Bourbon: an overview of 8 brands + sub-brands

Bourbon – This is a real American alcoholic drink, which is made mainly from corn.

Interestingly, the only state in America where the production of this drink is legally allowed is Kentucky.

Most fans of amber strong drinks most often confuse whiskey with bourbon, but in order to find out once and for all which brands belong to bourbon, we will conduct a brief overview of the brightest and most interesting representatives of this category.

More about bourbon and how to drink it right

Jim Beam

This is the most famous bourbon in the world. Although in 1795, when Jacob Beam prepared the very first batch of the drink for testing, he did not count on such a success.

According to experts, one of the main factors in the success of this bourbon lies in the special yeast recipe that Jake himself bred almost 225 years ago. They are used to this day for the production of Jim Beam.

In America, by decision of the Senate, this brand of bourbon was awarded the title of national drink.

Details about Jim Beam

The Jim Beam distillery also produces other brands of bourbon:

  1. Red Stag

  2. Basil Hayden’s

  3. Knob Creek

  4. Booker’s

  5. Baker’s

Maker’s mark

This is a special variety of premium bourbon, which is produced in a limited batch of no more than 19 barrels per year.

In 1840, the Maker’s Mark factory was built by the creator of the drink recipe, Bill Samuels, but the first bottle of bourbon was not sold until 118 years later in 1958.

Bill’s wife developed the brand’s corporate identity, she came up with the original cognac bottle shape, and the main sign of the authenticity of the drink is the flowing red wax on the neck of the bottle.

Details about Maker’s Mark

Blanton’s

This is a unique variety of bourbon, which is produced almost by hand. This is a pure drink without various additives and mixing of blends. It is bottled straight from the barrel and then corked. From one such barrel, no more than 250 bottles are obtained, and each of them is assigned its own individual number.

The creator of Blanton’s bourbon is Albert Blanton, it was he who invented the single barrel technology. For a long 50 years he worked and studied, and in 1984 he finally launched the production of the legendary drink.

The cork of the bottle features a figure of a horse and a jockey, which is a recognized trademark of Blanton’s bourbon. In Kentucky, horse breeding traditions are as strong as bourbon production traditions. In addition to the horse and the jockey in various positions, each bottle is engraved with individual letters that can form the word BLANTONS.

Details about Blanton’s

Woodford Reserve

A premium brand of American bourbon produced in limited batches at the distillery formerly called Old Crow Distillery. James Christopher Crow built it in 1812 in Kentucky. But after a stunning success, after some time the distillery went into oblivion.

Bourbon was given a second life by Brown-Forman. She bought and restored the plant in 1995 and resumed the production of Woodford Reserve drink according to the old recipe of James.

The blend of the drink includes about 40 varieties of single malt and grain whiskeys, the minimum aging period of which is 6 years.

Wild Turkey

Classic bourbon, which is no less popular than Jim Beam.

The history of the drink began in 1855, when Austin Nicolet was the owner of a fairly successful shop that specialized in the sale of alcohol, spices and coffee. And in order to diversify his assortment, Austin developed his own bourbon recipe and put it on sale (until 1870, the drink was sold exclusively by barrels).

The modern name of the brand appeared in 1940, thanks to the hunters of wild turkeys. They liked the taste of the bourbon so much that they suggested calling it “Wild Turkey”.

To date, this brand is owned by the Italian manufacturer of wines, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages – Gruppo Campari.

Details about Wild Turkey

Four Roses

This is an excellent bourbon that is made in America and bottled in Scotland. But by a special coincidence, this drink is completely unpopular in the United States and almost nothing is known about it there. Since since the 50s this brand has been produced to a greater extent for export to Europe and Asia.

The production and sale of this bourbon began in 1860, and the official registration of the Four Roses trademark occurred only in 1888.

Today, the brand is owned by Four Roses Distillery LLC, which is gradually trying to bring the legendary whiskey back to the US market.

Kentucky Tavern

The legendary Kentucky Tavern bourbon was created and launched by James Thompson in 1900.

Bourbon aging takes place in white oak barrels, the wood of which is considered one of the best for long-term aging of strong drinks. The wood has high strength and an exceptional level of vanilla notes.

Now the Kentucky Tavern brand and the right to produce and sell the drink belongs to Sazerac.

Johnny Drum

This outstanding bourbon is produced in Bardstown, Kentucky by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers Ltd.

Johnny Drum was awarded the Double Gold Medal at the World Spirits Competition held in San Francisco in 2010. Renowned critic Morgan Murphy said, “This whiskey has notes of rye and pepper with sweet vanilla overtones and hints of a cigar.”

difference between whiskey, bourbon and scotch

Relevance: 10.02.2018

Metki: Whiskey and bourbon

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