[kach22i]

Originally posted by RallyJon
I have to say I have a hard time understanding what makes one bourbon better than another from a manufacturing standpoint. It's not like you can say one distillery has the best vineyards or superior extraction or something. Any distiller who wants to make better bourbon can. So when discussing bourbon quality and taste, we're really disussion the business compromises made by the distillers. Kind of lame, really.

I read in one of the reviews that Jack Daniels is not Bourbon because it's charcoal filtered.

Here:
http://www.novusvinum.com/spirits/whiskey/eaglerare.html

As with French appellation wines, distilleries have strict rules to follow in order to label their whiskey products bourbon, such as corn making up more than half the grain used. Despite popular belief, Jack Daniels is not a bourbon because it undergoes a charcoal filtration before barrel aging.

To label a whiskey as Kentucky Straight Bourbon, the rules are the most stringent of any distilled spirit: it must have been distilled and aged in the state where Bourbon was born for a period of at least one year, and then continue to be aged for at least one more year. Eagle Rare meets all these requirements and more. This Kentucky Straight Bourbon owes its smoothness and great balance to ageing ten years in charred American white oak barrels. This golden-amber colored whiskey has a creamy texture, and vanilla, caramel and toffee flavors. It has a long finish, with a little raw alcohol note that melts away when ice or water is added. It is sweet, but packs a powerful punch.