A Brief Guide To Bourbon

By Author: Bonny Kominek
Total Articles: 21
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Bourbon is a spirit deeply set in American culture. The drink evolved and developed with the history of the country, becoming the popular libation it is today. In this article we will look at a few delightful bourbons including Knob Creek, Maker''s Mark, Van Winkle and Four Roses, all of which can be purchased from the online whisky store Master of Malt.

The Scotch-Irish brought whiskey with them to America. Many of them settled around Pennsylvania and the Northern States. There were a great number of distillers and a heavy alcohol tax, imposed in 1791, caused a great deal of consternation. The tax, which was largely to raise government funds, was particularly hard-hitting on the small scale producers ? larger scale distillers, George Washington included, received a flat tax rate.

The taxes were so high many distillers struggled to survive. Small scale civil protest developed until 1974, when armed rebellion broke out. After this, the US Government, for the first time since the US Constitution, used military force against its own citizens. These riots were known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Several men were imprisoned ...
... and two of the men were given death sentences, though these were repealed by George Washington on the grounds of one being a ?simpleton? and the other being ?insane?.

The tax eventually forced the distillers to flee to the southern states. A number of the distillers settled around Kentucky, where they benefited from the 1779 Cabin Rights and Corn Patch Law - a law which allowed any man to have 400 acres of land so long as he used it to grow maize and built a house upon it. Farmers quickly filled the state, and it was not long before they learnt that distilling the corn to produce whisky was a far more profitable practice. They began to ship the whiskey down the various waterways, including the Mississippi river which took the corn spirit to New Orleans.

One plot, which covered much of what became Kentucky, was named Bourbon County in honour of the French Royal Family. The barrels originating here were stamped with their place of origin: ?Bourbon County?. Punters enjoyed the corn-based spirit, oft requesting some more of that ?whiskey from bourbon?. So it was born.

So this is what led the corn-base of bourbon. Corn brings a lot of flavour to the whiskey, and by law must account for at least 51% of the mashbill. The mashbill is the selection of grains used in American whiskey distillation. Of the four main grains used, corn imparts mellow, gentle sweetness and earthy spice. One example is Knob Creek, which is a small batch 9 year old whiskey produced by the Jim Beam Company. Knob Creek is named for the area where Abraham Lincoln spent his childhood. The whiskey has a spicy note with notes of toasty oak and caramel. The palate is full, soft and nutty with dark spices.

Rye is often used in the production of bourbon. Rye is a hardy grain and it brings a full body and supple character to a whiskey. It proffers plenty of spice and dark, peppery fruits. Four Roses is a a good example of a bourbon with a good quantity of rye present. Four Roses bourbon enjoys a maturation of around 5 to 6 years and has notes of fruity, dark honey and plenty of spice.

Rye is occasionally replaced with wheat by some distillers. Wheat is a much softer grain, which imparts a smooth body and a sweet flavour. A delicious wheated bourbon is Maker''s Mark, a small batch bourbon. Small batch is a term created by Jim Beam''s Booker Noe, and it refers to bourbon produced on a very small scale. Maker''s Mark offers notes of honey and coffee and sweet oak.

The final grain used in bourbon production is barley. Barley is the sole grain used in the production of single malt Scotch whisky. Barley thrives in much of America, taken to the US by the Scotch-Irish settlers. It offers cereal notes, biscuity flavours and plenty of depth and complexity. Take Van Winkle 12 Year Old, a really biscuity, buttery bourbon, with a little smoke and honey. Van Winkle is produced at the Buffalo Trace distillery.

Each of these is a delicious example of how the various grains affect a bourbon. These are all great value whiskeys and are definitely worth trying, from the toasty, rich and nutty Knob Creek, to the spiced, darkly fruity Four Roses, through the supple, gentle sweetness of Maker''s Mark to the biscuity, thick Van Winkle 12. These are all available online at the Master of Malt. Bonny Kominek has been tasting malt whisky for over 20 years. One of his favourites at the moment is Tomatin whisky, a single cask single malt whisky.