Gone Again: Bourbon, the original American spirit
Written by Elizabeth Granger

LOUISVILLE: Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, Old Heaven Hill, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, and Four Roses. All bourbon, and all made in northern Kentucky.
Bourbon, the original American spirit. Maybe even as American as apple pie. But in this case, as American as corn.
Ah yes, corn and corn liquor. Settlers who moved west into the territory that became Kentucky took with them the stills they'd been using to make liquor in the East, and before that in Europe. Their main ingredient? Rye.
But Kentucky's No. 1 crop was corn. And like the proverbial optimist who makes lemonade from lemons, these enterprising fellows made corn whiskey from their corn. It's so unique, and uniquely American, that Congress declared bourbon, which is corn whiskey, America's native spirit. Today several federal laws govern the making of bourbon.
Seven distilleries south and east of Louisville have teamed up to form the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Tours are offered at most of them, as are tastings. Yes, children are allowed on the tours, but no one under 21 is allowed at the tastings. Guides lead visitors through the tastings with hints to swirl the bourbon to open up the aroma, to keep their mouths slightly open, to pay attention to flavors in different parts of their mouths. And to "practice, practice, practice. Responsibly."
Tours are free except at Woodford Reserve, where $5 is charged.
"You might be surprised at how small some of the distilleries are," said Susan Dallas, marketing communications manager for the Greater Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau. "And bourbon is clear when they put it in the barrel. It's the charred oak barrel , charred on the inside, that gives it its amber color."
So, why bourbon? Before Kentucky became a state in 1792, a huge portion of it was in Bourbon County, Va., and folks called the entire area Old Bourbon. Whiskey shipped from there was labeled Bourbon County Whiskey, soon shortened to bourbon.
"The Scots, the Irish and the Germans settled in Kentucky," said Lynne Grant, director of guest services at Heaven Hill Distilleries. "They brought their stills with them, and they brought their recipes with them. But when they got here, they realized the native plants were different than the ones they were growing in Scotland and Ireland and Germany. You can get a much higher yield from fewer plants (with corn), so it was less work. So they were using their excess; what they didn't need to feed themselves and their animals, they were making into liquor because it was like money. In fact, we have a house in town that was bought with 50 gallons of bourbon."
The outcome? Bourbon is made mainly from corn with rye or wheat added for flavor.
"But you can't make whiskey without barley," Grant added. "There's an enzyme in malted barley, if you do not have it, fermentation will not happen." Sonny Mooney, tour guide at Woodford Reserve, added, "Settlers came here because they were trying to get away from the government revenue agents in western Pennsylvania, etc., when they passed that Whiskey Tax in 1791."
By then whiskey had replaced rum as Americans' liquor of choice, mainly because rum was difficult to get. Distillers who fled to the west, that being Kentucky, found not only corn but also limestone filtered water which produced a quality product.
The whiskey tax was so reminiscent of the earlier Stamp, Townshend and Tea acts that it led to the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794; it, in turn, led to the repeal of the whiskey tax.
Today, more than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky. The basics of distilling the liquor are very much the same as they were in its beginning, and all bourbon distilleries follow basically the same process. Differences may come in the percentage of corn used, 72 percent at Woodford Reserve and 70 percent at Maker's Mark, for example, as well as the varying percentages of rye and barley. Maker's Mark uses red winter wheat instead of rye.
And while all bourbon must be aged at least two years, most are aged longer. Some much longer. Typically, the aged bourbon from hundreds or even thousands of barrels is mixed together before bottling to assure uniformity. Small scale bourbons, principally Maker's Mark, produce only a small number of barrels a day. Small batch bourbon mixes together liquor from a small number of barrels. And single barrel bourbon is just that, bottled from a single barrel.
There's even a difference of opinion in spelling. To most, it's whiskey; at Maker's Mark, however, it's whisky.
At Heaven Hill, the tastings are in a room that, from the outside, looks like a bourbon barrel. At Buffalo Trace, guests who choose not to taste the liquor are offered Dr. McGillicuddy's root beer. At Maker's Mark, customers who purchase bourbon are invited to dip the bottles themselves to create the company's signature red wax tendrils.
And yet the distilleries, competitors to be sure, work together to advance their industry.
"We're all great friends," said Grant.
When Heaven Hill suffered a devastating fire that destroyed half of its production plant and completely destroyed several of its warehouses in 1996, other distilleries called to offer help, even before that disastrous day was over.
"Within minutes of the fire happening, people were on the phones saying, 'What can we do? Is there anything you need now? Call us in the morning if there's anything you need.' And instantly another distillery offered up their actual distilling plant to us. Our master distiller was there the next day, making whiskey. We have whiskey for every day since we opened, we have made whiskey every day, except the day of the fire."
In an ironic twist, it was a much earlier fire that led to bourbon getting its unique color.
It was in the late 1700s when a minister and part-time distiller named Elijah Craig was preparing to make barrels to ship his whiskey to New Orleans. A small barn fire charred the wood he'd planned to use. It didn't seem to be damaged too badly, so he used the wood anyway.
It's that charring that gives bourbon its warm, amber color.
In Louisville, eight restaurant/bars have formed the Urban Bourbon Trail. All offer at least 50 bourbon labels at the bar; some use the liquor in food preparation. Ask for a Bourbon Country passport and have it stamped at each of the eight bourbon bars. Turn your passport in to the Louisville Visitors Center to receive a special gift. If you mail it in, you'll get in return mail not only your gift but also your passport.
A strong suggestion: Although Lynn's Paradise Café is not on the trail because it has fewer than 50 different bourbon labels, it's worth a stop for its bourbon ball milkshake or bourbon ball French toast, for breakfast, mind you.
Elizabeth Granger is a Fishers resident. She can be reached at wayfarer@comcast.net. Opinions may not reflect those of the Noblesville Daily Times.

