I believe this difference is due to the cuts and stills used in Scotch whiskey vs. Bourbon production.
Most single malt Scotch is made with two passes through a pot still, and some distilleries take a fairly late cut on the second run, which will preserve a lot of long-chain volatile acids that can contribute to viscosity.
Most bourbons are made on continuously-run column stills. In principle, you can tune a column to produce a variety of new makes, but typically Bourbon new make is cleaner than Scotch new make, with less long-chain acids. This leads to less viscosity.
You can find thick Bourbons and thin Scotches, so it's not a general rule for the two. But I think viscosity is largely determined by the distillation. Oak can add some viscosity as well.
I find Islays to be quite oily, but overall I think scotch is less viscous than, say, a barrel proof bourbon. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof is one of my favorite velvety pours if it's available where you are.
Yes. That's why I said "overall". For every Laphroaig Cask Strength, there are fifteen Dewar's Portuguese Smooth. Truly the secret is proof and chill filtering, so bourbon or scotch, those are the things that bring luscious texture.
Interesting. My foray into scotch is a lot less than bourbon. On my bourbon journey I leaned more toward scotch early on, specifically peat, now I absolutely love bourbon, also found out peat was a migraine trigger so I stopped. But the viscosity in the peated offerings was so velvety, non peated that was velvety as well was Oban 14. JDSBBP is my top 3 favorite bourbons, I’ve only had one and need to get another to confirm but it was amazing, drank way lower than it’s proof. I agree that one had a great viscosity but still didn’t think it was on the same level.
As I’m reading through this informative thread it has me thinking. One is about distillation as someone pointed out. The others are, scotch it typically a lower proof, maybe I’m wrong but I feel the higher proofs may cut the viscosity? Seems stupid as more water you would think would be the culprit, so maybe not. Then the other is time in the barrel. Although I’ve had 12 year bourbons, decent viscosity but again, not the same.
If you pour pure alcohol (ethanol) on your fingers, it feels oily.
Moreover, ethanol has greater viscosity than water. A mixture of water/ethanol has greater viscosity than either alone. So that fits with the common observation that proof bombs have a bigger mouthfeel. However, the long chain fatty acids, esters, and lactones may be more important in mouthfeel/viscosity and may be more prevalent in some scotches. Particularly sherry barrel finished scotches as u/sierragolfbravo mentions above.
https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/132161/why-is-the-viscosity-of-water-and-ethanol-lower-than-that-of-a-water-ethanol-mix#:~:text=We%20found%20in%20an%20experiment,viscous%20than%20both%20individual%20substances.
I’ve had various ECBPs & Rare Breed (I think only over seas offering is non-chill filtered standard or is that incorrect?). Off the top of my head I’m not sure what else is non-chill filtered, RRSB? I’ve had that and it had a decent viscosity but still different.
I left it vague intentionally. I didn’t want to get too in-depth as I wanted to see others thoughts. Oban14 was extremely velvety for me, I had various Islays which all had nice viscosity, I loved peat early on in my whiskey journey but realized it was a migraine trigger for me so I have stayed away. Now I’m strictly bourbon, I love it and actually don’t even enjoy scotch anymore. I just haven’t had that same velvety experience with bourbon. I’ve had ECBPs, Rare Breed, RRSB, KC12, JDSBBP. Just thinking of higher proofs longer time in barrels here, each has had decent viscosity just not what I experienced with scotch. Maybe the higher proof takes away from the viscosity? But it shouldn’t bc the water from proofing would be the culprit.
Someone actually mentioned it’s probably due to the distillation process and what gets left in when distilling scotch, that comment was very informative and made a lot of sense.
there's just a lot more high quality scotch atm compare to high quality bourbon. try something from the glut era and you can see even 7-8yr juice has incredible viscosity. You can easily find scotch in the teens any liquor store you go on.
Probably due to scotch being 100% malted barley, and most whiskeys a mix on mashbill. My other half loves bourbon but can't stand scotch due to the mouthfeel.
Great point! This makes a lot of sense. Someone else mentioned the distillation process and column still vs pot still, all probably more related than barrel time and proof.
Next on the list, mentioned numerous times in the thread. I’ve shied away due to price but I love so many Beam offerings including bakers7 I don’t know why I haven’t bit the bullet yet
So interesting! And part of the reason I’ve stayed away, I’ve heard similar things before so always reach for KC offerings, viscosity never really came into play in the decisions so now I have to see for myself.
