Book Review: Amaro by Brad Thomas Parsons

August 29, 2017 Eric Burke

I'm going to be honest with you when I tell you that I don't know that much about you. Sure, I have Google Analytics on the site, but I seldom remember to check it. And if I do remember, I normally get distracted when I notice that there are over 10,000 of you are coming here per month. Then I forget to dive deeper to see who you are (in the general sense. I like you and all, but me knowing specifically who each of you are seems like too much responsibility and frankly, more than a bit creepy).

I do know a lot about me though. So since you are reading this, I'll just have to assume that you are a lot like me. Or at least interested in some of the same things. So, if you are like me then not too long ago you may have found yourself muttering "What the hell is Amaro?" See I had found a recipe for a Manhattan riff called a Black Manhattan that swapped out the vermouth for an Amaro. It called for a specific one, but not actually knowing anything about any Amaro, I read some reviews and then picked up one that was in my budget.

It was about this time that I remembered that way back in July, I had picked up a book that probably would have answered my question. I happened to be on Twitter that day and saw a Tweet that mentioned the Kindle edition of Amaro by Brad Thomas Parsons was on sale for only $1.99. Now I normally like my booze books in hardcover, but the price was so good, I couldn't pass it up. I have long recommended the author's book Bitters to anyone who would listen so it was very easy to convince myself to drop the two bucks.

And the book didn't disappoint. The very first thing I saw when I looked at the cover were the words "The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs." So there was my answer. An Amaro is a bittersweet, herbal liqueur. And when I got into the book I learned even more. I learned about the history of Amaro and the Italian tradition of sipping them either before or after a meal to either set up or settle your meal. I learned about the various brands that are available in the US, both the specific details and their stories. I read so many cocktail recipes that I've been drinking cocktails for the past week just because it inspired an intense craving for bitter drinks. I even learned a little about making your own Amaro.

The most surprising thing I learned that depending on your definition, I actually had two Amaros in my collection already in the form of Campari and Fernet-Branca. Which on some level reassured me that I would enjoy exploring this category. I really liked this book and since it is also on my phone, I think I will be referencing it often while standing in the liquor store aisles.

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Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

August 24, 2017 Eric Burke

It wasn't fair. In fact, you could say that—intentionally or not—it was set up to fail. You see the first time that I tried Jefferson's Bourbon it was part of a tasting that included the entire Four Roses line. Including that year's edition of the limited Small Batch (then called the Mariage). It was the night that I fell in love with Four Roses and the last time I tried a Jefferson's that was under $99 and 18 years old. It's not that I didn't think about trying it again, I just never did.

Jefferson's is a non-distiller producer started in the late nineties by the father and son team of Chet and Trey Zoeller. Regarding the name, Reid Mitenbuler writes in Bourbon Empire: the Past and Future of America's Whiskey that the younger Zoeller says: "I had no marketing budget. I simply wanted a recognizable face associated with history and tradition." The choice is kind of odd when you think about it. Washington was a distiller. But according to the folks at Monticello, Jefferson not only didn't produce whiskey, he also didn't touch the stuff. In any case, since Jefferson's Bourbon is still being produced 20 years late, the name must have been a good choice.

Marketing aside, Jefferson's is doing something that few non-distiller producers are doing these days. They source their whiskey from a variety of distillers and blend them together to create something that is more than the sum of its parts. It's this focus on blending that made me decide to go back and give them another shot.

If they were just buying sourced whiskey from a single producer and dumping it into a bottle, I might have kept walking. But in the age of the single barrel, blending is an underappreciated art. Blending whiskey is hard. I've tried more than a few blending experiments, and in my experience, I make something better than the parts a little more than half the time. You just never know what is going going to play nicely and what isn't. At least not without a lot of experience and hard work. So I appreciate it when people not only do it well but hang their hat on it.

Weirdly, that's also what appeals to me about the other bourbon from that first night.

Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

Purchase info: $28.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 41.15% ABV. Batch 524. Bottle 09845.

Nose: Light and fruity with vanilla and baking spice.

Mouth: Fruity mouth with cinnamon, caramel, and a nice peppery spice.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Sweet vanilla which fades relatively quickly to reveal a nice spicy warmth.

Thoughts: This is quite tasty and more complex than I thought an "entry-level" product would be. I like this quite a bit. It's nice as a "change of pace" bourbon as it is pretty different from the other bourbons on my shelf.

Revisiting an Old Review: Henry McKenna Single Barrel Bottled in Bond

August 22, 2017 Eric Burke

It has been fifteen hundred, eighty-two (1,582) days since I last reviewed Henry McKenna Bottled in Bond, Single Barrel. It was only the sixth post of what I consider to be the site's "modern era." It was about a year into the site's existence, and I had just gotten serious enough about it to shoot my own photography and start posting on a regular basis (before that there be just myths and legends with nary a bit of definable truths to be found). In other words, it's time to revisit to see how it (or I) have changed.

