Bourbon: America’s Heritage Whiskey from the Heartland of the United States

From deep in the heart of America comes a spirit that is quietly winning over the world. Spicy and sweet caramel and vanilla notes, a smooth palate. Then a flash of heat as you swallow, and you know you’re experiencing the characteristic “Kentucky Hug” – the lingering heat from the original American whiskey that is called Bourbon.

In the past few years, visiting Bourbon distilleries has become more and more popular, both in the city of Louisville, and in the nearby town of Bardstown and the surrounding Kentucky countryside.  This is a region of gently rolling hills, where home distilling evolved into big business during the past couple centuries.

A FOLKTALE

American folklore relates there were always “free spirit” moonshiners: rebels who went deep into the forests to secretly distill “moonshine” (clear, corn-based whiskey). These distillers come from a long tradition of independent Americans who wanted to get on with their lives without government interference – without having to pay taxes when they sold their whiskey. Moonshine wasn’t known for its quality, and it wasn’t aged or refined in any way; the object was to make as much whiskey as cheaply as possible because the producers were poor farmers who desperately needed more income.

Of course these tales have been vastly romanticized over the years, but I’d like to believe there were still moonshine rebels hidden in the hills and dales of Kentucky. It’s easy to imagine how they could be hidden in forested hollows with their simple stills, places where only the plentiful herds of deer might notice as they bounded past.

BOURBON TODAY

In Kentucky, Bourbon has always been the drink of choice. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson and the US Congress declared Bourbon to be America’s only native spirit. However, in the rest of the US Bourbon had a major slide in popularity during the latter part of the 20th century. More recently, though, interest has revived, and in fact Bourbon’s popularity has exploded. It’s being enjoyed in many corners of the globe, “neat” (without water or ice), “on the rocks” (with ice) and as an element in many cocktails.

Often, young consumers start their Bourbon experience by simply adding mixers like coke or ginger ale to Bourbon, poured over ice and stirred. Flavor-wise, ginger and cherry are good complements to Bourbon. And today many people are enjoying Bourbon along with the flavoring of another native American product: maple syrup.

AMERICAN HISTORY

Double-distilled from a majority of corn, Bourbon gains its distinctive caramel and vanilla, even buttery aromas and flavors because of the place and the process by which it is aged: in American oak barrels that have been charred inside, and rested in the Kentucky countryside for several years.

Kentucky is located in the eastern part of the US, just south of the Midwestern states. Early settlers found they could grow plentiful crops of corn here. Distilling the corn into whiskey was an effective and financially rewarding way to export their corn.

Bourbon is an American whiskey which has been made in the state of Kentucky since the 1700s. Kentucky became the United States’ 15th state in 1792, and its location is critical to the development of the Bourbon industry because its northern border is the Ohio River which joins the Mississippi River. Before the development of railroads, rivers carried most of the long-distance freight in the world. Bourbon whiskey was shipped down the Ohio River then the Mississippi River in barrels that were marked with their origin of “Bourbon County” Kentucky – which is how this spirit got its name in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

HOW BOURBON IS MADE

Bourbon must be at least 51% corn, but most producers use a higher percentage. The spirit is made by first grinding the corn and adding some ground rye and/or wheat. Each Bourbon producer has their own proprietary process: how finely they grind their grains, and what ratio of rye and/or wheat they add.

Water is critical to the process of making Bourbon, and there is limestone soil in the Bourbon-production area of Kentucky. The limestone filters iron out of the water and adds calcium, which is very important to the taste of the final product. For Bourbon, nothing else can be added to the grains: only water. Many producers originally chose their locations in the rolling hills of Kentucky to be near a spring and a clear-running creek for a water source.

Once the producers grind their corn, rye and/or wheat, they add water and cook the grains for a few hours. They then add malted barley and cook it for a few more hours. The barley’s enzymes act on the starch in the other grains to convert it into sugar. Yeast is added to the “mash” of grains, and it is left to ferment for three days.

If you visit a distillery you will see tubs or vats that look like bubbling hot cereal, like something you would eat for breakfast. This fermentation process generates quite a bit of heat, but if the mash gets too hot the yeast will die before it completes the process. So the vats are left open to the air, not covered.  In larger production facilities, the giant vats of mash may be kept from overheating by pipes of cool water that circulate around the outsides of the vats.

When the fermentation is complete, this thick cereal-like mash is thrown into column stills, heated and distilled according to each producer’s own formula. After the first distillation, the distilled product is re-distilled in a “doubler” which is usually a pot still. (Some producers may use more or fewer potstills and column stills during this process.)

After distillation, more pure water may be added to bring down the proof (percentage of alcohol) because Bourbon must be put in barrels at a maximum of 125 proof (62.5% alcohol).

