Route this question to the early-distillation chronology evidence audit; retain the attribution and seek the supporting chapter and McCusker original before changing a date.
Verified as the writer's argument only. Not independently verified historical chronology; quotations attributed to McCusker have not been checked against his original.
The first-person writer contrasts John McCusker's account of a seventeenth-century commercial transformation with an asserted Italian commercial-spirit industry before 1450. The introduction points to early chapters for supporting discussion; those chapters are absent from this file.
7
5
Introduction
Checked against the supplied PDF browser display (French Rum) or publisher HTML (Hopfer) on 2026-09-06. Verified means faithful representation of the source, not independent confirmation of the source's claim. Preservation holds remain on Source.
No access / Whiskey Excerpts Database (USWA)
Verified means this note faithfully represents the material reviewed. It does not mean the author's historical or causal claims have been independently established.
Evidence
The first-person writer contrasts John McCusker's account of a seventeenth-century commercial transformation with an asserted Italian commercial-spirit industry before 1450. The introduction points to early chapters for supporting discussion; those chapters are absent from this file.
Evidence type: Source Claim. This is not a verbatim quotation.
Location and context
Source: No access.
Supplied PDF pages 5–7; Introduction.
Verified as the writer's argument only. Not independently verified historical chronology; quotations attributed to McCusker have not been checked against his original.
Annotation
Route this question to the early-distillation chronology evidence audit; retain the attribution and seek the supporting chapter and McCusker original before changing a date.
Literature Note: 
Citation: