Mash Bill Breakdown of Brown-Forman

This is the fifth installment of mash bill breakdowns on Bourbonr and is slightly different than the others. In the past I’ve focused on each distillery. However, I’ve decided to include the entire Brown-Forman portfolio on this one since it makes it more interesting. You’ll notice I’ve included all american whiskey (sorry, Canadian Mist fans) produced by Brown-Forman. Yes, Old Forester and Jack Daniels are basically cousins. read more

MGP and LDI History

Midwest Grain Products (MGP) is a grain and neutral spirit supplier based in Atchinson, KS. Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana (LDI) is the former Seagrams distiller which was acquired by MGP in late 2011 forming MGPI. LDI was a mysterious and secretive distillery out of Indiana that didn’t reveal a lot of information about mash bills or who they were producing for. That ended quickly once they were acquired by MGPI. The new management has been very transparent (see their full list of mash bills here) and even offering information about the plans they have for the distillery. read more

Distillery Breakdown by Mash Bill – Four Roses

This is the fourth  distillery breakdown by mash bill (see Buffalo Trace, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam) I’ve done on the Bourbonr Blog. Initially, I thought Four Roses would be a simple breakdown. Four Roses has only 2 mash bills whereas, most distilleries have 2-5 bourbon mash bills plus a rye whiskey mash bill. The difficult (and interesting) part of Four Roses is while they only have 2 mash bills they incorporate 5 proprietary strands of yeast to create a total of 10 unique recipes. read more

Edit: This list was originally compiled by Scott Hanson for the Willett Facebook community.

Willett Distillery is well known for its sourced products. However, back in 2012, Willett began distilling for the first time since the 70’s. Willett uses a total of six different mash bills. They also vary the entry proof by mash bill. This all sounds confusing so I created a cheat sheet! read more

Almost four years ago I created my first distillery mash bill breakdown for Buffalo Trace. There have been several changes since then. I decided it was time for an updated and expanded version. I’ve tried to focus on whiskeys that are distilled (at least once) at Buffalo Trace distillery. The Buffalo Trace/Sazerac/Age International/Barton brand(s) is an intricate web.

Major Changes:

– All Van Winkle bourbons are now from the Buffalo Trace wheated mash bill

– The Van Winkle rye is still from a different source (probably Bernheim or Medley) and there’s not an official word on when this supply will run out. If I had to guess I’d say 2017.

Hi-res Buffalo Trace Mash Bill Breakdown

Buffalo Trace uses two primary mash bills. While they don’t disclose the exact recipe we can make read more

Maker’s Mark (MM) is the last major distillery added to the “Bourbonr Mash Bill Break Down” list. Initially, I didn’t plan on creating one for MM. They only have one mash bill and for the first 60(ish) years of the distillery, there was only one product. I’ve been told that Bill Samuels would say “Do you see a Chateau Lafite Reserve? No! That’s why there’s only Maker’s Mark bourbon.” Whether or not the quote is authentic the gameplan is true. Sure, the bottle may have changed, but the bourbon remained unchanged for over half of a century.

Maker’s has released three new products in the last seven years. I don’t forsee them keeping this pace but I think it’s time for a cheat sheet. Maker’s Mark purist may see these new releases as watering down the Maker’s Mark brand but I would disagree. Maker’s Mark has always produced a consistent unique bourbon. Now they’re expanding on that quality. They’ve made “wheated” bourbon readily available since before it was trendy. At 110 proof, they also have the lowest barrel entry proof among  major distilleries. Maker’s Mark is one of the only major distilleries to rotate their barrels in the warehouse for consistent aging. Want to talk about a hands-on process. Imagine moving 53-gallon barrels of bourbon around a rickhouse.

If you’re interested, you can download the PDF version here.

As Bourbonr’s continue their thirst for more information, details like mash bills, barrel char and barrel entry proof, and their affect on taste, gain more attention. Let’s begin with a bourbon’s mash bill. We already know that legal requirements mandate 51% corn for bourbon but what about the other 49%.

Check out the PDF version here!

A mash bill is the mix of grains used to make bourbon. Theses grains are cooked and fermented to begin the bourbon making process. There are typically three grains in every bourbon mash bill: Corn, Rye or Wheat, and Malted Barley. Each grain percentage will vary based on distillery but generally, distilleries use three types of mash bills, Low Rye 8%-14%, High Rye 15%-35% and Wheated 18%-20% (Bonus: Rye mashbill 51%+). You can review the Distillery Summary to see which mash bills are used by the major distilleries.

Corn – This is the base of bourbon and adds a majority of the sweetness in bourbon. The actual corn flavor fades with aging, but if you’ve ever tried Buffalo Trace White Dog, you’ll immediately pick up on the corn taste. Corn ranges from 51%-80% of the mash bill for most distilleries. If it drops below 51%, it’s no longer bourbon. If there’s more than 79%, we now have “corn whiskey” by legal definition.

