Line Up the Shot Glasses!
angels’ share – noun. refers to the quantity of bourbon lost during the aging process in the charred white oak barrels. Approximately 20-30% is lost due to soakage and evaporation.
No distilleries exist in Bourbon County, KY today as the county is dry and legally not allowed to produce or sell any kind of alcoholic beverages. Oddly enough, Christian County, KY is a wet county.
An American Classic:
Per the Internal Revenue Service Code of the United States, bourbon must contain no less that 51% corn. The remaining ingredients are water, malted barley, yeast, and rye or wheat. Bourbon is aged in new charred white oak barrels. No color or flavoring is added in the production of bourbon. Bourbon got its name when barrels of the whiskey stamped with “Bourbon” (the county in KY in which it was produced) were shipped off, and people began identifying the product as such. Congress named bourbon a “distinctive product of the United States” in 1964. This was done to protect the integrity and production of the product, much like Scotch in Scotland.
My folks lived not far from the Jack Daniel’s distillery in Tennessee for a few years. We took the tour there, and it was very interesting.
They use the local trees to make their pallets for shipping and transport around the distillery. After being in use for a while, they use them to create the charcoal that the bourbon is dripped through. The local trees are the reason why Jack tastes different from all other whiskeys.
They have the booze age in these huge storage barns. There are literally thousands of 500 gallon casks stored in rows and rows of shelving. The whole place is still in wooden buildings, like what Jack Daniels originally built.
BTW, I shot you an email on dagoddess-at-gmail-dot-com. Did you see it?
Mike
Comment by Sapper Mike — 2010/12/16 @ 00:15
Oh, I’m so bad about checking that account! I’ll go check now. (You have my regular email and you’re welcome to use that one whenever you’d like.)
I used to be a Jack girl. Now it’s Jim Beam Black. It’s delicious! You should try it. Smooth and savory.
Comment by DaGoddess — 2010/12/16 @ 01:36