{"id":2348,"date":"2020-05-25T09:55:18","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T13:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=2348"},"modified":"2022-02-22T10:16:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T15:16:02","slug":"the-whiskey-ledger-with-bourbon-apprentice-002","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=2348","title":{"rendered":"The Whiskey Ledger with Bourbon Apprentice"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Entry # 002 Nothing to Fear in Here <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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 <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges with getting deep into bourbon is the intimidation factor \u2013 there\u2019s a lot to learn, a lot to take in.  You may find yourself enjoying a glass at a bar only to have your night ruined by some bourbon snob ensuring that everyone on a stool gets to hear him pontificate everything he knows when you\u2019re just trying to watch the game or connect with friends.  The silver lining is that for every jerk like that, there\u2019s at least one hundred people sharing their respect for the craft or looking to learn what little bit of information you may have to offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is obviously a huge disconnect between the college partygoer slugging Jameson before blacking out and the sommelier articulating the abstract scents and flavors of fruits you\u2019ve never heard of with each sip of bourbon that he takes.  But within that variance is a million different levels of experience with the spirit \u2013 somewhere within lies you, me, and the vast majority of other people.  Luckily most people in the bourbon community have no ego about where they are on that sliding scale, but you need to at least be courageous enough to engage in conversation to find out.  The only claim I\u2019ll make is that I know enough to be dangerous, but I\u2019m turning over every rock continuing to learn more.  I began by listening to podcasts like <\/span>Dads Drinking Bourbon<\/a><\/i><\/b>, where John and Zeke regularly host influential industry personalities between casual segments that make you feel like your sitting around the fire pit with friends.  It\u2019s equal parts entertainment and education.  I also started reading books like Fred Minnick\u2019s <\/span>Bourbon Curious<\/i><\/b>, which was hugely informative and instrumental in my learning to associate tasting notes with memories from my past (I could write an article only on that section, but I digress).  The purpose of this month\u2019s entry is to ensure that you realize that the bourbon community is a safe place where you don\u2019t have to feel any embarrassment about what you do or don\u2019t know.  There are very few master distillers out there, but there\u2019s plenty of us!<\/span><\/p>\n

Having said all that, hopefully this little glossary of terms will aid you in some upcoming conversations or score you points during trivia night at the bar.  The following <\/span>basic<\/span> definitions are based on my understanding of the terms, some of which are held to be true by legal standards.  More could be added to some, but the purpose here is for a general ease of understanding.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Everyone has heard that all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon\u2026I think that is a good place to start!<\/span><\/p>

Whiskey<\/b> \u2013 distilled liquid from fermented grains like corn, barley, rye and wheat that is usually aged in wooden barrels<\/span><\/p>

Bourbon<\/b> \u2013 must be produced in the US (<\/span>any state \u2013 not just KY<\/b>), contain at least 51% corn in the mash and aged in new charred white oak barrels<\/span><\/p>

Straight Bourbon<\/b> \u2013 bourbon must be aged at least two years to be considered a straight bourbon whiskey<\/span><\/p>

Age Statement<\/b> \u2013 if a bourbon posts an age statement, it must post the youngest bourbon within that bottle as the official age.\u00a0 For example, if a blend is composed of 6, 8, and 12 year whiskey, it could only be posted as a 6 year bourbon<\/span><\/p>

NAS<\/b> \u2013 Non-Age Stated.\u00a0 If a bourbon is aged less than four years, the age must be stated on the bottle.\u00a0 If older, it can be NAS<\/span><\/p>

ABV<\/b> \u2013 Alcohol By Volume, percentage of alcohol in the distillate<\/span><\/p>

Proof<\/b> \u2013 To be considered a bourbon, it must be bottled at no less than 40% ABV (or 80 proof).\u00a0 Anything over 140 proof is considered \u201chazmat\u201d<\/span><\/p>

Bottled In Bond<\/b> \u2013 the Bottled In Bond Act of 1897 (probably the best thing to happen to bourbon) ensured that the whiskey you\u2019re drinking is unadulterated and free from any unsavory additives.\u00a0 Anything carrying this designation was the product of a single distillation season by one distiller.\u00a0 The bourbon must be aged and stored at a federally bonded warehouse for a minimum of four years and then bottled at exactly 100 proof.\u00a0 Labeling must confirm as much<\/span><\/p>

