Editor’s Note: I have seen some feedback online regarding the infographic below that I got from a third party source and the listed fact that bourbon must be aged in new charred American oak barrels versus just new charred oak barrels. There seems to be some confusion online on whether it specifically must be “charred American oak” (the legal definition doesn’t call for this) – some resources list it one way and some the other. Watch for a future post into this confusion to shed some light on the subject.

Also, under “What Is Bourbon?” take note the “<” and “>” arrows next to percentages aren’t clear as to indications of how the ABV is represented. Follow the corresponding white line arrows from the respective areas to the right side of this part of the infographic for a better understanding of how the proof should be appearing.

Bottles is a liquor store out of Rhode Island I’ve had the pleasure of purchasing from a few times in my never ending quest to collect craft whiskey bottles from around the country (more on that in a future post). I stumbled across recently an excellent infographic from them on pretty much every basic thing you should know about bourbon, such as straight vs small batch vs single barrel, which you can check out for your own educational purposes below.

image via Bottles