Two At The Most » Whisky

Age Your Own Whiskey

Stevi — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 15:00:39 +0000

My Whiskey Barrel

Along with sudden explosion of new distilleries, there has been a proliferation of white dog whiskeys on the market in the last few years.

White dog is unaged whiskey. Like vodka, it’s a popular first product for a new distillery as it can be immediately bottled and sold to start bringing in income.

Rather than making us wait for their finished product, Woodinville Whiskey gives us the chance to share in the experience with their Age Your Own^tm Whiskey Kit.

The kit features a two liter aging barrel with stand, two 750ml bottles of 110 proof Headlong White Dog at 110 proof (55% ABV), a funnel to get everything inside, and two Glencairn tasting glasses to see how things are going.

Prepping the barrel is easy. Fill it up with good clean water. Then let it sit somewhere that won’t be damaged by any leaks, until no leaks are evident. The point is to let the wood swell with to close any gaps, while not losing any precious liquor.

There was almost no seepage from my barrel from the start, so after a day I drained the water. I tasted a little, which had just the faintest tinge of brown, and was amused to discover there was a slight hint of both oak and sweetness. In went the white dog, and the waiting began.

A key decision in aging spirits is the location of the barrel. The ideal spot will change temperature. This helps the liquor expand into the wood and then contract. This is the whole purpose of barrel-aging. The liquor extracts various chemicals from the charred wood, changing the character of the final product. It also oxidizes with the air that manages to permeate the oak fibers. These processes change the original distillate. It’s up to you to decide when it has reached its prime.

Thirsty Angels

I was tempted to place the barrel on the plant shelf outside my window, but was warned against putting it anywhere it would get direct sunlight. I chose a shelf out of the sun but located where it would gain the most from the heat of the day and the cool of night.

I managed to wait a whole week before my first taste of my experiment. It’s so much easier to take tastes from aging liquor than it is from fermenting beer. The high alcohol levels mean that sanitation is not a huge concern, and oxidation is considered a plus in this process. Simply remove the bung from the top of the barrel, place your glass under the spigot, and turn the spigot on, and you have a taste!

After just one week, the whiskey was noticeably sweeter, with some very raw oak flavor, as well as a light straw color. I continued tasting about once a week. Some weeks it seemed like it was getting really great. And some weeks, it seemed really awful. Talking to Orlin and Brett at Woodinville Whiskey reassured me. They joked about the occasional panicked call to their mentor, Dave Pickerell, former master distiller at Maker’s Mark, about how suddenly the whiskey was ruined. He’d reassure them that it was all part of the aging process.

As different chemicals wax and wane through the process, the taste improves and worsens. The skill of the distiller of an aged product is finding that sweet spot that maximizes the benefits of wood aging while minimizing any negatives.

Finally, after three months, I was satisfied. My whiskey had strong oaken notes, but a nice smooth finish. I choose to bottle at the same strength it went into the cask, rather than adding any water to reduce the proof. While I knew I’d taken a few ounces out of the barrel for tasting, I wasn’t prepared for just how much was lost. I had poured 1.5 liters of white dog, and bottled under 900 ml.

I was very happy with what the angels left me. At bottling proof, it has a slightly stronger wood taste than I like in general when tasted straight. But pouring a jigger over a nice piece of ice brings it into a great balance. I especially like using my whiskey in old fashioned, especially with cinnamon syrup and chocolate bitters.

Of course, I couldn’t leave that barrel empty! I’ll write about my additional experiences in barrel aging. As soon as I put this old fashioned down.

Aging your own whiskey is a great way to appreciate what is really involved in making any aged product. I have a renewed appreciated for the art of the distiller. I can’t wait to see what Orlin and Brett have done on their own. Luckily, I won’t have to wait too long. On November 19, they are releasing their long awaited Bourbon, as well as an American whiskey. I can’t wait to compare it to my own whiskey. Provided I have any left.

Crown Royal Black

Stevi — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:30:21 +0000

Crown Royal Black and the Quebec Cocktail

Canadian whisky doesn’t get a lot of love from the craft cocktail community. So when I was given an opportunity to sample Crown Royal Black, I wanted to approach it with an open mind. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much to improve my opinion of the category.

