News
What is the Difference between Straight Bourbon & Bourbon Whiskey?
Drinking whiskey has been popular in the United States since colonial times. Yet Bourbon, while often referred to as “America’s native spirit”, has become even more popular of late. All Bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is a bourbon. Confused yet? Don’t worry, the experts at New Riff Distilling have developed a comprehensive guide to a few basic definitions for the most common words seen on bourbon labels. Today, we focus on the difference between Bourbon whiskey and straight bourbon whiskey.
The term “Bourbon” is legally protected under Title 27 of the Code of Federal Regulations as acknowledged in 1964 by the US Congress. For whiskey to be considered Bourbon, the following criteria must be met:
Under United States law, “Straight” Bourbon is whiskey that meets all the above requirements of Bourbon, but is aged for a minimum of two years.
Source: New Riff Distilling. Photo credit: New Riff Distilling.