The Best of Whiskeys: Pure American Ember

deadsparrow (54)in #food • 7 years ago (edited)

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American whiskey is a very interesting subject to talk about. Not only because of the seemingly increasing seizure of the spirit market but also because of it's history with rebellion, uncompromising loyalty to standards and cultural significance. It's one thing to speak of the American whiskey in the context of global whisk(e)y, it's another to speak of that spirit specifical. So the very act of exploring the history of whiskey in America is, in many ways, a discovery of American history and culture.

A Brief History

It's impossible to talk about a history of American whiskey without talking about the farm life of early America, even if it is a brief primer. Despite the fact that American whiskey is the descendant of Irish and Scottish whisky, in it's early days, it was more of a economic necessity than a luxury. It was another aspect of the farm economy, a product of food processing and farmers with surplus stores of grain would convert and store it to prevent any lose of grain product. This was done with most processed produce but not to the extent that there were big yields. So it was not stored in wooden casks for barrel aging like its cousins across the pond. As a consequence the liquid one would commonly get was a white whiskey.

As more and more people begin, not just drinking the stuff, but applying it to a number of other uses, be it as an antiseptic or oral medicine. In 1794 the, then, young United States government levied a tax on distilled spirits. Suffice to say, the farmers, much like their kin over the sea, did not take kindly to it. What began as a civil protest blew out into all out armed rebellion- the Whiskey Rebellion, resulting in George Washington sending in the militia to squash the rebellion. In an ironic turn of history, the president would go on to own one of largest distilleries in the country. In some sense you could say American whiskey doesn't happen without the Whiskey Rebellion, at the least, you don't get the some product.

The aftermath of the Whiskey Rebellion was the displacement of the smaller distillers further far from the powers of the federal government. Places like the state of Kentucky would offer some of them 160 hectare (something like 400 acre) of land to build cabins and grow corn. At this point the product produced wouldn't be called a true and typical whiskey since it missed one thing- the ember colour. It took a coincidence to get it there.

Elijah Craig, a baptist minister, who happened to be a whiskey maker too. For one result or another, started re-purposing fish wooden fish barrels. To get rid of the reek and disinfect the barrels, he'd burn them. This left the barrels charred in the inside and he didn't think much of it. When the barrels of whiskey arrived in places like New Orleans, the whiskey had turned into a reddish-brown liquid. Colour aside, the whiskey had taken up some of the charred barrel's flavours that are now a characteristic of American whiskey.

What is American Whiskey?

American whiskey need to fulfill certain legal characterization to be said to be American. An example of American made category of whiskey would be Straight whiskeys which are:

distilled at no more than 160 proof.
barreled at no more than 125 proof.
aged in new white oak barrels for a minimum of two years.
and have one or another major grain in the mash (51%).

What differentiates one American whiskey from another is the grains that are used, the way in which it is distilled and how they are aged. These distinctions in the production lead to unique flavour profiles. But there is a grand unification in that all American whiskey retain a characteristic of typical of spirit especially when the local water supply and barreling is considered.

There six types and kind of American whiskey:

Rye whiskey
Rye malt whiskey
Malt whiskey
Wheat whiskey
Bourbon whiskey
Corn whiskey

For the purposes of shortening the post, we'll focus on one kind of American whiskey and that will be Bourbon.

The Best Of Bourbons👌👌👌

We'll review two types of bourbon, one of which is a straight bourbon and a well known brand Jack Daniels. And a special treat ~~and out of pure laziness~~, I leave some YouTube videos instead of typing it out.