Question about "wheaters"

[tmas]

I probably should know this after all the time I've spent enjoying this website, but I don't! So, pardon my ignorance but I was wondering if anyone could enlighten me on this point: Some Bourbons are wheaters such as the Van Winkle bourbons & Wellers, if a bourbon is not a wheater does that mean that it is likely to be rye oriented?
On a more particular note, I am bringing along an ORVW 15 yr and a Jefferson Reserve 15 year on my annual fishing getaway, and I was wondering how the mashes compare. Tom V

[Sijan]

If it is not a wheated bourbon, then it is a rye-based bourbon.

[tmas]

If it is not a wheated bourbon, then it is a rye-based bourbon.

Thank you Sijan, I love simple answers, less to try to remember in my crowded brain! Armed with that knowledge, I will assume the Jefferson 15 is rye based, and that will make comparing it with the ORVW 15 more interesting. Tom V

[bluesbassdad]

There's a slight semantic problem in Dan's reply.

Since bourbon by law is made from a mash that contains at least 51% corn, it seems more appropriate to describe all bourbon as corn-based. However, the so-called "small grain" component, in practice either rye or wheat, does have a significant impact on the flavor, and it certainly makes sense to distinguish between the two formulas in some way.

HUMOR ALERT: You know there's something wrong in the world when an attorney gives you the simple answer and an engineer then obfuscates the matter.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

[Joeluka]

If I may add the smart-ass answer. (This is directed towards Dave ) If we are calling it a wheated bourbon or Rye-based bourbon, Aren't we to assume that by using the word bourbon in both these descriptions we already allow for the 51% corn??

Just a bartender's answer

[Sijan]

Yeah, I just meant rye-based as the equivalent of "wheated." "Ryed" didn't sound right.

[bluesbassdad]

And "ryer", analogous to "wheater", sounds even worse, eh?

Hey, I have an idea! Let's call it "rye-based".

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield

[contrarian]

I frequently see these referred to as "rye-recipe" bourbons. Surely "rye-based bourbon" is an oxymoron?

[BobA]

And then there's "high-rye," such as Old Grand Dad, and "low rye," such as Old Charter. I have no idea where the Jefferson fits in on that scale.

Now that I think of it, I have never seen a reference to a wheater as a "high-wheat" or "low-wheat" recipe.

Bob

[bluesbassdad]

I was just having fun in my earlier posts. Yes, I think the term "rye-recipe" is both descriptive and accurate.

Yours truly,
Dave Morefield