Tastes

End of a long work day. Already had a headache from staring at a goddamn screen all day. It knew it was ill-advised, but I poured a dram of Glendronach 12 as my “unwind at the end of the day” scotch. The second I whiffed it, the sweetness literally sent a stabbing pain through my eye. Don’t speculate about medical conditions, I’m just saying that saccharine shit made my headache worse. I needed something dark and smooth like Quincy Jones, something higher proof, definitely not sweet. Something peppery and savory, oily and nutty. I knew what my head needed and it was this. Coarse ground peppercorns on the nose, a full mouthfeel and a punch of alcohol that’s somehow mellow and even-tempered. The finish was long and relaxing. It delivered everything I needed to prepare me to listen to my wife complain about the kids with an amused smile and to treat the little dickens with indulgence and a gentle hand.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. Here’s my review of the very enjoyable second flight (which included non-blind and 3 blind tastings): 1. Bulleit: especially in comparison to the others, a sweet caramel apple throughout, morphing into cinnamony apple pie on the shortish-medium finish. Very nice. 3.75 Stars 2. Knob Creek: a weak nose despite being the highest ABV, but the bitter wood it presented was a nice and surprising note. Apples and dried cherries emerged on the palate and a warm cinnamon on the medium length finish. 3.5 Stars. 3. Woodford Reserve: caramel and fresh pencil shavings on the nose, interesting and pleasant. Sweet honey and oak come out on the palate and mellow hard candies that remind me of perusing the bulk bins in the grocery store as a kid linger on the medium length finish. 3.75 stars. 4. Maker’s Mark, for all its commercial notoriety, emerged as my favorite of the 4. Compared with the others, I got savory beef and salted vanilla on the nose, a more savory than sweet palate and a smooth finish with spice and pancakes. 4 stars. Overall, the Bulleit was the most distinctive, as I picked it out each time in the blind tastings. Next was Maker’s where I only mistaked it once for something else. The other 2 were more comparable in taste and harder to pick out. Each contributed to a very enjoyable evening.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. Here’s my review of the very enjoyable second flight (which included non-blind and 3 blind tastings): 1. Bulleit: especially in comparison to the others, a sweet caramel apple throughout, morphing into cinnamony apple pie on the shortish-medium finish. Very nice. 3.75 Stars 2. Knob Creek: a weak nose despite being the highest ABV, but the bitter wood it presented was a nice and surprising note. Apples and dried cherries emerged on the palate and a warm cinnamon on the medium length finish. 3.5 Stars. 3. Woodford Reserve: caramel and fresh pencil shavings on the nose, interesting and pleasant. Sweet honey and oak come out on the palate and mellow hard candies that remind me of perusing the bulk bins in the grocery store as a kid linger on the medium length finish. 3.75 stars. 4. Maker’s Mark, for all its commercial notoriety, emerged as my favorite of the 4. Compared with the others, I got savory beef and salted vanilla on the nose, a more savory than sweet palate and a smooth finish with spice and pancakes. 4 stars. Overall, the Bulleit was the most distinctive, as I picked it out each time in the blind tastings. Next was Maker’s where I only mistaked it once for something else. The other 2 were more comparable in taste and harder to pick out. Each contributed to a very enjoyable evening.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. Here’s my review of the very enjoyable second flight (which included non-blind and 3 blind tastings): 1. Bulleit: especially in comparison to the others, a sweet caramel apple throughout, morphing into cinnamony apple pie on the shortish-medium finish. Very nice. 3.75 Stars 2. Knob Creek: a weak nose despite being the highest ABV, but the bitter wood it presented was a nice and surprising note. Apples and dried cherries emerged on the palate and a warm cinnamon on the medium length finish. 3.5 Stars. 3. Woodford Reserve: caramel and fresh pencil shavings on the nose, interesting and pleasant. Sweet honey and oak come out on the palate and mellow hard candies that remind me of perusing the bulk bins in the grocery store as a kid linger on the medium length finish. 3.75 stars. 4. Maker’s Mark, for all its commercial notoriety, emerged as my favorite of the 4. Compared with the others, I got savory beef and salted vanilla on the nose, a more savory than sweet palate and a smooth finish with spice and pancakes. 4 stars. Overall, the Bulleit was the most distinctive, as I picked it out each time in the blind tastings. Next was Maker’s where I only mistaked it once for something else. The other 2 were more comparable in taste and harder to pick out. Each contributed to a very enjoyable evening.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. Here’s my review of the very enjoyable second flight (which included non-blind and 3 blind tastings): 1. Bulleit: especially in comparison to the others, a sweet caramel apple throughout, morphing into cinnamony apple pie on the shortish-medium finish. Very nice. 3.75 Stars 2. Knob Creek: a weak nose despite being the highest ABV, but the bitter wood it presented was a nice and surprising note. Apples and dried cherries emerged on the palate and a warm cinnamon on the medium length finish. 3.5 Stars. 3. Woodford Reserve: caramel and fresh pencil shavings on the nose, interesting and pleasant. Sweet honey and oak come out on the palate and mellow hard candies that remind me of perusing the bulk bins in the grocery store as a kid linger on the medium length finish. 3.75 stars. 4. Maker’s Mark, for all its commercial notoriety, emerged as my favorite of the 4. Compared with the others, I got savory beef and salted vanilla on the nose, a more savory than sweet palate and a smooth finish with spice and pancakes. 4 stars. Overall, the Bulleit was the most distinctive, as I picked it out each time in the blind tastings. Next was Maker’s where I only mistaked it once for something else. The other 2 were more comparable in taste and harder to pick out. Each contributed to a very enjoyable evening.

