Think bourbon has to be made in Kentucky? Think again. Here's the truth

A recent column I wrote chock full of fun bourbon facts for National Bourbon Heritage Month sparked some unexpected outcry.

A couple of readers took issue with my anecdote about arguing with a chain restaurant bartender at a Dallas airport about the rules around bourbon. The bartender insisted that bourbon must be made in Kentucky or it cannot be called bourbon. I, knowing otherwise and being of a stubborn bent, tried to dispel this common misconception — and failed.

Alas, it seems that story isn't over.

Two readers wrote to educate me about the rules of bourbon. Without first consulting the definition in the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's Beverage Alcohol Manual, or, I don't know, googling, one of them wrote:

"Bourbon can be made anywhere. BUT it cannot be labeled as bourbon unless it’s made in the state of Kentucky. As in Jack Daniels Sour Mash Whiskey made in Tennessee. It’s technically bourbon in every way except where it was produced."

He then offered up helpfully that perhaps if I'd mentioned that, I may have gotten a free drink.

Bless his heart.

The other noted:

"I have also heard or read that whiskey can only be called Bourbon if it is distilled or bottled in Kentucky.

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For example Jack Daniels is a pretty popular whiskey and it's not labeled bourbon."

And went on to ask if I was truly a bourbon authority. 

Dear readers, let's start there, shall we? I'm definitely not an authority, but I am a bourbon enthusiast, an Executive Bourbon Steward, and a journalist who's had the chance to learn from a slew of authorities during my years covering food and beverages in Louisville and across Kentucky. 

So, with that out of the way, let's look at what the actual authorities say. I give you the definition, according to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's Beverage Alcohol Manual, of Whisky (as they spell it):

"Spirits distilled from a fermented mash of grain at less than 95 percent alcohol by volume (190 proof) having the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to whisky and bottled at not less than 40 percent alcohol by volume (80 proof)."

We all know the “all bourbon is whiskey, not all whiskey is bourbon” adage. So what sets bourbon apart?

Bourbon whisky, they go on, is:

"Whisky produced in the U.S. at not exceeding 80 percent alcohol by volume (160 proof) from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn and stored at not more than 62.5 percent alcohol by volume (125 proof) in charred new oak containers."

(The footnotes go into coloring and flavoring, the addition of which makes the spirit whisky, but not bourbon.)

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Notice the word Kentucky in there anywhere? (They don't mention barrels either, or aging.) Nope. Like I tried my hardest to convey to that belligerent bartender, bourbon doesn't have to be made in Kentucky.

Of course the vast majority of it is. But even that wasn't always the case, according to Chuck Cowdery, author of "BOURBON, STRAIGHT: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey."

“One funny thing about the erroneous belief that bourbon must be made in Kentucky is that, prior to Prohibition, only about half of all bourbon was made in Kentucky. And only-in-Kentucky was never a requirement," he writes.

So how did this urban bourbon legend come to be so entrenched in so many peoples' minds?

Cowdery attributes it to an assumption made some 40 years ago. “After bourbon crashed in the 1970s, the industry contracted into the Kentucky heartland,” he said, “so people just assumed bourbon could only be made in Kentucky.”

He went on to add that the "only producer outside of Kentucky was A. Smith Bowman, maker of Virginia Gentleman, which was always labeled Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey.”

And as anyone who's argued politics with someone on the opposing side knows, once someone holds something to be true, anything as pesky as an actual fact isn't going to get in the way.

But, back to the Jack Daniels example these readers hold up as proof that they're right.

The real point is: just because one popular whiskey made outside Kentucky isn't labeled bourbon doesn't mean every whiskey made outside Kentucky isn't bourbon. (Is that enough negatives in one sentence?)

And chances are, at least one of these fellows has had a bourbon made nearby in Indiana at MGP, a supplier to a number of high profile whiskey brands. I'd also recommend they sample one of the handful of lovely bourbons coming out of Detroit these days (once a bourbon city in its own right).

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At the end of the day it's great that we all have such pride in a quality product made here in the Bluegrass State. I love living in the heart of bourbon country and can say that I'll always choose a Kentucky bourbon over any made elsewhere. But there's enough of the good stuff go around, guys.

We can be the home of bourbon and not have to own it. So cheers to all the good bourbon out there — wherever it's from.

Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @bourbonbarbarella on Instagram.