The Secret of Better Taste: The Angostura Cook Book (1961)

My first real job out of college was as a layout designer at a magazine dedicated to log homes. As it was a small office, I quickly worked my way up to Art Director. Which, in the world of magazines, means that I was in charge of how the magazine looked. I touched every page in the book either because I was the layout artist or because I was approving/critiquing the ads or layouts of my employees. It was a great job. There is nothing like walking into a random store across the country from where you work and seeing your work on the newsstand. That experience began a love of magazines that lasts until today.

Today though, I am much more interested in old magazines. Especially old lifestyle magazines. I love seeing the old layouts they did before computers took over a lot of the heavy lifting. I especially love studying the old ads and seeing how they change over time as color options widen and photography becomes more prominent. And sometimes, I am so intrigued by an old ad that it actually works on me. I end up on eBay searching old glassware or books. The book we are looking at tonight is one instance of that. I was reading an old magazine from the early 1960s when I came across an ad for Angostura Bitters that featured this promotional cookbook. Of course, eBay was my friend. I found a copy for fairly cheap and bought it.

Promotional cookbooks are always interesting. The goal wasn’t really to put in recipes that were good, instead the goal was to just cram in enough recipes that you’d probably keep it around the house. And of course the recipes all contain the the product they are promoting as an ingredient. Ever thought about cooking with 7-Up or Dr. Pepper? There were cookbooks for that. How about using Malt Extract in your Macaroni and Cheese? Yep. There was one for that too. And if you ever thought about using Angostura Bitters in your next salad or pie? Well that’s when you’d probably reach for The Secret of Better Taste: The Angostura Cook Book.

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Published in 1961, this book is full of delightful illustrations, fun typography and black and white photos of some of the most horrendous looking foods available. I’m not going to lie. A lot of these look like vomit. And I’m not sure if color would help alleviate or reinforce the vomit-like look of the dishes. Even so upon receiving the book, I felt I owed it to myself to find a few of the less vomit-like recipes and give them a try.

Ham Glaze Angostura, page 11

• 1/2 cup of honey

• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons Angostura Bitters

Well the instructions tell you how to bake a ham. I didn’t make a ham. I made a ham steak. Not being sure of these recipes, I wasn’t going to ruin an entire ham if it wasn’t good. So the rest of the instructions can be summarized as follows: mix it up, put it on the ham. And the result?

You can certainly taste the bitters. They are subtle, not strong or overpowering. They complement the ham well. Overall, I make a better ham glaze, but this 1961 recipe holds up and is easy to make if you don’t keep a lot of spices in the ol’ spice cupboard. And heck, take a spoonful of that extra glaze (the stuff that wasn’t on the ham) and put it in a glass of bourbon. It made a very tasty old fashioned to sip on while the food cooked.

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Certainly Cheese Puffs, page 31

• 1/4 cup butter or margarine

• 1 cup flour, sifted

• 1/4 cheddar cheese, grated

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 2 Tablespoons cold water

• 1 teaspoon Angostura Bitters

Cut the butter into the flour, stir in cheese and salt, stir in liquids. Form into balls and bake at 375° F.

I love cheese so much. I honestly didn’t think there was a cheese based dish that I wouldn’t like. Until the second one of these I popped into my mouth. The first was interesting. More than a bit dry, but interesting. With the second one though, all that cheese flavor hit me at once. It was so rich that I couldn’t stand to eat a third. If you are brave enough to try these, don’t use good cheddar. Use the blandest, most mild cheddar you can find. Even then I don’t think I’d recommend it.

Oh and the Angostura? Pretty sure that was only included so they could put it in the book. I couldn’t taste it.

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Swedish Applecake, page 37

• 2 cups applesauce

• 2 cups zweiback crumbs

• 4 tablespoons butter

• few drops of lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon Angostura

Melt butter in a skillet, add zweiback crumbs, stir until crumbs are lightly browned. Add lemon juice and Angostura to crumbs. Starting and ending with crumbs, layer crumbs and applesauce in alternating layers. Bake about a half hour at 375° F.

Even though I had no idea what zweiback was (apparently it is a twice baked toast that is super hard and dried out that was used for teething babies, you can buy a similar product under the name of rusk, which I did) and no Swedish Apple Cake I’d seen used applesauce instead of apple slices, I decided to give this one a try. I wouldn’t recommend you follow suit. It is very bland. The layering is a pain and at the end, the crumbs and the applesauce combine to make this weird pudding-like substance anyway so I might as well have just mixed them together. The Angostura doesn’t provide much flavor. Honestly just go to allrecipes.com to find a recipe on this one.

