Muddy River Distillery, Belmont, NC: a visit and a rum review

Author’s note: Before I left Muddy River, Robbie was generous enough to gift me with two bottles of his product, one each of Carolina Rum and Queen Charlotte's Reserve. I do not normally accept such gifts, but in this case I made an exception. Although I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. And though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

It’s raining as I pull up to the gate. I see a sign that bears the logo I’m looking for, but this isn’t the place I pictured in my head when I made arrangements to visit. 

Though I knew the address included a suite number, I sort of expected that a distillery would need to be a free-standing building. This is a multi-tenant, red brick, light industrial structure with a lot of loading doors. On all sides of the building. 

Some of the suites have numbers on them. Some do not. None of them have the number I’m looking for. I’m in a rental car, driving around the building on a driveway full of potholes. Finally, I give up. I’m not so dedicated to living up to male stereotypes that I can’t call and ask for directions. 

We park the car right outside the door that Robbie Delaney, proprietor of Muddy River Distillery, is holding open for us and run inside to try to stay as dry as possible in the pouring rain.

Once inside, we walk up a set of stairs and are greeted by a large, empty room, dominated by a large black wall with a smallish still set against it. It looks a bit empty and I’m not quite sure what to think at this point. But because I love craft distillers and I love to talk, I press ahead. It turns out that at the time of our visit, Muddy River Distillery had been in this, much larger, location for about two weeks. (That explains the emptiness.) And Robbie has spent most of that time doing the build-out. 

He built the large, black wall. He built the raised floor that we were standing on. He built the tasting area in the next room. He’s building a clean room for bottling. He even built the hand rails for the stairs in the entry way. Let me repeat: he did this all in two weeks. And that’s in between bottling batches of his rum. 

By this point it doesn’t surprise me that he also built the still. Though he built that while in his previous location on the other side of the property. For good measure, he is also elbow deep in his website. Robbie is the very essence of why I love talking to young entrepreneurs: drive, passion, and a real bootstrap mentality. 

My visit lasts a little over an hour. We spend most of it chatting. Along the way I see the still, impressive as hell when he tells you it used to be a milk tank. We see the fermentation area, the barrels where the rum ages. We even see the tent that Robbie has set up to sleep in when the nights get long. A rum tasting and another chat, this time about his website, and we’re done. 

It’s still raining as we run out to the car, but I feel good about this visit and can't wait to come back. I have a feeling that Muddy River is here to stay.

Postscript to my visit: a couple weeks after I get back from North Carolina, I get a note from Robbie that, based on our conversation, he’s launched a new website. Go check it out at www.MuddyRiverDistillery.com. 

Muddy River Carolina Rum 

Details: 40% ABV. Clear as water.

Nose: Dried grass with a hint of molasses and dried fruit.

Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Initially: gingerbread, becoming sweeter as it moves back in the mouth. 

Finish: Sweet and gentle with just a hint of a burn.

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Thoughts: This is as close to a sipping drink as any white rum I’ve had. It’s really quite good. It’s not quite up to drinking neat, for me. But if it had a little more bulk in the mouthfeel, it might be the first rum that was. I also tried this in a mojito (my “tester” rum cocktail). Let’s put it this way. Until it runs out, it’s now the rum I’m going to use in all my rum cocktails. In fact, I’m regretting giving away the bottle I bought as a gift for a relative because I’m going to have to drive to North Carolina if I want more.

Visiting Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Part two: the interview.

Author’s note: Before I left Broadslab, Jeremy was generous enough to gift me with four bottles of his product, one of each kind. I do not normally accept such gifts, but I made an exception in this case. Although I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. And though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

This is the second in a two part series about my visit to Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. As I said in my last post, I spent an hour or more talking to Jeremy while I was at the distillery. Once I got home, I sent him a note to see if he would be willing to answer a few more questions for the blog. He graciously said yes. Our conversation is below.

Jeremy, we’ve talked of course, but tell the readers a little about yourself. 

