What’s the difference between Scotch and bourbon and whiskey?

That’s a question we get quite often.

Scotch, bourbon, Irish, American, Canadian. Those are all different types of whiskey. They are all whiskeys, but they’re in subcategories of whiskey.

The Difference Between Scotch and Bourbon

It’s kind of like cheese. You have mozzarella, Parmesan, bleu cheese, colby jack cheese. They are all different types of cheese, but at the end of the day they’re all still cheese.

Whiskey is very similar to that. Scotch is a type of whiskey; bourbon is a type of whiskey. So when you’re asking for Scotch, you are inherently asking for a whiskey.

What makes them a little bit different is each of the subclassifications has their own standards that they have to meet in order to be called or classified in that way.

The Differences

Scotch, for example, is one of the major classifications. It must come from the island of Scotland. It is also typically made with malted barley, giving it unique flavor characteristics.

Whereas bourbon, by law, needs to be at least 51% corn, and must be aged in previously unused American oak barrels. Those previously unused barrels give the bourbon very strong vanilla flavors, help mellow out and smooth the bourbon more quickly. Corn also adds sweetness content, so bourbons will typically be a little bit sweeter than Scotches.
Irish whiskey is another sub-classification, and as you may have already guessed from the Scottish/Scotch comment, Irish whiskey needs to come from Ireland. Canadian whiskey is from Canada, American whiskey is from America.

Canadian whiskeys tend to be a little bit higher in their rye content, which gives it a little bit more of a bite in the back of your throat, a little bit less sweetness than bourbons or some other types of whiskey. So each type of whiskey, Scotch, Irish, bourbon, is made and aged in its own unique way, imparting their own flavors.

Re-using Barrels

Another little thing about Scotch is that very often they use the used bourbon barrels to age Scotch in. Irish whiskeys use them as well. And some Canadian whiskeys do as well. That’s because the bourbon producers can only use them once and then they have to get rid of them. So the Scotch and the Irish and the Canadian producers, since they don’t have those types of laws in their system about using unused barrels, they can make use of the used bourbon barrels for less of a cost than going out and purchasing new barrels themselves.

So, in conclusion, the difference between Scotch and bourbon is like the difference between all types of whiskey – they are all sub-categories of whiskey. All Scotches are whiskies, not all whiskies are Scotch. All bourbons are whiskey, not all whiskeys are bourbon. Hopefully that helps clear
things up a little bit for you.

We’ll go into each one in more depth at some time in the future. If there are any particular
questions you have about any of them, please let us know through the comments below or through email, or any other way you can get in touch with us.

If you missed our last video on How Long a Wine Will Last Once Open, you can check it out here. Or if you are interested in any of the whisk(e)y pictured above you can shop for them here: Jameson Irish Whiskey, Buffalo Distilling OFC Bourbon, and Canadian Club Whisky (1.75L or 1L).

Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you soon.