Conclusions

As a piece of mid-twentieth century memorabilia, this is a fun addition to the collection. As an actual cookbook? No. Just…don’t. I had three more recipes I had thought I would try but I just couldn’t bring myself to try again. The one was fine, the rest were so bad that I just…no.

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A BourbonGuy Look at a Random Selection of Amaros (and Related Items)

A couple of years ago, I reviewed the book Amaro by Brad Parsons. It was eye opening to me because at the time I bought it, I knew the author but not the subject matter. I honestly had no idea what an amaro was and was shocked to find that, depending on how broad of a definition you use, I had two of them in my cocktail station.

Since the time of that review, I have literally tripled the number of “true” amaros that I keep in the house. That’s right, I’ve gone from one to three. By the expanded definition that Mr. Parsons’s book uses, I had three and now have five. But that doesn’t sound nearly as impressive.

Speaking of the definition if I am going to take a look at a random selection of amaros, I should probably spell that out for you, shouldn’t I? The definition that I use is the subtitle to the book that first defined it for me. Amaro: The Spirited World of Bittersweet, Herbal Liqueurs is the full title so I use “bittersweet, herbal liqueur” as my definition. I’m not running an encyclopedia of non-bourbon spirits here so I don’t feel too bad about being more general in my definition than a site that specializes in the category would use.

Now most of these came into my house on the wings of a cocktail recipe. You obviously need Campari for a Negroni or a Boulevardier. Fernet-Branca was something that was sent to me as a sample well before I officially accepted samples and I kept buying it because I really enjoy the Toronto cocktail. Ramazzotti I bought because I was intrigued by a recipe I found for a Black Manhattan, but not knowing anything about Amaro, I bought what I could afford. Averna I bought to make a Black Manhattan when the store I was at didn’t carry Ramazzotti. And Amaro Montenegro I bought because it was used in a drink that I really enjoyed during my last trip to Vegas.

So now that you know how I chose all of these, let’s look at each one individually. I’m going to give you a little background info drawn from Mr. Parsons’s book, as well as my nosing and tasting notes. Since the Black Manhattan was what started me dipping my toes into the world of amaro, I’ll look at whether or not it works in a bourbon version of that recipe using Heaven Hill 6 year old Bottled in Bond (now discontinued). If it doesn’t work in that, I’ll give you the recipe of a cocktail that I do like it in.

Amaro Montenegro

Background info: 23% ABV. Produced in Bologna, Italy. Known ingredients include orange peel and vanilla.

Nose: Floral, cloves, mint, ginger.

Mouth: Cola, orange, ginger, light herbal notes. Faint lingering bitterness.

Does it Black Manhattan? Yes. The resulting drink is herbal, floral and sweet. It complements the bourbon nicely.

Ramazzotti

Background info: 30% ABV. Produced in Canelli, Italy. Known ingredients include bitter orange, cardamom, clove, galangal, myrrh, star anise and sweet orange.

Nose: Black pepper, anise and citrus.

Mouth: Sweet. Follows the nose with citrus, anise and black pepper notes.

Does it Black Manhattan? Yes. The resulting drink brings out the cherry and baking spice notes of the bourbon.

Averna

Background info: 29% ABV. Produced in Caltanissetta, Italy. Known ingredients include lemon and orange essential oils and pomegranate.

Nose: Molasses, a slight smokiness, rosemary leaf.

Mouth: Caramel candy, wintergreen, root beer, and cinnamon.

Does it Black Manhattan? Yes. The resulting drink is sweet and brings out the herbal and baking spice notes of the bourbon. Tastes like you mixed the last two in some proportion

Fernet-Branca

Background info: 39% ABV. Produced in Milan, Italy. Known ingredients include aloe ferox, bitter orange, cardamom, chamomile, cinchona bark, galangal, laraha, laurel, myrrh, rhubarb root, saffron, and zedoaria.

Nose: Menthol, nutmeg, flower petals.

Mouth: Menthol, peppermint, lightly burnt sugar, an underlying bitterness, and lingering herbal notes.

Does it Black Manhattan? NO!!!. The resulting drink is just menthol and bitterness. Though I basically knew this wouldn’t work going in due to the relatively high quantity of amaro in the drink. Instead, might I recommend the Toronto?

the Toronto Cocktail

2 oz Rye 
1/4 ounce Fernet Branca
1/4 ounce Simple Syrup
2 dashes of aromatic bitters

Campari

Background info: 24% ABV. Produced in Milan, Italy. Known ingredients include water and alcohol. They won’t admit to anything else according to Mr. Parsons.