Crown Royal Black is being pitched as a darker, stronger version of Crown Royal. It is aged in charred oak barrels and bottled at 90 proof (45% ABV), compared to 80 proof for the original. The back of the bottle refers to “deep bourbon notes.”

The first thing I noticed is it’s surprisingly dark in color.¹ Compared to the other whiskeys in my bar, its color does have more black notes, as opposed to the deep reds I associate with aged liquors. I’m not quite sure how they achieved this color, except to note that Canadian whisky makers are allowed to add caramel and flavorings.

Smelling it, the strongest scents were a caramel sweetness, some wood, and vanilla. Taking a taste, the first thing I noticed was a strong pepper flavor, which lasted quite a long time. There was also a woody flavor. I detected a hint of charcoal, which surprised me – I think of charcoal as a filtering agent, not a flavoring one. They do highlight that it’s aged in charred oak barrels, but I don’t get this sort of burnt flavor from bourbon.

While the taste is reasonably well balanced between sweet and pepper at the front, that tapers off to an unpleasant astringency. Adding water through a single ice cube didn’t help much. It brought the sweetness out even more strongly, but not in a way that balanced the unpleasant flavors. I can’t imagine wanting to sip this straight.

Hoping to enjoy it mixed, I first tried it in a Manhattan. It failed miserably. The charcoal notes I tasted before were highlighted, as well as the astringency.

I searched high and low for a Canadian whisky cocktail to try. I’ve not yet hit on a recipe for the Scofflaw I really enjoy.² Searching the CocktailDB, I found the Quebec cocktail, which seemed worth a try. I thought the unique combination of additional flavors might balance the whisky out.

Quebec Cocktail

1 1/2 ounce Canadian whisky
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1/4 ounce Amer Picon
1/4 ounce maraschino

Stir over ice until as cold as the St. Lawrence during Carnival and serve up in a cocktail glass

I made it two sips into this cocktail before I gave up on it. Once again, the odd flavor of the Crown Royal Black made a mess of the party. It amplified the funky maraschino flavor in a most unpleasant way.

I can say one positive thing about Crown Royal Black. It is better than Crown Royal. But I say that with bitterness, because I actually purchased a 375 ml bottle of Crown Royal to taste side-by-side.³ Regular Crown Royal tastes predominantly of sugar and astringency to me.

I know there are some very nice Canadian whiskies out there. I look forward to trying them. Sadly, Crown Royal Black is not among them.

[1] Yes, I get it, they named it “Black”
[2] And Ted Haigh insists it really should be made with rye
[3] Why not a mini? I have no answer for that question.

Red Wood Road Cocktail

Stevi — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 04:44:58 +0000

This past week was the first annual Portland Cocktail Week, and the CSOWG decided to hold Drink.Write 2010 in conjunction with the festivities. And since many of us were in Portland together, it was only natural to hold a live Thursday Drink Night.

Thanks to the valiant efforts of Lush Life Productions, we had a wide selection of spirits and a camera crew on hand to record the shenanigans. Jacob Grier emceed as several of gave it our best shot.

Giving a quick scan of the table, I discovered a bottle of Woodinville Whiskey‘s Headlong White Dog. I had my first taste of this product just the weekend before at their grand opening event, and was pretty excited with what I tasted.

I also saw a bottle of Dimmi, an Italian herbal liqueur I first tasted at Tales of the Cocktail 2009. It brings the sweetness of nebbiolo grappa with a rich blend of herbs.

Blending the two, I felt not much more was needed. I found some Scrappy’s grapefruit bitters completed the picture, and my drink was done.

Red Wood Road

2 oz Woodinville Whiskey Headlong White Dog
0.5 oz Dimmi Liquore di Milano
4 dashes Scrappy’s Grapefruit bitters

I named this strong, boozy drink with lots of flavor after the road I drive between Redmond and Woodinville. This was popular enough when I passed it around that it was voted best drink of the night.

