). Available from https://www.britannica.com/topic/distilled-spirit (accessed October 8, 2019).Google Scholar
Thorpe, T. E. (1909). History of Chemistry. New York and London: G.P. Putnam's sons.Google Scholar
Unger, R. W. (2004). Beer in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Unger, R. W. (2011). Beer production, profits, and public authorities in the Renaissance. In Swinnen, J. F. M. (ed.), The Economics of Beer, 2950. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Unwin, T. (1991). Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Warner, J., Her, M., Gmel, G., and Rehm, J. (2001). Can legislation prevent debauchery? Mother gin and public health in 18th-century England. American Journal of Public Health, 91(3), 375384.Google Scholar
Watts, D. (1987). The West Indies: Patterns of Development, Culture and Environmental Change since 1492. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wickizer, V. D. (1951). Coffee, Tea and Cocoa: An Economic and Political Analysis. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Williams, I. (2005). Rum: A Social and Sociable History of the Real Spirit of 1776. New York, NY: Nation Books.Google Scholar
Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) (2016–2017). WSTA market overview. Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Available from https://www.wsta.co.uk/guides-and-publications (accessed March 5, 2020).Google Scholar
Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) (2018). Gin boom sparks surge in distillery openings in 2017. Press Release January 14, Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Available from https://www.wsta.co.uk/archives/press-release/gin-boom-sparks-surge-in-distillery-openings-in-2017 (accessed March 8, 2020).Google Scholar
Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) (2020). Britain saw the largest boom in distillery openings on record in 2019. Press Release March 2, Wine and Spirit Trade Association. Available from https://www.wsta.co.uk/archives/press-release/britain-saw-the-largest-boom-in-distillery-openings-on-record-in-2019 (accessed March 10, 2020).Google Scholar
World Health Organisation (WHO) (2018). Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health. Geneva: WHO. Available from https://www.who.int/publications-detail/global-status-report-on-alcohol-and-health-2018 (accessed April 5, 2020).Google Scholar