Here’s an easy one: What are the two largest American whiskey-producing states today?

A quick Google search shows Kentucky and Tennessee in a landslide. But before the Civil War, neither state had the most registered stills. In 1840, it was Virginia, which boasted more than 1,400 stills to Kentucky’s 889.

Back then, every state enjoyed the “likker” produced by the farmer-distiller. Even New Jersey had more than 300 distilleries.

But the Civil War began their demise.