Bourbon is referred to as America’s “native spirit” for a reason. While the U.S. is known for its centuries-long tradition of beer production, its history of rye whiskey (in Pennsylvania and Maryland), and other forms of alcohol, there’s nothing in the American alcohol landscape more important than bourbon whiskey.
We can’t get enough bourbon. We love to sip it neat, on the rocks, with a splash of water, and mixed into myriad cocktails like the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Whiskey Sour, Mint Julep, and more. We love it when it’s 80-proof, cask-strength, barrel-proof, and bottle-in-bond.
This sweet, mellow, matured corn whiskey is as American as pickup trucks, bathroom stall gaps, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and McDonald’s apple pie. But, besides the fact that it often tastes like caramel, sweet corn, vanilla, and oak, and it pairs well with a frosty lager, what do you know about this historic American spirit?
Bourbon rules and regulations
You can’t just make a random whiskey and slap a label on it referring to it as a “bourbon whiskey.” That’s a big no-no. Complex rules and regulations govern what makes a whiskey a bourbon. These rules come from the 1964 Senate Concurrent Resolution 19. This resolution declared that bourbon is “a distinctive product of the United States.”
The first rule involves geography. To be referred to as a bourbon, the whiskey must be made in the United States. This includes Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. It isn’t only made in Kentucky, even though your purist uncle loves telling people it is. While 95% of all bourbon is made in the Blue Grass State, notable, memorable bourbons are made in Washington State, Texas, New York State, Florida, and all corners of the U.S.
The second rule is as important as the first one. The whiskey must be made with a mash bill (recipe list) of at least 51% corn to be considered a bourbon. While many bourbon distillers use a much higher percentage of corn, the rest of the mash bill can be made up of various other secondary grains, including wheat, rye, and barley.
To be considered a bourbon, the whiskey can be distilled to no greater than 160-proof. That’s 80% percent alcohol by volume for those new to the term. After distillation, it must be matured in new, charred oak barrels. When added to the barrel, the proof can’t exceed 125 (62.5% ABV).
However, bourbon rules don’t stipulate how long it must age. It must spend at least two years maturing to be considered a “straight” bourbon. Bourbon that only matures between two and four years must be labeled with the youngest whiskey. Bourbon over four years old doesn’t need an age state. Although many distillers add it to showcase how long the whiskey has matured.
After maturation, the bourbon might be released at cask strength. This means that it’s uncut and no water was added to proof it down. If it was proofed down, bourbon regulations state that it can’t be bottled at less than 80 proof (40% ABV). In addition, distillers can only extract nuanced flavors and aromas from the distillation and aging processes. They cannot add any coloring or flavoring.
When was bourbon first created?
Now that you have learned a little about the rules that make bourbon the iconic spirit that it is, it’s time to learn about its history. When was it first created, and why is it so important to America?
Surprisingly, a spirit so important to America has a mysterious history. One of the most common stories is that bourbon was invented in 1789 by a former Baptist minister named Elijah Craig when he matured his corn whiskey in charred oak barrels. He even has a whiskey line in his name. But many believe that this story isn’t true. Many historians claim that there’s no evidence to believe this story, as other distilleries were already operating in Kentucky at that time.
Another story revolves around a man named Jacob Spears. He was a farmer turned distiller in Bourbon County, Kentucky. In the 1780s, he might have inadvertently created bourbon when he labeled his corn whiskey casks as “bourbon” to ship them. There’s also a good chance the name was chosen simply because of so many geographical locations in Kentucky and other areas that mentioned the word “bourbon.”
Bottom line
Others believe that there isn’t one person who invented bourbon. Instead, it was the tireless work of countless distillers and whiskey pioneers over decades and centuries of innovation and creativity. Whether or not we ever find out the true origin of bourbon doesn’t matter to us. We don’t need to know who created it to love this smooth, complex, sweet corn, vanilla, toffee, oak, and cinnamon-filled spirit.
