Ahhh....

[TNbourbon]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118556739471380579.html?mod=at_leisure_main_reviews_days_only

"Regulators have since come up with a specialty category to accommodate wood-finished bourbons..."

If you've purchased last spring's BTEC Chardonnay-finished bourbon or the more recent WR Master Distiller's Select (I have the former), you still have BOURBON...

[barturtle]

Interesting...my first thought was What the hell's the new code?

Turns out it's an old code, new purpose, I guess.

Here's a list of codes for American (ie. USA) whiskies:

Class/Type Code

Description

100 STRAIGHT WHISKY

101 STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKY

102 STRAIGHT RYE WHISKY

103 STRAIGHT CORN WHISKY

109 OTHER STRAIGHT WHISKY

110 WHISKY BOTTLED IN BOND (BIB)

111 BOURBON WHISKY BIB

112 RYE WHISKY BIB

113 CORN WHISKY BIB

119 OTHER WHISKY BIB

120 STRAIGHT WHISKY BLENDS

121 STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKY BLENDS

122 STRAIGHT RYE WHISKY BLENDS

123 STRAIGHT CORN WHISKY BLENDS

129 OTHER STRAIGHT BLENDED WHISKY

130 WHISKY BLENDS

131 BLENDED BOURBON WHISKY

132 BLENDED RYE WHISKY

133 BLENDED CORN WHISKY

134 BLENDED LIGHT WHISKY

137 BLENDED WHISKY

138 DILUTED BLENDED WHISKY

139 OTHER WHISKY BLENDS

140 WHISKY

141 BOURBON WHISKY

142 RYE WHISKY

143 CORN WHISKY

144 LIGHT WHISKY

146 WHISKY PROPRIETARY

147 SPIRIT WHISKY

148 DILUTED WHISKY

149 OTHER WHISKY

And a portion of the Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection Label App showing the change

I still say it ain't bourbon...used barrel, makes it just whiskey code 100 Straight Whisky.

[TNbourbon]

Thanks for that, Timothy. So, 'straight bourbon whiskey' becomes 'bourbon whiskey'.

[barturtle]

Okay, I guess I'll have to give it the bourbon title:

From 27cfr5:

(2) "Whisky distilled from bourbon (rye, wheat, malt, or rye malt) mash" is whisky produced in the United States at not exceeding 160° proof from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain, respectively, and stored in used oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies of the same type. Whisky conforming to the standard of identity for corn whisky must be designated corn whisky.

And right before that is where it loses the straight classification:

(iii) Whiskies conforming to the standards prescribed in paragraphs ((1)(i)

and (ii) of this section, which have been stored in the type of oak containers prescribed, for a period of 2 years or more shall be further designated as "straight"; for example, "straight bourbon whisky", "straight corn whisky", and whisky conforming to the standards prescribed in paragraph ((1)(i) of this section, except that it was produced from a fermented mash of less than 51 percent of any one type of grain, and stored for a period of 2 years or more in charred new oak containers shall be designated merely as "straight whisky". No other whiskies may be designated "straight". "Straight whisky" includes mixtures of straight whiskies of the same type produced in the same State.

[cowdery]

The best way to think about it is that once something is bourbon, you can't un-bourbon it. Because someone mixes it with Coke for a pre-mixed cocktail doesn't mean the bourbon isn't bourbon, it's now bourbon and Coke. Finishes, conceptually, aren't that much different. With persuasion from the industry, the regulators have come to see it that way too, so Brown-Forman got to create a designation called, I think, "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Chardonnay Casks."

So, don't get too hung-up on labels. I submit that Woodford Reserve Sonoma-Cutrer Finish stands for the proposition that wine-finished bourbons can work if you're smart about it.

[barturtle]

The best way to think about it is that once something is bourbon, you can't un-bourbon it. Because someone mixes it with Coke for a pre-mixed cocktail doesn't mean the bourbon isn't bourbon, it's now bourbon and Coke. Finishes, conceptually, aren't that much different. With persuasion from the industry, the regulators have come to see it that way too, so Brown-Forman got to create a designation called, I think, "Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Finished In Chardonnay Casks."

So, don't get too hung-up on labels. I submit that Woodford Reserve Sonoma-Cutrer Finish stands for the proposition that wine-finished bourbons can work if you're smart about it.

Actually it is quite easy to un-bourbon something...dilute to below 80proof and it's no longer bourbon (that in itself would disqualify all those canned soda and whiskies).

Follow that with :

§5.23 Alteration of class and type.

(a) Additions.

(1) The addition of any coloring, flavoring, or blending materials to any class and type of distilled spirits, except as otherwise provided in this section, alters the class and type thereof and the product shall be appropriately redesignated.

I'm actually arguing for arguments sake, I have no issues with doing wood finishes, and I think they will be good for the companies (and even better when they reach a price level that the average person would consider buying them), I do have issues however with newcomers to the spirit may come to think that some of these finished products are how bourbon is supposed to taste, and that the traditional products are wrong.

[Hedmans Brorsa]

Gulp! There I was, living under the illusion that i had tried the majority of American whiskey types.

I shan´t even begin to ask about all these obscure definitions. Is there a list somewhere where all these types are defined? ("Whisky propretiary"? God ´elp me! )

[cowdery]

In fact, bourbon bottled at less than 80 proof doesn't become un-bourbon, it becomes "diluted bourbon."