Although whiskey has just four simple ingredients: water, grain, yeast, and oak, it can get complicated. To understand the term ‘barrel proof,’ for instance, you must understand the oak barrel’s role—to house the whiskey as it matures, imparting pleasurable flavors and also eliminating undesirable ones. Then there’s proof, which is simply a measure of alcohol content equal to twice the percentage of alcohol by volume. For example, a 100 proof spirit is 50% alcohol.
Although it is not part of the federal government’s Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits, the term ‘barrel proof’ is officially defined. In 1979, the Federal...
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