| Born in the USA Whiskies “First Ya’ Swaller……Then Ya’ Holler….” Bourbon, Tennessee Whiskey & Rye |
Among the first settlers who brought their whiskey making traditions to the US were the Scotch-Irish of Western Pennsylvania.
Although whiskey was produced throughout the colonies (George Washington was among the noted whiskey producers of the
time), these settlers of Pennsylvania are where bourbon’s roots began. To help finance the revolution, the Continental Congress
put a tax on whiskey production. So incensed were the settlers of Western Pennsylvania that they refused to pay. To restore
order in the ensuing "Whiskey Rebellion" of 1791, Washington was forced to send the army to quell the uprising. To avoid
further troubles with the tough and stubborn Scotch-Irish settlers, Washington made a settlement with them, giving incentives
for those who would move to Kentucky. The significance of this is that while the earliest whiskies were made primarily from
rye, this was about to change with their move and "Bourbon" would be born.
The Governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, offered pioneers sixty acres of land in Kentucky if they would build a permanent
structure and raise "native corn". No family could eat sixty acres worth of corn a year and it was too perishable and bulky to
transport for sale; if it were turned into whiskey, both problems could be solved. This corn based whiskey, which was a clear
distillate, would become "bourbon" only after two coincidentally related events happened. The French, having at that time their
own territories in North America, assisted in the War of Independence against the British. In acknowledgment of this, French
names were subsequently used for new settlements or counties. In the Western part of Virginia, the then county of Kentucky,
was subdivided in 1786. One of these subdivisions was named Bourbon County, after the French Royal House. Kentucky
became a state in 1792 and Bourbon one of its counties.
Although Evan Williams, in 1783, might have been the first commercial distiller in Louisville, Bourbon is sometimes considered
to have begun with the Reverend Elijah Craig from Bourbon County. The legend goes that to save money he used old barrels to
transport his whiskey to market in New Orleans. He charred the barrels before filling them, thus after his whiskey made the
long trip to market, it had "mellowed" and taken on a light caramel color from the oak. Being from Bourbon County he started
calling the whiskey "Bourbon". Interestingly today, there is no whiskey produced in Bourbon County.
In 1964, a congressional resolution protected the term "Bourbon" and only since then has the product been defined. Bourbon
must be at least 51% corn. Generally 65% - 75% corn is used, together with about 10% barley and the balance rye or wheat
(some, like Makers Mark and Rebel Yell, use no rye at all). It must be aged for at least 2 years (but usually 4 years or longer) in
charred new American oak barrels. No colorants or flavorants are permitted, so, unlike Scotch, no caramel may be added.
Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on the bottle (95% of all bourbon is made there). All modern bourbons are
made by the sour mash process. Spent beer, or backset (residue liquid from the previous distillation) is added to the new mash
in addition to yeast. This helps ensure consistency - the characteristics of the previous batch are passed on – the same principle
as using a sourdough starter in baking. At some distilleries as much as 25% of the volume in the fermentation tubs is backset.
Bourbon distilleries generally use continuous stills. Straight bourbon is pure bourbon – as opposed to blended bourbon, which is
at least 51% bourbon blended with neutral grain spirits. Colouring etc is also permitted for blended bourbon.
Tennessee whiskey is essentially bourbon that has been filtered through Sugar-Maple charcoal before ageing (called the Lincoln
State Process, or colloquially “charcoal mellowing”). It takes the whiskey 4 days to leach through 12 feet of charcoal. It was
granted its own unique status in law in 1941. In 1900 there were 700 legal distilleries in Tennessee. By 1913, after Prohibition in
1910 there were just 7, and since 1958, only two: George Dickel and Jack Daniels.
Today, most rye whiskeys are made in Kentucky. Originally though their production was centred in Pennsylvania and Maryland
– but the industry there never recovered from the effects of Prohibition. A whole generation had to get used to drinking no
alcohol at all or, if they broke the law, something that was much lighter than their indigenous bourbon and rye. After Prohibition
ended, popular taste switched permanently to lighter spirits. Even today in Kentucky it is rare to find a straight rye whiskey in
bars and restaurants.
Just as American law states that bourbon has to contain a minimum 51 per cent corn in its mashbill, so the law says that
straight rye whiskey must contain at least 51 per cent rye. But whereas bourbon producers often take their corn percentage up
to around the 80 per cent mark, there is no matching tendency to take rye content up to such levels. First, rye is a lot more
expensive to buy than corn; second, it is more difficult to control; third, the powerful, intense nature of the grain means that
distillers are frightened that too much taste might frighten off customers.
If rye is an expensive commodity, then malted rye is even less of an economic winner. For that reason, all Kentucky rye
mashbills contain a similar percentage of malted barley, between 10 per cent and 12 per cent, to assist fermentation; the
remainder is corn. And the rye remains unmalted. The result is a whiskey with the oily heaviness in body of an Islay, but with
the crisp, hard fruitiness of an Irish pot still where another unmalted grain, this time barley, is used.
The rye gives the spirit a hardness that cannot be detected in bourbon, even though the corn character is usually not that far
behind. To taste, the contrast is even more marked: rye is sharper, sweeter and leaves an almost sour, unripened fruit residue;
the average bourbon, meanwhile, is flatter with less spice.
