Definition of "White/Clear Whiskey"

[NEPA-still-chillin]

We are working on having a clear whiskey for this spring and have some questions about text on our label. I could wait for the TTB to come through but always love to hear what the distilling community has to say.

Question is....I have been told if you are doing any whiskey clear or aged it needs to be in a barrel in order to be qualified as a whiskey. I've been told for clear it can sit in the barrel overnight and will classify. Does anybody know if this holds true? The reason I ask is for our graphic designer, because on our label text we would like to have whiskey somewhere in there.

Also I did a brief search but where does White/Clear/Moonshine whiskey fall into with the TTB? Our whiskey is all grain, so no sugar or specialties added.

Rory

[Mash]

Depends on the the classification. Corn Whisky can be bottled as a clear spirit and bear the word "Whisky" as part of the classification. All other grain bills have to have exposure to oak.

[glisade]

You also need formula approval if you just call it "whiskey"

[bluestar]

Corn whiskey must be labeled as "corn whiskey", not just whiskey. If aged under four years, it needs an age statement. If it was not in barrel, then that age statement could be "unaged", hence the product could then be described as "unaged corn whiskey" to meet TTB requirements.

NONE of the other "named" whiskies can be unaged. They must go into a barrel, but it can be short enough time as to not impart color. In which case, you still have to have an age statement, and it must represent a lower limit for how long it was in barrel. So if it is in barrel for two days, the age statement should be something like "aged two days" or "two days old".

Since you said yours is all grain, and since most "moonshines" that are all grain are at least 80% corn and if you are that, and if you are distilled under 160 proof, then you would be "unaged corn whiskey". Add anything other than grain, then as you seem to point out, you would be a specialty, not whiskey.

If you are not at least 80% corn, even if all grain, and not aged in barrel at all, you are not whiskey, you are a specialty.

[NEPA-still-chillin]

Thanks everyone.

We are not at least 80% Corn, we are taking our bourbon recipe and using that.

So it seems if we were to do a overnight or short period barreling we would need a nice way of describing the age statement. I think some people could be put off/confused on something like "1 day old whiskey"

We do have a formula put in currently, but maybe to avoid the age statement and short barreling we will just go with specialty. Now time to read up on that.

Any other input is welcome!

thanks

[3d0g]

Specialty is really the way to go. Look at Beam's Red Stag. Flavored "Straight Bourbon".