Mash Bill<\/b> \u2013 quite simply the recipe \/ percentage of grains.\u00a0 Again, to be considered a bourbon, it must be a minimum of 51% corn (ex: 70% corn, 22% rye, 8% malted barley).\u00a0 Conversely a rye must contain at least 51% rye<\/span><\/p>

Wheated Bourbon<\/b> \u2013 bourbon with wheat replacing the rye in the mash bill<\/span><\/p>

Wheat Whiskey<\/b> \u2013 not bourbon, majority of the mash is wheat rather than corn\/rye<\/span><\/p>

Sour Mash<\/b> \u2013 when an already fermented mash is set aside from the last batch and added to the new mash for distillation, typically done to keep the distillate consistent<\/span><\/p>

Sweet Mash<\/b> \u2013 using a newly fermented mash each time for the distillation process<\/span><\/p>

Small Batch<\/b> \u2013 the most relative term in the industry.\u00a0 Small batch bourbons are made from blending barrels together to form a consistent flavor profile, but the size of the distillery may very well determine <\/span>just how small<\/span><\/i> the small batch is \u2013 anywhere from two barrels to a couple hundred or even thousand barrels can still be considered small batch<\/span><\/p>

Single Barrel<\/b> \u2013 like Bill Belichick says, \u201cit is what it is.\u201d\u00a0 The product of a single barrel being bottled.\u00a0 No two barrels are exactly alike<\/span><\/p>

Store Pick<\/b> \u2013 When a private group (either representing a store, social club, or other organization) visits a distillery and samples directly from several different individual barrels.\u00a0 They choose their favorite and purchase that barrel to be bottled specifically for them.\u00a0 This process can also take place remotely with sample bottles being sent to the group.\u00a0 Store picks are some of my favorite bottles of bourbons.\u00a0 I find that they are frequently either amplified versions of the standard shelf bottle or sometimes even a little off-profile to make them unique.\u00a0 If you find a store pick (AKA \u2013 single barrel select, private barrel selection), grab it!<\/span><\/p>

Barrel Proof \u2013 <\/b>bourbon bottled at the same proof it came out of the barrel at without being watered down<\/span><\/p>

Angel\u2019s Share<\/b> \u2013 bourbon lost to evaporation during aging<\/span><\/p>

Cooperage<\/b> \u2013 where the distillery sources their barrels from<\/span><\/p>

Tasting Notes<\/b> \u2013 the consumer\u2019s description of what they get out of the whiskey, typically Nose (smells), Palate (taste \u2013 not pallet\u2026don\u2019t make the same mistake I did), and Finish (how long it lasts, heat, mouthfeel, etc.)<\/span><\/p>

Here\u2019s a couple of fun ones as well:<\/span><\/p>

Dusties<\/b> \u2013 old bourbons, discontinued bourbons, expressions from a distillery\u2019s previous ownership\/distiller, bottles found in your grandfather\u2019s attic<\/span><\/p>

Unicorn<\/b> \u2013 another relative term meaning a rare bourbon, highly allocated and tough to acquire.\u00a0 Sometimes a unicorn in NC is readily available in another part of the country<\/span><\/p>

Tater<\/b> \u2013 someone who overtly buys into the latest craze or bourbon hype, buys bottles for the sole purpose of flipping them or just leaving them on their shelf<\/span><\/p>

Newb<\/b> \u2013 someone new to the hobby<\/span><\/p>

Secondary Market<\/b> \u2013 pure evil (some may say a necessary evil)<\/span><\/p>

Hopefully this article provided you with a solid baseline to take you from newb to novice, so you aren\u2019t so anxious when it comes to bourbon terminology. There\u2019s plenty of information out there, you just have to go find it.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy the hunt as much as I do.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the biggest challenges with getting deep into bourbon is the intimidation factor \u2013 there\u2019s a lot to learn, a lot to take in. You may find yourself enjoying a glass at a bar only to have your night ruined by some bourbon snob ensuring that everyone on a stool gets to hear him pontificate everything he knows when you\u2019re just trying to watch the game or connect with friends. The silver lining is that for every jerk like that, there\u2019s at least one hundred people sharing their respect for the craft or looking to learn what little bit of information\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,170,35],"tags":[40,91,38],"class_list":["post-2348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-spirits","category-the-whiskey-ledger","tag-bourbon","tag-the-whiskey-ledger","tag-whiskey"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/IMG_6927-scaled.jpg","acf":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2348"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2674,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2348\/revisions\/2674"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}