What makes a whiskey bourbon?

什么样的威士忌属于波旁威士忌？

The quick answer is the law. Making bourbon is an exceedingly technical exercise, and requires that the whiskey meet rigid criteria. The Federal Standard of Identify for Bourbon stipulate what is and what isn’t bourbon. For a whiskey to call itself bourbon, its mash—the mixture of grains from which the product is distilled—must contain at least 51 percent corn. The rest of the mash is usually filled out with malted barley and either rye or wheat.

简单来说，符合相关法律规定的威士忌才能称得上是波旁威士忌。酿造波旁威士忌是一项非常专业的工作，对于威士忌有非常严格的标准。波旁威士忌联邦鉴定标准规定了什么样的威士忌属于波旁威士忌，而什么样的威士忌不属于波旁威士忌。如果一款威士忌号称属于波旁威士忌，那么用于酿造这款威士忌的醪液（就是各种谷物的混合物）必须至少含有51%的玉米。其余的部分则通常为发芽的大麦和黑麦或小麦。

Then, the mash must be distilled at 160 proof or less and put into the barrel at 125 proof or less, It also can't contain any additives. The distillate needs to be aged in a new charred oak barrel. If you distill a whiskey in your kitchen that meets all of these standards, congrats—you’ve made bourbon. Also, you’ve broken the law. The ATF will be on its way shortly.

然后，醪液必须在160度或以下进行蒸馏，并在125度或以下时被放入桶内。醪液中不得含有任何添加剂。馏出液需要在一个新的烧焦的橡木桶内进行陈化。如果您在自家厨房蒸馏威士忌并能够达到上述所有标准，那么恭喜您-您已经制作出了波旁酒。当然，您也违反了法律。ATF很快就会找上门。

注释：ATF，Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives，简称ATF，是一个隶属于美国司法部（Dept of Justice - DOJ）并负责对烟酒枪炮征税、执法和释法的机构，2003年1月24日移到美国司法部。

What’s the difference between scotch and whiskey?

苏格兰威士忌和威士忌的区别？

The main difference between scotch and whiskey is geographic, but it also involves ingredients and spellings. Scotch is whisky—no e—made in Scotland, while bourbon is whiskey made in the U.S., generally in Kentucky. Scotch is made mostly from malted barley, while bourbon is distilled from corn. If you’re in England and ask for a whisky, you’ll get scotch. But in Ireland, you’ll get Irish whiskey (yep, they spell it differently).

苏格兰威士忌和威士忌的主要区别在于地理位置。其他区别还包括成分和拼法。苏格兰威士忌（whisky，没有e字母）产自苏格兰，而波旁威士忌产自美国，通常是美国的肯塔基州。苏格兰威士忌的原料主要是发芽的大麦，而波旁威士忌则是由玉米蒸馏而成。但是在爱尔兰，你还会见到爱尔兰威士忌（没错，这里的拼法和苏格兰威士忌不一样，爱尔兰威士忌Irish Whiskey里面有e字母）。

Is Tennessee whiskey bourbon?

田纳西威士忌是波旁威士忌吗？

Yes and no. The difference between Tennessee whiskey, like Jack Daniel’s, and bourbon is that after the spirit is distilled, Tennessee whiskey is filtered through sugar maple charcoal. This filtering, known as the Lincoln County Process, is what distinguishes Tennessee whiskey from your average bourbon, like Jim Beam. The name bourbon actually comes from an area known as Old Bourbon, around what is now Bourbon County, Kentucky.

说对也对，说不对也不对。田纳西威士忌，比如Jack Daniel’s威士忌和波旁威士忌之间的区别是经过蒸馏后，田纳西威士忌还会通过糖枫木炭过滤。这种过滤工艺，也被称为林肯郡工艺就是田纳西威士忌与普通波旁威士忌，比如Jim Beam之间的主要区别。波旁这个名字实际上来自于肯塔基州一个叫做老波旁（Old Bourbon）的地方，它的周围是新的波旁县。

On top of these types of whiskey, we also have rye whiskey, which can refer either to American rye whiskey, which must be distilled from at least 51 percent rye, or Canadian whisky, which may or may not actually include any rye in its production process.

除了上面这些威士忌外，我们还有黑麦威士忌，这里的黑麦威士忌既指美国黑麦威士忌（比如用至少51%的黑麦进行蒸馏），也包括加拿大威士忌，加拿大威士忌的制作工艺中也许有，也许并没有使用任何黑麦。

原文来源：Mental Floss

编辑：译锐君