Spirit Style Guide
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Spirit Style Guide
The Spirit Style Guide is intended to develop a common language for distillers. It should serve as a guide so that everyone, when speaking about a specific style of spirit, shares a common understanding.
Because hobby distillation is often discussed informally, names and meanings can vary. By developing a Spirit Style Guide, traditional styles can be recognized while still allowing room for experimentation.
Commercial definitions exist under the US TTB Standards of Identity (27 CFR 5.22). These apply to commercial labeling and cover only a limited number of categories. This guide expands beyond those definitions to reflect practical hobby distilling.
As an example, see the Beer Style Guide.
How to Use This Guide
This guide is descriptive, not prescriptive.
Use it to:
- Communicate spirit styles consistently
- Compare different approaches and outcomes
- Guide recipe and process decisions
These are not legal definitions.
US TTB Standards of Identity
In the US, the TTB defines legal naming under the Standards of Identity (SOI).
These definitions are important for labeling, but do not limit hobby production.
Base Spirit Categories
Grain Based Spirit
- Any spirit derived from grains including barley, corn, wheat, oats. This category includes Whiskey and whiskey subtypes.
Sugar Based Spirit
- Spirits derived from sugarcane, sugar beet, or sorghum. Includes Rum and its derivatives.
Sugarhead
- A hybrid subcategory of flavored sugar-based spirits. Refined sugar provides the fermentable base while ingredients contribute flavor during fermentation. See Sugarheads
Fruit Based Spirit
- Any spirit derived from fruits or fruit pomace. Includes brandy and marc. Sugar additions to raise ABV are common and do not change classification.
Botanical Spirit
- A previously distilled spirit used as a base and redistilled with botanicals. Includes gin, aquavit, etc.
Compounded Spirit
- A spirit that has flavor added after distillation (tinctures, macerations). Includes liqueurs, amari, bitters.
Hybrid Spirit
- A spirit that uses multiple fermentation sources. Example: Sweet Feed whiskey.
Other
- A spirit using a non-traditional fermentation source. Specify source, e.g. Other (Potatoes).
Spirit Styles
Whiskey - American
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: A lightly flavored grain whiskey
- Primary use: Straight or mixer
- Bottled ABV: 40–50%
- Wash: 100% grain based
- Cuts: Narrow hearts cut
- Aging: New charred oak
- Color: Clear to light amber
- Clarity: Clear
- Aroma: Light grain
- Flavor: Light to medium grain, moderate oak, low esters
- Post Distillation Flavoring: Oak-derived
Whiskey - Rye
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: Medium to strongly flavored rye whiskey (≥51% rye)
- Cuts: Wider than American whiskey
- Primary use: Straight
- Bottled ABV: 40–65%
- Wash: ≥51% rye
- Aging: New barrels
- Flavor: Spicy, rye-forward
Whiskey - Monongahela (Pennsylvania Rye)
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: Strong rye whiskey (≥80% rye)
- Cuts: Wide
- Primary use: Straight or mixer
- Bottled ABV: 40–65%
- Flavor: Very strong rye, aggressive, spicy
Whiskey - Maryland Rye
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: Rye whiskey tempered with wheat or corn
- Cuts: Wider than American, narrower than Mon
- Flavor: Balanced rye spice
Whiskey - Bourbon
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: Corn-based whiskey (≥51% corn)
- Cuts: Variable
- Primary use: Straight or mixer
- Bottled ABV: 40–65%
- Flavor: Sweet, oak-forward, corn character
Whiskey - Tennessee
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: Bourbon-style whiskey using the Charcoal filtration (Lincoln County Process)
Whiskey - Corn
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: ≥80% corn
- Cuts: Narrow hearts
- Primary use: Straight or mixer
- Bottled ABV: 40–65%
- Aging: Often unaged
- Flavor: Sweet corn, simple profile
Whiskey - Single Malt
- Category: Grain Based Spirit
- Description: 100% malted barley
- Cuts: Moderate to wide
- Flavor: Malt-forward to heavily peated depending on style
Rum - Spanish
- Category: Sugar Based Spirit
- Description: Light-bodied rum
- Cuts: Tight hearts
- Primary use: Mixer
- Flavor: Clean, light molasses
Rum - Jamaican
- Category: Sugar Based Spirit
- Description: Heavy, ester-driven rum
- Cuts: Wide, tails-biased
- Flavor: Funky, fruity, complex
Rum - Rhum Agricole / Cachaça
- Category: Sugar Based Spirit
- Description: Fresh cane juice-based rum
- Flavor: Vegetal, grassy
Brandy
- Category: Fruit Based Spirit
- Description: Distilled fruit wine
- Primary use: Straight or mixer
- Flavor: Reflects original fruit
Vodka
- Category: Neutral Spirit
- Description: Distilled and processed to minimize aroma and flavor
- Cuts: Strict hearts
- Primary use: Mixer or straight
Gin - London Dry
- Category: Botanical Spirit
- Description: Juniper-forward gin with little or no sugar
Gin - Western Dry
- Category: Botanical Spirit
- Description: Less juniper dominant, broader botanical profile
Gin - Old Tom
- Category: Botanical Spirit
- Description: Slightly sweetened gin
Gin - Genever
- Category: Hybrid Spirit
- Description: Malt-forward botanical spirit (between whiskey and gin)
Amaro
- Category: Compounded Spirit
- Description: Bitter herbal tincture-based spirit
Anisette - Raki/Ouzo/Sambuca/Pastis
- Category: Botanical Spirit
- Description: Anise-flavored spirit that should louche when diluted
Moonshine
Moonshine has no formal definition. Use descriptive naming:
- Corn
- Sugar
- Sugarhead