At the time I was less than impressed by it. Though at this point, it is hard to know if it was more because of the packaging which looked like a kid's arts and crafts project or because I wasn't all that fond of hot bourbons. I rated it solidly meh. There was nothing wrong with it. It just wasn't right for my palate.

But these days, as I venture far and wide in search of something new to review, I've found that I have developed a taste for high-proof, high-heat bourbons. There are days when that is all I want. Though, conversely, there are also days when I want nothing to do with them too. This bourbon punches above its proof in the spice department, which is nice. I can get my fix for high-proof whiskey and still feel like a second pour isn't off the table should the night call for it.

I like the new packaging too. Though I professed my love for it the first time I reviewed this, I noticed pretty quickly that as I got close to the end of the bottle that I was starting to worry if some of those pieces glued to the bottle might not fall off into my glass as I poured. It was a pretty rickety affair. And though the new label is fairly traditional, it does feel firmly affixed.

Henry McKenna Single Barrel, Bottled in Bond

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle, Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: Bottled in Bond, 50% ABV, ten years old, barrel number 3325, barreled on 11/20/06.

Nose: Rich with notes of caramel, leather, and oak.

Mouth: Syrupy mouthfeel with a good hit of spice.

Finish: Warm and long with lingering notes of caramel, leather, and oak.

Thoughts: This whiskey is everything I remember, but time has changed how I view it. As I said, back in 2013, I wasn't a fan of big, high-burn bourbons. Now I like them as much as I do other styles of fully matured bourbon. I'm really digging this bourbon. It is rich, spicy, and complex. It just about perfectly captures that stereotypical "bourbon" flavor profile. I'm upgrading my thoughts on this one; it is now very much a "like."

Mr. Boston Drinks website

August 17, 2017 Eric Burke

I don't make a lot of cocktails. Wait, check that. I make a ton of cocktails, they just all happen to be a variation of the Manhattan. And over the course of the last couple years, I've been trying to expand my horizons. Which is why last year when Sazerac launched the Mr. Boston site, I bookmarked it.

And then waited a year to remember that I had done so.

Last week, I was cleaning up my bookmarks when I remembered it was there. Of course, this seemed like a great excuse to put it through its paces and see if I could find anything interesting.

According to Wikipedia, Mr. Boston was started as a distillery in, you guessed it, Boston in 1933. Within a few years, they were publishing their Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide to help promote their products. For the next 77 years, the company and its various owners published the book with the last edition being published in 2012. In 2009, Sazerac bought the brand and its guide as part of their purchase of the Barton Distillery and brands. According to the company, they immediately started working on bringing the venerable old publication into the modern age by putting it online.

And this is the part that I find pretty cool. They have digitized the records of every edition they could lay their hands on. That means, if a drink was in multiple editions, you can swap back and forth between the editions to see how the recipe has changed over time. I find that pretty cool and is a step that many companies wouldn't have bothered to take since it probably took a lot of extra time and money to accomplish.

So is the site any good? Yeah. I love it. It's designed with a cool Art Deco feel that is very appropriate for a site that celebrates a history that goes back to when Art Deco was cool the first time. It is easy to use both on the desktop and on your phone. The directions come with an image of the glass you might want to use and a difficulty level so that you know what you are getting into. You can search for recipes by ingredient or name or you can use a "Discover" option that allows you to find recipes based on an event or occasion. If you log in, using Facebook or Google, you can save your favorites and even add your own recipes.

While doing research over the last week or so, I decided to try as many new cocktails as I could find. I have limited ingredients in the house and even so, I was able to find more than I had time to drink. I even learned that my homemade cranberry juice goes well with bourbon. I have a feeling that I am going to be keeping this particular bookmark and trying a lot of new options.

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

August 15, 2017 Eric Burke

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon is a limited release whiskey from Brown Forman's Jack Daniel's distillery. The brand tells us that they released it to commemorate the 125th Anniversary of the opening of a saloon by Jack Daniel. A casual Google search of the subject brings up no mention of Jack Daniel's saloons. Well, none that are not either from the Jack Daniel's website or liquor stores/reviewers talking about this product. Still, not knowing much of the history of Lynchburg, Tennessee, I have no real reason to doubt that statement as it seems plausible enough that a whiskey maker in a small town might have a saloon or two as well during the late 1800s.

Of course, we all know the history of Jack Daniel's well enough. Taught how to make whiskey by a local slave, Jack Daniel launched a distillery (and it seems some saloons). He passed the business to his nephew. Along the way, Prohibition forced the distillery out of Tennesee and then out of business. The family eventually sold the brand and business to Brown-Forman who grew the brand into the number one selling American Whiskey in the world. During the American whiskey slump of the 80s and 90s, they lowered the proof from 90° proof to 86° and then from 86° proof to 80° in the early 2000s. Today they still sit at 80° proof, but they've started to give a nod to folks who want a bit more by doing barrel strength versions, rye whiskey versions and limited releases like Red Dog Saloon.

