Bourbon: American whiskey from Kentucky

Bourbon is an American whiskey made primarily from corn with the addition of a small amount of other cereals: rye, wheat, barley. The classic recipe also includes Kentucky water, which is low in iron and high in limestone. To obtain a reference sweetish-caramel flavor, you need to age the drink in new oak barrels, charred from the inside, for at least several months, or even years.

It is important to understand that the Americans did not make any “industrial revolution” in this area. Mankind has been able to distill grain into whiskey for a long time, the procedure for firing oak barrels from the inside is also known. Bourbon is a compilation of old methods in a new combination, that’s all. At one time, this drink became a good alternative to expensive French cognac, which the people of Louisiana missed so much.

Historical information

It is not known for certain how the first settlers discovered that decent alcohol could be made from corn, but maize turned out to be the most affordable and cheapest raw material, and already in 1783 Evan Williams produced the first industrial serving of bourbon.

The name “bourbon” comes from the surname of the French aristocrats, after whom the county in Kentucky was named. According to another version, the drink got its name because it was especially popular on Bourbon Street in New Orleans.

The modern recipe for corn whiskey has been known since 1789, and the first advertisement that has survived to this day dates back to 1821. We owe the improvement of technology to the Protestant priest, Reverend Elijah Craig, who came up with the idea of ​​aging bourbon drink not in ordinary barrels, but burned from the inside. They say that the holy father had substandard oak containers at his disposal, which the Baptist felt sorry to throw away, and he decided to take a chance.

Jacob Spears was the first to write “Bourbon whiskey” on the labels of his distillate, and we can assume that in the late XNUMXth and early XNUMXth centuries this name was officially fixed and began to be considered “true American”.

James Crow also contributed to the development of “bourbon brewing” – perhaps it was he who invented the sour mash method, in which a little cake from the old is added to a new portion of raw materials. This creates an ideal pH balance for the yeast, transfers the yeast, and makes the fermentation process faster and better.

In 1964, the US Congress passed a provision that only corn whiskey produced in the United States of America can be considered bourbon. Now it is officially the national American spirit, and in 2014 bourbon made up 2/3 of all alcohol exported by America.

The drink can be produced anywhere in the United States, there are no restrictions on this, but traditionally the southern states remain the most active in terms of bourbon production, in particular the “homeland” of corn whiskey – Kentucky.

Features of the production of bourbon

In the US, there are clearly defined requirements that a drink must meet in order to be called bourbon. In Europe, Canada and other countries, the regulations are different, but we are interested in the American rules. So, real bourbon is alcohol that:

• manufactured in the USA;
• contains a minimum of 51% corn;
• aged in new charred oak barrels;
• after distillation contains no more than 80% alcohol;
• bottled at a strength of at least 40%.

Interestingly, Tennessee whiskey, for example, Jack Daniel’s, meets all these requirements, but in the production of this drink one additional step is used – filtering the distillate through sugar maple coal before aging in barrels, so Jack Daniels is included in the category of bourbon, although on the labels and branded as Tennessee Whiskey.

Unlike scotch, bourbon does not go through the malting stage of the main ingredient – corn. Raw materials for distillation (51% corn kernels, rye, wheat) are crushed and boiled, then saccharified (the starch in the grains is broken down into sugar) with barley malt, cooled, yeast taken from the previous batch is added to the mixture, and they wait until the wort is fermented (ferments ), then distilled twice in alambika.

The resulting distillate is called White Dog, it is placed in new oak barrels, burned from the inside (these containers are then used to age other alcohol) and aged from several months to 9 years. The result is a soft, sweet, strong copper-colored drink with a caramel-floral flavor and a long aftertaste.

There are no requirements for the duration of exposure, three months of “aging” is already enough, however, if the bourbon is stored in barrels for less than 2 years, this must be indicated on the label.

Types of American Whiskey

There are several main varieties of bourbon:

• Straight bourbon – produced without impurities, dyes, fragrances and additives, the aging period must be at least 2 years.
• Corn whiskey – corn whiskey – 80% corn, the cheapest type of bourbon, often used for blending (mixing).
• Blended whiskey – can be made with the use of additives and flavors, exposure is indicated by the youngest component of the blend.
• Tennessee Whiskey – differs from the classic bourbon only in that the distillate is filtered through maple charcoal immediately after distillation, and not before bottling.
• Wheat whiskey (eg Maker’s Mark). Corn makes up the same obligatory 51%, but the rest of the raw material is predominantly wheat.
• Rye whiskey. Here, on the contrary, corn is in the minority, 51% of raw materials are rye.
• Honey bourbon – with the addition of honey.
• Barrel proof (Straight from the Cask) – strong (50-65 degrees) pure bourbon of many years of aging, which, after aging in barrels, is not diluted with water, but bottled as is.
• Diluted bourbon is a drink with a strength of less than 40%.
• American Blended Whiskey is a blend of “straight” bourbon and rye whiskey.

The difference between bourbon and whiskey

There are not so many fundamental differences between bourbon:

1. Raw materials.
2. Lack of corn malting and some other nuances of production (filtration through maple charcoal, no “smoking” is used, aging only in new charred barrels).
3. Geographical “binding” to the USA.

The most famous brands of bourbon include:

• Four Roses;
• Wild Turkey;
• Jim Beam;
• Town Branch;
• Woodford Reserve.

Like whiskey, bourbon is not drunk “from the throat” – it is poured into special glasses with a thick bottom, diluted with water (mineral water) or savored as is – in its pure form. It is customary to serve bourbon on rocks – with crushed ice, but this is largely determined by the personal tastes of the gourmet.