I ended up using it as a solvent for the dry erase marker on the bottom of my glasses after a blind tasting.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. First I’ll review the first flight: I nosed and tasted all three first and made notes, but did 2 blind tastings, noting my guess after both nosing and tasting and comparing those guesses to reality. I was gratified to find I nailed all three in both blind tastings. Here’s my conclusions: 1. Jim Beam, objectively (meaning blindly considered) is bottled shit. The nose is weak and vaguely like sweet lacquer. A second nosing produced an unpleasant apple soap aroma. The taste isn’t terrible, like cinnamon candies (the discs, not the intense Atomic Fireballs), and there’s slight cinnamon on the finish, which is gone in like 3 seconds. 1 Star. 2. Evan Williams Single Barrel is very good bourbon, especially for the price of $27. Prominent butterscotch, with vanilla and hazelnut on the nose, cinnamon and clove join the mix when you sip. Cinnamon persists on the medium to long finish with a hint of oak. 4 stars. 3. The Barrel Proof Elijah Craig is beautiful. There were notes I’ve never noticed before, perhaps teased out by the other bourbons. Egg nog and butter brickle graced the nose and continued into the palate, where cinnamon joined the sweet harmony. The notes lingered in a long warm finish. 4.5 stars.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. First I’ll review the first flight: I nosed and tasted all three first and made notes, but did 2 blind tastings, noting my guess after both nosing and tasting and comparing those guesses to reality. I was gratified to find I nailed all three in both blind tastings. Here’s my conclusions: 1. Jim Beam, objectively (meaning blindly considered) is bottled shit. The nose is weak and vaguely like sweet lacquer. A second nosing produced an unpleasant apple soap aroma. The taste isn’t terrible, like cinnamon candies (the discs, not the intense Atomic Fireballs), and there’s slight cinnamon on the finish, which is gone in like 3 seconds. 1 Star. 2. Evan Williams Single Barrel is very good bourbon, especially for the price of $27. Prominent butterscotch, with vanilla and hazelnut on the nose, cinnamon and clove join the mix when you sip. Cinnamon persists on the medium to long finish with a hint of oak. 4 stars. 3. The Barrel Proof Elijah Craig is beautiful. There were notes I’ve never noticed before, perhaps teased out by the other bourbons. Egg nog and butter brickle graced the nose and continued into the palate, where cinnamon joined the sweet harmony. The notes lingered in a long warm finish. 4.5 stars.

I read a very good book, Heather Greene’s Whiskey Distilled, which convinced me that I had gotten unnecessarily hoity-toity about my whiskey too quickly. My thought was “if there’s good whiskey and bad whiskey and average whiskey, why not only drink good whiskey?” This reasoning seems sound, until I consider that many distilleries have their own unique processes not duplicated anywhere and though reviews may not be kind, a unique experience may nevertheless be afoot in giving some of them a chance. I decided to set my biases aside, buy small bottles of the original or core offerings from several bourbon brands and give them a try. I did this in 2 flights: 1. See first of all if I could distinguish between very cheap, poorly reviewed bourbon (Jim Beam original), well reviewed but inexpensive bourbon (Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage) and high end bourbon (Elijah Craig Small Batch Barrel Proof). I started by diluting the ECraig down to roughly the same ABV as the others. 2. Compare 4 similarly priced and similarly reviewed core offerings from different distilleries, all Kentucky Straight Bourbons. These included: Bulleit, Knob Creek, Woodford Reserve, and Maker’s Mark. First I’ll review the first flight: I nosed and tasted all three first and made notes, but did 2 blind tastings, noting my guess after both nosing and tasting and comparing those guesses to reality. I was gratified to find I nailed all three in both blind tastings. Here’s my conclusions: 1. Jim Beam, objectively (meaning blindly considered) is bottled shit. The nose is weak and vaguely like sweet lacquer. A second nosing produced an unpleasant apple soap aroma. The taste isn’t terrible, like cinnamon candies (the discs, not the intense Atomic Fireballs), and there’s slight cinnamon on the finish, which is gone in like 3 seconds. 1 Star. 2. Evan Williams Single Barrel is very good bourbon, especially for the price of $27. Prominent butterscotch, with vanilla and hazelnut on the nose, cinnamon and clove join the mix when you sip. Cinnamon persists on the medium to long finish with a hint of oak. 4 stars. 3. The Barrel Proof Elijah Craig is beautiful. There were notes I’ve never noticed before, perhaps teased out by the other bourbons. Egg nog and butter brickle graced the nose and continued into the palate, where cinnamon joined the sweet harmony. The notes lingered in a long warm finish. 4.5 stars.