I was raised on a produce farm by my grandparents and became an entrepreneurer straight out of high school. I have gotten to this point in my life having been taught by the school of “hard knocks.”

How did you get your start in the spirit business? What made you decide to open a distillery?

My granddaddy and his ancestors made moonshine both before and after prohibition. During those times, it became an economic necessity to engage in “moonshining.” I wanted to open a distillery to honor this tradition and preserve the history of my family’s legacy. The name “Broadslab,” which my distillery is named, refers to the southeastern section of Johnston County, NC that became well-known for the quality of home-brewed whiskey produced by entrepreneurs back in the day. My distillery sits right in the heart of “Broadslab,” which many say is the “moonshine capital of NC.”

Is the distillery your full time job now? 

(Laughs) I sure wish it could be but it does not pay the bills! My wife and I own and operate two collision repair centers, grow crops on our 100-acre farm (we grow our own corn for the moonshine mash), and maintain a few rental properties. 

What’s a typical day like for you? 

Oh, how it varies each and every day! Some days I am farming and some days I am running the rollback or washing cars for the body shops.  Some days I am distilling or bottling product at the distillery and some days I am mowing grass at home, or at the body shops, or at the rental properties. There is no typical day for me!

Tell me about the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far.

The biggest challenge I have faced in this distillery thus far has been marketing, marketing and marketing! No one tells you how hard it is to get your products on the market with limited funding.

What’s the best thing about operating your own (legal) distillery?

I am blessed with so very many opportunities to meet all kinds of people from all walks of life who are very interested in and appreciate what I am trying to do!

Sustainable growth and natural ingredients seem to be at the heart of your philosophy. Tell the readers a little about what you are doing on those fronts. 

I am a firm believer in only natural ingredients because most products and foods we encounter on a daily basis are full of artificial preservatives, artificial flavors and artifical sweeteners that I believe are harmful to an individual’s health. All of the products I currently produce at the distillery are made from only natural ingredients and are certified gluten-free. 

My products have been on the market since August 2012, a very short time period. I have seen steady growth since that time and my main goal is to continue with this steady growth. Most every day I get an email or a phone call or simply talk to someone in person that has not heard about my distillery. I am building my brand one person at a time.

Any advice for readers who might be interested in following in your footsteps?

Make yourself fully aware of the financial undertaking needed to start a distillery and be willing to work a lot of VERY long hours to attempt to fulfill your dream!

What is your specialty? 

My distillery is based on the “moonshining” legacy so clear, corn liquor is my specialty.  

Any other types of products you are making?

I focus on producing and bottling only traditional, all-natural distilled spirits. I currently produce 2 varieties of corn liquor and 2 varieties of rum.  

Anything new on the horizon?

I hope to add another product or two to the list I already produce.

Do you offer tours?

Currently, I am a one-man show so I only offer tours by appointment only. But, of course, I hope to set a tour schedule very soon.

In North Carolina you are in ABC stores, outside of North Carolina, where can readers buy your products?

We currently sell our products in SC and GA at various stores in those states.

Anything else you’d like to plug? Website? Twitter?

Please check out our website at www.broadslabdistillery.com (you can read all the details about the Broadslab legacy) and “like” us on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BroadslabDistillery) and follow us on twitter (@BroadslabStill)!

Jeremy, thanks so much for chatting with me today. I enjoyed my visit to the distillery and I urge everyone in or visiting North Carolina to set up a visit with you and pick up a bottle or two in the ABC stores. Thanks again.

Broadslab Legacy Shine

Details: Label says 33% corn and 67% percent cane sugar. Jeremy told me that it included corn and malted corn along with the cane suger. 45% ABV 

Nose: Dried Corn or more accurately cattle feed. This most reminds me of when I was in college, delivering pizzas to the guys at Quality Liquid Feeds. (yes, my heritage is mostly redneck—and I’m proud of that)

Taste: This has a very delicate flavor. Very sweet. Almost no burn. I could hold this in my mouth for a while without it burning out. Based on the nose, you’d expect to be overwhelmed by corn. It’s certainly there. But it’s more like a cooked cereal than I would have expected.

