Alco-Hall of Fame

Some people never drink a drop.  Some drink only occasionally.  Some others drink often, and there’s a few that drink constantly.  But even fewer live alcohol.  These man below changed alcohol.  The three men Jasper, Adolphus and John changed the way alcohol was made, advertised, transported and ultimately consumed.  Without these men, Mickey, Keith and Andre might not be here today.  But these three men on the right belong here also.  They showed that you could be a true master of your profession and be drunk off your ass most of the time.  All three of these men are Hall of Famer’s in their respected craft and now are being honored once again.  Without any more hesitation, I present to you:

The Inaugural Class of the Alco-Hall of Fame

Jasper Newton Daniel-“Jack” b.1850-d.1911

He learned how to make whiskey from a Lutheran Minister at the age of 10 and, at age 11, ran whiskey to soldiers as far south as Huntsville, AL (From Lynchburg, TN).   At 13, he took over the business from the minister and at 16 was making quite a living distilling whiskey.  Was one of the first in the US to age whiskey and worked tirelessly to improve the taste and character of his whiskey.  Never a stranger to wacky promotions, he advertised his whiskey through crazy promotions, hot air balloons, and even the Jack Daniel’s Original Silver Cornet Band.  All of it paid off in making Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey one of the most recognizable labels in the alcohol world.  The whiskey is a 7 time gold medal winner.

 Adolphus Busch-b.1839-d.1913

He was born into the business as his parents worked in winery and brewery supplies.  At age 17 married into the Anheuser family.  When his father died he inherited some money and used it to start a wholesale brewer’s supply store.  Four years later he bought into Eberhard Anheuser’s brewery.    Sometime in the early 1870’s he started pasteurizing his beer and by the middle 1870’s and early 1880’s he developed a system of artificial refrigeration, refrigerated railcars, and rail side ice houses.  He turned Budweiser (introduced in 1876) into the first national beer (before that beer was a very local thing, not available much more than a couple miles away from the brewery it was made).  Later, he introduced Michelob, America’s first specialty beer, and was an early proponent of bottling beer.  He was also the first in a long line of brewing Busches that includes August Busch IV, who still sits on the board at Bud/InBev.  He basically changed the way beer was sold, bought and consumed.

 John Jameson-“Glorious John Jameson” b.1740-d.1823¹

Although he was born a Scot, he died an Irishman.  He bought the Bow Street Distillery in 1780 and started making his name sake whiskey.  A stickler for the best ingredients, he was known to pay top dollar for the very best and even personally select the barley and casks being used.  He even went one step further in using triple distillation instead of the standard double which was used in Scotland at the time.  Paid his employees top dollar and even drank with the men after work.  He was also known to throw some of Dublin’s best parties at his Bow Street location.  Jameson is now the #1 selling Irish whiskey in the world.

Mickey Mantle- “The Commerce Comet” b.1931-d.1995

Mickey was the most popular player, on the most popular team, playing the most popular sport, in the largest city in the US, and took full advantage of it.  By all accounts he played as hard under the neon lights as he did the stadium lights.  Drinking buddies with Billy Martin, Whitey Ford and many other teammates along with Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.  Got into a massive brawl with teammates (including Martin, Ford and Yogi Berra) sticking up for Sammy Davis at The Copacabana after somebody was yelling racial slurs at Sammy.  He later testified in court, under oath, “I was so drunk I don’t know who threw the first punch.”  Checked into the Betty Ford Clinic after he was told “you’re next drink may be your last.”   He received a liver transplant in June 1995, as his original one was damaged by alcohol induced cirrhosis and hep C.  After the transplant he was quoted as saying “if I knew I was gonna live this long I would have taken better care of myself.”  He died in August later that year.

Keith Moon- “Moon the Loon” b.1935-d.1978

Rock and Roll’s history is full of users and boozers but, Moon stands alone.  Moon, drunk at his 21st birthday party at a Holiday Inn began the celebration by blowing the toilet in his room to pieces with dynamite.  He then allegedly drove a Cadillac into the hotel pool (Moon definitely drove a car into the pool; he says it was a Lincoln Continental though).  Then, On January 4th 1970, Moon was involved in a car-pedestrian death outside the Red Lion pub in England.  While trying to escape hostile patrons from the pub that had begun to attack his Bentley, Moon, drunk, attempted to take control of his car, which in the melee, ran over and killed his friend, driver, and bodyguard Neil Boland.  Moon’s charges were dismissed but still, he did it.  Moon was also in a drinking club with Alice Cooper called “The Hollywood Vampires”.  Friend and fellow drummer Ringo Starr told Moon that if he kept going the way he was he would eventually kill himself. Moon simply replied "Yeah, I know.  Moon finally did kill himself with a lethal dose of booze and pills.

André René Roussimoff- “Andre the Giant” b.1946-1993

I think one thing is certain and un-debate-able, there has never been a bigger drunk then this man.  He was a fan of good beer, whiskey, wine and cognac but when the good stuff wasn’t around the cheap shit would do.  Andre was once rumored to drink 114 beers and then have wine with dinner.  When an anesthesiologist asked him how much hard alcohol it took to get him drunk Andre replied “2 liters of vodka and I start to feel a buzz.”  On top of all that, Andre was always the driver home (and I’m sure no one ever tried taking his keys).

¹ I am upset that I couldn’t find a useable picture of Mr. Jameson for the Hall.  Anytime you search John Jameson and photos you just get back pictures of bottles and Jenna Jameson.  Even on Jameson’s company web site there was not a useable photo.  Oh well, enjoy the photo of the bottle.