Exploring Bourbon and Whiskey Flavors: A Beginner's Guide

When it comes to exploring types of distilled liquor, you’re going to experience a palette of flavors. Bourbon and whiskey offer a wide range of flavors and complexities, with variations in their compositions and aging processes. From aging in barrels for a few years to decades, the possibilities are endless.

Both whiskey and bourbon are produced globally, providing a diverse range of options for all to savor. The extensive variety of choices enables each individual to discover a brand or style that aligns with their preferences. Continue reading to delve deeper into the differences between bourbon and whiskey and the essential elements of each.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Standard Bourbon Flavors
2. Bourbon Mash Bills
3. Standard Whiskey Types
4. Brindiamo Group Helps Companies Enter the Alcohol Business

Standard Bourbon Flavors

Although all bourbon falls under the category of whiskey, not all whiskey can be classified as bourbon. With that being said, standard bourbon undergoes the same aging process as whiskey. To achieve the classic bourbon flavor that you know and love, the base spirit must adhere to the following stipulations:

• Aged in American Oak: Known mostly for its delightful hints of vanilla, coconut, and spice, the American Oak Barrel is a popular aging method for standard bourbon. A spirit aged in an American Oak Barrel absorbs these flavors from lipids, such as cis-oak lactone and trans-oak lactones, blending with the lignins and char of the barrel.
• Wood charring: When a base spirit is aged in a wood-charred barrel, it has the opportunity to absorb volatile phenols that give rise to delightful aromas and flavors such as vanilla, smoke, wood, clove, and even hints of sweetness.
• Corn-based: When aged using corn, classic bourbon can create a spirit that is sweet, smooth, creamy, and fruity.
• Yeast strain: When aged with yeast, classic bourbon flavors can bring out fruity and floral notes with hints of solvent or buttery undertones.

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Bourbon Mash Bills

Typically, bourbons can be categorized into three main mash bills. While not all bourbon fits neatly into these categories, the primary mash bills for standard bourbon include:

• A standard mash bill will comprise of 70–79%* corn, 10–20% rye, and even 10–15% malted barley.
  • Through a high corn percentage, the flavors can enhance those sweet, soft, creamy, and fruity notes.
  • Low rye concentrations can add a subtle layer of baking spices, pepper, and help dry the aging spirit.
  • Malted barley concentrations can provide subtle notes of roasted toffee and malt.

• A high-rye mash bill will comprise of 51–65% corn, 21–35% rye, and 10–15% malted barley.
  • With a high rye concentration, your bourbon will highlight dry, peppery, spicy, pungent, earthy, and herbaceous notes.
  • Moderate corn percentages can provide underlying notes of sweetness and fruit.
  • A light concentration of malted barley will create subtle notes of roasted toffee and malt.

• A wheated bourbon mash bill will be made up of 60–79% corn, 10–20% wheat, and 10–15% malted barley.
  • Here, moderate concentrations of wheat, unlike when aging in rye, will create a mild, aromatic liquid. Served to soften up the spirit and enhance all those sweet flavors, a wheat bourbon may taste of honey, fruit, caramellic, and vanilla from the corn and charred oak.
  • Still aged with a high concentration of corn, a wheat bourbon mash will still make use of corn to create a baseline notes of sweetness and fruit.

Standard Whiskey Types

As previously mentioned, not all whiskey falls under the category of bourbon. Therefore, when exploring whiskey, you'll discover a variety of aging processes that lead to a wide array of delicious whiskies.

Here are the standard types of whiskey that you may find: 

Scotch

While some whiskies are consumed to get drunk, scotch is not one of them. With a deep potency, rich history, and tradition, scotch is a timeless, classic type of whiskey. As with wines, each region of Scotland has its own distinctive flavors and varieties when producing scotch whiskies. To be called “scotch,” a base liquid must be aged from malted barley for no less than three years.While some whiskies are enjoyed for their flavors and complexity, scotch stands out as a timeless and classic type of whiskey. With a deep potency, rich history, and tradition, each region of Scotland has its own distinctive flavors and varieties when producing scotch whiskies. To be called “scotch,” a base liquid must be aged from malted barley for no less than three years.

Irish

With a history as rich as Scotch, Irish whiskey offers light, fruity flavors that are much less peaty than its Scottish counterpart. Unlike traditional bourbon whiskey, Irish whiskey is not aged in a barrel. In contrast to Scotch, Irish whiskey is triple distilled in copper pots rather than being double distilled in oak barrels.

American

Some American whiskey varieties are aged in new, charred oak barrels and have an alcohol by volume content of less than 80 percent, making them quite distinct from European styles. The six categories of American whiskey include bourbon, Tennessee, rye, wheat, and single malt. While Scotch and Irish whiskey have their differences, American whiskey tends to be on the sweeter side, with less smokiness and peatiness.

Japanese

Japanese whiskies share similarities with Scottish lowland and Speyside whiskies. They are crafted through aging and distillation processes that result in smooth, delicate, and often honey-perfumed flavors, adding an overall sweetness to the final product. Nowadays, mizunara oak-aged Japanese whiskey is gaining popularity beyond its original region.

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