The May 29th meeting of the Virtual Whisky Tasting group savored that iconic spirit – Bourbon American Whiskey. Also known as Kentucky Straight Bourbon, it actually originated further North in Maryland and Pennsylvania, but high taxes drove the farmers producing their whisky to Kentucky and that’s where they began to use corn as the key ingredient.
About Bourbon
Bourbon has to have 51% corn, and it traditionally uses charred white-oak casks. There is no minimum age statement unless it’s Straight Bourbon or Bottle-in-Bond Bourbon.
Bourbon can be dry and spicy, but it can also be nutty and smooth – it all depends upon what makes up the mash bill – the mix of grains used to produce the Bourbon. Rye adds spice, wheat adds smoothness.
There are some major players in the world of Bourbon – Jim Beam, Wild Turkey and Maker’s Mark, to name a few. There has also been a spike in small batch and boutique Bourbons over the last few years.
One thing to remember – Jack Daniels is not a Bourbon – it’s a Tennessee Whiskey. There’s a long and somewhat complicated reason for that, so we probably won’t be bringing along a bottle of Old No. 7 for the tasting.
