Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
The American whiskey scene is awash with excellent stuff. When it comes to Tennessee style whiskies (which meet the legal definition of bourbon, even though the makers choose not to call them that) I prefer George Dickel.
JD, however, is the number one selling whiskey in the entire world.
I thought JD was not legally allowed to be called bourbon because they use the Lincoln County filtering process (across active wood charcoal). Last I read bourbon was not allowed to be filtered for flavor improvement, especially after the distillate comes out of the barrel.
This is JD's claim, however, the distillate is filtered through the maple charcoal after distillation and BEFORE it is barreled. There is actually nothing in bourbon regs prohibiting charcoal filtration. It is not considered a flavor modification. Read Chuck Cowdery's text on the topic. There are a lot of bourbons out there, but very few Tennessee whiskies, simple as that. There are Tennessee whiskies these days that do not use the Lincoln County Process (i.e. Prichard's). There are bourbons that are charcoal filtered, and state it on the label, as well. Many are chill filtered as well, but are still allowed to be called bourbon.
Of course, to those of us who drink it, all this legalese and marketing terminology means very little. We drink what we like.