Taste will dictate what you personally consider a superior whiskey. However, knowing the options available to you when it comes to the very best small batch bourbon might give you a list of award-winning brands you'd like to try. The annual competitions that rate whiskeys entered by hopeful distilleries give bronze, silver, gold, and double gold medals to the winners.
Bourbon is essentially corn whiskey, although the mash might contain only 51% of this grain. After fermentation, the clear spirit is aged in charred oaken barrels which have never been used for another purpose. By law, it is an American product, most of which comes from Kentucky. Tennessee also has this sort of whiskey; Jack Daniels is one example. Kentucky claims that their iron-free water and limestone aquifers make the best whiskey.
The history of this kind of spirit is shrouded in time. Some believe a pioneer Baptist minister, Reverend Elijah Craig, was the first to use a charred oak barrel for aging. Jacob Spears, an early distiller, was the first known person to give his corn whiskey the name of 'bourbon'. The name may have come from the New Orleans street named after the French royal dynasty.
Bourbon-lovers are as poetic as wine connoisseurs when it comes to describing the flavors of a particular distillation. They speak of hints of caramel, new-mown hay, French toast, and the muskiness of a cigar box. A good corn whiskey is smooth, even if it's well over 100 proof. Flavor starts with the sour mash, and the aging process in charred oak barrels add both flavor and color to the finished product.
Most fine bourbons are 90 proof or higher; some are 125 or more. The law requires at least 80 proof, but this amount of alcohol does not meet with approval by most judges. A 'small batch' - which has no legal definition - is generally made with twenty barrels or less of selected spirits. Maker's Mark is made with twenty, while Dickel Barrel Select (a corn whiskey made in Tennessee) uses only eight. Or maybe that's Four Roses Select, another sourmash with a fine reputation.
People who value bourbon highly take their drinking seriously. Some say they hate to dilute it even with saliva. Although cocktails like the Manhattan and the Old Fashioned are popular, most devotees drink it neat, on the rocks, or with a tiny splash of 'branch water' (from a creek.) The Mint Julep is perhaps Kentucky's most famous highball.
Annual competitions bring international judges together to evaluate whiskeys of all sorts. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition judges chose the Pappy Van Winkle 15-year Old (a 'wheated' variety) the best of a field of 11-year-plus bourbons, granting it a double gold award in 2013. The panel of judges at the 2014 Chicago International Competition gave top honors in the bourbons category to Knob Creek 9-year Old.
Just as wine lovers sometimes treat themselves to a rare vintage, you who love corn whiskey might want to try some of the award-winning brands on special occasions. See if you agree with international judges on what makes the best of the best.
Bourbon is essentially corn whiskey, although the mash might contain only 51% of this grain. After fermentation, the clear spirit is aged in charred oaken barrels which have never been used for another purpose. By law, it is an American product, most of which comes from Kentucky. Tennessee also has this sort of whiskey; Jack Daniels is one example. Kentucky claims that their iron-free water and limestone aquifers make the best whiskey.
The history of this kind of spirit is shrouded in time. Some believe a pioneer Baptist minister, Reverend Elijah Craig, was the first to use a charred oak barrel for aging. Jacob Spears, an early distiller, was the first known person to give his corn whiskey the name of 'bourbon'. The name may have come from the New Orleans street named after the French royal dynasty.
Bourbon-lovers are as poetic as wine connoisseurs when it comes to describing the flavors of a particular distillation. They speak of hints of caramel, new-mown hay, French toast, and the muskiness of a cigar box. A good corn whiskey is smooth, even if it's well over 100 proof. Flavor starts with the sour mash, and the aging process in charred oak barrels add both flavor and color to the finished product.
Most fine bourbons are 90 proof or higher; some are 125 or more. The law requires at least 80 proof, but this amount of alcohol does not meet with approval by most judges. A 'small batch' - which has no legal definition - is generally made with twenty barrels or less of selected spirits. Maker's Mark is made with twenty, while Dickel Barrel Select (a corn whiskey made in Tennessee) uses only eight. Or maybe that's Four Roses Select, another sourmash with a fine reputation.
People who value bourbon highly take their drinking seriously. Some say they hate to dilute it even with saliva. Although cocktails like the Manhattan and the Old Fashioned are popular, most devotees drink it neat, on the rocks, or with a tiny splash of 'branch water' (from a creek.) The Mint Julep is perhaps Kentucky's most famous highball.
Annual competitions bring international judges together to evaluate whiskeys of all sorts. The San Francisco World Spirits Competition judges chose the Pappy Van Winkle 15-year Old (a 'wheated' variety) the best of a field of 11-year-plus bourbons, granting it a double gold award in 2013. The panel of judges at the 2014 Chicago International Competition gave top honors in the bourbons category to Knob Creek 9-year Old.
Just as wine lovers sometimes treat themselves to a rare vintage, you who love corn whiskey might want to try some of the award-winning brands on special occasions. See if you agree with international judges on what makes the best of the best.
About the Author:
You can visit www.boundaryoakdistillery.com for more helpful information about Selecting The Best Small Batch Bourbon.