Two Empties and reviews of them.

People who know me well know that I am a geek. Not just with bourbon. No, not just with whiskey. No, not just in the computer sense. No...

Will you let me finish? Goodness. 

Ahem. Thank you.

I am a geek because I love knowing how things work. I have this immense curiosity that leads me to want to explore variables. It's one of the reasons I was good at that whole sciencey thing when I was studying astrophysics at the University of Minnesota. You know, before I got even more curious and dropped out to explore a bit more of life.

For the longest time, as a geek, I could use up all my curiosity in the pursuit of technology. Computers, the internet, learning to build web sites, learning to build computers, following the evolution of communities and socialization. But after a while I realized that I wasn't curious about that stuff anymore. I had followed it from toddler stages all the way to young adulthood and I had a pretty good idea of the person it was going to be. I was still it's friend, I liked it's company, but I just wasn't curious anymore.

I've baked practically since I was old enough to read the recipes. I loved the way that you could put all these pieces together, pop it into the oven and have something so different come out. Once I became interested in sprits, I found that while cooking was interesting, it was flavor that I was really curious about.

Flavor is amazing. Flavor curiosity is the reason I have 34-odd flavor infused vodkas in a small dark refrigerator in my office. Curiosity is the only reason that anyone would infuse vodka with black pepper. (Which, by the way, starts out sweet...then a nuclear bomb goes off in your mouth.)

Curiosity about flavor variables is also one of the reasons I love whiskey. From relatively minuscule number of ingredients an almost infinite number of flavor combinations are made. But, while the actual food-style ingredients are important, the process-ingredients are just as much so. The container, the temperature and the time. These are all things that cooks have known for a long time. A dark pan in an oven that runs hot burns baked goods, sometimes before they can even finish baking. The flavor is much different than that of a baked good in a glass pan baked at an even temperature for given time frame. In whiskey speak: a new barrel in a hot warehouse provides a much different flavor profile than a used barrel in a cool one. (That's not an exact analogy, but it's the best I can come up with right now.)

Variables. There are so may variables in whiskey. But the problem with most whiskies is that you get to taste all the different variable at once. Maybe you'll get one or two that have the same "recipe" but they were stored in different places for different times in. To top it off the people choosing the barrels were looking for different flavor profiles when they chose the barrels to go into the whiskies. Too many variables. 

Which is why this particular set of empties was so cool. It was the same juice. Aged for supposedly the same time. One batch in a new barrel, one in a used barrel. You really got to taste exactly what the effect of each variable was. This experiment was expensive. It ran about $100. But if there is one thing that I will consistently spend money on, it's my curiosity.

Now, since I said there would be a review, here are some tasting notes:

Woodford Reserve Master's Collection New Cask Rye:

Color: dark amber to golden brown

Nose: Initially I found Apple Jolly Ranchers, but after a little while it began to take on more of a earthy caramel scent

Taste: A sweet woodiness mixed with the grassy flavors of rye

Finish: Not much burn, a grainy funk that lasts a decent amount of time.

Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Aged Cask Rye:

Color: a light straw color

Nose: Honey, apples, sweet clover

Taste: Grassy and sweet, very grain forward

Finish: Short and sweet, low burn

And just because I was curious, for a while I took to mixing them 50-50: strong spearmint on the nose. Not generic mint, wintergreen or peppermint. Spearmint. Grassy grain on the tongue. Long warm finish with more grassy notes.

Overall I liked this whiskey. I didn't care for the price. $100 is a lot for this, but the experience and the satiated curiosity were worth it, even if the whiskey was not. Based on this, if Woodford released a permanent rye in the price range of their original bourbon, I'd give it the occasional look.

Review: Bourbon—The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey

Friday's post on the Chuck Cowdery blog featuring Sam Cecil reminded me of something: I've been meaning to post another book review here. In honor of that timely reminder, let's choose one by the late Mr. Cecil: Bourbon—The Evolution of Kentucky Whiskey. 

I bought this book as part of a book devouring frenzy that I had just after bourbon entered my consciousness as a substance worth reading about. I got it from Amazon.com. It cost about $15 at the time (Sept 2011). It's a little less than that as I type this. It's 292 pages long.

