The second in this series, our story resumes with the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897. Read them all: Bourbon, Bourbon After the Act, Bourbon: What it is ... and isn't, Making Bourbon, Who Makes My Bourbon, Producer Capsules., Finding the Good Stuff, Tasting the Good Stuff, Neat, Mashbills, Geeky Information and Resources.

The Act created a new type of whiskey, called Bonded, or Bottled-in-Bond (BIB). Bonded whiskey must be the product of one year’s distilling, from a single distillery, aged in a Federally supervised warehouse for no less than four years, and bottled at 100 proof. All Bonded whiskey has a DSP (Distilled Spirits Plant) code on it, the complete list of which can be found online.

The Bottled in Bond Act was brilliant on two levels. On the producer side, people like Colonel E.H. Taylor (of Old Taylor fame, though there’s now an EH Taylor bottling) fought for government supervision of their aging stocks because the public would know exactly what they were buying. On the government’s side, Treasury Secretary John Carlisle wanted to ensure proper payment of Federal tax, which had been a major source of both revenue and headache since 1791’s Whiskey Rebellion.

This is the first in a series by Zachary Pearson, Kindred Cocktails Editor. Read them all: Bourbon, Bourbon After the Act, Bourbon: What it is ... and isn't, Making Bourbon, Who Makes My Bourbon, Producer Capsules., Finding the Good Stuff, Tasting the Good Stuff, Neat, Mashbills, Geeky Information and Resources.

Bourbon whiskey has a storied, often apocryphal history, with interesting main characters, complex governmental regulations and a variety of subtypes, each with their own flavor profile. I'll tell a bit of this story, along with some tips for finding and recognizing older or important bottles of Bourbon on liquor store shelves. ;

A lot of foundational stories are only to be taken at face value. And yet there’s a deep history of pioneer families who started out making whiskey as part of the homesteading experience and with enough generations, some of their descendants are still manning stills throughout Kentucky.

While the main focus here will be on Kentucky Bourbon whiskey, much of this information applies to other grain whiskies made in other states as well. Delicious rye whiskey abounds, and a few intrepid people make spirits from wheat or other exotic grains.

So pour a glass of the stuff and sip it as you read.