http://firstwefeast.com/drink/2016/05/southern-drinking-alternative-history/
I learned a lot from that. I always thought corn liquor or bourbon was king forever in the South. Interesting bit on Southern beer too, Prohibition really did a lot of damage to our Sacred Drinking Heritage.
"our" ? ? ?
Indiana = yankee scum. Hell, you guys only started drinking sweet tea in the last few years. hhh
Along the coastal cities (which really was about all there was of the South in terms of population pre-Civil War) the maritime influence/availability of rum as a commodity makes sense. I'm guessing that areas like the old rice & indigo areas (SC & NC lowlands) that were closely tied to the Caribbean by trade & slavery, rum would have been king.