So, for the record....

[lyssie]

Because I may not remember this.... ten shots of Black Velvet Canadian Whisky sends the room spinning. ... Er. Query? How does whisky become scotch? Or Bourbon?

How does that work? Now I'm curious.

*peers*

Comments

Not that I drink a lot....

[beverly-mcintyr.livejournal.com]

Bourbon Whiskey
Bourbon Whiskey is America's only native spirit. It is distilled from a minimum of 51% corn and a blend of barley and rye or wheat. For a product to be called 'bourbon" it must be produced in Bourbon County. That is what makes it different from sour mash whisky. The bourbon county that matters is the old Bourbon county. When you see a label that says "Old Bourbon" it is referring to the old county and not the age of the drink. The old Bourbon county encompasses about 30 plus modern counties.

Scotch
A term used to designate whisky made in Scotland.

Whiskey
A spirit made by distilling fermented cereals then aged in oak barrels. Note that Canadian whisky is spelled without the "e".

Check out more info here. (http://www.winemakeri.com/information/glossaries/liqueurs/lq_glossary_w.htm) More details.

[crantz.livejournal.com]

Magic alcohol fairies.

[dkphoenix.livejournal.com]

What Bev said, except that it's not all aged in oak barrels. Originally, all whiskey was aged in used wine casks, and some of the better stuff still is, especially scotch, but a lot of the cheaper stuff is aged (if it's aged at all) in stainless steel.

Whiskey or whisky is the generic term that covers scotch, bourbon, rye, gin, irish whisky, and blended whiskey. (And technically, even vodka, although you'll never hear vodka referred to that way.) In the US, "whiskey" usually means Canadian style blended whiskey, like Black Velvet, Crown Royal, Canadian Mist, Seagram's 7, etc. (It's "blended" because it's made from several different kinds of grain which are distilled first, and then blended together after they're fermented and the grain mash is filtered out.) If you want the same thing in Canada ask for rye, however if you order rye in the US you'll either get Old Bushmill's or Irish whisky. Or a blank look from the bartender ;-)

Now that we have tackled the public education side: Time for a song break!

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler, I'm a long way from home;
And if you don't like me, just leave me alone.
I'll eat when I 'm hungry , I'll drink when I'm dry,
And if the whiskey don't kill me, I'll live till I die.

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck,
I'd dive to the bottom and never come up.
But the ocean ain't whiskey and I ain't no duck,
So I'll play Jack of Diamonds and trust to my luck.

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, before me I see,
You killed my granddaddy, now durn you, try me.
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry,
If I don't get rye whiskey, I surely will die!

I got that song from here (http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=2966), but, unfortunately, the link to the midi of the tune is mysteriously out of commission -- may have something to do with the fact that: a) the forum recently went to a new server, b) the forum administrator has a new baby, and c) the power company cut power off from his building for 5 hours earlier this week...

In any case, I hope you enjoy!