Finish: Minimal heat. The cooked cereal taste really hits you after you swallow and lingers for a good while before slowly turning bitter and making you want to take another sip.

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Overall: I’ve liked very few unaged products. In fact I can only think of one before this. But I like this one. A lot. This is very obviously the work of a skilled craftsman.

Broadslab Legacy Reserve

Details: Same as above except that this has been “Colored and Flavored with Oak slabs.” (Which seems to be TTB speak for aged. For what it is worth I saw the barrels with charred oak slabs inside.)

Nose: Buttered popcorn and butterscotch. The nose on this is very sweet.

Taste: An initial hit of cinnamon transitions to a sweet smokiness. The smokiness is not overpowering. The buttery note is there to back it all up.

Finish: There’s a bit of heat that sticks around and a lingering smokiness. Kinda glad I tasted this second. Feels like a palate wrecker.

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Overall: my wife liked this, but overall this wasn’t for me. It’s not that it was bad or anything. I just have a well known preference away from smoky whiskies. And this has that same sort of smoky flavor (even if it is technically not a whisky). I am extremely interested in trying it in a Manhattan-type cocktail though. 

 

Visiting Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Part one: the visit.

 Author’s note: Before I left Broadslab, Jeremy was generous enough to gift me with four bottles of his product, one of each kind. I do not normally accept such gifts, but I made an exception in this case. Though I do not consider this payment, the FTC does. As such I am disclosing the info now. Though I had tasted all of the products and made judgements about liking or not liking them before I knew the gift was being made, the tasting notes below are from tonight. Please use this info to judge the relative accuracy of my thoughts on them.

I like visiting with craft distillers. I love the passion with which they do the work they do. And let’s be honest, you don’t get into that business if you don’t have a passion for it. So, to that end when I started planning my trip to North Carolina, I decided that I was going to look to see if I there were any I could visit. And boy, were there. There are at least 13 active distilleries in North Carolina. Many of which were either nowhere near where I was going to be or not offering tours while I was going to be in the vicinity. I reached out to six of them, three responded. 

The first one that I passed was Broadslab Distillery in Benson, NC. Tours to Broadslab are available by appointment only as Jeremy, the proprietor, pretty much runs a one man show. Along with his two body shops. And the farm he grows his corn on.

To say that Jeremy is a busy man, would be an understatement. He also seems pretty handy to have around. You see, he built his still. And the building it’s in. And he cleared the driveway leading up to it. Along the way he found an old tub. It had ax cuts in the bottom given to it by the agents that busted his grandfather during prohibition. It seems Jeremy came by his passion naturally. 

Now I will say that the tour is a short one. The building isn’t big. You walk in, there’s the still. Turn around, and there’s the fermentation area. Take a short walk to the back of the building and you see the bottling line. But a small building is ok. It is just a part of his operation. He has a farm where he grows the corn that is one of the ingredients in his Shine. In case you were curious, he malts the corn there too. 

I talked to Jeremy for the better part of an hour. He took me through all the parts of the still from heat box (gas now, but designed to convert to wood if he wanted) to the thumper that is housed in a barrel. He explained how he’s trying to grow sustainably and run his business responsibly. He even told me about plans for the future. Though out of respect to him, I’ll keep those under my hat. (If you want to know, set up a tour!) He even went through the infusion process he uses to make his spiced rum.

I left admiring the operation and the proprietor. If you are in eastern North Carolina, set up a visit. Or attend an event he’ll be at. Taste the product. It’s good stuff.

Carolina Coast Silver Rum

Nose: A vague sweetness that I can't quite put my finger on. Smells like every moonshine I've ever tried.

Mouth: The sweetness is still here, but there's a bit of funk in the mouth too.