Nose: Bitter orange peel, a hint of mint.

Mouth: Very bitter. Very sweet. Lingering bitter orange peel and floral notes.

Does it Black Manhattan? Not really. The Campari overpowers the bourbon. Instead, might I recommend a Negoni, a Boulevardier, or if you are feeling up to the bitterness, a Bitter Black Manhattan?

Negroni

1 oz Gin
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Campari

Boulevardier

2 oz Rye or Bourbon
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
1 oz Campari

Bitter Black Manhattan

2 oz Rye or Bourbon
1/2 oz Ramazzotti Amaro 
1/2 oz Campari
2 dash Orange Bitters
Orange Peel (for garnish)

I’m going to tell you right now, that I understand that this is not an exhaustive list. But these are the ones I’ve tried, liked and continued to buy. I do think I need to continue to look further afield though. After this experiment, I’m interested enough to do so. If you have any recommendations, leave them in the comments.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

Woodford Reserve Rye and Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Rare Rye: Revisited

I usually start out these “Revisited” posts by telling you how long it has been since I last reviewed the whiskey I am revisiting. Usually I am curious as to how the product has changed over the intervening years. This time however, I’m looking at a different type of change. This time I want to see how I have changed since I last had a whiskey. See, I know that the whiskey hasn’t changed since this time I am revisiting a bottle that was only released in 2011. I gave it a very quick review on August 22, 2012 (2,526 days ago).

My local corner liquor store has their expensive liquors in a glass case that you see the minute you walk in the door. I can’t help but glance at the case as I walk in to the store. And for as long as I’ve been glancing, there have been the two bottle set of the 2011 Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection Rare Rye Selection sitting about halfway up the shelf. And for as long as I can remember, I’ve been walking past it on my way to the bourbon section.

Well, they must have finally decided that it wasn’t ever going to sell in the case because about three or four months ago it was moved out of the locked case and placed on the shelf. In fact, two of them were out on the shelf. And as it sat on the shelf, I’d glance at it as I walked by. And my wife would glance at it as she walked by. And eventually, we both decided that we were curious enough that we needed to revisit it. We both like the standard Woodford Rye and thought it might be interesting to see how our tastes have evolved in the last seven to eight years.

So we bought it. And then because I I had received a question on my review of the Woodford Reserve Rye (reviewed 1,482 days ago if you are curious) that asked how it compared to the 2011 release, I decided to go ahead and pick that up as well. Especially since I really had nothing to go on but memories by the time the question was asked and I was curious as well.

2011 Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection, Rare Rye Selection: Aged Cask Rye

Purchase info: $85.99 for a set of two 375 mL bottles at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: Aged in a used barrel. 100% Rye Grain. 46.2% ABV. Non-age stated.

Nose: Spearmint, baking spice and just the faintest hint of caramel

Mouth: Grassy malted rye notes with citrus, cinnamon and a light honey.

Finish: On the longer side of medium and warm. lingering mint and cinnamon candy.

Thoughts: Although I haven't been a fan of ryes that use malted rye, this is one of the better ones that I've had. I don't mind this one. Not my favorite rye, and I certainly wouldn’t choose it very often, but I don’t hate it. That’s a downgrade from the previous time I had it. In 2012, I said I liked it. I think I liked it because it was interesting and new. But since then, I’ve had many more 100% ryes, including some that were made using malted rye like these seem to have been. I’m not a big fan of the flavor that malted rye brings to a whiskey.

2011 Woodford Reserve Master’s Collection, Rare Rye Selection: New Cask Rye

Purchase info: $85.99 for a set of two 375 mL bottles at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Details: Aged in a new barrel. 100% Rye Grain. 46.2% ABV. Non-age stated.

Nose: Grass, with caramel and mint.

Mouth: Nice mouthfeel. Very minty. Sweet with caramel, berry and pear.

Finish: On the longer side of medium. Lingering wintergreen and cinnamon notes.

Thoughts: Even though there are still hints of the malted rye notes, they are very minimal. Fruity, sweet and minty are the major flavors. I like this one. It has a rich and complex mouthfeel and the flavors work together nicely. Flavorwise, it seems to straddle the line between the Craft Ryes that use malted rye grain and a standard rye that uses malted barley. Still not my favorite rye, but one I will be looking for when I want a change of pace.

Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey

Purchase info: $29.99 for a750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Burnsville, MN

Details: 53% Rye Grain. 45.2% ABV. Non-age stated.

Nose: Cinnamon, black tea, and honey.

