Something we all should know
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() The law. While knocking back a dram of bourbon is a decidedly carefree exercise, making it is exceedingly technical and requires that the whiskey meet a rigid set of criteria. The Federal Standards of Identity for Bourbon stipulate what is and what isn’t bourbon. For a whiskey to call itself bourbon, its mash, the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled, must contain at least 51% corn. (The rest of the mash is usually filled out with malted barley and either rye or wheat.) The mash must be distilled at 160 proof or less, put into the barrel at 125 proof or less, and it must not contain any additives. The distillate must be aged in a new charred oak barrel. (Most often these barrels are white oak, but they can be any variety of oak.) If you distill a whiskey in your kitchen that meets all of these standards, congrats, you’ve made bourbon. Also, you’ve broken the law; the ATF is probably outside your house right now.The main difference between scotch and whisky is geographic, but also ingredients and spellings. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland, while bourbon is whiskey made in the U.S.A, generally Kentucky. Scotch is made mostly from malted barley, while bourbon is distilled from corn. If you’re in England and ask for a whisky, you’ll get Scotch. But in Ireland, you’ll get Irish whiskey (yep, they spell it differently for a little colour).On this side of the pond, we have our own local color, too. The difference between Tennessee Whiskey, like Jack Daniel’s, for example, and Bourbon is that after the spirit is distilled, Tennessee Whiskey is filtered through sugar-maple charcoal. This filtering, known as the Lincoln County Process, is what distinguishes Tennessee Whiskey from your average Bourbon, like Jim Beam. The name, Bourbon, comes from an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky.On top of these types of whiskey, we also have Rye, which can refer either to American rye whiskey, which must be distilled from at least 51 percent rye or Canadian whisky, which may or may not actually include any rye in its production process. Confusing! Right?.... Sorry, been sitting in a lounge pondering this and googled it because I never knew....enen though I've toured a bourbon plant in TN and toured a scotch plant in Scotland. |
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Expert ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I toured the "Jack Daniels" distillery in Tennessee. It was pretty cool. |
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![]() | ![]() Knob Creek is my go to bourbon. Thanks for the explanation. BTW, you failed to mention Australian, Finnish, German, Indian, Japanese, or Welsh whiskey. Edited by Hook'em 2013-02-28 8:04 AM |
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Pro ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I'm a big fan of Van Winkle for my bourbon, and recently started drinking Tulamore Dew for my Irish whiskey. Still exploring the world of Scotch whiskys. My older daughter is also a fan of brown beverages, and joined me at a whiskey tasting last summer. We are thinking about a father-daughter trip to a big whisky tasting in NYC next summer. A co-worker recently told me about Master of Malt, a British site that can ship anywhere. They have some cool sampler products, for putting together whiskey/whisky/bourbon (and gin or rum) tasting parties. And they also have a whiskey advent calender (better than chocolates, if you ask me!).
I also had a small whiskey/whisky/bourbon tasting party for some friends, with a selection of tapas-style dishes afterwards. We ended up trying about 7 or 8 different drinks, mostly drawn from my own collection. It was a really fun time - I highly recommend it as a way for people to learn more about whiskeys overall. |
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Extreme Veteran ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() KateTri1 - 2013-02-28 7:55 AM I toured the "Jack Daniels" distillery in Tennessee. It was pretty cool. I did a few months ago as well. It was an excellent tour. |
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Pro ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Last Saturday I toured a 750 ml bottle of Jack Daniels Tennesee Honey. Yummy good. ![]() Edited by Iowaman 2013-02-28 8:51 AM |
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Man, that's too much mental work for this early in the morning. I think I need a martini. |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Thanks for bringing this up. I am planning a driving tour of Tennessee and North Alabama in March. The main reason is to visit some aging aunts and my cousins who are caring for them. But, I will be passing close to Lynchburg. I shall try to persuade JWKMH to pull off the Interstate for a tour of Jack Daniels. It has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. I don't care much for whiskey or any hard liquor. We drink mostly wine. But, it is a part of the state culture that I want to see and hear about. |
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Queen BTich ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() tech_geezer - 2013-02-28 10:04 AM I don't care much for whiskey or any hard liquor. We drink mostly wine. But, it is a part of the state culture that I want to see and hear about. It'll be great for you! Since it's a dry county, you aren't obliged, or allowed, to drink any samples! I enjoyed the tour. Took it when I first moved to Atlanta. However, was very disappointed I couldn't buy any special single barrel. |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Comet - 2013-02-28 10:11 AM tech_geezer - 2013-02-28 10:04 AM I don't care much for whiskey or any hard liquor. We drink mostly wine. But, it is a part of the state culture that I want to see and hear about. It'll be great for you! Since it's a dry county, you aren't obliged, or allowed, to drink any samples! I enjoyed the tour. Took it when I first moved to Atlanta. However, was very disappointed I couldn't buy any special single barrel. I am well aware of the seeming incongruity of one of the world's most famous distilleries being located in a dry county. But times, they are achangin'. Tennessee is considering changing the law to allow grocery stores to sell wine. There are already liquor stores in La Follette. And I can get a glass of fine chardonnay with dinner about a block from the World Headquarters of the Church of God and the campus of Lee University in Cleveland, TN. Lee is affiliated with the Church of God who have consistently opposed changing liquor laws. If Bradley and Campbell counties can do it, Moore County can't be far behind. |