Finish: A fairly harsh burn and bitter.

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Overall: This is a fairly typical mixing rum. It performs nicely in a mojito, though that funk comes through and might be off putting if you were not expecting it. Drinking it neat: meh. Not great, not terrible. 

Carolina Coast Spiced Rum

Nose: Christmas in a glass. Vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, allspice. It's like a cookie in liquid form.

Mouth: All the flavors from the nose are here. Nice mouthfeel.

Finish: Sharp at first (in the sense of a sharp cheddar) but then a warmth spread from the back of the throat all the way to the tip of your tongue. Nice.

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Overall: Didn't expect to like this. I detest Captain Morgan spiced rum and have never had any others. But, to my surprise, I like this one. I'd sip it on it's own. I'd consider mixing it too. I think it'd bring a lot to a cocktail. I might even try dabbing a bit on myself as a cologne. It smells that good. 

Final thoughts: If I were buying this for myself, I wouldn't regret either purchase. I'd mix the silver as I expected to and not be unhappy about it. But if I were buying to sip, I'd go for the spiced. It's damn tasty.

This was part one. Part two will be an interview with proprietor, Jeremy Norris and reviews of his two moonshine products.

Kentucky Bourbon Trail: Evan Williams Bourbon Experience

The Evan Williams Bourbon Experience bourbon fountain (not real bourbon).

It is 6:30am on Thursday, November, 21st when I leave Madison, Wisconsin. We have a long drive ahead of us. Google Maps says it’ll be about seven hours to drive to Louisville. Which is good because the last tour at the new Evan Williams Experience is at four o’clock and I really want to hit that before I continue out of town the next morning. Everything is going good. 

Until I hit Chicago. 

Google must have never been to Chicago. With the time change, I should have arrived around three or a little before. I instead arrive at 4:05pm. You’ve never seen a sad Eric like you saw that day. Even with rushing to make up the hour or more I lost in Chicago, I still miss the last tour by 5 minutes. Figuring that we’d at least get to to go the gift shop, we park and go in anyway, maybe the tour is running late.

We walk in and are greeted by three or four people working there. I walk up to the one heading my direction and quietly say “I’m guessing we missed the last tour, didn’t we?” The lady nods sadly and assures me that we did indeed miss it. After she asks if we’ll be around tomorrow, I shake my head and explain that, no, we are continuing on right away in the morning and that we’d driven from Madison just to try to make it there before they closed. The lady asked me to hang on for a minute and walked over to the group. They talked among themselves for a moment and then we were waved over to the counter. It seems a tour has just opened up. 

People in Kentucky are so nice. I didn’t ask them to make a special tour for my wife and I. I didn’t expect it. But they went ahead and offered it. So I said yes, and handed over my credit card. 

After a brief wait for the tour ahead of us to clear out of the movie, we went in. They chose a good name for the tour. It’s not a distillery tour like you are used to. This really is an experience. This is an exhibit designers dream. There are wall sized movie panels with permanent set pieces in and around them. There is a working distillery. There are interior store fronts. It’s really, really nicely done. And Vicky, our tour guide was wonderful. A warm and engaging person, she took us into all the rooms including the tasting room we weren’t going to be tasting in. And along the way we learned the legend of Evan Williams. Starting from the meeting hall where he was nominated wharf-master and ending in the gift shop. How very Disney of them. 

A little bourbon in the glass is a very nice way to end a wonderful experience.

Paired Reviews: New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon and Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel Stout

Holy Crap! I hate canker sores! They hurt when you talk, when you smile and, yes, when you drink bourbon. I've been living with them for two weeks now. It's been two weeks with no bourbon to speak of. And with no bourbon in my life for the last two weeks, you might imagine that I'd be sad. That there would be tears and despair. 

You'd might imagine that, but you'd be wrong. You'd be wrong because while you can't have bourbon with a mouth sore, you can have beer. And on most nights beer is a nice consolation for no bourbon. 

