What is bourbon, and how is different to whiskey? Which are the best bourbons available in the UK?
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Historically, like gin, bourbon has been a drink that the working classes can afford, and today you get top quality bottles from vast distilleries for remarkably low prices.
But there’s also a burgeoning craft industry, making bourbons in small batches that are unique and distinctive, appealing to those who seek something a little different with every sip.
There are bourbons to be savoured neat, and bourbons that are ideally suited to some of the most popular cocktails around.
You’ll find bourbons that are sweet, smooth and soothingly warm, and there are also bourbons that are loaded with spice and fire that explode on the palate with flavour. In short, there’s a bourbon for everyone.
What exactly is Bourbon?
To be labelled a Bourbon, the whiskey must be distilled from a minimum of 51% corn and aged in American oak barrels.
This means there’s 49% of grains for the distiller to play with, giving them a huge flexibility of flavours, from the spicy character of rye to the increased sweetness of extra corn (you can take this up to 80%), to the more commonly used malted barley or rarer grains oats, wheat and millet.
To show you some of the variations in Bourbon styles, and how they might be enjoyed at their best, this list takes you on a whiskey tour from the biggest, most popular brands to some of the more distinctive bottles produced by newer entrants to the market.
We hope that among them there’s at least one Bourbon for you.
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Although Kentucky is undoubtedly the home of bourbon, production of the spirit isn’t confined to the county and, perhaps without the pressure to operate along traditional Kentucky lines, many of the new distilleries from elsewhere seem more inclined to do things differently.
Kings County is a Brooklyn based distillery founded in 2010 (the first in New York City since prohibition) that has branched out into new territory, successfully dabbling with a peated bourbon.
Give it a sniff and it has the instant smell of sweet vanilla familiar to many bourbons, with the peat practically undetectable. Get your taste buds in on the action and that sweetness becomes more subdued, revealing dry leathery flavours and some bitter fruits among the toasted spices.
This is clearly a very different kind of bourbon, but without reading peat on the label you might be hard pressed to fathom why: instead of the briney smoke associated with Scottish peated whisky, in this instance the peat seems to have provided some depth you normally associate with more aged spirits.
A very enjoyable departure from the Kentucky norm.
As this list demonstrates, there are plenty of bargain bottles of bourbon to be had that still offer great quality.
And even if you want to upgrade to something with more of a hand-crafted approach to production you can still do so without breaking the bank, as evidenced by Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon.
Each bottling is produced from a blend of just four of the distillery’s bourbon casks, and the result is a creamy dessert of a bourbon, laced with caramel and studded with soft fruits and spices.
It appears a simple spirit at first, but keep sipping and the flavours will fill out and the finish will lengthen.
Tremendous value.
Distinguished by the wax seal on every bottle, Maker’s Mark is also a little different to other bourbons in that it contains no rye. Joining the 70% corn is barley and red winter wheat, a combination that makes this bourbon lighter and sweeter than most, and lends it a smooth character.
There are still some spicy notes, thanks largely to it resting in charred oak barrels for three years, which give it some depth and warmth to compliment the sweet buttery vanilla and grain flavours.
It’s the gentler touches of this bourbon that make it a great choice for those looking to explore bourbon for the first time, along with regular bourbon drinkers who occasionally want to tone down the dial for some easy sipping action. Serve with a cube of ice, put your feet up and relax to its mellow charms
If you like a kick of spice to your bourbons then look for one that has a high content of rye in the ingredients, a grain that is very much in vogue.
New Riff has loaded this release with 30% rye (along with 65% corn and 5% barley) which gives lots of cinnamon and clove notes that punch through the sweet vanilla flavours and linger for a while, dancing on the tongue with some peppery extras.
If you’re looking for cocktail suggestions then this will work well in those designed for both bourbon or rye whiskey, such as the Manhattan and New York Sour.
The distillery’s “new riff on Kentucky’s most hallowed whiskey traditions” also extends to the bottle – a sleek, modern design with a nod to history in the raised lettering on the glass which, along with the high amount of rye, should help it appeal to modern tastes.
