Jim Beam Bourbon Whiskey Bourbon Whiskey

American's don't need to be lectured on Bourbon, but still, let's put it in record like all other spirits. A Bourbon in American spirit is a barrel-aged distilled liquor made primarily from corn. The name might have been derived from the French Bourbon dynasty, or from Bourbon County in Kentucky, or Bourbon Street in New Orleans, both named after the French Dynasty.

Technically, most whiskey made in America are legally classified as Bourbon, although Bourbon is in spirit a Southern Whiskey with special connection to Kentucky. Note than although Tennessee Whiskey is classified as Bourbon, Tennessee distilleries do not prefer their whiskey to be unique and referred to as Tennessee Whiskey only.

Distilling came to Kentucky in the late 18rth Century with the Scots, Scot-Irish and other settlers including English, Welsh, German and French, and they brought with them their distilling techniques and ageing processes in charred oak barrels. The charring is what gives the Bourbon the brownish colour and distinctive taste.

To be a legal Bourbon, a whiskey has to meet the following criteria

Produced in the United States and Territories (Puerto Rico) and the District of Columbia
Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn
Aged in new, charred oak containers
Distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume)
Entered into the container for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume)
Bottled (like other whiskeys) at 80 proof or more (40% alcohol by volume)

Powers Irish Whiskey

Irish Whiskey or Uisce Beatha ( same as French Eau de vie or Water of Life ) was the most popular spirit of the world once,
Irish Whiskey was one of the earliest distilled drinks in Europe, it is believed that the Irish Monks brought the technique of perfume distillation back to Ireland from Southern France and modified that to distill drinkable alcohol. The early Irish Whiskey was not what it is today and it was more a distilled whiskey infused with herbs such as thyme, anise or mint.

Irish Mist is a whiskey liqueur created using one such original recipe, but by current standards, although it is created just like early Irish Whisky was made with herbal infusions, it'll be categorised as a liqueur.

Although it seems like Whiskey has been produced in Ireland since 1000 CE but the first written record of it can be found from 1405 in the Annals of Clonmacnoise, that is a good 89 years before Scotland.

Irish Whiskey has a smoother finish as opposed to the smoky, earthy overtones of a Scotch. The smoky overtones in Scoth comes from drying the malted barley using peat smoke, but peat is rarely used in the malting process in Ireland, leaving a few like Connemara peated Irish malt whiskey and Pearse Whiskey.