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56
MY
ROUSES
EVERYDAY
MAY | JUNE 2015
B
ourbon is uniquely American. By
law, it can only be made in the US
of A. Bourbon is synonymous with
Kentucky. After all, the Blue Grass State
produces about 95% of the world’s supply.
But what most people don’t know, and some
die-hard Kentucky folks won’t tell you, is
Red Whiskey
by
Bobby Childs +
photo by
Denny Culbert
that New Orleans played a substantial part
in bourbon’s history.
Back in the day (some time between the
late 1700s and early 1800s), distillers from
Bourbon County, Kentucky, would ship un-
aged white whiskey down the Mississippi
River toNewOrleans.(Fact: all bourbons are
whiskey, but not all whiskeys are bourbons.)
Well, the folks in New Orleans imbibed
so much whiskey — don’t act surprised —
demand began to rise. They drank so much,
in fact, that whiskey-makers in Kentucky
began to run out of new barrels to ship it in
and were forced to improvise.
The distillers grabbed whatever used
barrels they had lying around, even if they’d
previously contained nails or fish heads.
Before they filled these barrels with fresh
whiskey, distillers sanitized them by charring
their insides with fire.They were then loaded
onto ships travelling south to New Orleans.
The trip took many weeks, and in that time,
something magical happened inside those
barrels: the charred wood began reacting
with the white whiskey, turning it a reddish
hue, and the whiskey developed the caramel/
vanilla flavor we appreciate in today’s
Kentucky bourbons like Buffalo Trace.
New Orleanians couldn’t get enough of the
“red liquor,”which tasted so much better than
the white whiskey they were used to drinking.
They contacted those Kentucky distillers
demanding more of that “red liquor” from
Bourbon County. The distillers were puzzled,
until they examined what changed in their
whiskey making process. Eureka! Charring
the barrels made the whiskey taste more like
the French cognac New Orleanians loved.
The taste of American whiskey changed
forever from that moment on.
Now some people believe the red whiskey
was named after Bourbon County, Kentucky,
because that’s where it originated. Others
believe the name comes from Bourbon
Street, where back in the 19th century,
people in New Orleans first asked for the
red whiskey that was sold there.
We may not know where bourbon got its
name, but we do know where it got its color.
It’s now law that to be called bourbon, a
whiskey must be aged in new, charred white
oak barrels.
LA1 Louisiana Whiskey is the
first aged whiskey produced
in Louisiana since the days of
Prohibition. The 94-proof whiskey
is made at Donner-Peltier Distillery
in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Like
bourbon, LA1 Louisiana Whiskey
is aged in charred American oak
barrels, which gives it that distinct
red-brown color.
Last Call Y ’all
the
Culinary Influences
issue