Early Bourbon producers sent their Bourbon whiskey down the river in barrels as soon as it came off the still. But there were rapids here in the Ohio River, and even flat-bottomed shipping barges sometimes had to wait until the river rose enough to float the boats over the rocks. The city of Louisville, Kentucky grew up around this phenomenon: traders who were waiting for weeks or even months to continue their shipments toward the international port of New Orleans. 

Once the flat-bottomed barges arrived in New Orleans, the whiskey was off-loaded and the barges were sold for the value of their lumber.  In terms of the whiskey itself, some of it had been lost to evaporation in the heat. But it had also mellowed, gained color and flavor from the oak barrels it was shipped in. This lightly aged, softer Bourbon became a more prized drink than the clear spirit straight off the still. So the distillers began to age all their Bourbon in barrels, deliberately.

Legend has it that Elijah Craig, one of the early Bourbon producers, had a fire in his warehouse and his barrels were accidentally charred. He had to use them anyhow, and the Bourbon that was aged in the charred barrels was so much better that this caught on and soon everyone was ageing their Bourbon in charred barrels. This legend may not be true because the barrels are actually only charred on the inside – and there is a history of “toasting” barrels for ageing wine and spirits in other areas of the world. But however it began, this process adds great aromatic and flavor components to the finished Bourbon.

Currently, Kentucky Bourbon is required to be aged in charred barrels made from new American oak, for at least two years. Then it can be labeled “Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.” Most Bourbon is aged longer – four, six, ten, twelve or more years. If a Bourbon label has year on it, such as “Ten Year Old” or “Twelve Year Old” that is the age of the youngest Bourbon blended into this bottle.

At this point it’s important to note that Bourbon can be made in other parts of the country, as long as it adheres to the rules of Bourbon production, components and ageing. But over 95% of American Bourbon is made in Kentucky. In fact, there are currently 5,600,000 barrels of Bourbon ageing in Kentucky.

During its years of ageing, Bourbon is stored in large, multi-storied buildings out in the Kentucky countryside. The buildings are simple wooden structures, with many floors or “racks” for the Bourbon barrels to be laid down on. The buildings are known as “rick houses,” which is derived from “rack houses” and so named for the racks on which the barrels are stored for ageing. The buildings are also un-insulated, so they grow cold in the winter and hot in the summer. These changes in temperature – which occur daily as well as seasonally – cause the Bourbon to expand and contract, forcing some of the liquid through the charred layers into the wood, and then back out, from which it draws caramel flavor and color, as well as vanilla, toffee, butter and smoke, among other elements.

Each rick house can contain thousands – or tens of thousands -- of barrels. Some producers leave their barrels in place, while others rotate them from top to bottom levels. Because heat rises, the barrels at the tops of the rick houses get hotter and more Bourbon evaporates – up to nearly half of a barrel by the time it has fully aged. On the bottom floors, the evaporation can be as little as 3% per year. Heat and evaporation alter the alcohol content of the Bourbon, and develop more complexity in the spirit. So each time Bourbon is bottled, the Master Distiller of the company blends different barrels from different levels of the rick house – and different rick houses -- to create a flavor profile that is specific to the brand or batch of his company. Bourbon must be bottled at a minimum of 80 proof (40% alcohol).  Bourbon barrels can only be once in the Kentucky process so after the Bourbon is bottled, the empty barrels are usually sent to Scotland – or Ireland and other regions where distilled spirits are made and aged.

VISITING BOURBON COUNTRY

Today, Bourbon producers are experimenting and creating new small-batch Bourbons – a phenomenon initially popularized by the Jim Beam Company with its Knob Creek, Booker’s, Baker’s and Basil Hayden lines. Here are some of the major brands to try (in alphabetical order): Blanton’s, Buffalo Trace, Bulleit, Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, Four Roses, Heaven Hill, Jim Beam, Maker’s Mark, Old Forester, Pappy Van Winkle and Woodford Reserve. Some of these are easily found, while others have achieved cult status, notably Pappy Van Winkle, and some of more aged Bourbons. Note that many distillers produce several different types of Bourbons, under different labels.

Currently, there are 14 Kentucky distilleries that welcome visitors, with more opening every few months. Some are simple tasting rooms while others have fascinating tours of the entire distillery. In downtown Louisville there’s an Urban Bourbon Trail of tasting rooms, bars, and historical exhibits that can be easily accessed on foot or with a short cab ride. Outside of the city a Bourbon Trail begins less than an hour’s drive away, with nearly 20 stops including distilleries and tasting rooms.

On both of these trails you can learn about the history the region, the history of Bourbon, how to taste Bourbon, and how to pair Bourbon and Bourbon cocktails with food. The Kentucky climate is somewhat moderate, and there are events going on all year round, with a variety of hotels, inns and bed-and-breakfasts to stay in. In May, the famed Kentucky Derby horse race claims everyone’s attention in the Lexington area of the state – and the Mint Julep is the drink of choice here. In September, Bardstown’s Bourbon Fest offers tastings, dinners and fun activities to celebrate the American Heritage Spirit.