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

Purchase Info: $24.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 43% ABV, non-age-stated.

Nose: Caramel rolls, spearmint, banana, and baking spice.

Mouth: Mint, subtle spice, banana, and caramel.

Finish: Warm and of medium length with lingering notes of mint, spice, and caramel rolls.

Thoughts: Hands down, better than the standard Jack. The flavors are similar, that Jack Daniel's Banana note is still there, but in this case, it is supported by more caramel and spice. I don't know if it is the six degrees of proof difference between this and standard Jack or if it is barrel selection, but it makes me wish that they hadn't lowered the proof way back when. But they are the largest selling American Whiskey brand, and I'm not so what do I know? As long as they keep putting out affordable options such as this, I guess it'll be ok.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 22-Year-Old Bourbon

July 25, 2017 Eric Burke

I state in my Statement of Ethics that if I accept a review sample, I will disclose it at the beginning of the article. Please consider it disclosed. I’d like to thank Taylor Strategy for providing this sample to me with no strings attached.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 22-Year-Old Bourbon

I did a little research this weekend. Well, I assume I did. The sample I received of Rhetoric 22 year old stated that it was "for research only." If this is research, I've done enough research in the last five years that I should be well on my way to a Ph.D.

This particular set of research was on one of two samples I received last week. Diageo will soon be releasing the 23-year-old Rhetoric, and when they sent out the samples, they were kind enough to include a sample of the 22-year-old that I could use as a comparison. But guess what? I've never reviewed the 22 (or any of the Orphan Barrel series), so I decided to give it its own post.

The Orphan Barrel series is predominantly made up of old whiskey that was supposedly "found" just lying there in the warehouse. And in that sentence are the two reasons why I hadn't reviewed any of them previously. First, I prefer my whiskey a bit younger than these releases have been. If I had to give a general range, I'd say that I tend to prefer my whiskey to be six to twelve years old with some wiggle room on each side and room for exceptions. So the idea of a 20-plus-year-old whiskey gives me pause. And second, I'm allergic to BS marketing stories. The thought that the tax man hasn't had Diageo reporting what is in each and every barrel is a bit ludicrous.

So with a price that hovers right around my Personal Price Ceiling™, I decided to take a pass whenever I saw it on a shelf. I figured I'd let the Whiskey Bros spend their money on that. And I'd grab a bottle of a bourbon that I'd like more since I don't buy whiskey to prove the size of my wallet or my nether regions.

That said, when the PR firm sent me an offer of a free taste, well, it was hard to say no. The price is right, and if I didn't like it it would probably be a small sample anyway.

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 22-Year-Old Bourbon

Purchase Info: This 100mL sample was generously proved by Taylor Strategy. I've seen it for sale online between $129 and $180.

Details: 22 years old. 45.2% ABV

Nose: Leather, citrus, vanilla a hint of chocolate and lots of oak.

Mouth: Nice and spicy with cinnamon candies to go along with the vanilla and oak. So much oak!

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Oak flavors linger along with leather, chocolate, vanilla, and nougat.

Thoughts: I don't really like super old bourbons most of the time. They tend to be oak extract with little in the way of other flavors. But this one I like. Would I personally run out and buy it? Nope. $120-plus is a little outside the budget for me these days. But the flavors are rich and sweet. There is a nice spice to it. And overall, it is a really nice bourbon.

So if dropping a Benjamin and a half on a single bottle of bourbon doesn't faze you, I'd recommend grabbing one should you see it. If you'd rather use that money for other things, I can't fault you there either.

Barrel Aged in a Bottle Oak Infusion Spiral

July 20, 2017 Eric Burke

It really is amazing what you find when you clean your office. A little over a week ago, I got fed up with the disorganized mess that used to be my office. When I realized that I had started to record my monthly (ish) Patreon video in another room, I decided that the time had come to bring it back to a less stressful level of disorder.

As I was cleaning, I found something that I received on a visit to a local craft distiller that I took with a couple of friends. It's an Oak Infusion Spiral created by The Barrel Mill here in Minnesota. He was talking about some failed experiments that he had tried and held one up. Since he wasn't using it, he asked if we wanted them. There were three of them and three of us, so we all said yes. Upon returning home, I promptly set mine on one of my desks and proceeded to let the sediment of time cover it in a pile of papers, notebooks, and folders.

So when I found it last week, I was anxious to do something with it. While I have almost no desire to add it directly to a bottle of spirits, I did have a couple of ideas of what to do with it. I was in the process of making a batch of orange bitters and tossed half of it in there while the liquid rested. To be honest, I never thought to do a control batch on that, so I have no idea if it helped, hurt or did nothing.