My prize? I had a spot in the semi-finals for the Portland Cocktail Invitational. And that’s a story I will save for the next post.

Pisaq Cocktail and the PDX Cocktail Invitational

Blood and Sand

Stevi — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:59:24 +0000

The Blood and Sand is a classic example of a recipe you shouldn’t judge without tasting.

Blood and Sand

Blood and Sand

1 ounces blended Scotch whisky
1 ounces orange juice
0.75 ounces cherry brandy (Cherry Heering or Cherry Marnier)
0.75 ounces sweet vermouth

Shake all ingredients well and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with orange twist or brandied cherry.

This recipe doesn’t look like it could possibly work. And yet it does, and when well balanced, it works very, very well. The scotch is strong enough to stand up to the cherry brandy and sweet vermouth, while the orange juice gives a nice balance throughout.

This is frequently given as an equal parts recipe (as it is in the BarSmarts workbook), but I find that version too sweet and heavy. Increasing the Scotch and orange juice creates a nice blend of flavors, allowing the Scotch to show itself without overpowering the whole drink.

While I frequently double strain orange juice cocktails, I like how the pulp gives the “sand” look to this drink.

This cocktail packs a lot of flavor punch, while being relatively mild in terms of alcohol; Cherry Heering is 24% ABV/48 proof.

I haven’t yet seen the namesake 1922 movie, which is based on a novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez in which Valentino plays a bullfighter who rises to the top, marries is sweetheart, has an affair, and dies in the arena. Nor have I seen the 1941 Tyrone Power remake. I hadn’t even heard of the 1989 remake staring Sharon Stone as the mistress. I shall put at least the Valentino original on my Netflix list, and will be sure to sip a delightful Scotch cocktail while viewing it.

MxMo XLIV: Money Drinks — Vanilla Whiskey Royale

Stevi — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 04:59:13 +0000

Mixology Monday is here again, and this month is being hosted by one of my favorite Seattle bartenders, Kevin Langmack.¹ Kevin has given us the theme of Money Drinks. We had two directions we could go. First:

A “Money” drink is something you can put in front of anyone, regardless of tastes or distastes about the spirits involved. Come up with a drink or a list based on spirits about drinks that would appeal to anyone. example: turning someone onto a Corpse Reviver #2 when they like lemon drops.

And second:

Drinks that you upgrade to the ne plus ultra: cocktails that for whatever reason (holiday, birthday, old friends come to visit, or just because you feel like it) you upgrade to superior; for example, taking your normal Sazerac with Rittenhouse and Herbsaint and, for a special occasion, turning it into a supreme-o Sazerac by breaking out the Thomas Handy Rye and the Jade Edouard absinthe. Due to the higher cost involved, and the spectacular results that should (hopefully) be found in the glass, this could also qualify as a “Money Drink”.

Vanilla Whiskey Royale

I hate it when the MxMo announcement post names the drink I’d most want to use, and in this case, Kevin hit my first choice for both versions. I have seen more than one “gin hater” realize the beauty of the spirit upon their first sip of a well-made Corpse Reviver #2. And one of my favorite recent indulgent cocktails was a Staggerac – a Sazerac made with George T. Stagg whiskey.

The path of the ne plus ultra appealed more to me. We spirit geeks will often declaim that some expressions are just too precious to mix with. And then we give in, and make an old fashioned with a great sipping rum like Zaya Gran Reserva. After all, a drink is only as good as its constituent parts.

I had the good fortune to time my first ever trip to Portland this past weekend during the annual House Spirits Booze Bazaar, and got to taste their three whiskeys. I couldn’t resist picking up a bottle of the whiskey in both the full cask strength (56.79% ABV/113.58 proof) and the subtler 44.99% ABV/89.86 proof version.² I’ll be saving the cask strength for sipping, but couldn’t wait to mix with the whiskey.

When I think of luxe drinks, champagne immediately comes to mind. Sparkling wine can make a simple combination like white wine and creme de cassis into a great sip like the kir royale. And while the Seelbach is the current newly rediscovered classic whiskey and champagne cocktail, I wanted to try something that let the whiskey express itself directly.

