Bourbon Heritage Month Cheat Sheet

The calendar is stuffed with made-up holidays like Nationwide Grilled Cheese Day (April 12) and Nationwide Hug Your Cat Day (June 4). However Nationwide Bourbon Heritage Month could be very actual. In reality, it was established as a vacation by the US Senate again in 2007, which signifies that all of us get a full 30 days to have fun bourbon. And have fun it we will.

First, see our primer on bourbon. Then behold: 13 enjoyable details about this quintessential American spirit.

1. In 1964, Congress acknowledged bourbon as a “distinctive product of the US.”
2. Bourbon is most carefully related to Kentucky, however it may be produced wherever in the US, with bourbon distillers situated in California, Texas, New York, and in all places between.
3. Bourbon have to be comprised of a minimum of 51% corn, and will be composed of nothing in addition to water, grains, and yeast.
4. Bourbon have to be distilled to no greater than 160 proof (80% ABV).
5. Bourbon can’t enter a barrel any greater than 125 proof.
6. Bourbon have to be bottled at a minimal of 80 proof.
7. Bourbon have to be aged in new charred oak barrels.
8. Bourbon has no minimal growing old requirement, however to be labeled “straight bourbon,” the product have to be aged a minimum of two years. Any bourbon aged lower than 4 years should embrace an age assertion on the label.
9. In contrast to rum and sure different spirits, a bourbon’s acknowledged age have to be that of the youngest whiskey within the bottle.
10. There are extra bourbon barrels in Kentucky than there are individuals. 
11. Bourbon takes its identify from Bourbon County, Kentucky, which takes its identify from the French royal household.
12. Bourbon County was ravaged by Prohibition, and no whiskey was produced (legally) within the county between the years of 1919 and 2014.
13. The Kentucky Bourbon Pageant is held every September in Bardstown, KY to honor and showcase the bourbon making course of and the storied historical past of this Kentucky-centric trade. It started in 1991 as a bourbon tasting and dinner, and has grown tremendously since then. Lately, greater than 50,000 individuals have attended from all around the world.