So what, you might be asking, does any of that have to do with a bourbon blog? A couple years ago, I was made aware of an amazing phenomenon happening in the world of beer. Namely the aging of beer in used bourbon barrels. I've had a few of these. Stouts, IPAs and others, but one of my favorites was one I didn't realize was barrel aged, the first time I had it. I had asked for a good beer (surprise me) at a local burger place known for their beer selection and what was brought to me was Dragon's Milk from New Holland brewery. I loved it from the first sip, but knew nothing about it. It wasn't until much later that I learned it was barrel aged.

Imagine my delight when I learned that New Holland was releasing a bourbon that had been finished in Dragon's Milk barrels. That's right, they were releasing a bourbon barrel aged beer barrel aged bourbon. The very concept is hard to keep straight. 

But the real question is how does it taste? And does it live up to it's amazing sibling? Let's find out.

New Holland Beer Barrel Bourbon

Nose: Initially a lot of alcohol. After sitting a bit it settles into maple syrup and a hint of oak.

Taste: First sip is nutty and malty. Reminds me of Grape-Nuts cereal. Beyond that, the bourbon is soft and creamy with some oak and some tannins. 

Finish: This was odd. You swollow and your mouth tingles. Nothing strange so far. But then after a few seconds a burn comes up from your stomach and settles over your heart. Not painful, just warm. At that point the tingle has faded and there is a lingering sweetness in the mouth.

So how does it compare to the beer? I don't do a lot of beer tasting notes, but here goes nothing...

New Holland Dragon's Milk Boubon Barrel Stout

Nose: Straight up corn flakes

Taste: Nutty and malty Grape-Nut flavor with some fruitiness tossed in for good measure.

Finish: Lingering malty sweetness

Overall: I love this beer. It is sweet without being cloying. It's interesting but also downright tasty. I would drink the heck out of this (and also have). The bourbon is interesting. There is certainly a resemblance between the two. That nutty-malty Grape-Nut flavor is present in both. If you love the beer, you owe it to yourself to try the bourbon. With it's creamy nuttiness, it makes a nice-change-of-pace bourbon. That said, if you are not a fan of this beer, do not buy this bourbon. I happen to love the beer and as such, I like the bourbon.

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Like the Bourbon.

 

 

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Love the Beer.

The story of a falling out, a relationship rekindled and a review: Bulleit Bourbon

In light of recent allegations made by the daughter of Tom Bulleit of his homophobia and mental and physical abuse toward her, I have made the decision that BourbonGuy.com can no longer endorse products bearing the Bulleit name. An update has been added to reflect this change in policy.

Can you believe that Bourbon Heritage Month is almost over? Tomorrow marks the closing ceremonies and if you are like me, you'll be marking the occasion solemnly, with a bit of time for quiet reflection on bourbons come and bourbons gone...

Oh who am I kidding? While bourbon lends itself to the quiet contemplation quite nicely, the last hurrah of a month of bourbon should be celebrated. You should raise a glass and let people know that while the official celebration is damn near over, you keep bourbon in your heart all year long. 

To such an end, I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine. This friend has been with me for most of my bourbon journey. He comes from good stock, though he's a bit shy of telling you exactly where he's from. He's got a reputation for hanging out with musicians, cowboys, and other rough and rowdy types. But he's nice to have around in a pinch and very seldom lets you down. 

Bulleit Bourbon was my first "favorite bourbon," as it is for many people just getting into bourbon. I think that's partly because it is just expensive enough at around $30 to let you feel that you might be drinking the "good stuff" and put together well enough to not make you regret spending the money. 

