What is the difference between bourbon and whiskey?
Hometown
Whisky esc you: O scotch whiskey must be produced in Scotland. Not only, to use the term "Scotch whiskey" on the label, whiskey must also be bottled in Scotland (except for blended whiskey).
Bourbon: contrary to popular opinion, bourbon should not be produced in Kentucky. In fact, it could be produced in any state in the United States but the calcareous water found in Kentucky makes it an ideal location: the limestone filters out impurities.
Ingredients
Whisky escsingle malt oces must be produced from 100% golden malt; Grain whiskey is usually produced with a combination of malted and unmalted gold as well as grain.
Bourbon: Bourbon must be made with a base recipe of at least 51% of must, the rest being grains, grains and gold. The higher the proportion of must in the recipe, the sweeter the bourbon will be; bourbons that are heavy in grain will have a spicier flavor.
You can also read: Sweet whiskey? Here are the best
Distillation
Scotch: The method by which Scotch whiskey is distilled depends on the style or category: single malts are generally doubly distilled (sometimes triple distilled) in stills, while cereal whiskeys will be distilled in a column, with exceptions: always simple Mortlach malt, for example, uses a complicated system that provides a combination of stills.
Bourbon: Almost all bourbon is distilled for the first time in a column still, so that the spirit is subjected to a second distillation in a modified cane still, known as a "doubler" (or "thumper").
Aging
Scotch: the distilleries that produce scotch whiskey have a lot to thank the bourbon industry. Bourbon distillers can only invest their spirit in new oak barrels; after being used once, the barrels are no longer useful to them, so most of them are sold to Scottish producers, who are more than happy to invest their whiskey inside them.
Scottish distillers have a lot more freedom when it comes to bottle your whiskey and use a wide variety of bottles, including those that previously contained wine, port or cognac.
Bourbon: The other big difference between Scotch whiskey and bourbon is the weather. Kentucky's warmer temperatures mean that evaporation rates are much higher, so bourbon kills much faster than its Scottish equivalent, about twice the speed.
Also read: Whiskey and the spectator industry
Try
It is extremely difficult to speak of a generic style for Scotch whiskey or bourbon, but there are some general tastes that you can expect, depending on the style.
Scotch: There is not a single style of Scotch whiskey in general: a light and bitter Speysider has little in common with a strong and strong Islamic whiskey.
In addition, due to factors such as the type of bottle, the level of ripeness and the duration of maturation, Scottish whiskeys can be elegant and floral, rich and spicy, or even have a salty and maritime character.
Bourbon: A bourbon made with a high percentage of but will taste sweeter than one made with a good dose of soda.
It is also fair to say that bourbons generally taste sweeter than most Scottish whiskeys and often show notes of toffee, cinnamon and vanilla (the latter from American oak in which it is matured).
When confronting Scotch whiskey and bourbon, it is impossible to say whether one is better than the other; it's one more question of which product you prefer.
Most bourbons are made in an affordable style, but there are also many dark and delicate whiskeys.
We recommend that you try some of them and build your repertoire of favorite whiskeys.
