Food & Beverage

There are no words to describe that last-second sheer-panic that crawls up your spine in that moment when being asked by that smiling face of a barkeep “what would you like to drink?”  Bourbon or whiskey? (Whisky depending on the region).

It has been the poison that has brought nations together, the celebratory drink of admirable men and woman throughout history, or shared over grievances to find comfort. The simplicities of even defining the differences between whiskey and bourbon are lost and are maybe known to some.

So we will go over it with you.

Have you ever heard the phrase “Not all whiskey is bourbon but all bourbon is whiskey”, if you haven’t now you can say you have. The real difference is what is used in fermentation and distillation of whiskey and bourbon.

For a spirit to be legally called bourbon it has to be made in the U.S. and has to be made with at least 51% corn. During our countries earlier years we had to find cost effective ways to manufacture similar products, so we discovered corn ethanol was a very practical substitution in distillation.

As the process became more popular they wanted to sanctify its origins which are when “Tennessee Bourbon” was born. This is about the time “regions of whiskeys” started to really make their mark on getting their product out there.

Whisky (without the “e”) can be generalized as scotch, it’s a European spelling, but it again depends on your location. A true scotch must, be made in Scotland, but also must be aged for eight years before any barreling can take place. Irish whiskeys have a much looser set of terms.

Irish whiskeys were based around speed because of famines and economic downfalls; there was not too much time to care for the product. Although it seems that location has a huge impact on taste before any aging agents are added.

Everything is based on the simplest equation based on how every product is grown and with different climates and ph’s and soils its comparable to wines. There are so many factors that can be touched on but here is a taste if you would like to read more keep following us or even do some of the research on your own.

A post from Shannon Murray