Anyone dropping by my home in the late afternoon knows I treasure my two glasses of bourbon, poured “on the rocks” for a daily treat. My favorite at the moment is Jim Beam Black, which I am in agreement with magazine ads as the favored aged bourbon so described. Knob Creek has its cheerleaders, as does Makers Mark, and full-page photographs do these bottled whiskeys credit with their caramel-honeyed tones.

A recent article in American Forests describes why these esteemed bourbons are as good as they are, and it has to do with white oak barrels they are aged in for six years. By law since 1964, when Congress designated bourbon the national spirit of the United States, it also outlined criteria that bourbon must adhere to requiring aging in new, charred oak barrels.

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