Mouth: Follows the nose with cinnamon and black tea. Notes of dried fruit, caramel and mint.

Finish: Medium length with lingering notes of cinnamon, caramel and mint.

Thoughts: I like this one. The black tea notes provide a nice balance to sweetness and spice.

Comparative thoughts: As I mentioned above, back when I first reviewed the Woodford Rye someone asked how it compared to the old Master's Collection ryes. I can finally answer that question. There is almost no comparison between the Aged Cask rye and the regular Woodford Rye. The presence of rye notes is about the only similarity. But I sort of expected that. Between the New Cask and the regular Woodford Rye there are similarities, but the malted rye notes in New Cask make for a fruitier drink and it has a much thicker and richer mouthfeel. That said if offered a pour of either. I'd take the standard Woodford Rye more often. I don’t mind any of them and like two of them, but I like the Woodford Rye the best. Living up to (and in this case helping to earn) its reputation, the Master's Collection tends to be more "interesting" than "good." Though the comparative aspect of this release made it much more interesting than most of the Master's Collection releases.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

1792 Aged Twelve Years

I’d like to thank Sazerac for providing this review sample to me with no strings attached.

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This week I had my 14 year old nephew staying with me. If I ever get as excited about bourbon as he gets about Fortnite, someone take my booze away. It'd be time for a dry out. He’s a good kid, love him to death, but he does have an obsession with this one video game. And hey, I get it. He get’s to hang out with his friends and he gets to play a game as well. Honestly, from what I noticed, half the time they aren’t even playing the game, they were just chatting. So I guess it isn’t much different than being on the phone all the time when I was a kid in the early 80s, except they get to have more than one other person on the line.

So because I am exhausted from dealing with a hormonal and moody teenager for most of the last week, I am looking forward to keeping things nice and simple tonight. Unlike recent posts, we are just talking about one bourbon. And it is one I have been looking forward to ever since they announced it.

Sazerac has been putting out limited releases under the 1792 brand for a few years now. I think I have liked every one of them. I was a big fan of the Port Finish. The High Rye was pretty amazing. I damn near fell in love with the Full Proof. So when I saw the announcement of a 12 year old version of 1792, I was pretty stoked. The press release states that this is the same recipe as the flagship 1792 just older, obviously. Plus, the suggested price is right in line with the other limited 1792 bourbons at $50.

1792 Aged Twelve Years

Purchase Info: This review sample was graciously provided by Sazerac for review purposes. Suggested retail price is $49.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Details: 12 year age stated. 48.3% ABV

Nose: Cinnamon, cherry candy, eucalyptus, caramel.

Mouth: Lots of oak, caramel, cinnamon, hints of cherry Cola. Nice and spicy.

Finish: Spicy and medium length. lingering oak, caramel and cinnamon.

Thoughts: I'm on record as not being a fan of super oaky bourbons. Even so, I don't mind this one. It won't be my first choice but I'd certainly be happy to have it on my shelf. Not that it would last there very long. My wife loves older, oaky Bourbons. As such, I'm turning this over to her.

Wife thoughts: OMG YUM! oh wait… I have to say more than that. This is nice and spicy with the oak that I love in older bourbons. And it is priced like the older bourbons of yesteryear too. Brings back memories of pre-hiatus Elijah Craig 18 year. Add a small ice cube and this is a nice sipper.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

If You've Had...the Very Old Barton Edition

I’m having a very hard time believing that it has been over two years since I last did one of these posts. It has been so long that I’m thinking a little explanation is in order.

I think that one of the best ways to really learn the differences between bourbons is to compare them head-to-head. That's the theory behind the If You've Had... series. The setup is like this: "If you've had Whiskey A then Whiskey B is..." hotter, spicier, sweeter, more floral, etc. Each section is written as compared to one of the whiskeys. So if you've had that one, but not the others, then that section will be of the most use to you. I try to write this so that there are no value judgments. This way you get to decide based on what you know of Whiskey A if Whiskey B sounds like something you'd want to try.

Up tonight is the family of Very Old Barton bourbons. I’m featuring the 80 proof, the 86 proof, the 90 proof and the 100 proof versions. The 100 proof was until recently a Bonded bourbon, but is no longer. So without further ado, I present the seventh installment of the If You’ve Had… series. 

If you’ve had the 80° proof, then the...

86° proof is: similar on the nose, spicier and sweeter on the mouth and spicier on the finish.

90° proof is: sweeter on the nose. It is sharper and shows more caramel on the mouth. The finish is warmer and more flavorful, showing more spice, mint and sweetness.