Yes, it was my first favorite. But, until recently I hadn't purchased a bottle for a couple years. What happened? Well, like any first love, we grew apart. I was looking for the next big thing. More expensive. Harder to find. Limited. Rare. Better, right? You know the drill. I was always out looking for a taste of the strange. Add in the fact that, at the time I finished that last bottle, I hadn't quite come to terms with drinking bourbon without a large chunk of ice and my relationship with Bulleit was doomed. It was everything that the "good" bourbons weren't. It was inexpensive (by comparison). It was readily available. It wasn't "rare" or "limited." And on top of it all, it didn't do well with that large chunk of ice I used to add to every glass. It fell apart into a watery mess. 

So I left it behind. I moved on. I still had a soft spot for it, I mean, who doesn't for their first love. But, no, I barely acknowledged its presence when I'd see it sitting there on the shelf. And did I feel guilty about that? Heck no. I was better than it and we both knew it.

But then a funny thing happened. The next big thing lost its luster. I lost the sense of satisfaction from the hunt. Expensive just seemed...expensive. I just wanted something that wouldn't break the bank. And that I wouldn't feel bad about emptying. And I started to think about the bourbons that I used to love back when everything was new and fun. And I turned back to my first favorite. At the beginning of the month, on my birthday, I bought myself a bottle of Bulleit to see if it was as good as I remembered or as bad as I remembered.

Let's see how it did.

Bulleit Bourbon

Nose: JuicyFruit gum, citrus, sawdust and a tiny bit of smoke.

Mouth: Smoke, sawdust, vanilla, honey and rye spice. This is a hot one.

Finish: The heat continues in a hot finish that settles right over the heart and stays there for a while. Good length to the finish. It's got a good bit of bitter tannins that dry the mouth after you swallow.

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Thoughts: It turns out it was as good as I remember. I really like this. It's a touch hot so it will benefit from the addition of a little water or a very small cube of ice. But be careful. Add too much and it will fall apart and be too thin and watery. The conventional wisdom is that this is made by Four Roses for Diagio and I'd believe that as I found the JuicyFruit gum on the nose that I often associate with Four Roses. And for the price, this is just a damn fine bourbon that you should be happy to have on the shelf and not be too sad when you finish. I mean, there is another bottle waiting for you right where you got that one from.

And that's a good thing.

UPDATE:

So, right after I finished posting this, I pick up the news to find the following (brought to us by WhiskyCast): Decision Time for Diageo On Sitzel-Weller.

From what I understand, this shouldn't affect the ubiquity of Bulleit for a while, if ever. I've read that Diageo ages the bourbon themselves so if Four Roses quits supplying unaged juice in six months there should still be Four Roses produced Bulleit aging for a few more years. The remaining stocks might be mixed with other non-four Roses produced bourbon as they get a new supplier or start producing themselves. In such a possibility, the taste would gradually change over time, but that's part of the fun of bourbon. As much as people try to claim that nothing ever changes, over time it always does.

It does mean that there will be a sample or two of my current bottle put into the library of samples I keep so that I can revisit it in a few years as a comparison.

2019 update:

As stated above I have made the editorial decision that I can no longer endorse or recommend products from the Bulleit family of labels. This is an extension of the policy in my Statement of Ethics where I do not allow homophobic comments. In this case I’d rather not continue to help enrich a man alleged to have physically abused his own daughter over her sexuality. The review has been left intact for transparency’s sake.

Things I learned in Canada and a Review of Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve

Well, I've been back in the United States for about a week now. I'm fully recovered from the early mornings, late nights and long drives. But looking back on it, I learned a lot while I was there. Some of it about Ontario, some about me. Some of it is minor, some...well not profound, but certainly less minor. 

Things I learned about Ontario & it's people & me 

Driving:

  • They do not "Merge" while driving, they "Squeeze." And I find that delightful.
  • Toronto will never, not be under construction. (I have that on good authority by an employee of the government.)
  • Ontario speed limits are extremely SLOW!!! 70-90 KPH? In the most extremely non-urban areas? Are you kidding me? I'm used to 70-80 MPH as a minimum.
  • Temporary orange lines for temporary lanes in a construction zone! Genius!
  • Canadian construction barrels are really skinny. But people still run them over.
  • I never want to drive in Toronto again. 