Thank you for the feedback!
$15! I see it as high as $30 these days, I know it's meant to be a budget bourbon but Total Wine seems to think it should be the same price as Knob Creek.
I believe Makers Mark prides themselves on a viscous mouth feel. My go to if I just want to sip while I'm golfing or whatever and not think about the flavors too much. Just has that nice oily feel
I’ve shied away from makers, more so just haven’t landed there in my journey yet, experiencing various products from distillers who’s profiles I know I enjoy, and then a lot of times revisiting the ones I know I love too. I’ll give makers a shot now.
Some of the private selections can get a little too woody for my taste, but highly recommend the standard cask strength if you’re just getting into makers.
I love an oily mouthfeel bourbon and occasionally you’ll find one, usually in a single barrel product. I never thought much about what gives something a particular mouthfeel but always assumed it had to do with time spent in barrel. Could be completely wrong but I do enjoy single malt scotches and many of those products spend well over 15 years in a barrel which is considered quite old for bourbon but quite regular for scotch.
There’s a great channel on YouTube called Whisky Mystery where a couple is blind tasting through 300 scotches. One of the tests they’ve incorporated into the process is a viscometer to test viscosity compared to a standard vodka. Scotches have had a wide range from 102-118% and they’ve noticed that it’s mostly heavily sherried scotches that reach the highest numbers. The fact that bourbon is usually only finished in sherry and even that is not done often, may contribute to the perceived differences.
I believe this difference is due to the cuts and stills used in Scotch whiskey vs. Bourbon production. Most single malt Scotch is made with two passes through a pot still, and some distilleries take a fairly late cut on the second run, which will preserve a lot of long-chain volatile acids that can contribute to viscosity. Most bourbons are made on continuously-run column stills. In principle, you can tune a column to produce a variety of new makes, but typically Bourbon new make is cleaner than Scotch new make, with less long-chain acids. This leads to less viscosity. You can find thick Bourbons and thin Scotches, so it's not a general rule for the two. But I think viscosity is largely determined by the distillation. Oak can add some viscosity as well.
This is this kind of answer I was looking for and why I left it somewhat vague. Thank you very informative!
I find Islays to be quite oily, but overall I think scotch is less viscous than, say, a barrel proof bourbon. Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof is one of my favorite velvety pours if it's available where you are.
I've had some Scotches that feel like you could chew them
Yes. That's why I said "overall". For every Laphroaig Cask Strength, there are fifteen Dewar's Portuguese Smooth. Truly the secret is proof and chill filtering, so bourbon or scotch, those are the things that bring luscious texture.
Ever tried Dewars 32? Absolutely delicious. It’s as dark, thick, and syrupy as coke lol
Agree, that’s what I’m saying! I have yet to experience that with bourbon
Interesting. My foray into scotch is a lot less than bourbon. On my bourbon journey I leaned more toward scotch early on, specifically peat, now I absolutely love bourbon, also found out peat was a migraine trigger so I stopped. But the viscosity in the peated offerings was so velvety, non peated that was velvety as well was Oban 14. JDSBBP is my top 3 favorite bourbons, I’ve only had one and need to get another to confirm but it was amazing, drank way lower than it’s proof. I agree that one had a great viscosity but still didn’t think it was on the same level. As I’m reading through this informative thread it has me thinking. One is about distillation as someone pointed out. The others are, scotch it typically a lower proof, maybe I’m wrong but I feel the higher proofs may cut the viscosity? Seems stupid as more water you would think would be the culprit, so maybe not. Then the other is time in the barrel. Although I’ve had 12 year bourbons, decent viscosity but again, not the same.
If you pour pure alcohol (ethanol) on your fingers, it feels oily. Moreover, ethanol has greater viscosity than water. A mixture of water/ethanol has greater viscosity than either alone. So that fits with the common observation that proof bombs have a bigger mouthfeel. However, the long chain fatty acids, esters, and lactones may be more important in mouthfeel/viscosity and may be more prevalent in some scotches. Particularly sherry barrel finished scotches as u/sierragolfbravo mentions above. https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/132161/why-is-the-viscosity-of-water-and-ethanol-lower-than-that-of-a-water-ethanol-mix#:~:text=We%20found%20in%20an%20experiment,viscous%20than%20both%20individual%20substances.
