Same principle, different harvest
A spirit takes its character from three choices: what is fermented, how it is distilled, and what happens after. The raw material is mostly what grows nearby: barley in the cool north, corn on the American prairie, grapes in wine country, cane in the tropics, agave in the highlands of Mexico, sorghum and rice in East Asia. The still decides how much of that raw material survives: a pot still keeps a great deal, a tall column almost nothing. The cask, or the lack of one, finishes the job.
Below are twelve styles, each with its own page. They are described by region and by rule, never by brand: what the law or the tradition asks of every producer there.