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.
By legal definition, bourbons are made from mashes - often sour, or infused with a 'starter' from an earlier fermentation - that are more than 50% corn, have been aged for at least two years in charred oak barrels, and be at least 80 proof. Traditionally considered an exclusively American product, the whiskey most often will come from Kentucky, where iron-free water seeps through limestone to give superior results. Some well-known whiskeys are not from Kentucky, however, like Jack Daniels, which is made in Tennessee.
Of course, corn whiskey can be and is made anywhere. It's the quality of the spirit that causes some locales to be thought superior to others. The history of bourbon in America is clouded by time. A Baptist minister is credited by many with first using a charred oak barrel to age his distillation from a corn mash. The name traces back to the royal French dynasty, but whether it comes via a Kentucky county or a famous street in New Orleans is debatable.
Reading accounts of the tastes evoked by a fine oak-barrel-aged sour mash is like reading the raptures of wine connoisseurs. A whiskey might have overtones of caramel, French toast, and a cigar box, with a velvety texture even though it's over 100 proof. The cigar box flavor comes from aging in a charred oak barrel, as does the color, and other flavors come from the combination of mash ingredients and the period of aging.
Although the law requires a minimum of 80 proof, none of this class gets to competition level. Aging is also optional, although two years is considered the minimum and anything under five must be so labeled. Small batches are usually nine or more years in the barrel. The 'smalls' are made with fewer barrels of spirits - to give greater quality control - with Maker's Mark at twenty being on the high side and Dickel Barrel Select (a Tennessee product) being made with fewer than ten.
Mixologists use bourbon in cocktails such as the Manhattan, the whiskey sour, and the Old Fashioned. However, true aficionados prefer their whiskey neat or with a splash of water. Tradition dictates that bourbon-and-water be gently stirred with the finger. Perhaps the most famous of Kentucky libations is the Mint Julep, a mint-garnished, sugared highball served at Derby parties and other summer festivities.
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.
To find your favorite, try some of these award-winning bourbons and compare them with your current brand. You may agree with the judges or you may prefer your own.
By legal definition, bourbons are made from mashes - often sour, or infused with a 'starter' from an earlier fermentation - that are more than 50% corn, have been aged for at least two years in charred oak barrels, and be at least 80 proof. Traditionally considered an exclusively American product, the whiskey most often will come from Kentucky, where iron-free water seeps through limestone to give superior results. Some well-known whiskeys are not from Kentucky, however, like Jack Daniels, which is made in Tennessee.
Of course, corn whiskey can be and is made anywhere. It's the quality of the spirit that causes some locales to be thought superior to others. The history of bourbon in America is clouded by time. A Baptist minister is credited by many with first using a charred oak barrel to age his distillation from a corn mash. The name traces back to the royal French dynasty, but whether it comes via a Kentucky county or a famous street in New Orleans is debatable.
Reading accounts of the tastes evoked by a fine oak-barrel-aged sour mash is like reading the raptures of wine connoisseurs. A whiskey might have overtones of caramel, French toast, and a cigar box, with a velvety texture even though it's over 100 proof. The cigar box flavor comes from aging in a charred oak barrel, as does the color, and other flavors come from the combination of mash ingredients and the period of aging.
Although the law requires a minimum of 80 proof, none of this class gets to competition level. Aging is also optional, although two years is considered the minimum and anything under five must be so labeled. Small batches are usually nine or more years in the barrel. The 'smalls' are made with fewer barrels of spirits - to give greater quality control - with Maker's Mark at twenty being on the high side and Dickel Barrel Select (a Tennessee product) being made with fewer than ten.
Mixologists use bourbon in cocktails such as the Manhattan, the whiskey sour, and the Old Fashioned. However, true aficionados prefer their whiskey neat or with a splash of water. Tradition dictates that bourbon-and-water be gently stirred with the finger. Perhaps the most famous of Kentucky libations is the Mint Julep, a mint-garnished, sugared highball served at Derby parties and other summer festivities.
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.
To find your favorite, try some of these award-winning bourbons and compare them with your current brand. You may agree with the judges or you may prefer your own.
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