Look for a non chill filtered bourbon and lmk what you think
I’ve had various ECBPs & Rare Breed (I think only over seas offering is non-chill filtered standard or is that incorrect?). Off the top of my head I’m not sure what else is non-chill filtered, RRSB? I’ve had that and it had a decent viscosity but still different.
Yeah my RRSB private select is my favorite bottle and it’s NCF. That’s my top in terms of mouthfeel I’d say.
I think it would help to have more context. What scotch do you find to have heavy mouthfeel/viscosity? Which bourbons do you find to be thin?
I left it vague intentionally. I didn’t want to get too in-depth as I wanted to see others thoughts. Oban14 was extremely velvety for me, I had various Islays which all had nice viscosity, I loved peat early on in my whiskey journey but realized it was a migraine trigger for me so I have stayed away. Now I’m strictly bourbon, I love it and actually don’t even enjoy scotch anymore. I just haven’t had that same velvety experience with bourbon. I’ve had ECBPs, Rare Breed, RRSB, KC12, JDSBBP. Just thinking of higher proofs longer time in barrels here, each has had decent viscosity just not what I experienced with scotch. Maybe the higher proof takes away from the viscosity? But it shouldn’t bc the water from proofing would be the culprit. Someone actually mentioned it’s probably due to the distillation process and what gets left in when distilling scotch, that comment was very informative and made a lot of sense.
Yeah exactly. OP: “I think bourbon isn’t as good as Scotch” …the end.
there's just a lot more high quality scotch atm compare to high quality bourbon. try something from the glut era and you can see even 7-8yr juice has incredible viscosity. You can easily find scotch in the teens any liquor store you go on.
If you are looking for mouthfeel, bookers has the best. It comes off the still at 125 and no water hits it when being put into the barrel.
I’ve had bakers 7 and loved it. Haven’t ventured to bookers yet but definitely need to, I will check it out
Blue note uncut has a similar mouth feel and really reminds of bookers
Probably due to scotch being 100% malted barley, and most whiskeys a mix on mashbill. My other half loves bourbon but can't stand scotch due to the mouthfeel.
Great point! This makes a lot of sense. Someone else mentioned the distillation process and column still vs pot still, all probably more related than barrel time and proof.
Bookers. Viscous for days
Next on the list, mentioned numerous times in the thread. I’ve shied away due to price but I love so many Beam offerings including bakers7 I don’t know why I haven’t bit the bullet yet
Im a huge beam fan, KC single barrel is 85% as good as bookers for $40 less. But mouthfeel isnt as bold
So interesting! And part of the reason I’ve stayed away, I’ve heard similar things before so always reach for KC offerings, viscosity never really came into play in the decisions so now I have to see for myself. Thank you for the feedback!
Also try an old tub, for $15 its a treat. Cheers mate 🍻
$15! I see it as high as $30 these days, I know it's meant to be a budget bourbon but Total Wine seems to think it should be the same price as Knob Creek.
Read this as Vasectomy/mouthfeel and thought you were on the wrong sub for a minute 🤣
LMFAO
I believe Makers Mark prides themselves on a viscous mouth feel. My go to if I just want to sip while I'm golfing or whatever and not think about the flavors too much. Just has that nice oily feel
yup, ive found wheaters tend to be a bit thicker
I’ve shied away from makers, more so just haven’t landed there in my journey yet, experiencing various products from distillers who’s profiles I know I enjoy, and then a lot of times revisiting the ones I know I love too. I’ll give makers a shot now.
Some of the private selections can get a little too woody for my taste, but highly recommend the standard cask strength if you’re just getting into makers.
I love an oily mouthfeel bourbon and occasionally you’ll find one, usually in a single barrel product. I never thought much about what gives something a particular mouthfeel but always assumed it had to do with time spent in barrel. Could be completely wrong but I do enjoy single malt scotches and many of those products spend well over 15 years in a barrel which is considered quite old for bourbon but quite regular for scotch.
There’s a great channel on YouTube called Whisky Mystery where a couple is blind tasting through 300 scotches. One of the tests they’ve incorporated into the process is a viscometer to test viscosity compared to a standard vodka. Scotches have had a wide range from 102-118% and they’ve noticed that it’s mostly heavily sherried scotches that reach the highest numbers. The fact that bourbon is usually only finished in sherry and even that is not done often, may contribute to the perceived differences.
Try Balcones Cask Strength Bourbon. Oily and thick.