Prairie Organic Vodka distillery in Minnesota.
Microdistilleries around the nation are lovingly creating liquors out of premium local ingredients. Venerable distilleries are pushing their age-old techniques further in search of perfect flavor. Between the two, attentive tipplers can now savor the taste of a place in a cocktail, straight up, or on the rocks.
Wine lovers have long appreciated the terroir of a particular vintage, the "sense of place" a bottle carries with it. These qualities, bestowed by the geography of the vineyard, result in wines that are prized for their unique character.
Looks like terroir isn't just for wine anymore.
Kentucky bourbon country.
Bourbon
Nearly all bourbon is still made in Kentucky, where according to legend a Bourbon county Baptist preacher and distiller named Elijah Craig made a whiskey so good that people started asking for Bourbon whiskey. What made Craig's whiskey unique was that he charred the inside of the white oak barrels the liquor aged in, and by law this is now a requirement for all bourbons. The tiny cracks in the wood of the barrels, created by the charring process, provide a greater surface area for the bourbon to react with, accelerating the aging process: bourbon is best aged four to eight years. Bourbon must also be at least 51% corn-based, though most are 70% or more. The precise combinations of rye, barley, or wheat added to the mash by various Master Distillers are fiercely guarded trade secrets.
It’s the corn, the white oak, the weather and the water that makes Kentucky the geographical nexus of bourbon production.
By act of Congress, bourbon must be produced in the United States, but it's the corn, the white oak, the weather and the water -- a limestone aquifer, which is thought to filter impurities from groundwater -- that makes Kentucky the geographical nexus of bourbon production.
While bourbon has been a part of the American experience since thirsty pioneers pushed west of the Allegheny Mountains, a new movement toward premium single barrel or small batch bourbons is only a couple of decades old.
In 1988, Booker Noe, grandson of Jim Beam and Master Distiller Emeritus of that venerable distillery, created his very own bourbon, Booker's, by selecting the very best barrels and aging them in the center of the rackhouse for the perfect temperature and humidity. The bourbon rests there for six to eight years and is then bottled uncut and unfiltered, straight from the barrel. As such, it packs a wallop, with a natural proof between 121 and 127, and can be served cut with spring water. This exceptionally smooth, rounded bourbon offers smoky vanilla and intense oak flavors.
By act of Congress, bourbon must be produced in the United States.
While Booker's provides an indubitably excellent pour, some distillers cavil at single-barrel bourbons, preferring instead to temper the quirks of any one barrel by mixing the contents of a very few select barrels to create small batches. A prime example is Jefferson's "Very Small Batch" bourbon, which marries just eight to 12 barrels of various ages to produce a very fine bourbon indeed: complex, deep amber, with creamy vanilla accentuated by notes of berry and citrus.
