What is American whiskey?

 Bourbons and ryes are some of the fastest-growing categories in American spirits. Rye whiskeys are growing thanks to the craft cocktail boom. While bourbon is flourishing amongst collectors, enthusiasts, and beginners. 

If you want a brief history of American whiskey, check out this blog. 

Part of understanding American whiskey is to know how the government classifies whiskeys. The responsibility of enforcing the labeling requirements falls on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, or TTB. It can get complicated but think of it as three filters. 

1. Is it whiskey?

2. What type of whiskey (class) is it?

3. Defining the type of whiskey (age)?

Is it whiskey?

For it to be whiskey, it must be distilled from a fermented mash of grain. Distilled to less than 190 proof (95 percent ABV). Stored in oak containers and bottled at no less than 80 proof. If it is under 80 proof, it is not whiskey. 

The primary takeaways are distilled from grains, aged in oak, and at least 80 proof in the bottle. 

What type of whiskey is it?

There are three main classifications of American whiskey bourbon, rye, and single malt. They follow the same set of guidelines around the proof, aging, and mashbill.

• Proof

  • The final distillation must be under 160 proof. 

  • The entry proof must be no more than 125 proof. 

    • This is the proof the whiskey goes into the barrel. 

• Aging

  • It must age in a new charred oak barrel.

    • No length of time is specified.

• Mashbill

  • The mashbill must be at least 51% of the parent grain. The parent grain determines what we call it. 

    • Bourbon must contain at least 51% corn.

    • Rye must contain at least 51% rye.

    • Single malt must contain at least 51% malted barley. 

      • Notice this is different from the Scottish definition. 

      • There is a movement in the U.S. to adopt the Scottish definition of 100% malted barley.

    • Wheat whiskey must contain at least 51% wheat.

You get the idea. A rye whiskey follows the proofing guidelines, contains at least 51% rye, and aged in a new charred oak barrel. 

You can make a whiskey that does not follow all these guidelines, but we call it something different. Using the example above. If they aged rye whiskey in used barrels, it is a whiskey from a rye mashbill. 

Definition refresher. 

Mashbill is the "recipe" of American whiskey. The ratio of grains that make a particular whiskey. An example of a mashbill is 75% corn, 21% rye, and 4% malt (malted barley).

Defining the whiskey?

This is primarily about age. Does it need an age statement, is a straight whiskey or bottled in bond? 

According to TTB regulations, if the youngest whiskey in the bottle is under four years old, the label must state the age of the whiskey. Once it is at least four years of age, an age statement is not required.

A Straight Whiskey has aged a minimum of 2 years in oak containers. 

Bottled in bond whiskey must meet all the previous requirements and more. It comes from one distillery during one distilling season by one master distiller. Aged at least four years in a bonded warehouse and bottled at 100 proof. If you see this on the label, it is worth checking out. 

Those are the basic labeling principles that determine how a whiskey makes it to the world. A couple of other topics to discuss are Tennessee Whiskey and non-distiller producers (NDPs). 

Tennessee whiskey.

Made famous by Jack Daniels and plenty of country music. To my knowledge, there is not a federal designation for Tennessee Whiskey. The state has legislation in place that dictates what can be Tennessee Whiskey. It whiskey made in Tennesse and undergone the Lincoln County Process. Jack Daniels fits the bourbon classification. 

The Lincoln County Process filters whiskey through 10 feet of sugar maple charcoal before aging. 

Non-distiller producers. 

With the boom of the whiskey industry, these have become more popular. An NDP is a company that buys whiskey from a distiller to tweak the flavors or repackage it before selling. In some cases, but not always, you can pick this out from reading the label. It won't say NDP, but it might say "produced by," "bottled by," and "handmade" to name a few. Yet, some small distillers use those phrases even though they distill the product. If it says "distilled by" then you know that distillery produced the whiskey in the bottle. 

A brief explanation of allocations.

Right now, the demand for specific bourbons is higher than the supply. Distilleries now do allocations to keep up with the demand. It is an industry practice where limited quantities are divided across markets. Stores are forced to move a higher volume of lower-end liquors to get more of the limited quantities. 

This gives you a basic overview of American whiskey. A lot of it centers around the mashbill, proof, and time aged. All topics I'll explore along this journey with you. 

Until next time cheers!

Jake