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• Reputation: 2675 Q&A: 45 2 29 1204 139 18 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 2 soundslikepuget

  3 0 For the record, only whiskey that is distilled in Kentucky may be properly called Bourbon. Just as Champagne must come from Champagne, France, Bourbon must come from Kentucky (In Thomas Jefferson's time, Kentucky was a frontier area known as "Bourbon County") So, strictly speaking, no nobody is, nor will they ever be, making bourbon in Wash/Oreg. That having been said, we have some excellent local whiskey producers. I have heard good things about Woodinville Whiskey Company (location obvious) and Golden Distillery in the town of Bow (Skagit County). There are two new distilleries opening soon in the town of Snohomish as well. Here is a cool website that lists microdistilleries by state: http://microdistillerymap.com/ As for the second part of your question, yes the water in Kentucky and Tennessee is special. It has a particular mineral content. That's not to say our local distillers won't be able to produce a fantastic product with our water, but it will be different because our water is different. soundslikepuget answered in Alcohol about 1 year ago | Report 3 comments by Matt, soundslikepuget, and Matt… 1 0 As far as I'm aware, it is a common misperception that bourbon can only be from Kentucky. There is no mention of Kentucky here, on the ATF Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&rgn=div8&view=text&node=27:1.0.1.1.3.3.25.2&idno=27 Bourbon is defined by being from the US, having a specific blend of grains, within a specific range of alcohol proof, and aged in new charred oak barrels. However, if you are marketing Kentucky bourbon, I believe it does legally need to be from Kentucky. Matt commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 You are absolutely correct! I was mistaken. The geographic requirement is indeed defined as being "made in the United States" and according to a specific blend/proof/new barrels etc. I stand corrected. soundslikepuget commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Thanks for the info on the new local whiskey makers, I'll have to check them out. Matt commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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• Reputation: 387 Q&A: 11 0 3 128 21 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Andrew Beck

  0 0 Distilling is often one of those things that is better done on a large scale than a smaller scale. It's sad because I want to support the little guy, but with something like bourbon or other aged distilled alcohol, the big guys just have an advantage. Think about it. Almost all Bourbon is aged 2 years. Most decent stuff is aged a minimum of 4. And the best stuff has nothing in it younger than 6 years. This means that if I started distilling tomorrow and wanted to compete with the big boys, I have to wait 6 years before I have any product to sell. This pushes me to start releasing stuff earlier rather than later. So I release 1/2 my stuff at 2 years, 1/2 of what's left at 4, 1/2 what's left at 6, and the rest at 8. This also means that my supply is artificially low. To make this up I'm probably bottling at 80 proof so I can sell more bottles, whereas a lot of brand are bottling at a much higher proof. On top of all this because my supply is so low and the demand is fairly high (whether deserved or not) my price is going to be fairly high. Even if my quality is just as good as something like Buffalo Trace my price is going to be much, much higher. For example, Buffalo Trace can be bought in the state for $28. The state store is currently selling Hudson 4-Grain Bourbon from a micro distillery in New York for $50 for a 375ml bottle. I've had both, and can say while it's well made; it's not as good. And it's certainly not worth almost 4x the price. With the big brands you also have the advantage of years and years of knowledge (and with it illegal to distill at home, it's hard to catch up quick). How do you decided on your mash bill percentages? Even a 1% shift from corn to rye can actually make a difference. You figure it out by experimenting, but if it takes a minimum of 2 years to do the experiment you are in a tough place. That's not even mentioning the kind of oak you are using, the level of char, temperature and conditions of aging, what proof you are aging at, etc. With tons of raw material they also have the ability to blend from different barrels (even of different ages) to make a consistent tasting product. Your small distillery might make a great Bourbon one year, and a so so one the next simply because one or two of their barrels were slightly flawed. Even if I'm going to make 1000 cases of finished product, I'm only using 45 barrels of alcohol. If something goes wrong with one or two of them, I either have to eat the cost or try to blend it in and accept the consequences. To make matters worse, the distilling industry wasn't caught flat footed like a lot of the large wineries and breweries were. Almost all of them are creating small batch, distinct, very old, experimental, or other specialty bottlings of their products. One of the reasons that micro brewed beer took off was that all the big breweries were basically producing similar stuff. There are probably an equivalent number of big distilleries as there were big brewers. However, look at the variety that even someone like the Sazerac company makes; they cover just about all your American whiskey bases. If the micro distillers are to succeed. They're really going to have to differentiate themselves from most American Whiskey. That may mean getting very experimental and doing things like 100% corn Bourbon. Or making Scotch or Irish style Whiskey. Or aging for a minimum time in new oak, but aging longer in used wine barrels. All of that is a pretty big and expensive gamble. Which is why you see the majority of the products coming out are white dog whiskey, vodka, gin, and eau-de-vie. Andrew Beck answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 As the other commenters have said, there's no Bourbon 'round here, but Bainbridge Organic Distillers makes a smoky whiskey that you may like. Try it with or without ice; it really changes the flavor. Batches are small, though, so it can be hard to get your hands on. Miss Foxtrot answered in Alcohol 11 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 If it were distilled in WA or OR, it wouldn't be considered Bourbon imirit? lilmonster206 answered in Alcohol about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 Terroir, climate, tradition, appropriate timber for barrel seasoning, lack of draconian Puritanical distillation laws? capicola answered in Alcohol about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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