Making Bourbon and Tennessee Whiskey

appeared in Santé, Volume 1/Number 3, March/April 1997
Reprinted by permission of Mark Vaughan

The Mash - Starting with a source of sweet water, a strain of yeast developed specifically for whiskey making and the selection of the grains (corn, plus small amounts of malted barley, wheat and/or rye), this combination is cooked to form a yeast mash. After cooling, the mash is placed into the fermenter.

Fermentation - The mash bubbles away for two to three days until the grains settle to the bottom of the fermenter, leaving a watery-looking liquid known as distiller's beer. During this stage, a measure of "backset," a liquid obtained from a previous distillation, is added to the mash, assuring consistency of flavor and style.

Distillation - The distiller's beer is run through the various stages or baffles of the heated still until it is vaporized into an alcoholic liquid. The low-alcohol spirit is moved into the doubler, a form of second distillation that increases the new spirit to between 120 to 130 proof. Demineralized water is added to cut the strength to a maximum of 125 proof. (Tennessee whiskey is dripped through ten feet of Tennessee sugar maple charcoal prior to barrel aging. This removes unwanted flavors and mellows the newly distilled spirit.)

Maturation - New whiskey is moved into new, charred American oak barrels. Charring or toasting the inside of the barrel caramelizes the natural sugars in the wood, producing a red layer that gives the whiskey color and flavor. (Bourbon is stored in sealed, new American oak barrels for a minimum of four years, with no topping up. Spirits sealed in wood barrels evaporate over time; this loss is known as the "angel's share." The alcohol content increases slightly in the barrels, so that the proof often must be adjusted before filtering and bottling.)