Subscriber Exclusive
What It Means to Be an American Whiskey
Popular at the bar and overseas—whether commonly available brands or rarities sought by collectors—American whiskey is surging. But before you explore the category, it’s worth asking: What defines it? The answer is … complicated.
Popular at the bar and overseas—whether commonly available brands or rarities sought by collectors—American whiskey is surging. But before you explore the category, it’s worth asking: What defines it? The answer is … complicated. <a href="https://spiritsanddistilling.com/what-it-means-to-be-an-american-whiskey/">Continue reading.</a>
https://spiritsanddistilling.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto/https://www.datocms-assets.com/105001/1700587110-bourbon-whiskey.jpg?auto=format&w=900
One of the most popular classes of spirits on the market is whiskey. It may not be the biggest-selling category in the United States—that would be vodka—but it maintains an undeniable mystique in the American psyche and a preeminent place in the market.
Before exploring a new style of whiskey, however, it’s useful to know some basic terms. And before bringing a product to market—before even acquiring label approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)—a distiller needs to clearly understand what, in fact, whiskey is. The definition is a legal one, with chapter and verse laid out in the TTB’s Beverage Alcohol Manual (BAM) and Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations. (It should be noted that the TTB definitions use the spelling “whisky,” but in common American usage, we stick to “whiskey.”)
Whiskey, According to the TTB
The TTB rules are nested: Whiskey is a “class” that encompasses a wide variety of products.
SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE
Gabe Toth is a distiller, former brewer, and industry journalist in northern Colorado. He is the lead distiller at The Family Jones production facility and has written books about floor malting and fermented food.
