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The FAQ is ever growing, check back frequently.

1. What is bourbon?

 

There are strict laws governing just what a Bourbon must be to be labeled as such. For example, at least 51 percent of the grain used in making the whiskey must be corn (most distillers use 65 to 75 percent corn). Bourbon must be aged for a minimum of two years in new, white oak barrels that have been charred. Nothing can be added at bottling to enhance flavor, add sweetness or alter color.

 

Download the BATF regulations governing bourbon here.

2. What is small batch bourbon?

 

Small batch bourbons are bottlings from a "batch" of barrels that have been mixed prior to the bottling. Some of the more well known small batch bourbons include: Baker's, Booker's, Basil Hayden's, Knob Creek, Maker's Mark, and Woodford Reserve.

3. What is single barrel bourbon?

 

Bourbons called single barrel are the bottling of one "single" barrel of bourbon. The single barrel bourbons include: Elijah Craig, 18 years old; Blanton's; Elmer T. Lee, Single Barrel Bourbon; Henry McKenna, Single Barrel; and Evan William's Vintage.

4. Where is bourbon made?

 

Bourbon can be made anywhere in the United States. All but a couple of brands are made in Kentucky, and Kentucky is the only state allowed to put its name on the bottle. And as Kentucky distillers are quick to point out, Bourbon is not Bourbon unless the label says so.

5. Why is this whiskey called bourbon?

 

It takes its name from Bourbon County, located in the central Bluegrass region of Kentucky. It was formed from Fayette county in 1785 while still a part of Virginia and named to honor the French Royal Family and was once the major transshipment site for distilled spirits heading down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Barrels shipped from its ports were stamped with the county's name, and Bourbon and whiskey soon became synonymous.

6. Is Jack Daniel's a bourbon?

 

Jack Daniel's, is not considered a bourbon because it is charcoal-mellowed -- slowly, drop by drop, filtered through sugar-maple charcoal -- prior to aging, which many experts say gives it a different character. The process, called the Lincoln County Process, infuses a sweet and sooty character into the distillate as it removes impurities. But up to and after the charcoal filtering, the Jack Daniel's production is much the same as any other Bourbon. Jack Daniel's and George Dickel are two fine Tennessee Whiskeys though neither can be called bourbon.

 

7. What is proof?

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary, Unabridged, 2cd ed., s.v. "proof" and "proof spirit."

Proof, 8. The relative strength of an alcoholic liquor with reference to the arbitrary standard for proof spirit, taken as 100 proof. Proof spirit, An alcoholic liquor, or a mixture of alcohol and water, containing 50 per cent of its volume of alcohol having a specific gravity of .7939 at 60° F.

Before the hydrometer became a common instrument of the distiller there existed a method of proofing known as "gunpowder proof". It was a simple procedure and took advantage of readily available "tools". Bourbon and gunpowder were mixed in equal proportions in a small fireproof vessel and ignited. If the flame burned yellow the liquor was too strong, if it burned blue the proof was true. A yellow proofed liquor was mellowed with spring water until it burned blue. The proof of a blue flame spirit was about 100, or 50 per cent.

You may use the calculator below to answer the question "To dilute bourbon of proof x in order to achieve proof y, how much water must I add?" Note that the calculator is non-dimensional --that is -- the value returned by the calculator will be in terms of the units used. Ounces can be used as easily as ml, liters, gallons, or what have you. For example, in order to reduce 750 milliliters of 142.7 proof bourbon to 90 proof, you would need to dilute the original volume with 439.16 milliliters of water.

Dilute units of proof bourbon to	proof
by adding units of water

8. How many calories are in a shot of bourbon?

Dietitian.com is an excellent resource for nutritional information regarding alcoholic beverages. Check it out.

9. What are those calories from?

 

See FAQ #8 for details.

10. I am a diabetic. Does bourbon contain sugar?

See FAQ #8 for details.

11. What is the difference between straight bourbon, blended bourbon and sourmash bourbon?

Today, all straight bourbons are produced by the sour-mash method. In the sour-mash method, backset (liquid from a previous distillation) is added to the mash in addition to yeast. The backset helps to make the next batch of bourbon similar to the previous ones by passing on some of the characteristics of the previous batches (this is similar to using a "starter" when making sourdough bread). Straight bourbons are produced in accordance to the laws mentioned in FAQ #1 What is bourbon? and contain only undiluted grain distillates. Blended bourbons contain at least 51 percent straight bourbon mixed with neutral grain spirits.

