From Jeremy Hobson & Chris Bentley at WBUR 90.9: "Once the barrel is perfect, it’s sent across the factory floor on a series of tracks and conveyor belts to an oven, where the interior of the barrel is blasted with fire to toast and char the wood. If it weren’t for this process, bourbon wouldn’t have its color or its flavor.
Of course something has to go into the barrel to make bourbon, and that’s where distilleries come in. Whiskey starts as a mixture of grains called mash, says Andrea Wilson, master of maturation and executive vice president for Michter’s, a distiller with origins going back to the 18th century.
For the mash to become bourbon, it has to be at least 51% corn, Wilson explains. Other whiskeys usually use other grains, such as rye, malted barley or wheat. Distillers at Michter’s boil that mash and condense the resulting vapor into what they call “low wine.”
Standing under a stack of copper stills and and pipes that reach up several stories, Wilson follows the mash’s journey into whiskey."
