Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to be Short Stuff. This is Josh,
Speaker 1: there's Chuck, there's Jerry. Let's get going with this edition
Speaker 1: of Short Stuff about the difference between whiskey and bourbon.
Speaker 1: Let's just talk. Yeah, you know, for someone who loves
Speaker 1: this stuff, I really didn't know a lot about it,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad I do know. Yeah, there was a
Speaker 1: really big fact that we're going to get to that
Speaker 1: just knocked my socks clean off. Man. Yeah, well, I'll
Speaker 1: I guess just watch my feet and you'll smell something.
Speaker 1: Are your socks off? Hey, my feet do not smell.
Speaker 1: To take great pride in there, all right, So we'll
Speaker 1: go ahead and tell you what whiskey is. Whiskey is
Speaker 1: a distilled spirit that you make from grain, right, that
Speaker 1: is not distilled higher than one hundred and ninety proof,
Speaker 1: and it is exposed to oak as in, you know,
Speaker 1: sits in an oak container. That's whiskey. That's whiskey. If
Speaker 1: it's higher than one kindy, then you're not making whiskey.
Speaker 1: You're making what you would call a neutral spirit like vodka. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's whiskey. So around the world, if you have Japanese whiskey, yum.
Speaker 1: If you have Irish whiskey, great Scotch whiskey delicious? Why not? Um,
Speaker 1: They're they're like all of those whiskeys follow that same
Speaker 1: general those same general guidelines, or meet the same general criteria.
Speaker 1: And I don't believe there's too many um like laws
Speaker 1: or anything restricting types of whiskey. I'm sure there are
Speaker 1: in Scotland. But we're talking about America in this episode,
Speaker 1: and when you get to America from what what From
Speaker 1: what we've seen, we have like the most strict, extensive
Speaker 1: laws detailing what can be considered a type of whiskey
Speaker 1: any of anywhere in the world. Yeah, it's very much
Speaker 1: regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, right,
Speaker 1: not the a t F. No, they those firearms still
Speaker 1: mix with whiskey, very not. Even though I said a
Speaker 1: t F three times, I think you called out something
Speaker 1: that nobody heard. It's like he just reached out from
Speaker 1: a different dimension. I saw a funny tweet the other
Speaker 1: day that's been going around that says the closest you
Speaker 1: will come to knowing what it's like to be a
Speaker 1: ghost is uh. Something was something like yelling at podcasters
Speaker 1: who are trying to think of something that you know,
Speaker 1: that's amazing, that's great. I have that same experience as
Speaker 1: a listener. So uh, yes, not the A T F,
Speaker 1: the A T T T B. If you want to
Speaker 1: be labeled whiskey in America, you've got to be aged
Speaker 1: in new charred oak containers or barrels, and you have
Speaker 1: to have a certain percentage of grain. Like if you're
Speaker 1: making rye, it has to be rye, and then so
Speaker 1: to be whiskey anywhere in the world, it has to
Speaker 1: be aged in oak. But for specifically an American straight whiskey,
Speaker 1: like a American straight rye whiskey, it has to be
Speaker 1: aged in a charred oak either barrel or container of
Speaker 1: some sort, but it has to be charred inside first
Speaker 1: for at least two years. Yes, and it all has
Speaker 1: to come from the same state as to be still
Speaker 1: distilled in the same state. Right, So I mean that's it.
Speaker 1: That's the law as far as an American straight whiskey goes.
Speaker 1: And there's plenty of whiskeys that you know follow that
Speaker 1: that tradition or those laws, I guess, and um, it
Speaker 1: gets even stricter though, like if you add a couple
Speaker 1: more caveats to it, A couple more restrictions, a few
Speaker 1: more criteria, you suddenly have bourbon. Bourbon pops out of
Speaker 1: the mix. That's right. So if you want to be bourbon,
Speaker 1: you have to be corn, and it has to be
Speaker 1: aged in new charred oak barrels or containers. Right, But
Speaker 1: also when you um, when you distill it. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: was right. Yeah, I just referred to another edit we
Speaker 1: took out it. Uh, it can't be distilled at anything
Speaker 1: higher than one sixty proof, that's right, because remember we
Speaker 1: said one ninety for whiskey. Bourbon is down to one six, right,
Speaker 1: and that's just the distillation. When they start to age it,
Speaker 1: they have to drop it down even further I believe,
Speaker 1: to something like one forty, and that they just do
Speaker 1: that with watering it down, literally watering it down, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they literally water down I think one forty and then
Speaker 1: they put it in charred oak barrels for I believe
Speaker 1: four years for bourbon. That's right. So the very popular saying, um,
Speaker 1: all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon
Speaker 1: is very much true, and that's why that's the case.