Money:

  • Ontario is expensive! (Across the board: soda, booze, attractions, public transportation, coffee...but not beer. hmmm...)
  • Pennies are stupid. Rounding feels better and less ticky-tacky. (but I still hate dollar coins...except for vending and tolls and bus fare and...)
  • Serious looking people in suits saying Toonie is just a bit silly.

Food:

  • Hamburgers in Toronto come with unannounced mayo.
  • Although vinegar on pizza is not a thing, I hope I helped to make it one. Also vinegar as a condement is totally a thing there.
  • I want the St. Lawrence Market by my house. 

People:

  • Toronto people do not say ah-boot instead of about (at least not those I met)
  • The homeless will thank you for not giving them money and tell you to have a nice day.
  • Canada is empty. The folks I met with claim that 75% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the US border. My limited experience seems to bear this out...though I doubt I was ever further than 100 miles from the US border. 
  • Just as not every Minnesotan loves hockey (me), not every Canadian loves hockey. 
  • Elton John got married in Toronto (acording to our tour guide on the sightseeing tour)
  • Everyone I talked to in Toronto had a slightly different accent.
  • The accent I picked up lasted most of a week before tv and Minnesota brought it back to normal.

Drinking:

  • When a Canadian says "Let's meet for a dram," it's likely they will bring two full boxes of whisky. Or so my one-time experience tells me.
  • Bourbon is a rip-off in Ontario ($75 for a bottle of Bookers, WTF?).
  • Government run liquor stores are generally bad for a varied selection, but centralized inventory lookup is really convenient.
  • It is way cheaper to bring booze home from Canada than into Canada if you are over your duty-free allowance. And that is good, because they really do keep the best whisky at home.
  • Forty Creek lived up to it's (unofficial) advertising. They make tasty stuff pretty much across the board. Though the maple liqueur was a bit much for me.

Miscellaneous:

  • Ontario is really big. It's 354,342 sqare miles of land area is roughly the equivalent of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It goes from New York to Minnesota and then to Oh-My-God North. (The part we drove through was roughly the size of West Virginia.)
  • I could never take a cruise. I got restless on a beautiful, two-hour ferry ride across a tiny part of Lake Huron.
  • The CN Tower is older than me and glass floors that high up make me way too nervous.

The two most important things I learned in Canada are as follows: 

  1. Canadian whisky folks are amazing people and are worth the trip even if you were to do nothing else but visit them and then hide in your hotel room for the rest of the visit. 
  2. I really need to meet more of my online whisky friends in real-life. Let's all plan to meet at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival next year, ok? Or maybe just drop by my house here in Minnesota. I'm sure my wife will be fine with it. 

I brought three whiskys back from Canada with me. Two, I reviewed during the #DavinTT tastings in May. So here is the third:

Forty Creek Confederation Oak Reserve 

(Lot 1867-B) 40% ABV

Nose: A lot of alcohol on the nose at first. After sitting a bit I get a big hit of buttery maple along with a bit of wet ashes. After a while longer the maple fades and is replaced by some sourness. 

Mouth: First sip is sweet, almost cloyingly so, on the tip of the tounge becoming increasingly sour as it moves back in the mouth. Subsequent sips: bring more of the butteriness from the nose and some spice.

Finish: Short burn, very easygoing with a lingering sweetness in the back of the throat. 

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Thoughts: Overall, I like this but with a few reservations. First, I'd love this at a higher proof. The flavor is just a bit too delicate for me. The finish is almost non-existent and higher proof might help that as well. Finally that sour note was just a bit too much for me this time around. So while I like this, it is not quite in line with my palette. I'm pretty sure he wasn't aiming for bourbon drinkers though. That said, it was fun to taste a whisky aged in Canadian White Oak barrels. Who knows if I'll ever get the chance to do that again.