The first seven chapters are a nice history of bourbon. They cover topics from the early years of whiskey distilling in America, through Prohibition and beyond, The Whiskey Trust, Master Distillers, the KDA and coopering and warehousing. They are seven well researched and very informative chapters. Of course, it didn't hurt that Cecil spent over 40 years in the whiskey business from 1937-1980 working with T.W. Samuels, Heaven Hill, J.W. Dant and Maker's Mark. He knows his stuff, and it shows. 

Now the eighth chapter, well, that is where your opinion of this book will either be substantially raised or where you will leave off entirely. For me it was the former. You see, the eighth chapter is a 203 page county-by-county breakdown of every registered distillery in Kentucky, that there were records for, from the early 1800s onward. As I was unfamiliar with the layout of Kentucky's counties, I read this with a map in hand. I loved every minute of it.

I can see where someone without my unique love of history, geography, geology and bourbon might find this chapter a bit tedious. If you find that you are of that sort, the first 88 pages or so are still a wonderfully entertaining read. But even if you are that type, I'd skim over the last chapter. There are some very cool stories buried in there. 

I like this book a lot. I found the writing entertaining. I found the history fascinating. I loved the old ads and old photos. The amount of research that was done to bring this book to us is astounding. (The author admits right off the bat that he has stood on the shoulders of giants who did a lot of the research, but the organization and presentation of the information do not suffer in the least for that.) I learned a lot from this book and highly recommend it.

Whiskey is for Drinking

Lately, I've been trying to make room on the whiskey shelves. My stash has gotten too big. 

Check that.

It has gotten too big to hold more. Big difference. You see, I'll be in Bardstown, KY for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in September. And I plan to bring home some things which aren't available here in Minnesota. Some will be special things. Some not so much. In any case, there will be a lot of them and I need the room. In an effort to develop a system for which would be on the ol' chopping block first, I came up with the system hinted at in previous posts. Namely FIFD. That's right: First In, First Drunk (or is it drank? eh...whatever).

Now as I was doing this inventory, I noticed something: the ones that had been on the shelf the longest were, for the most part, also the ones that cost the most or were the hardest to find. And that thought tickled something in the back of my brain. It took a little while for the tickle to congeal into something more concrete, but here it is:

I'm missing the point of whiskey. 

I didn't want to drink the whiskey on the shelf precisely because it was too expensive or too rare to "waste" on an ordinary occasion. In other words, I was paying (what for me is) a lot of money in order to open a bottle to the air and then not drink it. For some, this won't seem very strange so, please let me illustrate with a story. 

I used to watch grown men pay good money for toys and then not open them and not play with them (I may or may not have been among them). A friend of mine in college, who interned for Hasbro, used to complain about how much that pissed him off. He said good artists spent a lot of time designing and creating those toys precisely so children could play with them. A lot of pride was taken in the fact that their creations bring joy to the children of the world. Because, ultimately, that's what toys are for. The joy of playing. In his view, these guys were missing the point of toys. And even worse, they were keeping them out of the hands of those that did know the point of them. I immediately went home, opened all the "collectable" toys that I had and gave them to my daughter to play with. She was happy. She'd been eyeing them, so eventually it would have happened anyway. And you know what? It felt good.

I have an almost instinctive aversion to collecting these days. I'm afraid to let things become so precious to me that I lose perspective as to what is really important. In the case of whiskey, it offends me doubly. Much like a toy, whiskey is created to be enjoyed. Even if marketing later steps in to sell it for thousands of dollars, I doubt that was the intent of the spirit as it came off the still six, twelve, or even forty years ago.

As with many things, greed has corrupted something extremely simple. Whiskey is sensuous beauty in a glass. If you buy it only to look at it or to sell it later at a premium, you are not only missing the point, you are keeping it from those who would enjoy it as it was intended. In a glass, with friends or family. 

Art is for viewing. 

Whiskey is for drinking. 

Drink yours. Invite a few good friends to share it with you. And hey, if it's a precious one, remember that memories last even longer than whiskey.

No Evidence of Cancer

View fullsize

Some of you may already know that my wife has been undergoing chemotherapy due to ovarian cancer. Needless to say this has had our household a little more tense than normal. Chemo is over. She's had her first post-chemo CT scan and the results are back. She shows no evidence of cancer! 