Speaker 1: So bourbon is corn at least doesn't go higher than
Speaker 1: one sixty proof and his play in his Charred in
Speaker 1: Earth's Aged and Charred Oak barrels below on proof yep,
Speaker 1: And so now watch my socks, Chuck. Okay, you you
Speaker 1: might be saying, hey, guys, you left out probably the
Speaker 1: most important part. It has to be made in Bourbon County, Kentucky,
Speaker 1: or at least Kentucky. Well, friend, you'd be wrong on
Speaker 1: both parts, because bourbon can be made anywhere in the States.
Speaker 1: How did you think it had to be Kentucky? Yes, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't know that. Well, that explains why I didn't
Speaker 1: know your right, did you say it was more of
Speaker 1: a curl and they're actually knocking off? Yeah? All right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what I thought for a very very long time.
Speaker 1: But now you can make it anywhere. And in fact,
Speaker 1: in nineteen Congress declared bourbon as quote America's native spirit.
Speaker 1: So Congress like bourbon. Alright, well, we like e takey break,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna go do that right now and talk
Speaker 1: about Tennessee whiskey. And I think you know what we're
Speaker 1: talking about right after this, all right, Chuck, He said,
Speaker 1: they think we know what we're talking about. We think
Speaker 1: we know we think we think they know what we're
Speaker 1: talking about. Yeah, if you're talking Tennessee whiskey, there are
Speaker 1: plenty of Tennessee whiskeys. But we'll just go ahead and
Speaker 1: say the words Jack and Daniel. I was gonna say, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what I was gonna say, Tennessee whiskey. You think
Speaker 1: Jack Daniels, I mean, it says Tennessee right on the label.
Speaker 1: But it turns out that Jack Daniels Tennessee whiskey, which
Speaker 1: is a straight American whiskey. Um, you'd think that that
Speaker 1: it's the only kind. It's not. That's actually Jack Daniels
Speaker 1: follows a specific process, a set of criterion very similar
Speaker 1: to the same set of criteria that bourbon goes through.
Speaker 1: In fact, Jack Daniels Tennessee American straight whiskey follows the
Speaker 1: same process that bourbon making does, and in fact qualifies
Speaker 1: as a bourbon. But then they add an extra step,
Speaker 1: and that's what makes it a Tennessee whiskey. That's right.
Speaker 1: We should point out that they go all the way
Speaker 1: down to a hundred and forty proof just as a
Speaker 1: company rule, and they always age in new charred oak barrels,
Speaker 1: and which it goes in at proof or below. But
Speaker 1: then that extra step you were talking about is what
Speaker 1: they like to tout as the special ingredient. That special
Speaker 1: magic is charcoal mellowing. Yeah, and it's actually another name
Speaker 1: for it is the Lincoln County process, after Lincoln County, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: which is where Jack Daniels Distillery used to be. But basically,
Speaker 1: they take huge stacks of maplewood logs and set them
Speaker 1: on fire, and then some guy stands there with a
Speaker 1: hose and keeps it from like raging too much, and
Speaker 1: they turn that wood into charcoal. Then they take that charcoal,
Speaker 1: they pack it tightly into vats, and then they poured
Speaker 1: the distilled, unaged whiskey into those vats, and that charcoal
Speaker 1: kind of filters out some of the impurities. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: so you're thinking, well, it goes in clear and it
Speaker 1: comes out brown because of that charcoal. Yeah, that's totally wrong.
Speaker 1: And in fact, it's a little bit like you're used
Speaker 1: to these brown liquors if you've ever had like a
Speaker 1: clear rye or something. It's a little bit of a
Speaker 1: mind tease. Yeah, that's not what you're gonna say, but yes,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. Agreed, Agreed, it needs to
Speaker 1: be brown and the reason it is brown, I believe.
Speaker 1: Of course, I have a terrible reputation on short stuff
Speaker 1: for just saying stuff off hand. It's totally wrong. But
Speaker 1: I believe it becomes brown from the charred oak um
Speaker 1: aging process. I think that's right. Right, So I can't
Speaker 1: teach that. Okay, men, that whole um key West thing
Speaker 1: about the necrophile who dug who kept his wife around.
Speaker 1: But it wasn't his wife, it was some woman that
Speaker 1: he really he stalked as a creeper. Oh yeah, we've
Speaker 1: been getting a lot of emails, so sorry everybody, We'll
Speaker 1: have to read a listener mail about it or something.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, they basically like in this whole process too.