Know More:

Kentucky Bourbon Trail www.kybourbontrail.com
1. Jim Beam
2. Heaven Hill
3. Maker's Mark
4. Buffalo Trace
5. Woodford Reserve
6. Wild Turkey
7. Four Roses

Urban Bourbon Trail in Louisville www.justaddbourbon.com

1. Blu
2. Bourbons Bistro
3. The Brown
4. Jockey Silks Bourbon Bar & Lounge
5. Maker's Mark Bourbon House & Lounge
6. Park Place on Main
7. Proof on Main
8. The Old Seelbach Bar

Kentucky Distillers' Association www.kybourbon.com
Kentucky Bourbon Festival www.kybourbonfestival.com/
Louisville Convention & Visitors Bureau
www.gotolouisville.com
Kentucky Department of Tourism:
www.kentuckytourism.com/
Data to Drink In

- Bourbon is the official spirit of the United States, by act of Congress.
- All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon.
- Bourbon, by federal law, must be produced in the United States.
- Bourbon, by federal law, has to be at least 51 percent corn.
- Bourbon, by federal law, must be distilled at less than 160 proof, or 80 percent alcohol.
- Bourbon, by federal law, must be aged at least two years.
- Bourbon, by federal law, must be aged in new, charred white oak barrels.
- Nothing can be done to alter the flavor or color in any way, from the time it is distilled through bottling. Only water can be added to adjust to barrel and bottling strengths.
- More than 95 percent of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky.
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MOONSHINE
Moonshine closes in on respectability
Posted by Brett Anderson, Restaurant writer, The Times-Picayune

One doesn't take an interest in moonshine without acquiring at least one story relating to its potency.
Matthew Rowley's took place in Ireland, where moonshine is called poutine. One local sample knocked him off his feet. Literally.
"I was knee-walking drunk, " he said.
A New Orleans friend once sampled moonshine offered by gentlemen he met on a camping trip in rural Arkansas. "I lost the feeling in one of my arms, " he said of the beverage's effects, "and my buddy couldn't hear for a while."
Moonshine's mystique is drawn in part from the danger people associate with it, but its reputation as an illegal and potentially hazardous elixir has little to do with why it is on the verge of earning mainstream respectability. That has less to do with mythology than drinkability.
Consider Joe Mahalek's experiences after moving to Winston-Salem, N.C., where he discovered that what's alternatively referred to as tonsil varnish, stagger soup and busthead can, when expertly made, actually be very good.
While the word moonshine can describe any illegally produced alcoholic beverage, in most of the American South, particularly in the mountainous Piedmont region where Mahalek lives in North Carolina, moonshine refers to homemade corn whiskey. It's what Mahalek tasted for the first time at -- appropriately enough -- a blues festival, and later frequently found being served from mason jars at gatherings in homes.
"Moonshine is still a very big part of the culture in the Southeast, " Mahalek said. He came to respect modern moonshiners as "real craftsmen" who make "a great product, " and was struck by "watching people's reactions over the years when they first partake in sipping the 'shine. Eventually I was like, 'Why isn't someone making this legally?' "
Mahalek became that someone when he started Piedmont Distillers, which began producing two brands of moonshine in 2005. Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon is based on the family recipe of legendary moonshine runner and NASCAR progenitor Junior Johnson. Midnight Moon is not yet available in Louisiana; Mahalek said the clear, 80-proof corn whiskey compares favorably to premium vodka.
Catdaddy, Piedmont Distillers' other brand, is a flavored moonshine available in New Orleans. It too is a clear corn whiskey, but with a notable viscosity and a flavor profile reminiscent of cafe brulot or eggnog.
Catdaddy "was born as a flavored moonshine because the majority of what I came across around Winston-Salem had been purchased and then infused with fruit, " Mahalek said. "Rarely did I come across the straight white lightning in the early days of my exposure to moonshine."
The introduction of Catdaddy and other legal moonshine brands to the New Orleans market is due largely to the efforts of Audrey Rodriguez, the assistant general manager of Cochon.
"I've always known about moonshine, but I didn't know if we could get it or not. I thought it would be a nice novelty that goes with the Southern part of our restaurant, " said Rodriguez, who has become a serious moonshine geek. "It's steeped in American history, and that's what I love about it."
Rowley helped bring much of that history to light with a home-distilling primer that doubles as a compendium of moonshine lore titled "Moonshine!" The San Diego resident will be in town for Tales of the Cocktail, hosting a Thursday panel -- one of two sponsored by Piedmont Distillers -- on home-distilling and moonshine.
"Once I started realizing there was distilling going on, I found it everywhere, " Rowley said of his moonshine research. And the distilling he discovered wasn't only in the rural South, but in places like Kansas City and Manhattan.
"I think I was 36 hours in California before I found my first still, " he said.
Rowley, like Mahalek, was intrigued to find such high quality liquor being made by amateurs. He eventually came to realize that in some instances he was tasting the result of recipes that had been refined and passed through generations.
"There's been some dangerously bad whiskey that's been made, " Rowley said, "but among the people who are making it for themselves and their friends or families, they're not about to make some bathtub gin or radiator whiskey. They're doing it so they can make the best liquor they can drink."
The parallel enthusiasms for vintage craftsmanship and local flavors in the culinary world at large could help bring moonshine's most positive legacy -- home distilling -- out of the proverbial woods.
"The same people who are interested in heirloom vegetables and heritage livestock are the ones who want to drink moonshine, " Rowley said.
John Currence, the New Orleans-born chef/owner of City Grocery in Oxford, Miss., was inspired by a visit with the legendary bourbon maker Julian Van Winkle III. He said he now likens his desire to make whiskey -- something he has been researching -- to his reasons for making his own charcuterie.
"I just started to think that I had consumed a grotesque amount of awful 'shine during the course of my life, " Currence said in an e-mail. "I (figured) I should be able to come up with something that was a little more palatable than what I had imbibed heretofore."
Rodriguez's effort to bring more types of legal moonshine into the New Orleans market has included turning others onto its availability. Catdaddy's spicy sweetness makes it particularly attractive to pastry chefs. Bayona's dessert menu has included an apple spice cake paired with Catdaddy ice cream. Last fall, Emeril's Delmonico served sweet potato pie in Catdaddy-spiked caramel sauce.
Meanwhile, Cochon's moonshine selection has grown to five brands. And their popularity among patrons has exceeded Rodriquez's expectations.
"You don't know how many people come up to the bar looking for shots of moonshine, " she said. "We've got people who stop in here in the middle of the day and don't even eat. They just want to try the moonshine."
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Cycle Time
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Price $75,000
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Russian distiller takes shot at cracking local whiskey market
By Alex Rodriguez | Tribune correspondent

