The phrase preceded its later process definition

Treat as a reported first-known-use claim until the underlying newspaper and advertisement are independently verified.

This passage distinguishes early phrase usage from the later formalized production label.

Hannush reports an 1896 newspaper use of “Lincoln County process” and a 1905 advertising use, both before the phrase had been consistently capitalized or clearly defined as maple-charcoal leaching.

Chapter 5, “Lincoln County Process,” “The Rise of the Process,” paragraphs on the 1896 and 1905 references

Chapter 5, “Lincoln County Process,” “The Rise of the Process,” paragraphs on the 1896 and 1905 references

Visually checked against the user-supplied PDF on 2026-08-24. Crosswalk 2026-09-16 verified in canonical Whiskey Lore file, not The Lost History of Tennessee Whiskey. Internal PDF sheets 92; e-reader progress numbers are not printed pages. Reader locator: Chapter 5, “Lincoln County Process,” “The Rise of the Process,” paragraphs on the 1896 and 1905 references. September30 fresh full374-sheet reading audit: source text checked at physical PDF92–92. Physical sheets and named sections are the reliable locators; no fixed displayed-page offset is asserted. This verifies the source attribution, not all underlying archives.