If you picture me doing a bit of a happy dance right now, you'd be fairly accurate. 

When she was first diagnosed, I purchased a bottle of her favorite bourbon to put away so that we could crack it open at "a milestone of her choosing." Seems like this is it. I couldn't be happier to show off what I'm drinking tonight. It is the 2009 Four Roses Small Batch Mariage. I loved it before, I have a feeling it will taste even better tonight.

I love that girl.

Another Empty? Old Grand-Dad, Bonded

Another Empty? Yes. I needed to make room on my shelf. I have a few bottles that have been around too long (too long = becoming the oldest bottle on the shelf with the least in it). The Rip Van Winkle was the first. This time around I emptied my bottle of Old Grand Dad, Bottled in Bond. I have a unique opportunity here to do something that I haven't seen done before. I wrote a review of this when I first got it. I'm going to post that here. Then I will add my current feelings about this bourbon, which have changed drastically.

It was last September. Yes. I've had this bottle a long time. 

Old Grand Dad Bottled in Bond 100 Proof has an oily, thick mouthfeel with a sweet almost sugery taste that clings with you almost until the next drink. The finish is nice and long. It’s spicy turning sweet as it goes. 

This is better with an above average splash of water than it is with just the few ice cubes I normally put in a drink as the high proof almost feels like it burns your mouth. Odd since I’ve had higher proof ones that doesn’t act this way.

Overall, I will finish the bottle. As of now, it was an interesting experiment, but I probably won’t buy again I can find a lot more that I like better for the same price. Of course, that opinion might change after a few more drinks. I’ll update if it does.

So now an update from today. My opinion of this has changed. I didn't like it originally. I tried to find any way to use this that didn't involve drinking it. I cooked with it when I knew it wasn't going to be a main flavor component. I used it in experiments. Anything to not drink it. But then something odd happened. Sometime in the last 3-4 months this bourbon grew on me.

I like it. I will buy it again, though I'm thinking next time I do, it will be the 114 proof version instead. I still add a bit more water than usual to this in order to tame and soften the rough edges on it. But as far as I'm concerned this is one to come back to. The only downside? This bottle is butt-ugly (orange, gold and green) and really draws attention to itself on the shelf. Just not in a good way.

An empty and a short review: Old Rip Van Winkle 10 year

This is my first empty since posting the stash online. Kind of momentous in a way.

I tend to get all nostalgic when a bottle is emptied. When I have something in my possession for long enough, I become sentimental about it. I once had a pen for 4 years. Nothing special, just a bic clicker with the University of Minnesota logo screen printed on it. I almost cried when I lost it. Ok, not really. But I did feel this momentary pang of loss. Whiskey is much the same way. Though I've never had one last a year much less, the four of that lovely, lovely pen...sigh...ahem. Err. Sorry.

I try not to have multiple bottles of the same thing on the shelf. So when something is gone, there is a very real chance that it is gone for the foreseeable future. Add to that, the fact that this whiskey was just a bit special to me and you have something else that I felt just a bit of a pang over. At least until I drank it and realized I'd kept it just a bit too long. (You can do that, in case you didn't know, so drink up.) 

So why was this whiskey special? Not because it was particularly good. It is good, very good, but will never be a go-to-gotta-have-it-on-the-shelf sort of bottle. I liked it, I just never really found myself going to it all that often. It was special because I found this the on my first trip to one of my favorite liquor stores. While that probably doesn't mean much to folks who just make a stop off for a case of beer, it is a special occasion in the life of a whiskey drinker. It means you found a place where people don't stop and give you funny looks for standing next to the "hard-likker" or even funnier looks when they see you holding one that has a price tag above $25. A good liquor store is a place where you can get recommendations and even some conversation in while you are there. So I found this bottle when I found that place. And that made me think kindly of it.

But now it's gone. Things have been shuffled around so you would have never known it was there. It only lives now in my memory and in these tasting notes from very shortly after I opened it...due to that whole keeping it too long thing. So forgive their brevity, I'd assumed I'd go back and fluff them out some more later.

Buckwheat honey and brown sugar on the nose. Later a hint of fruitiness appears. Mouth is sweet with a hint of mintiness, very low burn. The finish lasts a decent length of time.