12. Why isn't Jack Daniel's or George Dickel listed on this site?

Because they are not bourbon. They are both Tennessee sour mash whiskies. See FAQ #6 for the details.

13. I am attempting to locate a distributor in the San Diego area for a product made by Joseph E Seagram and Sons Incorporated (Lawrenceburg, KY), that being Four Roses bourbon, and the above email address has been the ONLY one I have been able to locate for this company. Any help or suggestions you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

You can't. Four Roses Bourbon is not yet sold in the U.S. However, I am told by a reliable source, that Four Roses Bourbon will be available in Kentucky sometime this year.

14. My question concerns what proof comes out of the barrel. While visiting some friends in New Zealand they shared some Jim Beam that they had retrieved from empty Jim Beam barrels. They would add a gallon or so of water and then turn the barrel on its side and then slowly rotate it so the water would soak up the bourbon from the wood. They said they had three different barrels. Marked #1, #2 and #3. The #1 barrels water was too strong to drink, the #2 was a pretty harsh but the #3 was very good and was not much different from the 40 proof out of the bottle.
We wondered if these barrels were different proofs and was there something added to the stronger brew to thin it down?

WHISKEY IN THE WOOD: PROOF IN THE BARREL

Although straight Bourbon is typically bottled somewhere between 40% and 45% alcohol, with some reaching to 50%, Bourbon is usually put into the barrel at around 55% to 60% alcohol. (Only a few straight Bourbons exceed the 50% mark. These include: Wild Turkey's "Rare Breed," and Jim Beam's "Booker's" and "Baker's.") When it comes time to bottle the Bourbon, it is dumped from the barrel, usually filtered, and then cut with de-ionized water to bottle strength. Why, you might ask, do distillers put it in the barrel at a higher proof than they will ultimately bottle at? And the answer is mostly one of economics. Barrels are expensive. The virgin oak of superior quality for barrel-making is itself limited in quantity and expensive. Further, the barrel-making process requires time, care and skill. Hence, oak barrels represent a significant expense for distillers. Now, a "proof gallon" is a gallon of whiskey at 50% alcohol. And of course it takes one half gallon of alcohol to make up one proof gallon. If you put your whiskey in the barrel at 60% alcohol, then you will get more proof gallons per barrel than if you put it in at, for example, 40% alcohol. So, by aging the whiskey at the higher proof, you can age the same quantity of proof gallons in fewer barrels. And by using fewer barrels, you save money.

But if the distiller tries to age the whiskey at much greater than about 60%, then the flavor changes that maturation produces are diminished and so diluted by the water added before bottling that the whiskey does not contain the desired flavor characteristics. Some Bourbon distilleries, therefore, brag about the relatively lower proof at which their whiskey goes into the barrel. As for getting whiskey from the wood... The wood of a barrel is relatively dry and porous when the barrel is made. Hence, when the whiskey goes into the barrel, the wood itself absorbs several gallons of spirit. Your typical 53 gallon Bourbon barrel will absorb about two and a half gallons into the wood. When the barrel is emptied ("dumped") those gallons remain in the wood. Of course, that represents lost money to a distiller. So standard practice is to "wash" the barrel. Hot water is sprayed into the barrel and sloshed around, drawing much of the alcohol out of the wood. How well each barrel is washed out, however, varies, and some Bourbon inevitably remains in the wood.

The practice of putting a few gallons of water into an "empty" barrel, rolling it around of and on for a day or so is called "ponying" a barrel. Ponying a barrel, however, is likely to produce different results from barrel to barrel. For one thing, different barrels are themselves different in flavor -- some sweeter than others, some older than others, etc. And there seems to be some variability in how efficiently the barrels are washed. Nevertheless, if you luck into a particularly mellow barrel that was not washed out very vigorously, then you have stumbled upon a gallon or so of nice whiskey. (I often use used Bourbon barrels to ferment cider, but that's a different story.)

Mark Waymack

15. Hi...can you tell me if Bourbon contains caffeine?