Mashbill

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Hello All,

I have a general question that I hope I can get some help on. What I would like to know is what is the mash bill of the bourbon on the market. Any bourbon, every bourbon. Of course, I don't expect the industry to reveal its innermost, deepest, darkest, topsecrectest secrets. Just how much corn, how much rye, how much wheat, how much barley malt, (how much Kentucky Bluegrass), more or less.

Thanks in advance,

Ed

[TNbourbon]

There ARE resources that are quite specific about some of the mashbills -- for example Waymack and Harris' "The Book of Classic American Whiskeys" lists a mashbill for virtually every major bourbon available 10 years ago. Who knows, though, how accurate it is today?

In general, the recipe will be between 65%-80% corn, rye 15%-20%, and malted barley 10%-15%. However, there are exceptions -- Old Charter, for example, is at more than 80% corn. Conversely, Old Grand-Dad and Bulliet have higher-than-typical rye contents. And yeast plays a significant role in the final taste profiles, too, with every distiller having one or more proprietary ones.

[tdelling]

Regan and Regan's book "The Bourbon Companion" (1998) also lists

mashbills for every distillery.

Tim Dellinger

[Edward_call_me_Ed]

Hello Tim and Tim,

Thanks very much! Both books look to have just the info that I was looking for. I have ordered "The Book of Classic American Whiskeys" from Amazon. The other book isn't available here. I might order a used copy of the other and have it shipped to my parents place in the States.

A particular thanks for the info about Old Grand-Dad as I find that rye heavy bourbons, or what I take to be rye heavy, taste better to me than the wheaties. I haven't had any Old Grand-Dad yet. I have been looking at it and wanting it but other things get in the basket first and then I run out of money. It just moved up the wish list by quite a bit.

Ed