Bourbon curious: a simple tasting guide for the savvy drinker

243 Pages·2015·59.851 MB·English

by  Minnick, Fred

Bourbon Curious

BOURBON
u r i o u s

A Simple Tasting Guide for the Savvy Drinker
FRED MINNICK
To Oscar Leo, I look forward to enjoying your first bourbon
with you. When you turn twenty-one, of course.
Note to readers: Please enjoy bourbon responsibly.
First published in 2015 by Zenith Press, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.,
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA
© 2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
Text © 2015 Fred Minnick
All photographs by Fred Minnick except where noted otherwise.
All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no
part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.
The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recom-
mendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also
disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.
We recognize, further, that some words, brand names, and designations mentioned herein
are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only.
This is not an official publication.
Zenith Press titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or
sales-promotional use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at Quarto Publishing
Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.
To find out more about our books, visit us online at www.zenithpress.com.
ISBN: 978-0-7603-4740-9
Digital edition: 978-1-62788-710-6
Hardcover edition: 978-0-76034-740-9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Minnick, Fred, 1978-
Bourbon curious : a simple tasting guide for the savvy drinker / Fred Minnick.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7603-4740-9 (pb)
1. Bourbon whiskey. I. Title.
TP605.M566 2015
663’.52--dc23
2015005244
Acquisitions Editor: Elizabeth Demers
Project Manager: Madeleine Vasaly
Art Director: James Kegley
Cover Designer: Richard Korab
Layout: Erin Seaward-Hiatt
Printed in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Part One | History, Legends, and Contemporary Truths
Introduction .............................................................................7
one | Bourbon Politics .........................................................17
Part Two | Sources of Flavor
two | Pre-Fermentation......................................................55
three | Yeast, Distillation, and Wood ..............................71
Part Three | Tasting
four | How to Taste Bourbon ............................................103
five | Grain-Forward Bourbons .........................................123
six | Nutmeg-Forward Bourbons .......................................135
seven | Caramel-Forward Bourbons ................................159
eight | Cinnamon-Forward Bourbons ............................173
nine | Select Limited Editions and Special Releases .....193
Appendix: Brand Histories ...................................................205
Notes .........................................................................................233
Bibliography .............................................................................234
Index ..........................................................................................237
About the Author ...................................................................239
Acknowledgments ..................................................................240
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Introduction
P
lease treat yourself. Pick up a bottle of bourbon, twist the
cork off, and smell those sweet and succulent vanilla and
caramel aromas. Delight in the cinnamon and nutmeg
notes. Pour the russet-colored elixir into your glass—add ice if
you like—and let this glorious bourbon journey begin.
Bourbon transcends ingredients and brand names. It em-
bodies a culture, a feeling, and a sense of unity that draws friends
together and brings foes to peace.
But with greatness comes misunderstanding. Despite being a
core piece of Americana and instrumental in the US tax economy,
bourbon is the most misunderstood product on liquor store shelves.
Fantastic legends have misinformed consumers for more than a cen-
tury about who, exactly, invented bourbon; distillery tours often mis-
inform visitors with incorrect regulations and terms.
Then couple these troubling details with the macho know-it-
all bar boor. “You like bourbon? Let me tell you about bourbon! It
has to be made in Kentucky.” This guy takes a dominant posture,
because he’s in the professor role, and he spews—and in some cases,
spits—blatantly wrong information in your ear when all you want to
do is drink the damn bourbon in peace. He “educates” bartenders,
random people on the subway, and his mother’s friends with atro-
cious “facts” he’s unearthed on Wikipedia.
Bourbon professionals spend a lot of time cleaning up this arro-
gant guy’s messes, and what amazes me is how sure some of these
people are that they’re right. At a neighborhood cocktail party,
I approached somebody parroting the blatantly wrong fact that
bourbon “must be two years old.” As he slammed his red Solo cup
down and tried to get tough, I realized two things: one, he had stinky
breath, and two, he wasn’t a guy who liked being told he was wrong.
7
The truth is that bourbon can be made anywhere in the United
States, not just Kentucky, and in fact comes from New York, Wyoming,
Indiana, and many other states. For a five-decade stretch in the twen-
tieth century, Mexican distilleries also produced bourbon, which is
one of the reasons US distillers pursued geographical protection in
Congress. Bourbon itself has no age requirement, but to be labeled
straight bourbon it must be at least two years old.
Because of bourbon’s continued growth in popularity, the mis-
informed malcontents are spreading like a bad virus. Hopefully, this
book will reach you before they do.
I hope Bourbon Curious will become your guide to this wonderful
liquor, as well as to a tasting journey that pairs brands to the four most
common flavor notes found in bourbon—caramel, cinnamon, grain,
and nutmeg. It’s my goal to give you information about bourbon you
won’t find on the Internet or on a label. Even if you’re a longtime bour-
bon aficionado, I hope you’ll find yourself saying, “I didn’t know that.”
Let’s begin at the beginning. What is bourbon?
All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. If this doesn’t
make sense to you, don’t worry—you’re not alone. The most common
question in my Bourbon 101 classes is “What’s the difference between
bourbon and whiskey?” I’ve found the best way to answer this question
without watching my audience fall asleep is to give a simple analogy. In
the same way the word car covers a broad range of motor vehicles, from
a slick cherry-red 1965 Ford Mustang to a dilapidated blue 1982 Nissan
station wagon, whiskey is a broad term that can be further broken down
into categories dictated by country of origin, grain, and aging process. In
short, whiskey is just distilled beer that has been aged in barrels.
Scotch and bourbon are both whiskeys, but the similarities stop
there. Scotch must be made in Scotland, and its celebrated grain is bar-
ley; bourbon must be made in the United States, and its primary grain is
corn. Scotch whiskey’s regulated categories are single malt, single grain,
blended malt, blended scotch whiskey, and blended grain whiskey; bour-
bon’s regulated categories are straight, blended, blended straight, and
bottled-in-bond.
The US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) defines
some bourbon terms (see sidebar), while distillers frequently add produc-
tion descriptions, such as “sour mash,” “small batch,” and “single barrel.”
8 Part One