100° proof is: sweeter and more fruity on the nose. The mouth is much spicier and shows more caramel. The finish is warmer, spicier and has more lingering caramel.

If you’ve had the 86° proof, then the…

80° proof is: more grain forward and shows more cinnamon on the nose and mouth. The finish has less heat but shows more cinnamon flavor.

90° proof is: much sweeter on the nose showing more vanilla sugar cookie. The spice levels on the mouth are similar, but the 90° proof has more concentrated vanilla and caramel. The finish has a hint more spice, but otherwise is very similar.

100° proof is: sweeter on the nose. The mouth and finish are warmer, spicier and sweeter showing more cinnamon and a bit more fruit.

If you’ve had the 90° proof, then the...

80° proof is: more grain forward and shows more cinnamon on the nose and mouth. The finish is drier and more grain forward.

86° proof is: similar, though less sweet on the nose. The mouth similar though the caramel and vanilla flavors aren’t quite as pronounced.

100° proof is: very similar on the nose. The mouth and finish are warmer, spicier and show more fruit.

If you’ve had the 100° proof, then the…

80° proof is: drier and shows more grain on the nose. The mouthfeel is thinner and the mouth shows more grain and less spice. The finish is muted by comparison.

86° proof is: drier on the nose. The mouthfeel is thinner. The mouth is less warm. The finish is less sweet and shows a touch more grain.

90° proof is: showing less wood and less caramel on the nose. The mouth and finish are similar in flavor but less concentrated.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!

A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins

Two of the gins featured in this article were sent along by the producers as part of a previously disclosed review sample. They are Filibuster Dual Cask Gin and Tommyrotter Cask Strength Bourbon Barrel Gin. I would like to thank both companies for providing these samples with no strings attached.

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So. Gin?

Gin?

Yeah. Gin.

Do I know anything about gin? Not really. I know that last summer I read an old article by David Wondrich on the origin of the Gin Rickey. I know that gin is neutral spirit (essentially vodka, don’t @ me) flavored with juniper and other botanicals. I know that gin cannot legally be “aged” or have an age statement, though it can be “rested” or “finished” in a barrel for an undisclosed amount of time. I know that a lot of my non-whiskey drinking friends tend to favor gin. And I know that last statement is why I had a few different bottles in my house last year when I read that previously mentioned David Wondrich article and decided that a Gin Rickey sounded like a fantastically refreshing summer drink.

So I made one using the gins I keep on hand for friends. I loved it. Of course, I’d already made the occasional gin and tonic so I wasn’t a stranger to the combination of citrus and gin. But something about the dry quality of of the Rickey struck me as exactly what I would want on a warm summer afternoon. It is actually now my go to drink when I’m sitting on the deck in the warm summer weather.

Ok so here I am with a gin drink that I really like. As you do, I decided to expand my uses for gin. First I moved over to a Tom Collins. Super tasty, but I liked the Rickey better. Then I tried a Negroni, I’d made one before and found it kinda meh, but fell in love with a riff where I swap the vermouth with Averna. (I’m thinking that maybe I just don’t like vermouth.)

Of course, being the obsessive geek that I am, I needed to find out which gins I liked best. I mean how could I live with myself if I was enjoying a decent gin in my rickey when an amazing one was out there for the drinking? And just for the hell of it, I decided to bring you along for the ride.

A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins

The ones I ended up with were a mixture of gins I had on hand because of friends, those I ran across at craft distillers and a couple that had been sent to me by craft distillers who had provided them to me along with whiskies that they wanted me to review. The lineup is as follows.

Beefeater

Details: Owned by Pernod Ricard. Flavored with: juniper, lemon peel, coriander seed, almond, seville orange peel, orris root, licorice root, angelica root, and angelica seed according to the Beefeater website. 47% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $15.49 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, Lemon zest, mint, faint baking spice.
Mouth: Lemon Zest, mint and spice, juniper.
Finish: almost sweet, after a bit a hint of lemon.
Thoughts: Not nearly as juniper forward as I would expect from the nose.

Beefeater 24

Details: Owned by Pernod Ricard. Flavored with: Japanese sencha, Chinese green tea, grapefruit peels, juniper, lemon peel, almond, seville orange peel, coriander seed, orris root, licorice root, angelica root, and angelica seed according to the Beefeater website. 45% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $24.99 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, mint, lemon zest. (softer than Beefeater)
Mouth: Mixed citrus, mint, there is an herbal note.
Finish: Minty with a little juniper.
Thoughts: Considering how similar the nose on the 2 Beefeaters are, I'm actually surprised how different they are. I like how spicy this one is.