I ran across a recipe that called for a bourbon champagne cocktail that replaces the sugar and Angostura bitters of the classic with vanilla syrup. But why use syrup? I decided to try Navan vanilla liqueur instead.

I tried various combinations of too clever by half names, but decided to go with the most simple.

Vanilla Whiskey Royale

1 ounce whiskey (House Spirits Whiskey)
1/2 ounce Navan vanilla liqueur
champagne

pour whiskey and Navan in champagne flute, top with champagne. Sip contentedly in front of a fire with purring cat on lap.

This drink has the advantage of being incredibly delicious while being super easy to make. And so very luxurious.

Thanks to Kevin for a great topic. Be sure to check out Beers in the Shower for the round up post!

[1] despite the fact that to date, I haven’t actually had him make me a drink yet. Must remedy that. Off to Tavern Law…or Spur…or Sun…the man can be found at some great bars!
[2] I realized after getting through the whole line and getting outside that I failed to buy the white dog as well.

Bourboned Cranberry Relish

Stevi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:00:21 +0000

I’ve been experimenting with cranberry relish recipes for well over a decade now, and have finally found one that works well for me. It has the advantage of being incredibly easy to make, and well, bourbon!

It’s best to make this the night before. If you do, I recommend that you first make yourself a bourbon old fashioned to really enjoy the beauty of the bourbon while you prepare the relish.

Bourboned Cranberry Relish

1 orange
1 lemon
1/2 cup bourbon (Bulleit is an excellent choice)
1/2 cup sugar
1 dash salt
1 dash fresh ground pepper
12 ounces fresh cranberries

zest orange and lemon. obtain 1/2 cup juice from the orange and lemon — start by juicing the whole orange, and for anything less than 1/2 cup, obtain the remainder from the lemon. Pick over the cranberries to remove any bad berries or stems, then rinse the berries.

Put zest, juice, bourbon, sugar, salt, and pepper in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add berries, return to boil and reduce heat. Simmer until the berries reach your preferred consistency (I usually go about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, allow to cool, then transfer to serving bowl and refrigerate, preferrably over night.

I like the sweet and tart balance of this recipe, and the bourbon brings a depth of flavor. Goes great on day-after sandwiches. This will keep well in the fridge, as well!

Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers, and have a great day to everybody!

Bulleit Bourbon

Stevi — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:52:12 +0000

Bulleit Bourbon is a modern take on an old recipe. The modern product started in 1987, when Tom Bulleit attempted to recreate his great-great-grandfather’s bourbon recipe. By all accounts, the result is a great tasting bourbon. It’s long been a favorite of mine. When I received a box with a full bottle and two logo glasses, I felt compelled to post to Twitter a thank you for the care package.

Bulleit Bourbon Daisy

Bulleit is one of the more rye-like Bourbons out there, having approximately 30% rye in its mash bill. It’s still smooth enough to be a bourbon, but the rye gives it a peppery forward quality that makes it a great mixing whiskey. At 90 proof (45% ABV), it also packs a little extra punch.

On the nose, Bulleit lets you know that it is aged in oak barrels. On the tongue, the rye asserts itself in a playful way, along with some notes of apples and vanilla. I definitely enjoy Bulleit on the rocks, but I really like to use it for making great drinks. It should not be surprising that it tastes great in those cocktails where either rye or bourbon is called for, such as a Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

I’ve been trying to expand my horizons lately by going through my steadily increasing cocktail book collection to find new drinks. Tonight I was paging through Harry Johnson’s New and Improved Bartenders’ Manual, a late 1800′s guide recently reprinted by Mud Puddle Books. Looking at the whiskey drinks, I found his take on the whiskey daisy, and gave it a try. Below is my adjusted version of his drink.

Whiskey Daisy

2 oz bourbon whiskey (Bulleit Bourbon)
0.5 oz yellow Chartreuse
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lime juice
1 generous spritz of soda water

Mix all ingredients over ice, and strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with fruit if it strikes your fancy.

