Jim Beam for Flavoring, or is There a Better Brand?

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bourbon is always 51% corn and charcoal can be used to filter and has a set alcohol % to be filled in all new oak kegs charred for set number of yrs. nand can be adjusted for strength at bottle....JDis not bourbon but Tennessee whiskey cause it does not meet these requirements. no where on JD bottle does it say its bourbon.. its just put in that isle in store.. now all bourbon uses this 51% corn but varies in barley and rye and some use wheat for recipe.. unlike JD
 
i taught classes on beer brewing at my hobby store every week as i sold all the items along with R/C trucks n planes. i built my own brew station with 3--16 gallon stainless kegs and after fermentation i kegged in 5 gallon kegs with c02 and taps ect, we shared new beers every week in our club. i modified freezers to accept taps n kegs at proper temps with control temp plugs. beer is first step in whiskey and bourbon and all spirits, its the taste of starting mash.. now old timers used lots of sugar in mash and thats not how bourbon is done its not moonshine or normal whiskey as normal whiskey has no grain bill rules as it can be any percent of any grain.
 
no where on JD bottle does it say its bourbon..
That statement is accurate.

JDis not bourbon but Tennessee whiskey cause it does not meet these requirements.
Not accurate.

JD has a mash bill that technically makes it a bourbon (80% corn, 12% barley, 8% rye). It is aged in charred new oak barrels, another requirement. Legal agreements have defined it as a bourbon, BUT, they chose to call themselves Tenn. Whiskey due to the use of the Lincoln County Process. It is a specific type of charcoal filtering to remove the bad tasting congeners prior to aging. The process was created by Jack Daniels.

Scotch distills twice, Irish three times, for the same congener reason, but neither of those are bourbons since barley is the main part of the mash bill.
 
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You may end up with the problem I had. I didn't discover Scotch until I was 22. I thought it was fantastic. I could enjoy any Scotch, no matter how inexpensive. Then my taste started changing rapidly. Now I can barely stand cheap Scotch. I drink things like Lagavulin 16, Macallan 16, and Pinch.

I miss the days when I could spend seven dollars on a bottle and love it.
the Macallan exceptional single cask is hard to pass up and best to keep a couple bottles handy at all times. Understand what you mean
 
I’m with Tag0401...I like to enhance the flavor of a splash of water with a healthy shot of Jim! JB is my go to bourbon, but only because Knob Creek is so friggin expensive! :emoji_sunglasses:

I’ve used it in glazes and sauces from time to time...but it’s not standard practice for me - I’d rather enjoy it in a cocktail.

Red
 
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C2H5OH is a pretty simple molecule. As such it could diffuse into meat better than most external flavors (like 12-carbon sugar) though not as well as NaCl. Plus its a pretty good solvent for fats and oils and collagen.

I suspect if you want the flavor of bourbon it's best to just add it to a sauce at the table or mop on at the last part of a cook.

But I'm curious about the effect of just the alcohol itself, from high-proof drinks such as bourbon (or better yet pure grain alcohol,) when used as marinades. Those who tried it, did it wick out the oils quicker, making meat drier, or did it help the meat retain water moisture longer, hence more moist. I could be convinced either way.
 
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Howdy all. Perspective from a Scotsman living in Alabama.

I love single malt Scottish whisky. I get annoyed when people spell it "whiskey" because that's the wrong word. I like lowland and highland malts, don't like the smoky Islay malts - why am I drinking camp fire ashes?!?

It took me a long while to really grok that bourbon isn't whisky, and that's okay. I have tried a load of bourbons, and if I could get Johnny Drum I'd totally monster it - it's half way between a highland malt and a bourbon in flavour. Delicious. My regular sipping bourbon is Jim Beam. I also like Jack Daniels. Both of them I drink with just a splash of hot water from my kettle - the hot water really opens the subtle flavours.

When I make my home made bourbon BBQ sauce, I use Jim. I wouldn't use Johnny Drum, it's way too nice for that.

And the kind of single malts I drink when I can - Glenfarclas, Glenfiddich, or Bunnahabhain. If you see Penderyn Welsh Whiskey, it's truly delightful although stupid expensive here.
 
I rarely drink whisky or whiskey these days.
My favorite Scotch is Glenmorangie. Glenfidditch is great too
Bourbon favorite used to be Makers Mark. Beam is good. Wild Turkey is hangover from college days.
Bourbon is minimum 51% corn mash. It does not have to be single barrel, but I prefer it. Current is Evan Williams reserve.