Although whiskey was produced throughout the colonies (George Washington was among the noted whiskey producers of the
time), these settlers of Pennsylvania are where bourbon’s roots began. To help finance the revolution, the Continental Congress
put a tax on whiskey production. So incensed were the settlers of Western Pennsylvania that they refused to pay. To restore
order in the ensuing "Whiskey Rebellion" of 1791, Washington was forced to send the army to quell the uprising. To avoid
further troubles with the tough and stubborn Scotch-Irish settlers, Washington made a settlement with them, giving incentives
for those who would move to Kentucky. The significance of this is that while the earliest whiskies were made primarily from
rye, this was about to change with their move and "Bourbon" would be born.
The Governor of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, offered pioneers sixty acres of land in Kentucky if they would build a permanent
structure and raise "native corn". No family could eat sixty acres worth of corn a year and it was too perishable and bulky to
transport for sale; if it were turned into whiskey, both problems could be solved. This corn based whiskey, which was a clear
distillate, would become "bourbon" only after two coincidentally related events happened. The French, having at that time their
own territories in North America, assisted in the War of Independence against the British. In acknowledgment of this, French
names were subsequently used for new settlements or counties. In the Western part of Virginia, the then county of Kentucky,
was subdivided in 1786. One of these subdivisions was named Bourbon County, after the French Royal House. Kentucky
became a state in 1792 and Bourbon one of its counties.
Although Evan Williams, in 1783, might have been the first commercial distiller in Louisville, Bourbon is sometimes considered
to have begun with the Reverend Elijah Craig from Bourbon County. The legend goes that to save money he used old barrels to
transport his whiskey to market in New Orleans. He charred the barrels before filling them, thus after his whiskey made the
long trip to market, it had "mellowed" and taken on a light caramel color from the oak. Being from Bourbon County he started
calling the whiskey "Bourbon". Interestingly today, there is no whiskey produced in Bourbon County.
In 1964, a congressional resolution protected the term "Bourbon" and only since then has the product been defined. Bourbon
must be at least 51% corn. Generally 65% - 75% corn is used, together with about 10% barley and the balance rye or wheat
(some, like Makers Mark and Rebel Yell, use no rye at all). It must be aged for at least 2 years (but usually 4 years or longer) in
charred new American oak barrels. No colorants or flavorants are permitted, so, unlike Scotch, no caramel may be added.
Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on the bottle (95% of all bourbon is made there). All modern bourbons are
made by the sour mash process. Spent beer, or backset (residue liquid from the previous distillation) is added to the new mash
in addition to yeast. This helps ensure consistency - the characteristics of the previous batch are passed on – the same principle
as using a sourdough starter in baking. At some distilleries as much as 25% of the volume in the fermentation tubs is backset.
Bourbon distilleries generally use continuous stills. Straight bourbon is pure bourbon – as opposed to blended bourbon, which is
at least 51% bourbon blended with neutral grain spirits. Colouring etc is also permitted for blended bourbon.
Tennessee whiskey is essentially bourbon that has been filtered through Sugar-Maple charcoal before ageing (called the Lincoln
State Process, or colloquially “charcoal mellowing”). It takes the whiskey 4 days to leach through 12 feet of charcoal. It was
granted its own unique status in law in 1941. In 1900 there were 700 legal distilleries in Tennessee. By 1913, after Prohibition in
1910 there were just 7, and since 1958, only two: George Dickel and Jack Daniels.
Today, most rye whiskeys are made in Kentucky. Originally though their production was centred in Pennsylvania and Maryland
– but the industry there never recovered from the effects of Prohibition. A whole generation had to get used to drinking no
alcohol at all or, if they broke the law, something that was much lighter than their indigenous bourbon and rye. After Prohibition
ended, popular taste switched permanently to lighter spirits. Even today in Kentucky it is rare to find a straight rye whiskey in
bars and restaurants.
Just as American law states that bourbon has to contain a minimum 51 per cent corn in its mashbill, so the law says that
straight rye whiskey must contain at least 51 per cent rye. But whereas bourbon producers often take their corn percentage up
to around the 80 per cent mark, there is no matching tendency to take rye content up to such levels. First, rye is a lot more
expensive to buy than corn; second, it is more difficult to control; third, the powerful, intense nature of the grain means that
distillers are frightened that too much taste might frighten off customers.
If rye is an expensive commodity, then malted rye is even less of an economic winner. For that reason, all Kentucky rye
mashbills contain a similar percentage of malted barley, between 10 per cent and 12 per cent, to assist fermentation; the
remainder is corn. And the rye remains unmalted. The result is a whiskey with the oily heaviness in body of an Islay, but with
the crisp, hard fruitiness of an Irish pot still where another unmalted grain, this time barley, is used.
The rye gives the spirit a hardness that cannot be detected in bourbon, even though the corn character is usually not that far
behind. To taste, the contrast is even more marked: rye is sharper, sweeter and leaves an almost sour, unripened fruit residue;
the average bourbon, meanwhile, is flatter with less spice.
Interested in vintage BOURBON or RYE? Click here to EMAIL FINEST & RAREST
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