MOSCOW - Russian whiskey. To a lover of bourbons and single-malts, that sounds about as palatable as Kentucky-made vodka would be to someone from Smolensk.
Alibek Irazikhanov, director general of a distillery in southern Russia making batches of Kizlyarsky Whiskey, acknowledges the odds are stacked against him. Vodka still reigns supreme here in bars and business lunches, and stalwarts like Johnnie Walker, Bushmills and Jim Beam are readily available to Russians with broadening palates.
But Irazikhanov is confident he'll be able to secure a niche in the market, largely because his whiskey at $12 for a half-liter will be considerably cheaper than imports from Ireland, the U.S. and Scotland that sell for $80 or more.
"The traditional customers in Russia for whiskey are the well-to-do," says Irazikhanov, whose company is known simply as Russian Whiskey. "But we think our main target audience will be young people who follow Western trends and absorb Western culture. If it's cheap enough, young people will buy it."
Five years ago, Irazikhanov sent specialists from his distillery to Scotland to bone up on the secrets of good whiskey-making. In 2005, Russian Whiskey began making its first batch, which it bottled last year. Full-scale commercial production began this year.
Though vodka and beer are the libations of choice for most Russians, upscale Moscow grocery stores now regularly stock everything from top caliber tequilas and scotches to absinthe. Prices for imported hard liquor, however, are out of reach for most everyday Muscovites.
"We have everything we need to make top quality whiskey the right grain, the technology, the specialists and the price will be half as much as Scottish or Irish or American whiskey," Irazikhanov says, adding that all his team needs is a little time. "In a few years we'll have enough experience, and our customers will start to like it."
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Recent MBA / Chemcial Engineer with winery and distilling experience is looking for work in the Louisville KY area.
carson.merkwan@gmail.com
or 1.605.464.1667.
===============
Rogue is Hiring
Rogue Spirits is looking to fill a distilling position at our Portland, Oregon distillery. Our current distiller is off to law school
later this year so we are interested in finding the right person to train and take over operation of the distillery this summer.
Please send your cover letter and resume to: gary@rogue.com
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The link to DSP permits is: http://ttb.gov/foia/fri.shtml
Their are over 300 DSP licenses in the USA. Half are craft distilleries. (Nine are whiskey distilleries) The rest are super large industrial distilleries and importers. Check their websites to see if they really distill.
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--To obtain a distilled spirits permit go to:
">http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/index.shtml

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--To obtain TTB list of DSPs go to: http://www.ttb.gov/foia//err.shtml

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--To obtain TTB statistics on distilling go to: www.ttb.gov then scroll down to "spirits" and then the "year".
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--To obtain label regulations go to: http://www.ttb.gov/spirits/bam.shtml distilled spirits manual circular.
To print the Beverage Alcohol Manual: click (Manual)
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