Hendrick’s

Details: Owned by William Grand & Sons. Flavored with: orris root, yarrow, angelica root, orange peel, juniper, caraway seeds, cubeb berries, lemon peel, chamomile, elderflower, coriander seeds, rose petal, cucumber according to the Hendrick’s website. 44% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $21.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, mint
Mouth: Spicy with a lot of juniper
Finish: long juniper finish
Thoughts: This is my least favorite so far. It is very juniper forward and I don't care for the spices I'm getting. I don’t get any cucumber.

Bombay Sapphire

Details: Owned by Bacardi. Flavored with: juniper, lemon peel, coriander, angelica root, orris, grains of paradise, cubeb berries, cassia bark, almond and licorice according to the Bombay Sapphire website. 47% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $23.99 for a liter bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Savory, Coriander, old dry wood, hints of juniper.
Mouth: lemon, cinnamon, Coriander
Finish: mint, hints of juniper. after a while-distinct lemon
Thoughts: This is a tasty gin. Not the "pine trees" stereotype of non-gin drinkers at all. I could almost drink this one straight... almost.

Vikre Boreal Juniper Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Duluth Minnesota. Flavored with a combination of foraged wild botanicals and traditional gin botanicals according to their website. 45% ABV. Can be purchased locally for $32.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Black pepper.
Mouth: Flat and muted in the mouth.
Finish: Mint, juniper, lemon.
Thoughts: This is pretty flavorless until the finish. It isn't unpleasant, there is just little to draw me in when tasted neat.

Filibuster Dual Cask

Details: Craft distillery in Maurertown, Virginia. Finished in both American and French oak casks. 45% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally. This was a review sample.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Savory, Rosemary and a touch of juniper
Mouth: Thin mouthfeel. Savory Basil.
Finish: Long-lasting lemon, oak, hints of juniper.
Thoughts: This isn't bad at all. The basil notes are interesting (in a good way).

New Riff Kentucky Wild Bourbon Barreled Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Newport, Kentucky. Flavored with: angelica, orris and licorice root, and three kinds of citrus, wild juniper berry, American Spicebush, goldenrod, Rye Whiskey New Make. Finished in used bourbon barrels for 5-7 months. 47% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally. Can be purchased in Kentucky for $31.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Juniper, orange peel , just a hint of smoke
Mouth: Sweet, juniper, orange
Finish: lemon pledge
Thoughts: I want to like this a lot more than I do. That lemon pledge finish kills it.

Tommyrotter Cask Strength Bourbon-Barrel Gin

Details: Craft distillery in Buffalo, New York. Finished in new, charred American White Oak barrels. 61% ABV. Cannot be purchased locally, this is was a review sample.

BourbonGuy Notes:

Nose: Mint, caramel, ginger.
Mouth: Cinnamon, lemon, ginger,
Finish: ginger, molasses, touch of juniper
Thoughts: This is really good. As a bourbonguy, this is the only one I would drink neat.

Cocktails

So, now that we have the tasting notes out of the way, let’s get down to the reason why I actually had them in the house to begin with: cocktails. My wife and I tried each of these in three cocktails. A standard Negroni, a Tom Collins, and of course my beloved Gin Rickey. It really shouldn’t be, but I found it a bit interesting to see the differences in each of these. Especially when comparing tasting notes (neat) to the flavors I got in each cocktail. But instead of going over all the tasting notes again, I’m just going to give you our “rankings” for how much we liked each spirit in each cocktail.

Negroni (equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari)

Eric’s: Tommyrotter, New Riff, Beefeater, Vikre, Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24, Fillibuster, Hendrick’s

My wife’s: Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24/Beefeater (tied), Vikre, Tommyrotter, New Riff, Filibuster, Hendrick’s

Thoughts: Not at all surprising that I preferred the aged spirits in this cocktail, the barrel aging makes it taste like a cross between a typical Negroni and a Boulevardier. A bit surprising that my wife preferred the London Dry style since she was very resistant to participating in this tasting at all based entirely on previous experience with that style when she was younger.

Tom Collins (gin, lemon juice, simple syrup and soda water)

Eric’s: Beefeater, Beefeater 24, Bombay Sapphire, Vikre, Hendrick’s, New Riff, Filibuster

My wife’s: Beefeater, Beefeater 24, Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Vikre, New Riff, Filibuster.

Thoughts: we basically agreed here. The London Dry style was our favorite.