With the other half of the spiral though, I decided to get a little more ambitious. I made 750 mL of Manhattan (minus the water/ice) and poured half of it into each of two 375 mL bottles. With one, I put the spiral into and with the other, I left it out. I figured I would let them both sit for seven to ten days and then try each along with a freshly made Manhattan using the same ingredients. (I'll be setting the no spiral one aside to allow it to bottle age for three to six months. Look for that post in the future.)

The main question I wanted to answer was: does this thing do anything? The answer to that is yes. The Manhattan with the oak spiral is noticeably silkier and is better integrated than the freshly made one that I am having next to it. So that's it. The stick does the trick.

Or does it? Oaked versus fresh doesn't really tell you if it was the time it sat or the spiral doing the work. To answer that, I tried the 10-day-old oaked one next to the 10-day-old non-oaked one. To be honest, I expected that there would be little difference between the two since there wasn't a noticeable "oakier" flavor in the bottle with the stick versus the freshly made drink. But there was a huge difference. The non-oaked version might be the worst Manhattan I've ever had. It basically tastes like I used old ingredients.

To sum up, I can't say if this will help your whiskey should you stick it in the bottle. But it might help your cocktails. Just don't try to use it with ones that use non-spirit ingredients to minimize spoilage.

What I mean when I say I like something (and more)

July 18, 2017 Eric Burke

The germ of this article comes from one I originally posted in February of 2013. I think it's time to surface it again. I've cleaned it up a little since I think I've gotten better at writing in the last four years, but the basic idea behind my reviews haven't changed.

Everyone who writes about whiskey approaches things differently. Some reviewers like to use numbers. Numbers make a review feel scientific because you've done some math. Some reviewers like to use stars. Stars are easy to visualize and are familiar to Amazon shoppers everywhere. I like to use various cartoon faces and hearts because I'm silly. Probably too silly for my own good. The point is that any and/or all of these are correct. They all adequately represent how much or how little a reviewer liked any given whiskey. But no matter how a writer presents it, we as readers need to remember that the rating is still just a subjective opinion.

It probably goes without saying, but I like bourbon. I enjoy it in many different ways. Sometimes I enjoy thoughtfully tasting bourbon. I pour it into a nosing glass, sit down, concentrate, and try to tease out all the little smells and tastes that are hidden inside the glass. And if it is interesting, I'll probably like it. Other times, I want to enjoy bourbon in a rocks glass while playing cards or watching tv or conversing with friends. I'm not paying a lot of attention to it, but if it tastes good and it's acting as a social lubricant, I'll probably like it. Sometimes I enjoy it in a cocktail. Even if it isn't great neat, if it makes a killer Manhattan, I'll probably like it. And if I like it, then I'll tell you I like it. And I'll put a little smiley face next to it.

Sometimes I find a bourbon that doesn't taste good and isn't all that interesting. Needless to say, I don't like these. I've gotten pretty good at knowing what I like, and since I buy most of the whiskey reviewed on the site, the odds are that I'm not buying too many duds. But occasionally one slips through, or I buy one specifically for research purposes. When that happens, I'll tell you I dislike it and put a frowny face next to it.

Of course, some whiskeys are just...meh. There is nothing offensive about them. They don't taste bad. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either. It's just sort of in the middle there for me. In such a case I'll just drop a neutral face on it.

Very occasionally I'll drop a heart on something. This means I love it. No ifs, ands, or buts. I'd take this whiskey over almost any other.

So to recap:

A heart means I loved this whiskey. I'd have to pause and think (briefly) if forced to choose between it and my wife. (shhhh... don't tell her)

A smiley face means I liked the whiskey or I found it interesting while tasting it. Or I enjoyed myself while drinking it. Or I enjoyed the company I drank it with. Or I was having fun. Most bourbons and ryes will be in this category because, on at least some level, I like most bourbons and ryes I've tasted.

A neutral face means meh. I didn't particularly like this whiskey, but I didn't hate it either. It wasn't for me. But you might like it.

A frowny face means I really disliked this. I probably dumped it out or at least thought about dumping it out.

We all have different life experiences that color our perceptions. I taste JuicyFruit gum when I taste Four Roses. Other people might taste Jackfruit, but I've never had a Jackfruit, so I say JuicyFruit. Some people might taste almond in a whiskey. I'm allergic to nuts, so I only have an academic idea of what almonds taste like. If I use it as a tasting note, it will have come from my wife (we do the notes together). The point is that everyone will like different things and has had different experiences to inform their tastes. And that's pretty cool. It gives us something to talk about.

Blog

Jefferson's Very Small Batch Bourbon

Henry McKenna Single Barrel, Bottled in Bond

Jack Daniel's Red Dog Saloon

Orphan Barrel: Rhetoric 22-Year-Old Bourbon