 

Rye – Mainly used as a flavoring grain, rye adds the spicy, minty or cinnamon flavor of bourbon. Try a rye whiskey like Bulleit or Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye to pick up on the flavor notes of rye. You can even try eating rye toast to get a better idea of the flavoring rye adds to bourbon. Rye ranges from 8%-35% of the mash bill for most distilleries.

 

Wheat – Wheat is the alternate flavoring grain. Wheated bourbons were made famous by Pappy Van Winkle but result in a sweeter bourbon with more toffee and vanilla flavor notes. Try a rye bourbon next to a wheated bourbon like Weller Special Reserve or Makers Mark to notice the wheat flavor. Wheat ranges from 18%-20% of the mash bill for most distilleries.

 

Barley – While often overlooked in bourbon malted barley plays a significant role in the bourbon mash bill. Barley is there for its ability to convert starches to sugar. Most think of malted barley as the main ingredient (sometimes only) in scotch. Try a single malt scotch like Macallan next to bourbon to pick up on the flavor of bourbon developed from barley.  Barley ranges from 5%-12% of the mash bill for most distilleries.

Check out the PDF version here!

Bourbon Homework

You’re probably wondering “what do I do with this information?” The answer is simple. Drink bourbon. Drink bourbon and note the differences in taste between different mash bills. Here’s your “bourbon” homework assignment. Set up a tasting between to bourbons that are similar in all other aspects (age, proof, distiller, etc.) except mash bill. An easy choice is Jim Beam Bottled-In-Bond vs. Old Grand-Dad Bottled-In-Bond. This is a great exercise and both bottles can be purchased for around $20. Taste them side-by-side and note the differences.

It would be hard to find two more perfect bottles for a mash bill tasting. They are from the same distillery, same proof and most likely the same age (or close). The difference you’re tasting is the higher rye content of Old Grand-Dad. The OGD has around 14% more rye than the Beam. This greatly reduces the sweetness from the corn and increases the spice of the rye. You can read my tasting of these two bourbons here.

 

…And Limited Edition Cheat Sheet

This is an updated version of the previous Four Roses by Mash Bill post. The new version is easier to read and also includes the years for each limited edition release. If you’re interested in a PDF copy you can download it for free in the Bourbonr Store.

First, let’s decipher the four letters that make up a Four Roses mash bill.

The first letter for every recipe is “O”. The “O” indicates that it was produced at the Four Roses Distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY.

Four Roses mash bill is the second letter.

E = The mash bill that is 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley.  = The mash bill that is 60% corn, 35% rye, 5% malted barley.

The third letter will always be “S”, which designates straight whiskey distillation. That means every recipe will be “O_S_”. The recipes become a lot clearer when you realize there are only two variables in each recipe, the mash bill, and the yeast.

The strand of yeast used in the mash is the fourth letter. Four Roses uses five different strands with their two different mash bills to create 10 unique recipes.

K = Yeast K: Light spice, light caramel and full bodied

Q = Yeast Q: Floral (rose petal), spicy, medium bodied

O = Yeast O: Rich in spiciness, medium bodied

F = Yeast F: Predominantly herbal

V = Yeast V: Delicate fruit, spicy and creamy

Final note: read more

Wild Turkey by Mash Bill

This is the final major distillery of the Bourbonr mash bill breakdowns. Wild Turkey mash bills are simple. One bourbon (75/13/12 corn/rye/barley) and one rye (37/51/12 corn/rye/barley) with most likely the same yeast strand for each. What’s interesting is how they’re able to produce different flavor profiles with age and warehouse location as their only variables. I’ve also heard that Wild Turkey takes wider cuts during the distillation process which increases the spiciness of their whiskey.

Wild Turkey as a brand and distillery is rich with history. A little known fact is that Wild Turkey began as a Non-Distiller Producer (NDP). While they’re now owned by global beverage conglomerate, Campari, Wild Turkey was originally started by Austin Nichols & Co., a grocery wholesaler from New York, in 1940. It wasn’t until 1972 that Wild Turkey purchased the Ripy Brothers distillery in Lawrenceburg, KY. Wild Turkey has made some great whiskey over the years. While (in my opinion) they’ve been in a little bit of a slump lately I’m pretty excited about the release of their 17 year old bourbon.

By the way, Rare Breed is still one of the best bourbons $40 can (consistently) buy. Wild Turkey 101 rye used to hold this same title for rye whiskey until they dropped the proof a couple of years ago. It didn’t get the same attention as the Makers Mark proof drop it was more disappointing to me. For years, Jimmy Russell was an advocate for high proof (101 or greater) whiskey and now they’re just one proof over the legal requirements.

This map doesn’t include every label but should include most Wild Turkey whiskies. It became too difficult to try and include every Russell Reserve or Wild Turkey 101 label change.