Gin Rickey (gin, lime juice and soda water)

Eric’s: Beefeater 24, Beefeater, Bombay Sapphire, Hendrick’s, Vikre, New Riff, Filibuster

My wife’s: Bombay Sapphire, Beefeater 24, Beefeater, Vikre, Hendrick’s, New Riff, Filibuster.

Thoughts: The two Beefeaters were my winners. Which is awesome since Beefeater is the cheapest one in the lineup. My wife has more expensive tastes and preferred the Bombay Sapphire. Neither of us were high on the barrel aged versions.

Conclusions

So based on these “oh so scientific” tests, it seems that in the summer I need to keep only a Beefeater or two and a bottle of Bombay Sapphire on hand. I’m going to pass on the Hendrick’s from now on. I was not a fan. It also seems that for these summer drinks there is little to be gained from venturing into Craft territory as any differences they are playing with are lost in my favorite cocktail. On the other hand, when the weather starts to cool and I am looking for a more spirit-forward cocktail, I should certainly venture over to the Craft gins and look for a barrel aged version to use in the occasional Negroni.

There you have it: A BourbonGuy Look at Random Gins. Will gin fans agree on my conclusions? Maybe, maybe not. I admit, I am a total gin novice. But honestly, I found it too interesting not to share. Especially with other bourbon lovers who may be looking to expand their range into a refreshing long drink for summer.

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Scrappy's Bitters

A couple of months ago, I got a bottle of Legent™ from Jim Beam. Among the marketing materials that I received with the bottle was a book of cocktails that featured Legent™ as their main ingredient. As you might have guessed, I was intrigued. There was a problem though. I like cocktails, but I really only keep the ingredients on hand for those that I really like. Ones that I will make often. Unfortunately, the cocktails that come in marketing materials need to be unique in order to position the brand’s…

Ugh, I hate marketing speak so let’s just say they use a lot of ingredients that a normal person would not have on hand. Hell, many bars wouldn’t have some of these ingredients on hand. So when I decided that as part of the review I was going to try one of their featured cocktails, I chose the one that involved the least amount of spending on my part.

I chose the Kentucky Kyushiki mostly because the only thing I needed to buy was a bottle of bitters. That particular cocktail is basically a riff on an old fashioned. Just bourbon, flavored simple syrup and lavender bitters. Now, I had no idea where to find lavender bitters, but a quick search of the Total Wine website showed me that they had a sampler pack from Scrappy’s Bitters that had a bottle of Lavender Bitters in it. Yay!

So there went twenty dollars toward a half-ounce bottle of bitters that I wanted and three more that I really didn’t care about. And so, of course I decided to spend another twenty dollars on the other four pack so I could try their entire line. You know, for science. Or something.

When I test bitters, I tend to do it in the most reproducible way possible. Namely I make my favorite non-alcoholic drink (bitters and soda water) and then an old fashioned. Both are very simple drinks where the differences from drink to drink are solely from the bitters. I used Maker’s Mark as it is a pretty plain palette to paint the bitters across. The impressions below encapsulate both testing methods.

Scrappy's Bitters

Purchase Info: $20 each for two sample packs of four half ounce bottles each at Total Wine, Burnseville, MN.

Orleans: Strong anise notes on nose and mouth. Brings out a lot of spicy notes to a Maker's Mark old fashioned while maintaining the anise notes.

Aromatic: Cinnamon and clove flavors at the forefront, not as richly flavored as Angostura at the same dilution. Adds a little baking spice to the old fashioned. I'd choose Angostura over this.

Orange: Jellied orange slice candy, hints of spice. Maintains the orange candy flavor in the old fashioned. If you choose this over Regan's or Angostura orange, use it sparingly. The orange flavor easily overpowers Maker's. Though I wouldn’t choose it over either of those unless you really like orange candy flavors in your cocktail.

Celery: Strong celery notes on the nose and mouth. Almost salty tasting along with fizzy water. Adds an interesting herbal finish to the Maker's Old-fashioned. I mean that in the most minnesotan way possible. I do not like celery and this has a lot of celery. However in a rye old-fashioned, this sings. Really good pairing with the herbal notes of a good rye.

Grapefruit: Sweet Grapefruit on the nose. Generic citrus on the mouth. This reads as orange in the old fashioned. It actually works better as an orange bitters than the orange did.

Chocolate: Dark Chocolate nose. Milk chocolate and caramel mouth. This turns the old fashioned into a liquid candy bar. Nice dark chocolate notes on the finish.

Lavender: Floral lavender on nose and mouth. Mouth brings lemon zest. as well As to be expected, this adds a floral note to the Maker's old fashioned. Honestly this works better with Beam-branded products than it does with Maker’s.

