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 Message 13111 of 22774 in Behind the Bar
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Subject: Re: bourbon
From: Duckman
Posted: Wed May 10. 2006, 09:07 UTC
Followup to: "Re: bourbon"  by Chance  (Tue May 9. 2006, 21:45 UTC)
I'll do the honors.
Back in the days before prohibition when bourbon was starting to take off as a 
nationally marketed product there were many people passing off sub-par 
products as straight kentucky bourbon.  Bourbon producers got the government 
to step in and begin overseeing the production of bourbon.  So, if a bourbon 
distiller wanted their product to be stamped with approval by the government, 
they had to follow a set of guidelines for the government to "bond" it.  To be 
"bottled in bond" a bourbon has to follow the requirements for being a bourbon 
as well as being bottled at 100 proof and aged at least 4 years.  The "bond" 
came from the label the government put on each bottle.  Also, the standard way 
to check if whiskey could be bottled in bond, before specific gravity testers, 
was to soak some gunpowder in it.  When you lit it, if they whiskey burnt off 
then the gunpowder burned, it was at least 100 proof.  If the gunpowder did 
not burn, the whiskey was impure, i.e. less than 100 proof.
-- 
absoluutzero[at]gmail.com


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