 

Book Review: Alt Whiskeys

It's been a fun summer for me so far. I've made it my personal goal to try 100 new beers this summer. I think I'm going to make it, between mixed-sixes and brewery sampler flights, I've already tasted 50. (Follow me on Untappd if you are interested in my progress.)

So what does this have to do with a bourbon blog? Well, this increased interest in beer got me to thinking about a book I bought a year or so ago. It's called Alt Whiskeys and is written by Darek Bell, owner of Corsair Artisan distillery in Bowling Green, KY. At the time, I'd never had anything produced by Corsair. But after reading the book, I wanted to. (I got my chance at the Kentucky Bourbon Festival last September.) I was also interested to learn that the author came to the idea of distilling with a background in home brewing beer. 

For some reason the idea of making whiskey and the idea of making beer hadn't clicked as things that the same person would be interested in. I knew that the processes were similar up to a point and that both were creative processes that hopefully ended up with something fun and tasty at the end of it. I will admit now, a year later, that I was pretty self-centered in that outlook. I have an intense fascination with the distilling process, but I have no desire to ever make my own home-brewed beer. And I'd projected that upon others. 

So after all this thinking about beer, I picked up the book and started to reread it. The first thing I have to say is: I loved this book. It's a technical book, but is written in a conversational style. And I'll admit, having never home-brewed, I didn't understand some of it at first. With a little research though, I was able to muddle my way through until I got up to speed. 

The book covers topics such as what brewing and distilling equipment you'll need and how to build your own (and warnings about doing it without the proper licenses), alternative grains you might use (millet, oats, sorghum, etc), inspirations from outside the world of whiskey (beer inspired, hopped and smoked whiskeys) and alternatives to malt, yeast and hops that you might use. It also includes recipes including both ingredients and instructions for brewing, distilling, barreling and bottling. 

All in all, the content in this book will be really interesting to anyone who has an interest in how whiskey is made and what else you might do beyond a traditional version. 

And if all you are interested in is the content, you can stop here. The photos are beautiful, the type choices are interesting, in a good way, and the information provided is top-notch. But I am a designer. And for me how information is presented is almost as big of a deal as the information itself. I've mentored young, inexperienced designers for almost ten years (and was a young, inexperienced designer for years before that). I have some serious issues with the design of this book. I'll just go over a couple of them. 

First, it has practically no margins. The margins of this book are a quarter inch (6.3 mm). That is barely in the safe zone that most printers ask for. They ask for this so they don't accidentally cut off your content (page 14 in my copy is a good example, margin size has slid down to an eighth of an inch while being trimmed). From a reader's standpoint, a lack of adequate margins does two things. First the book feels overfull. This can be used to good effect, but isn't in this case. Second and more important to a book of this physical size, the reader has no room to put their thumbs. This is not a one-handed book that you can hold in the middle. Even with my big hands, it needs to be held at the edge and if you have no place to put your thumbs, you cover the content. This is one of the first things I point out to young designers. Think about how the piece will be used and remove all the things that get in the way of legibility. Like thumbs.

Secondly, the body copy type size is widely inconsistent from page to page, and sometimes from the top to the bottom of a single page. It looks like it ranges from 14 point to 10 point and then to 9 point. 14 point is huge, it's the size I use for pull quotes or sub heads. 10 point is what you'd choose if you have a audience over 40 years old as they will statistically have poorer eyesight. So what if the type is huge and inconsistent? Well, if it had been brought down some, there might have been room for bigger margins for a more functional book and more elegant feel or possibly a smaller page count for a cheaper production.

I like this book a lot. Fix just these two functional design issues and this becomes a book worthy of the coffee table. As it stands this is a book I'm glad to have read. Twice. It's a book I keep on my shelf with my other whisky books. And it is a book I will read again if I ever am in a position to use the information contained within. It's also a book I would love a chance to re-layout. So uh, Mr. Bell, if you're ever going to reprint it look me up, ok?