I like this whiskey, I don't love it. I thought I loved it at first, but found myself consistently choosing others over it. And that's not how you define love. Still, it's very good and I suggest you try it if you run across it and haven't yet.

Review: The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste

I bought this book with high hopes. I read The Chuck Cowdery blog religiously. I subscribe to the Bourbon Country Reader and Have bought two of his other books previously.  After all of that I find it hard to believe that my expectations were actually exceeded. I've read every book on bourbon I can find at my local library. I have a small collection of books on the subject sitting behind me on a shelf that I've read cover to cover and go back and reference now and then. This is better than all of them. 

So what is it? Well, the title is The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste: The True Story of A. H. Hirsch Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Distilled in the Spring of 1972. Admittedly, the title is a mouthful. It was written, as you might have guessed by my intro, by Charles Cowdery. 

The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste is a complexly winding tale of not just the bourbon itself, but of the one-time Michter's distillery in Schaefferstown, PA. The tale of a very famous bourbon that became a legend almost by accident is fun. But the tale of the distillery, the people who owned it, ran it, and worked in it is fascinating. 

This book stirred complex emotions in me as well. It introduced me to and made me start to lust after this bourbon that I would never have, that was distilled before I was even born. It told me I would never have it. Even though I loved the writing, I stopped reading the book at one point because the disappointment of me never tasting this beautiful thing he was describing was proving too much for me to bear. But I came back to it because the history was too tempting. I needed to know the rest of the story. And I'm glad I did. By the time I had finished the book, it had reassured me that while I was missing out, it would be all right since there are bourbon's I am tasting now that will go on to be legends in their own right. Some of which, I'd already stashed away for future celebrations.

The Best Bourbon You'll Never Taste is available as an ebook for $7.99 on both the Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook stores. It is not available in paper form.

This book deserves to be considered amongst the best spirits stories ever written. Lots of well researched history and wonderful story telling. I loved it and highly recommend it.

Happy Independence Day!

On this day it is an American tradition to cook meat at high heat over an open fire, gather with friends, drink and end the night with many loud explosions. (Also known as a cookout and fireworks.) But since this isn’t a cooking (without spirits), gathering or fireworks blog, let’s address our topic and help you decide what you should be imbibing on what, at least here in Minnesota, is looking to be a mighty fine day.

Bud Light is the best selling beer in the American market. But is it really all that patriotic to drink a beer owned by a Belgian/Brazilian company? Of course it isn’t. So what are proud, patriotic Americans to do when their favorite beverage is under foreign ownership? Well, in typical fashion, I have two answers for you. I’m all about choice after all. 

One, you could turn to one of your local craft brewers. Hard working people making tasty beers just for you. Here in Minnesota, I’ll probably have a Summit or a Schell’s or a Surly (Minnesota's beers all start with S? Oops there's Fulton, never mind). You probably know your locals better than I do. Though if you don’t, go down to your local beer emporium and search them out. You’ll be happy you did.

The other option I have for you is my favorite drink and namesake of this site: bourbon whiskey. Widely called America’s Native Spirit (erroneously thought to be because of an Act of Congress), it has a history as old as the United States itself. It, along with it's sibling rye, were developed right here in the USA, or at least what would become the USA. Beer is a worldwide phenomena. Vodka is European, Tequila is Mexican, Sake is Japanese. Scotch, Irish and Canadian whisk(e)y are, well, Scottish, Irish and Canadian.

But back to bourbon and rye. Or as I like to call them, Liquid Patriotism. To even be called bourbon it has to be produced in the US (amongst other rules). And though you've all heard of Jim Beam, Makers Mark, and Wild Turkey, might I suggest that we support the small businesses in this category too? Kings County Distillery in Brooklyn makes a bourbon. So does Kentucky’s MB Roland. I've had, and like, the Iowa Bourbon from Cedar Ridge. FEW Spirits in Evanston, IL makes both a bourbon and a rye. And I even hear rumors of a bourbon being produced in my home state of Wisconsin by Milwaukee’s Great Lakes Distillery. Though I find no evidence of that on their website.

So there you go:  a plethora of choices. And whether your choice is big, small, foriegn or domestic—please enjoy it, and your celebrations, in moderation and safety. I’d hate for you to lose a hand with those firecrackers. I mean, what would you drink with?