Both are brown with amber hues and they both usher you into an alternate reality as soon as you take a sip. They sting your throat, settle into your stomach, and suddenly the world is just a little bit different. At first glance, you can’t tell the difference between the two and to be fair, all bourbon falls under the umbrella of whiskey. However, not all whiskey is considered bourbon.
The manufacturing and aging process of bourbon is what sets it apart from whiskey. Whiskey first starts as a fermented grain. Then, it’s poured into barrels where it undergoes an aging process. For whiskey to be considered bourbon, the fermented grain must be a mash that contains at minimum 51% corn. This addition is ultimately what changes the flavor profile of bourbon, adding a subtle sweetness.
The American Bourbon Association further explains that bourbon is created under strict regulations. For instance, regular whiskey can be aged in used barrels. However, bourbon requires new charred oak barrels for the aging process. The storage of these barrels is specific as well. The barrels must be placed on their side in ricks so that there can be airflow.
Bourbon cannot be altered with additives and the aging conditions must be just right to expedite the aging process (minimum of two years). All of these factors combined result in perfectly crafted bourbon. You can drink bourbon in various ways. Some prefer it neat while others take their bourbon on the rocks.
You can always try a cocktail with bourbon or whiskey, like an old fashioned, which incorporates sugar, Angostura bitters, and either a maraschino cherry or orange peel. Those who drink whiskey and bourbon have developed a special appreciation for their flavor profiles and notice the subtle differences with each drink. (And here are 25 of the most iconic quotes about drinking…anything.)
It’s no wonder there are so many quotes on whiskey and bourbon, with many romanticizing these distilled spirits. To compile this list of the most famous bourbon/whiskey quotes, 247 Tempo reviewed several sites, some of which include quotes taken from TV shows and movies and others that collect quotes from literature and assemble them into a single source the way Goodreads does.
“Love makes the world go round? Not at all. Whiskey makes it go around twice as fast.”
Quote By: Compton Mackenzie
“Whiskey, like a beautiful woman, demands appreciation. You gaze first, then it’s time to drink.”
- Quote By: Haruki Murakami
“How well I remember my first encounter with the devil’s brew. I happened to stumble across a case of bourbon — and went right on stumbling for several days thereafter.”
- Quote By: W.C. Fields
“Great fury, like great whiskey, requires long fermentation.”
- Quote By: Truman Capote
“My mama always told me there are few things a good hug can’t cure, and those things are what bourbon’s for.”
hand holds whiskey in a glass for tasting on a wooden background
- Quote By: J.T. Geissinger
“Never delay kissing a pretty girl or opening a bottle of whiskey”
- Quote By: Ernest Hemmingway
“Whiskey is liquid sunshine.”
- Quote By: George Bernard Shaw
“The water was not fit to drink. To make it palatable, we had to add whiskey. By diligent effort, I learned to like it.”
- Quote By: Winston Churchill
“I know folks all have a tizzy about it, but I like a little bourbon of an evening. It helps me sleep. I don’t care much what they say about it.”
- Quote By: Lillian Gordy Carter
“The whiskey kicked like a mugger.”
- Quote By: Ken Bruen
“Never cry over spilled milk. It could have been whiskey.”
- Quote By: Bret Maverick
“My own experience has been that the tools I need for my trade are paper, tobacco, food, and a little whiskey.”
- Quote By: William Faulkner
“A good poem or poet is like a good cigar or a good whiskey. Everyone has their own preferences.”
- Quote By: R.M. Engelhardt
“The light music of whiskey falling into glasses made an agreeable interlude.”
- Quote By: James Joyce
“Old but contented, the face of a man who had sipped life’s vinegar and found it, by and large, to be mostly whiskey, and good whiskey at that.”
- Quote By: Neil Gaiman
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.”
- Quote By: Mark Twain
“Nothing is so musical as the sound of pouring bourbon for the first drink on a Sunday morning.”
- Quote By: Carson McCullers
“There is no bad whiskey. There are only some whiskeys that aren’t as good as others.”
- Quote By: Raymond Chandler
“I wish to live to 150 years old, but the day I die, I wish it to be with a cigarette in hand and a glass of whiskey in the other.”
- Quote By: Ava Gardner
“I have never in my life seen a Kentuckian who didn’t have a gun, a pack of cards, and a jug of whiskey.”
- Quote By: Andrew Jackson
“Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of a snakebite and furthermore, always carry a small snake.”
- Quote By: W.C. Fields
“You drink your whiskey, I’ll drink my wine. Later when we’re fevered and tipsy, we’ll make savage love divine.”
- Quote By: Melody Lee
“Life is sweet when the whiskey’s sour.”
- Quote By: Jazz Egger
“Big Jim claims to be a deeply religious man, maintaining that his religion is primarily whiskey and women. I saw the connection between the two — most of his relationships were on the rocks.”
- Quote By: Kira Jane Buxton
“Whiskey has killed more men than bullets, but most men would rather be full of whiskey than bullets.”
- Quote By: Winston Churchill
“It was so quiet, a reservation kind of quiet, where you can hear somebody drinking whiskey on the rocks three miles away.”
- Quote By: Sherman Alexie
“I like my whiskey like I like my men: on the rocks, ready for death as I devour at their first intent.”
CHICAGO - JANUARY 19: Craft beers are offered for sale at Sam's Wines and Spirits January 19, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. The liquor store stocks about 1,000 different craft beers. As traditional domestic beer sales have slid about 20 percent since 2000, craft beers sales have surged, about 15 percent in the past year. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
- Quote By: Dominic Riccitello
“You say tomato, I say bourbon and coke.”
- Quote By: Drew Carey
“The once plentiful herds of magazine writers would continue to be culled — by the Internet, by the recession, by the American public, who would rather watch TV or play video games or electronically inform friends that, like, ‘rain sucks!’ But there’s no app for a bourbon buzz on a warm day in a cool, dark bar. The world will always want a drink.”
- Quote By: Gillian Flynn
“Happiness is having a rare steak, a bottle of whiskey, and a dog to eat the rare steak.”
Comedian Johnny Carson entertains the honored guests during the gala celebration at the Capital Center, during Inauguration Day.
- Quote By: Johnny Carson
“I’m here to kick ass and drink whiskey, and pilgrim, I’m out of whiskey.”
1969: John Wayne, in his Oscar winning performance as Rooster Cogburn, in scene from the movie 'True Grit' directed by Henry Hathaway in 1969. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
- Quote By: John Wayne
“Bourbon is easy to understand. Tastes like a warm summer day.”
- Quote By: Raylan Givens
“I would have preferred whiskey. There’s nothing like its bold flavor and strong burn to remind you that you’re alive. And then quickly dull that feeling.”
- Quote By: Melanie A. Smith
“Whiskey is by far the most popular of all remedies that won’t cure a cold.”
- Quote By: Jerry Vale
“I drink my whiskey neat and live my life messy.”
- Quote By: Matt Baker
“Her eyes were the color of whiskey and grace. Moments with her always felt like getting drunk on Sunday.”
- Quote By: B. Devine
“I’d much rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone’s cup of tea.”
- Quote By: Carrie Bradshaw
“And there’s nothing wrong with spinsters, anyway. They have nice cats and little bowls full of candy. Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Newitz are the kindest ladies you’ll ever meet, and they have nips of whiskey in their tea like cowboys.”
- Quote By: Catherynne M. Valente
“The medicine is in the eye of the beholder and right now you be-holding a big ass glass of it. So, shut up, and drink your whiskey.”
- Quote By: Joe Buckler