On Food and Cooking

Research has found that alcohol does
indeed stimulate the secretion of digestive
hormones in the stomach.
Bourbon is made from a mash that’s
usually 70–80% maize, 10–15% malted barley
to digest the starch, and the remainder rye or
wheat. After fermenting for two to four days,
the whole mash, grain residues and yeast
included, is distilled in a column and then a
kind of continuous pot still to 60–80%
alcohol. The distillate is aged for at least two
years in new, charred American oak barrels,
which give bourbon a deeper color and
stronger vanilla note than Scotch whiskies
have. Summer temperatures that can reach
125ºF/53ºC in the warehouses modify and
accelerate the chemical reactions of aging.
Bourbons are generally chill-filtered; in fact
this technique was invented by the Tennessee
whiskey maker George Dickel around 1870.
Unlike French brandies and Canadian
whiskeys, bourbon cannot be colored,