Who Believes Whisky Is a Typical European or Japanese Product, While Bourbon Is “Made in USA”, Is Mistaken. The Proof: Beyond the Big Pond, Young Distilleries Are Pushing Onto the Local Market to Polish Up Whisky’s Dusty Image.
Like the microbreweries that have sprung up all over Europe like mushrooms in the past decade, the New World is now experiencing a similar phenomenon: Distilleries such as Sagamore, Rabbit Hole, or Traverse City have taken it upon themselves to breathe new life into whisky. Because before the USA became the homeland of Bourbon, whisky was on everyone’s lips there. At the end of the 18th century, numerous Scottish and Irish settlers came to America, bringing with them the knowledge of the art of grain distillation. This led to the creation of the very first American whiskies. The term “Bourbon” only became prevalent much later for whiskies that, compared to the European variants made with barley, rye, or wheat, were mainly prepared with corn. It wasn’t until 1964 that the US Congress recognized Bourbon as a “typical American product” and introduced production standards.
