First of all, let's start with the word whisky or whiskey. The word whiskey is mostly used by the Irish and Americans. Meanwhile, whisky is used by Scots, Japanese and Canadians.
So what is Whiskey?
It is alcohol distilled from fermented grain mash aged in wooden casks with a distinct color and taste depending on where and how it's made. There are different styles of whiskey around the world, from the sweet Japanese whisky to Scotch that gives you that bite with each sip and to American whiskey, where you will find its most famous form, Bourbon.
You will find, if you've done your research, the saying 'All bourbon is whiskey but not all whiskey is bourbon.'
The major differences with these two are where it's distilled, how it's distilled and what's used in the alcoholic beverage.
Location plays a major key to whether something is whisky or bourbon. It is actual Bourbon Law that bourbon can only be made in America, while Whisky/whiskey does not, it is made around the world and the most popular of which include the Irish whiskey and the Scotch whisky.
What it's made of is essential in determining the difference as well. You cannot call your whiskey bourbon unless it's distilled from 51 percent corn while Whisky is distilled from an array of grains like corn, rye, wheat, buckwheat, malted barley and malted rye grain. For Irish whiskey, there is lots of barley, for rye whiskey it has to be 51 percent rye and for the Scotch it is mostly malted barley.
Bourbon also has to be distilled in new charred oak barrels and distilled at no more than 160 proof. Whisky, on the other hand, doesn't specifically need to use charred or new oak barrels and can be distilled to no more than 190 proof.
Famous brands of whiskey are Jack Daniel's, Maker's Mark, Glenmorangie, Johnnie Walker and the Macallan. The more known brands of bourbon include Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace.