Speaker 1: You know, if you've ever used a water filter. Um,
Speaker 1: they have charcoal in there, and it's sort of a
Speaker 1: similar concept. The whiskey comes out the same color as
Speaker 1: that goes in at this point, which is clear. Um.
Speaker 1: And this is what makes Jack Daniel different than the rest.
Speaker 1: They're the ones who use that Lincoln County process, right. Um,
Speaker 1: So that's a different type of whiskey. That's Tennessee whiskey.
Speaker 1: There's bourbon, and technically Jack Daniels qualifies as a bourbon
Speaker 1: and um Bourbon stripped of a couple of steps would
Speaker 1: be an American straight whiskey. And there you have it.
Speaker 1: That's whiskey's There's one other fact though that um I
Speaker 1: had no idea about, but I thought it was a
Speaker 1: nice little touch to add it to this article. I
Speaker 1: think you've got this article from house to works, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: are you talking about the East? Oh? No, there's two facts. Everybody. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you wonder why different whiskeys, you know,
Speaker 1: you think, well, maybe they should all taste the same.
Speaker 1: You know, the ingredients are different depending on where you
Speaker 1: get the the initial ingredients that might taste different. Uh.
Speaker 1: And during the fermentation process you're you're using, depending on
Speaker 1: what kind of yeast to use, that's really going to
Speaker 1: fleck the favor the favor like that. What is going
Speaker 1: on with us today? I don't know. It's silly, silly
Speaker 1: short stuff Thursday. But UM at Jack Daniel they use
Speaker 1: a yeast that they've been using the whole time. So
Speaker 1: they have this mother culture that they say dates back
Speaker 1: to prohibition and they've been using the same mother culture.
Speaker 1: They grow it in their lab every day and they're like,
Speaker 1: that's why, you know, you get that special taste mother culture.
Speaker 1: It's a great band name. Oh it is UM. So yeah,
Speaker 1: so the yus makes of a difference. But certainly, like
Speaker 1: even if you use the same exact yeast, if you
Speaker 1: stick that yeast on rye or corn mash, it's gonna
Speaker 1: produce a totally different flavor anyway. So all these different
Speaker 1: steps and different ingredients produce these different flavored whiskeys. The
Speaker 1: other fact that I UM was surprised but also heartened
Speaker 1: to see is that apparently women tend to appreciate higher
Speaker 1: proof whiskeys and bourbons than UM men do. And supposedly
Speaker 1: there's a woman named Carrie Richardson who's president of the
Speaker 1: Bourbon Women's Association in Louisville, Kentucky, who believes that it's
Speaker 1: because women apparently have a UM larger old factory center
Speaker 1: than men, and so they're they're picking up more on
Speaker 1: all this stuff that's going on in these whiskey bottles
Speaker 1: than men do. And so the higher the proof, the
Speaker 1: more stuff that's going on in there, and women tend
Speaker 1: to appreciate that more. Pretty neat. It is pretty neat.
Speaker 1: And I did a rare phone look up during recording
Speaker 1: than of course there's a band called Mother Culture at
Speaker 1: least one good good for them. See they listened to
Speaker 1: us in the past a bunch of long hairs. That's
Speaker 1: exactly right. There's no way it was anything, but you know,
Speaker 1: a long hair band. Um. So one other question, Chuck,
Speaker 1: do you like the firewater whiskey? Do you like smooth
Speaker 1: or whiskey or both as in higher proof? Yeah, but
Speaker 1: you know the kind that's like you can really feel,
Speaker 1: like go all the way down your chest or the
Speaker 1: smooth sipping whiskey I like. I like both. I like
Speaker 1: the firewater because I drink it a little slower. Um.
Speaker 1: I had a I had a big night out on Tuesday, Uh,
Speaker 1: Emily and I went to see a band and I
Speaker 1: got into the whiskey a little bit and it was just,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a bullet and it was just
Speaker 1: going down so smooth. That's the danger, you know, you
Speaker 1: drink it too fast. And I found myself little hammered
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night. Yeah, but you're not gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: drink like high proof whiskey that's meant to just be
Speaker 1: nipped at at like a show. You know, you're right,
Speaker 1: were you drinking it just on the rocks. Nice. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you has there another way at a show? Yeah,
Speaker 1: like with coke or something? Yeah, not cokes already sweet
Speaker 1: maybe bitters and just club soda because sure, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess I could have. I could have done that,
Speaker 1: but I didn't get the impression they had that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff at this venue. I got you. Yeah, all right,
Speaker 1: Well that's it. Huh, that's it. That's it for short stuff.
Speaker 1: As we said, that's it. Stuff you should know is
Speaker 1: a production of iHeart Radios. How Stuff Works. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts For my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: H