Whisky Buying Guide
| While you certainly don't need a fully stocked bar for your home, it never hurts to have a few key bottles on hand for guests or for when you're craving a cocktail. However, when it comes to stocking your grain liquors, the choices abound. Such spirits are all distilled from fermented grain mash and aged in wooden casks that impart aroma and flavor, but further nomenclature depends on the type of grain used, the length of the aging process or the location of the distillery. So when all is said and done, will you choose bourbon, Tennessee whiskey, rye, whiskey, whisky or Scotch? |
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Bourbon
Bourbon 
is an American classic, recognized by the US Congress as a "distinctive product of the United States" and inspiring the Senate to declare September 2007 National Bourbon Heritage Month. The drink, made from a mixture of two-thirds corn and aged for four years in oak casks, is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky. This piece of trivia helps to explain its strong ties to the state: it is estimated that 95% of the world's bourbons are distilled and aged in Kentucky.
Tennessee Whiskey
 | Most people assume that Jack Daniels (which is, interestingly enough, produced in a dry county!), one of the most well-known American whiskeys, is bourbon, but it is actually Tennessee whiskey. Tennessee whiskey conforms to many of the same regulations as bourbon does, but corn does not need to be the predominant grain. What makes this spirit truly distinctive, however, is the Lincoln County Process, named for the original location of the Jack Daniels distillery. During this process, the whiskey is filtered through a layer of maple charcoal and then put into casks to be aged; this gives the drink its characteristic dry taste. |
Rye
While the remainder of the bourbon and Tennessee whiskey mixture typically includes rye, the spirit known as American rye whiskey must be made from at least 51% of the grain. In Canada, though, because historically so much of the mixture was made up of rye, nearly every Canadian whiskey is called by this same name. In practice, the majority of modern ryes are blended with only small quantities of the grain (there is no required minimum). Unlike bourbon, rye is often peppery, slightly bitter, and is lighter in body.
Whiskey
 | We can hardly talk about whiskeys without going back to where it all began: the British Isles. In the 1870s, the quality of Scotch whisky was very poor, and so Irish and American distilleries, in order to distinguish themselves from the masses, began to market the differently-spelled whiskey. Both whiskey and whisky are distilled primarily from barley, but the Irish version is made from a mixture of malted (germinated) and unmalted grains while the Scottish mash is either one or the other. Irish whiskey also does not usually include peat, so smoky and earthy flavors are not present as they are in Scotch. |
Scotch
Scotch whisky is just that--whisky made in Scotland. Throughout the UK, it is simply known as whisky, but in other Anglophone countries, it is identified as Scotch. As according to international law, whiskies are generally distilled twice and aged in oak casks for at least three years and one day. It is commonly believed that single malts, that is, product coming from a single distillery, are the most celebrated of Scotch whiskies. In fact, in his poem "The Scotchman's Return from Abroad", RL Stevenson described such scotch--specifically Talisker, Islay or Glenlivet --as "the king o' drinks, as I conceive it".
Despite the single malt acclaim, there are many fine blended whiskies to be found such as Famous Grouse, the biggest-selling blend in Britain, and Johnnie Walker, which is the most widely-distributed Scotch in the world.
So whether you're a shooter, a sipper, or you prefer making your own special brand of moonshine, there is certainly a whisky for you. Cheers!
Flasks
Flasks are perfect for holding your favorite whiskeys. Check out these different ones.
Related Guides
External Links
- Wikipedia.org: A general article on whiskeys.
- Chow.com: A forum thread on the differences between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey.