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I signed up as a Makers’ Mark “Ambassador” 8 years ago and put my name on a barrel (my newborn son’s name, actually). The bourbon from that barrel is ready to be bottled, so a friend of mine who toured the distillery last fall picked up “my” bottles for me. They’re pretty cool—they say “”For Ambassador [jmk-brooklyn]” on the label. I’ve never been to a whiskey distillery, but my wife and I went to a champagne vineyard in France once, and it was pretty amazing to see the thousands and thousands of bottles being stored in limestone caves deep underground. |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() scoobysdad - 2013-02-28 9:04 AM Man, that's too much mental work for this early in the morning. I think I need a martini. since he is talking about whiskey, I would suggest a Manhattan instead. |
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Regular ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Rogillio - 2013-02-28 2:18 AM The main difference between scotch and whisky is geographic, but also ingredients and spellings. Scotch is whisky made in Scotland, while bourbon is whiskey made in the U.S.A, generally Kentucky. Scotch is made mostly from malted barley, while bourbon is distilled from corn. If you’re in England and ask for a whisky, you’ll get Scotch. But in Ireland, you’ll get Irish whiskey (yep, they spell it differently for a little colour). There's another difference between Irish whiskey and Scotch whisky besides the spellings: Most varieties of Irish whiskey are distilled three times and made from unmalted barley. Scotch is distilled twice, and like you said, from malted barley. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Iowaman - 2013-02-28 8:51 AM Last Saturday I toured a 750 ml bottle of Jack Daniels Tennesee Honey. Yummy good. ![]() Shame on you. You should have Templeton Rye and keep the good folks in Iowa producing more!!! :-)
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Expert ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Iowaman - 2013-02-28 9:51 AM Last Saturday I toured a 750 ml bottle of Jack Daniels Tennesee Honey. Yummy good. ![]() Our neighbor across the street came walking over one late afternoon and took a bottle of above said whiskey out of his pocket and told us we needed to try it. I was like.. um.. ok. That's weird. He's got great power tools so we would never want to burn bridges with him.. So my husband and I both took a shot.. It was GREAT! |
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Extreme Veteran![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() scoobysdad - 2013-02-28 10:04 AM Man, that's too much mental work for this early in the morning. I think I need a martini. Was on vacation and the resort had a martini bar. I asked for a dry martini. The bartender asks "Stoli or Absolut?". . . . Edited by bwingate 2013-03-01 7:37 AM |
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Champion ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() bwingate - 2013-03-01 7:36 AM scoobysdad - 2013-02-28 10:04 AM Man, that's too much mental work for this early in the morning. I think I need a martini. Was on vacation and the resort had a martini bar. I asked for a dry martini. The bartender asks "Stoli or Absolut?". . . . I'll bet that got him all ginned up. |
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Master ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() tech_geezer - 2013-02-28 10:28 AM Comet - 2013-02-28 10:11 AM tech_geezer - 2013-02-28 10:04 AM I don't care much for whiskey or any hard liquor. We drink mostly wine. But, it is a part of the state culture that I want to see and hear about. It'll be great for you! Since it's a dry county, you aren't obliged, or allowed, to drink any samples! I enjoyed the tour. Took it when I first moved to Atlanta. However, was very disappointed I couldn't buy any special single barrel. I am well aware of the seeming incongruity of one of the world's most famous distilleries being located in a dry county. But times, they are achangin'. Tennessee is considering changing the law to allow grocery stores to sell wine. There are already liquor stores in La Follette. And I can get a glass of fine chardonnay with dinner about a block from the World Headquarters of the Church of God and the campus of Lee University in Cleveland, TN. Lee is affiliated with the Church of God who have consistently opposed changing liquor laws. If Bradley and Campbell counties can do it, Moore County can't be far behind. Yeah, but you'll pay almost twice as much as you should for it, as Tennessee has some of the highest booze tax in the country. I'm not much on whiskey/scotch/whatever, but I love me some honey Jack. |
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Sensei ![]() | ![]() I have recently been trying to turn into a whiskey snob (along with my coffee, wine, and beer snobbery). Well, maybe not snob, but educated. Taste tested many and decided the bourbon is my whiskey of choice. For my day to day drinking, I actually like Beem or Jack (let's not get into that Tennessy/Kentucky thing) but I like a single batch from Michter's for my special occasion (special occasion is mon-sun after 5 pm)... It's a bit smokey, but good stuff. |
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Master![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I've been a bourbon drinker close to 20 years now. My personal favorite is Blanton's. I fell in love with her about 15 years ago. I've had others since, but I've always gone back to her. My lower cost favorite is Knob Creek. That's the highest quality inexpensive bourbon I've ever tasted. Hard to beat dollar for dollar. |
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Elite ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() Sounds pretty elitist to me... can't we all just get hammered.
P.S.: I hated whiskey pretty much since the day I started drinking... and no it wasn't because of some hard lesson learned.... it's just nasty. Edited by powerman 2013-03-01 4:59 PM |
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() I love me some bourbon... Jim Beam is my go to. I also enjoy Bulleit and Woodford Reserve quite a bit. |
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![]() | ![]() jmk-brooklyn - 2013-02-28 11:02 AM I signed up as a Makers’ Mark “Ambassador” 8 years ago and put my name on a barrel (my newborn son’s name, actually). The bourbon from that barrel is ready to be bottled, so a friend of mine who toured the distillery last fall picked up “my” bottles for me. They’re pretty cool—they say “”For Ambassador [jmk-brooklyn]” on the label. My BF just picked up his father's bottles- he said the tour was great and they allowed him to dip his own bottles. I don't think I can bring myself to drink from the bottle- In Memory of Ambassador [Aysel's FIL]. I will see your Manhattan and raise you a Parisian. |