History

Spirits were being distilled as soon as the first British settlers got to America in the 1600’s, but it was the second wave of settlers, the Scots and the Irish, who brought the knowledge of whiskey making with them.

Barley proved difficult to grow on the hard soils of Virginia and the Carolinas, so they started making whiskey from rye.

In 1791 the US government was in dire need of a cash injection and George Washington set a tax on all spirits. The distillers rebelled against the tax laws and tarred and feathered the tax collectors. Some of them then gave up after Washington sent 15,000 men to march on the rebellious distillers, and many of the distillers moved west into Kentucky and Tennessee, which at the time had not been declared a state and was therefore free from the tax.

What the settlers didn’t know until they started making whiskey there, was that Kentucky sits on a limestone shelf with a limitless supply of iron-free limestone water, plentiful supplies of native growing corn (maize), oak trees for making barrels, warm weather for maturation and even a river for transporting the finished product. They had it so good that they registered their stills and paid their taxes. Before prohibition hit America in 1920, there were over 2000 bourbon distilleries, now there are only 12.

But it was a Baptist preacher called Reverend Elijah Craig who is believed to be the founder of bourbon, as we know it today.

He was a well-experienced whisky maker but one day in the 1790’s he either accidentally burnt the wood of the staves of the barrel he was making or he burnt it to remove the smell of fish that had previously been stored in the barrel. Either way, once he had used this barrel to age his whiskey, he noted that the whiskey was deeper, had a vanilla sweetness and mellowness to it. (This charred barrel method has been used ever since).

When Craig’s mellow whiskey was sent down river to New Orleans (taking a few months) the people of New Orleans requested more of this ‘whiskey from bourbon’ a reference to the stamp on the bottom of the barrel where they had left the port of Mayville, Bourbon county. (It was called Bourbon County after the French Royal house in memory of the assistance provided in the American Revolution).

Distillation remained an inexact process and was a harsh spirit often called ‘red eye’ due to its severe effect on the pupils, until a Scottish chemist and physicist Jim Crow began work in 1823. He experimented with the distillation process, using sour mash, charring and blending and gave consistency to the finished product.

Although bourbon was being produced in 1789, it wasn’t until 1964 that the US government recognized bourbon as a distinctive product and passed a resolution protecting it under law

Bourbon whisky must contain at least 51% corn to other grains usually rye or wheat and has to be a minimum 40% alcohol. It also has to be aged for at least two years in new charred oak barrels.

Production

Bourbon must contain at least 51% corn but not more than 80%, most producers will use around 70%, the remainder will be a blend of rye and/or wheat with a little malted barley to help fermentation. The recipe of grains is called the ‘mash bill’. The grain is milled and then mixed with hot water to produce a mash, yeast is then added to the mash along with the ‘sour mash’ or ‘back set’, this is the spent mash from the previous distillation and will help with the consistency of the whiskey. The mash is left to ferment and the resulting ‘beer’ is then distilled. The beer is first distilled in a continuous still and then in a smaller pot still called a ‘doubler’ this second distillation raises the strength a little. The spirit must be less than 80% when it is distilled, although most distillers will distil at 62 – 70%. The spirit is then diluted with purified water to no higher than 65%/130 proof (it is not allowed to be any higher) and then aged.

Bourbon whisky must be aged for a minimum 2 years (most producers will age for at least four years and by law bourbon under four years old must have the age stated on the label) in new oak that has been charred on the inside. The charring of the wood causes little splits to appear in the wood therefore allowing the new whiskey to come in contact with it. The charring will also cook some of the sugars present in the wood converting them into vanillins and other flavour compounds. The char is graded from 1 (light) to 4 (high) and each producer will char the barrels depending on the style of whiskey they want; a light char will produce a lighter coloured whiskey, it will also have an effect on the taste. The barrels can only be used once; this is the reason that much Scotch whisky is aged in ex bourbon barrels.

Bourbon will mature much quicker than scotch due to the climate in the southern states. The summer temperatures in Kentucky are usually in the 100°s F and the winter temperatures are in the -20°’s Celsius this means the whiskey will mature very quickly in the summer but not age at all in the winter. The difference in temperatures will help the whiskey age; when it is hot the wood expands and draws the whiskey in to the grain of the wood, when it is cold the whiskey is forced out as the grain tightens thus drawing flavour from the wood. The position in the warehouse is also important; at the top it is hotter and it is cooler at the bottom, so barrels at the bottom will mature slower than the ones at the top. Some producers will move the barrels around but this is costly and time consuming. The government does not allow the barrels to be topped up during maturation so it is not uncommon to lose over 50% of the contents of certain barrels during the ageing process. When it is ready the whiskey will be removed and then blended with other whiskies generally of the same age to create a consistent product.

Finally, the bourbon is filtered, usually through an activated charcoal to remove any remnants of the wood etc. The US government does not allow any additional colour to be added to the whiskey.