I removed the sugar he called for as the yellow Chartreuse was plenty sweet enough, and upped the citrus for the same reason. The resulting cocktail has an unexpected mint aftertaste, which I’ve never noted in Chartreuse before, but will see if I find elsewhere. A fun twist on bourbon, and one I’ll try again, although it won’t replace the Manhattan as my favorite whiskey drink.

At $27 a bottle with taxes in Washington State, I think Bulleit Bourbon is a great deal. I find it a great go-to choice, and recommend it often as an affordable quality bourbon. While I can’t always justify the price of Woodford or Ridgemont Reserve for mixing, it doesn’t take me much to feel like a bottle of Bulleit is worth the cost.

MxMo XXXIV: Spice — Juniper Berry Syrup

Stevi — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:40:24 +0000

Another month, another Mixology Monday. This month is hosted by Craig at Tiki Drinks and Indigo Firmaments, who offers up the theme of Spice. For guidance, he tells us:

Spice should give you plenty of room to play – from the winter warmers of egg nog, wassail and mulled products to the strange and interesting infusions of pepper, ceubub, grains of paradise, nutmeg — what have you! I would like to stretch the traditional meanings of spice (as the bark, seed, nut or flowering part of a plant used for seasoning) to basically anything used for flavoring that isn’t an herb. Salt? Go for it. Paprika? I’d love to see you try. I hear that cardamom is hot right now.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of gin. So it felt natural to look at the defining spice of gin, juniper, for this Mixology Monday.

Juniper Berries

The juniper flavor in gin comes from the juniper berry. Juniper berries are actually cones with unusually fleshy and merged scales, giving them a berry-like appearance. When immature, the cone is green. It matures into a purple-black color.

Gin is usually made with fully grown but immature berries, which have a flavor that is dominated by pinene, the chemical compound that gives pine resin its distinctive smell. Junipers are a distant relation of pines.

As the berries mature, their flavor is balanced by “green-fresh” and citrus. It’s these darker, mature berries that are dried and used as a spice for food. Juniper berries are a popular winter spice, melding well with other cold season favorites such as clove, cinnamon, and allspice. And while some poor quality gins can be faulted for tasting too much like a Christmas tree, that scent and smell is very seasonally appropriate!

Juniper berries have been used as a medicine and flavoring for thousands of years. At least two species of juniper berries were found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb, one of which does not grow in Egypt and was likely imported from Greece.

In Greece, juniper berries were used by athletes at the Olympic games who believed them to improve stamina, one of the first performance enhancing drugs. The Romans used juniper berries as a replacement for black pepper.

Gin itself, like so many other liquors, was originally created as a medicine, and its English name comes from the Dutch word gevener, meaning juniper.

I decided I’d start by making a juniper berry infused simple syrup.

Juniper Berry Syrup

25 juniper berries (about 1/2 tablespoon)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar

Solstice Sour

Lightly crush 15 of the berries (I used a meat tenderizer), and place all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for at least four hours. Strain off solids and bottle.

This gives off a pleasant scent of juniper while on the boil. The resulting syrup has a bright, spicy flavor that isn’t too overpowering.

I find the best way to start experimenting with new infused simple syrups is to substitute them in favorite recipes. I looked over the list of my favorite drinks, and decided that the best way to try out the juniper berry syrup was in a whiskey sour.

Solstice Sour

2 oz bourbon whiskey
1 oz juniper berry syrup
0.75 oz lemon juice
1 tsp egg white (optional, but highly recommended)

Put ingredients in shaker. If using egg white, give a dry shake (no ice) for at least 10 seconds. Add ice, shake until good and cold. Strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with cranberries.

I was inspired by the use of bourbon as a winter spirit, and I was not disappointed. The juniper berry syrup provided a bright, clean counterpoint to the bourbon and lemon, making this is a very enjoyable drink. The pinene exists mostly in the aftertaste, but very subtly.

I’m very pleased with how the juniper blends with the bourbon, and will experiment with some other combinations. I’m tempted to try a daiquri with the juniper berry syrup, but not quite sure how that will work.

Thanks, Craig, for a great MxMo theme. Be sure to check out his site for the roundup!