Back to topic, adding liquor to a sauce should be a flavor preference. I use what I drink if making those sauces.

Still trying to get my head around how distilled wine (brandy) is a blending agent.
 
Still trying to get my head around how distilled wine (brandy) is a blending agent.
What I had on hand. :emoji_blush:

Lousy bottle? How can I make it suit my tastes? I've splashed all kinds of things into whiskies I didn't care for; port, sherry, brandy, other whiskies. Sometimes it just takes a few drops in the glass, never more than literally a splash. Call it a cocktail or a blend, but it is better than letting a bottle take up space. Kind of fun, too.

I'm really not a cocktail guy. And we're conditioned to not mix similar straight liquors. Well, like my handle says, no boundaries. I'll experiment with just about anything.

I'm a Glenmorangie guy, too. I have a bottle of Sauternes finished Nectar D'or I love.

Picked up a bottle of Highland Queen Majesty Sauternes Finished scotch last week for $18 (Alexander Murray). Although it has the Sauternes element, it is hot and young with an off aftertaste. Splash of brandy or port tamed it and improved the taste quite a bit. Got rid of the finish, too.

My shopping list at Total wine is more like a list of ingredients than stand-alone expressions.
 
Picked up a bottle of Highland Queen Majesty Sauternes Finished scotch last week for $18 (Alexander Murray). Although it has the Sauternes element, it is hot and young with an off aftertaste. Splash of brandy or port tamed it and improved the taste quite a bit. Got rid of the finish, too.

I feel like there's a lot of young liquor on the market these days. If you're not drinking an established brand, you could end up with something that has rocket fuel overtones.

A splash of hot water, or other similar tweaks like you suggest, can blend out the harshness. But that also means I won't buy it again until I see an age statement on the label. If I want to drink harsh liquor I'll shop on the bottom shelf.
 
Still trying to get my head around how distilled wine (brandy) is a blending agent.

Years ago, I bought Korbel brandy for cooking, and I tried some. I was amazed at how good it was, considering I paid $17 for a huge bottle. Eventually, I developed a trick for making it seem smoother. I put a tiny bit of white sugar in it.

Korbel with sugar is not XO, but for jug wine prices, it's surprisingly good.
 
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That was a masterful troll! I'm going to stand back and watch the fireworks.
 
noboundries ur right of course i just told the tail i was...
To start the new year right, let’s put to bed the ‘Is Jack Daniel’s bourbon?’ argument once and for all.

Jack Daniel’s is not bourbon. That is the correct answer. Although it is made almost exactly like bourbon, and pretty much tastes like bourbon, Jack Daniel’s is a little bit different so its makers prefer to call it Tennessee whiskey.

That is all true; undisputed, in fact.

It only gets murky when people try to guess why Jack Daniel’s is not called bourbon. They usually assume it cannot be called bourbon. They further assume that the pre-barrel charcoal leaching process that makes Jack Daniel’s a little bit different is prohibited in the rules that govern bourbon production.

It is not.

The assumption that the so-called ‘Lincoln County Process’ prevents Jack Daniel’s from being called bourbon isn’t just wrong, it is perfectly wrong. Jack Daniel’s doesn’t want to be bourbon, not now, not ever. To its makers and legion of fans, Jack Daniel’s is everything bourbon is and more. ‘The Lincoln County Process’ is the extra step that makes Jack Daniel’s better than bourbon, so they say.

The makers of Jack Daniel’s have believed this back to and including Jack himself. Many years ago, the company took steps to prevent the Federal government from forcing them to call their whiskey ‘bourbon.’ That is why some people insist that Jack Daniel’s is bourbon, because it meets every legal requirement. ‘Bourbon in all but name’ is another way of saying it.
 
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Bourbon in all but name’ is another way of saying it.
We're in complete agreement!

WAAAAY back when I lived outside Chattanooga we would go to JD at least once a year. We went to take relatives on the tour and to buy one or two used barrels. Price? $7/barrel. Putting the barrel in a small room with a dehumidifier, bung hole over a pan, you could extract about a pint of full strength whiskey from the barrel. Then my dad would cut the barrels in half and my mom made various furniture pieces.

Then I went to a university that had a Motlow on the Board (Motlows were related by marriage to JD). Drinking age was 18 back then. Tours of JD were offered every year with a free all-you-could-eat and drink barbeque at the employee picnic area (and it's a dry county which only means no retail sales). Everyone got barf bags getting back on the bus. Those picnics ruined me on JD for decades.
 
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