What's The Difference In Bourbon And Whiskey
Hey whisky lovers there's a question that we get a lot what's the difference between bourbon and Tennessee whiskey there's no person better qualified to answer that question than Geoff Arnett the master distiller of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey so Geoff I hear this a lot from whiskey lovers I have a thought about it
I'm sure you get this question all the time why don't we run through what makes bourbon you tell me if that applies to Jack Daniels perfect okay made in the USA yes every drop-in Lynchburg Tennessee 51% corn actually 80 well minimum distilled to no more than 160 proof 140 okay goes in the barrel at no more than 125 proof yes 125 into a new charred oak barrel that was gonna be my next question perfect and it's bottled at a minimum of 40% ABV correct so it's a bourbon
Well yes and no you know I often tell people that Tennessee whiskey isn't anything less than bourbon because we satisfied everything that's required by the federal codes for bourbon but historically if you look at Tennessee whiskey and what they were doing that made them somewhat different than what was being made up you know north of the border up in Kentucky it was this what they called the Lincoln County process or this additional step of 10 feet of hard sugar maple charcoal filtration or at least that's what Jack Daniels chose to do so in every regard
I think at Tennessee whiskey is bourbon but we like to say it's sort of a bourbon + or bourbon plus one so this it's just this one additional step that we do so no exceptions just one addition that defines what Tennessee whiskey is and of course that is actually captured in a state law that was written a few years ago it reinforces that Tennessee whiskey must be bourbon first but it must also be mellowed made the state of Tennessee so for you if you're tasting Jack Daniels next to let's say just a Kentucky bourbon
what does that charcoal mellowing add here in the glass you know a lot of times as I'm kind of breaking down the Jagneaux process out before I even get to charcoal Melling I will start with our grain bill Jack Dino's is 80% corn 12% malted barley and April so you know we're all at least 51% corn but where we really differ with Kentucky Bourbon is in the rock content
you know being 8 percent is really low most Kentucky Bourbon will be 2 to 3 times higher and rather than we will and that will add a peppery spicy note so I'll often describe or you'll hear Kentucky Bourbon subscribe just having that characteristics of being maybe slightly bold peppery spicy when I talk about Jack Daniels,
I don't use those terms as much as I do sweet and oaky so it's this lower-right content that establishes that the barrel you know we have a patented process on our barrel that's toasted in charge so we really allow the barrel to be very prominent in the flavors of Jackie knows maybe more so then a bourbon would but nice and balanced Cheers sweet vanilla and caramel on the tip of the tongue nice body through mid-palate and then a balancing amount of oak in the finish taste like Tennessee whiskey
you know we make several different whiskeys today but in a word from ol number seven when I always look for is balance you know I don't want it to favor the sweet part of the palate or at the oak part I want it to kind of feel like it's a uniform very very uniform across the palate so sweets on the tip folks in the back but really not get in the center and it has a really nice
what I would call moderate level of mouth deal our single barrel is a bit more full a little bit more complex but with this and I think it's very balanced and for that reason also very versatile does the charcoal Melling help with that mouthfeel well absolutely when we taste our new distillate right off the steel it has a bitterness associated with being high in corn you know also historical documents about bourbon will tell you that the reason they were placing it into a barrel is if the barrel could soften this bitterness that comes from when you sour mash and you know in fermenting that environment and distill it corn is a sweet grain but tends to mask its own sweetness with a lot of bitter elements
so the barrel is one way to soften that but we feel like it Jack Daniels that charcoal is even more effective and it can accomplish in days what barrels might take years to do so it gives us a nice head start getting into the barrel but it allows that hot corn grain bill that we have that really should be sweet to really be sweet even before it gets into the barrel so definitely definitely moves the needle into the we direction by taking the bitterness away from the spirit yeah well thank you for telling us exactly why this is a bourbon but also a Tennessee whiskey it is it's certainly nothing less than a bourbon