Blinker Cocktail Redux

Stevi — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 04:23:09 +0000

One of the real joys of cocktails as a hobby is comparing recipes and discovering what you like best.

Last time I wrote about the Blinker, I used a recipe that called for 2 parts bourbon, 1 part grapefruit juice, and 1 part grenadine. Before trying the recipe, I worried that the grenadine would be too much at that level, but was happy that the sweetness balanced the grapefruit in a way that convinced grapefruit-phobic people that it could be used to good effect.

This time, I decided to try using rye, and dial down on the grenadine. Most recipes I find call for a mere teaspoon of grenadine, or preferably raspberry syrup, which I don’t currently have.

This time I also changed my grapefruit juice. I have to admit to using canned grapefruit juice, since my rate of usage is low. But on a lark, I bought a bottle of organic grapefruit juice, and decided to use it in a blinker. This is really nice juice for store-bought, quite fresh tasting, and worth the expense if you want to skip the step of juicing your own (which is usually the best choice).

Using the better grapefruit juice and rye, and just a teaspoon of grenadine, this is a really outstanding cocktail. And once again, I handed my grapefruit-hating co-taster the glass and asked him to sip. His immeidate response…”I’ll keep this.”

Blinker Cocktail

1 1/2 oz rye whiskey (Sazerac 6 year)
3/4 oz grapefruit juice
1 teaspoon grenadine

shake over ice, strain into cocktail glass, sip with no worries of unexpected sourness

MxMo: Bourbon — Purosangue Cocktail

Stevi — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:55:00 +0000

It’s time for Bourbon this Mixology Monday, thanks to the fellers at Scofflaw’s Den. This was one MxMo that Bryan, my chief taste-tester, was very eagerly awaiting.

As always, I used MxMo as a justification to buy a nice bottle. This time it was Ridgemont Reserve 1792. This is a very smooth bourbon, a definite rival to Woodford Reserve, which is currently my favorite mixing Bourbon. Named after the year of Kentucky statehood, this is an 8 year Bourbon that comes in at a hearty 93.7 proof.

My initial plan was to experiment with my tried and true Manhattan recipe to see how different vermouths and bitters worked with the Bourbon. I use a 2 : 1 Bourbon to vermouth ratio, with two dashes of bitters.

My house sweet vermouth is Cinzano. Paired with Angostura bitters, this is a solid, reliable Manhattan – I wouldn’t send it back, that’s for sure. But it’s not spectacular.

I then tried the 1792 and Cinzano with Fee’s Whiskey Barrel Aged bitters. On initial taste, this didn’t really work. The bitters seem a bit confused. But as the drink warmed a bit, the tasted really began to blend nicely into quite a nice cocktail.

I then switched to Vya vermouth. At $25 a bottle, it’s nearly five times the cost of the Cinzano, so I don’t splurge on it that often. And in this case, it doesn’t seem worth the expense with the 1792 and Angostura bitters. Bryan thought he actually preferred the Cinzano and Angostura over the Vya version.

But this is where we found how big a difference bitters can make. Switching to whiskey barrel aged bitters made this a stellar cocktail. This was far and away our favorite Manhattan…

…until I tried a variation I’ve played with before. Instead of the vermouth and bitters, I use Amaro Ramazzotti. This tonic liqueur includes anise, orange peel, gentian root, rhubarb and cinnamon. I’ve tried this before with Woodford Reserve, and we really enjoyed it. It really shone with the Ridgemont Reserve. This was the hands down winner for the evening, and may even replace the Manhattan as a favorite go-to drink.

When I initially came up with this mix, we were going to call it the Little Italy, until I read Keith Waldbauer’s post about an existing cocktail with the name. Instead, I’m chosing to call this the Purosangue. Italian for Thoroughbred, the name marries the Kentucky Bourbon and Italian Amaro.

Purosangue Cocktail
2 oz bourbon (Ridgemont Reserve 1792)
1 oz Amaro Ramazzotti

stir in mixing tin with ice
strain into cocktail glass
garnish with Bourbon-soaked cherry