Cardamom: As to be expected, cardamom notes predominate on both nose and mouth. This brings out a lot of baking spice to the old fashioned. Including a nice "Christmas note". Not sure I’d want this all the time, but I can see uses for it occasionally in the right cocktail.

Thoughts (After fizzy water): Most of these are fairly straightforward. For the most part these are pretty one-note affairs. For example the Orleans is just anise. As opposed to Peychaud's which has anise and other herbal and bitter notes, or the Orange which is just an orange candy flavor as opposed to the orange and spice melange of Angostura's Orange Bitters. In fact it seems many of these are lacking in much bitter flavor at all. They remind me of Fee Brothers in that respect. Great for use as a flavoring, but not really as a bittering agent.

Thoughts (After use in a Maker’s Mark Old Fashioned): Overall, I think the Orleans is my favorite. It takes your typical aromatic bitters note and adds a hit of anise which really elevates the drink. I like the lavender in the Kentucky Kyushiki and it works very nicely with Beam-branded bourbons. It also works nicely in a gin and tonic. Other than that, most of these I don’t know that I will find a use for. The orange and aromatic aren’t as good as the two big guys and the rest I’d only use every once in a while. As far as I'm concerned, the Orleans and the Lavender are the two I will continue to buy full bottles of, and the rest I’ll struggle to finish the half ounce bottle. As always your milage may vary.

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Knob Creek (2019) vs Knob Creek 9-year-old (2016)

Last month, news broke that Knob Creek Bourbon, which had lost its age statement a few years back, would be regaining its nine year old age statement “sometime early next year.” In honor of this very welcome news, I've decided to pull out my last bottle of nine-year-old Knob Creek to compare to with the current release.

So, first things first, why do I have a bottle of Knob Creek with an age statement just hanging around? Honestly, just for this. If I see a significant change to any particular bourbon, I try to pick up a bottle so that a few years down the line, we can all see what, if anything has changed in the flavor. I also do this for the first batch of things that might be interesting down the line. This is the reason why there is a bottle of the first batch of Willett-distilled Old Bardstown Bonded, the first release of Maker's Cask Strength, one of the last bottles of Elijah Craig before they removed the age statement, and others on the top shelf of my whiskey closet. I figure I'll give each of them a few years and go back to see if anything has changed.

Ordinarily, I would still be sitting on this bottle of Knob Creek as I've had it less than three years (according to the dates for the contest on the neck tag that I apparently never took off). But since the reason I was keeping it is going away soon, why not pull it out. Maybe we'll see a glimpse of what is to come and what we've been missing.

I did the comparison blind, hopefully, I don’t catch too much flack if I end up liking the non-age stated one better.

Knob Creek NAS (2019) vs Knob Creek Nine-Year-Old (2016)

Purchase Info: $24.99 at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN for the non-age stated one. After almost three years, I have no clue for the nine-year-old.

Details: Both are 50% ABV.

Bourbon A:

Nose: Dusty oak, caramel, ripe fruit, nutmeg, hints of mint

Mouth: Caramel, mint, cinnamon

Finish: Dry and warm, medium length. Lingering oak and caramel

Bourbon B:

Nose: Mint, bubblegum, nutmeg, oak

Mouth: Spicy, dry, cinnamon, vanilla, oak

Finish: Warm and spicy with lingering chocolate and dried grains

Thoughts: These are both very similar. I guess that is a testament to the blending skills of Jim Beam. Bourbon A is softer in the mouth while B is drier and spicier. That said the underlying flavors are close enough that I don't know if I'd notice too much of a difference if someone blindly handed me a glass of one versus the other. Bourbon A has more flavor while it is in the mouth, while B is spicier and the flavor really kicks in at the finish. Personally, I'd choose A over B, but it's pretty close.

Reveal: Whiskey A is the 2016 nine-year-old. Whiskey B is the 2019 NAS. I guess I dodged a bullet on that one. But seriously, I found this super interesting. There were differences, but they were not as big as I would have assumed. They aren't as big as the differences between Elijah Craig's 12-year-old versus their current NAS bottling.

I can't wait to compare both of these Knob Creek bottles to my first bottle of 2020's new nine-year-old.

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BourbonGuy.com accepts no advertising. It is solely supported by the sale of the hand-made products and bourbon-related craft supplies I sell at the BourbonGuy Gifts store. If you'd like to support BourbonGuy.com, visit BourbonGuyGifts.com. And hey, if you are an iOS user, look for Bourbon Guy in Apple News. Thanks!