Reigler separates bourbon's rigorous definition from its speculative origin stories, states that no evidence supports the Elijah Craig charred-barrel invention story, and presents multiple competing explanations for the name bourbon.
Locator type: Section
Reader locator: Chapter 1, “Bourbon Basics: Made in America,” discussion of bourbon origins and competing explanations
Pagination: The supplied reflowed edition has no verified printed-page mapping; use the named passage above.
Source section: Bourbon Origins
The guide explicitly distinguishes verifiable standards from inherited origin tales and labels uncertainty.
Corroborates the corpus rule that memorable founder stories must not replace contemporary evidence.
Status: Verified
Verified against the rendered local PDF on 2026-08-27. The record is a concise paraphrase; time-sensitive, attributed, disputed, or technically simplified material retains an explicit qualification.