2009

Char No. 4 Redux

/ / Bourbon, Matt's Blog, Other Whisk(e)ys
The ceiling at Char No. 4 (pic by Tamir Karta)
The ceiling at Char No. 4 (pic by Tamir Karta)

Back to Char No. 4 with some of my Brooklyn peeps. Like my last trip, I looked at the menu online to

prepare. This time, we sat at the bar and our lithe bartender, Charlotte, repeatedly broke my heart as I rattled off a litany of whiskeys from my online research only to find out that they were out of each one. Battered, but not beaten, I settled in to studying the whisk(e)y list. Although not planned this way, this trip to Char No. 4 became an exercise in inexpensive (mostly) American whiskeys.

I started with the A. H. Hirsch 16yo straight bourbon. I’ve been wanting to try this for a while. This bottling is the very last of the whiskey from the old Michter’s distillery in PA. I don’t really know the history of the distillery, but I cannot believe that they failed due to inferior product. It is always harder for an “off-the-slab” whiskey to compete against the Kentucky bourbon giants, but this whiskey really stands up on taste. The nose is complex and delicate with distinct notes of corn, nuts (cashews?), and Christmas spices. The palate delivers on the promises of the nose and adds some extra sweetness and a little salt. Overall, this is a very balanced whiskey and I encourage you to look for it (not one of the cheap ones though).

Next, we decided to do a little experiment. We ordered some Rebel Yell and some Rebel Reserve for a comparison. Rebel Yell is a wheated bourbon that smells terrible and luckily tastes like nothing. It makes me think of drinking distilled water in the desert sun (wet and tasteless that evaporates the moment it hits your tongue). However, the Rebel Reserve is very drinkable. Rebel Reserve is also a wheated bourbon, but it is made in small batches with a different recipe. The nose is like a lady’s perfume on fresh linen. The palate is smooth and sweet. You can definitely taste the wheat influence. I would not put this in the same class a some of the really high end bourbons, but is definitely stands up to some whiskeys that are twice the price. A very good every day bourbon and an unbeatable price (around $20).

We followed with the mouth numbing Old Weller Antique (107 Proof). With a little water or ice, this is very nice. Plus, it’s almost like getting two whiskeys for one (and for $20!).

Ezra Brooks Single Barrel (12yo) was next on the list. The palate is buttery and sweet with hints of rye and spice. This whiskey doesn’t stick around long, but the finish is pleasant without much burn. The price won’t burn you either (around $30).

I had intended the night to end with the Ezra Brooks, but one of my compatriots insisted on treating me to a dram of Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve 23yo. Who would say no to that? This was a great whiskey (not cheap). However, the consensus around the table was that the 20yo is better. The extra three years smooths the edges a little too much.

I know that most people don’t have access to a place like Char No. 4 in their neighborhood, but I encourage you to seek out some of these cheaper whiskeys and let me know what you think.

BTW – I think I figured out the pricing at Char No. 4 (I have complained of gouging before). The selection was built on the owner’s personal stock. Therefore, much of the pricing is collector pricing that has little to do with the list price of the whiskey. You may find things there that you can’t find anywhere else, but you will pay dearly. But what’s money compared to a once in a lifetime dram? That’s for you to decide.

Drink well and drink responsibly.

-Matt

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El Dorado Special Reserve 12 Year Old Rum

/ / Other Spirits, Review /

40% ABV/80 Proof
Available in the United States and Europe – $25 to $30

What the distillery says:

This fine aged Demerara Rum is produced by Demerara Distillers Ltd., master distillers since 1670. Matured for at least 12 years is oak casks, this rum is hand-blended to achieve it’s uniquely smooth, rich, award-winning character – straight or on the rocks.Honey in color.

What Matt says:

Nose: It has your typical rum notes (vanilla, caramelized sugar), but there are also some botanicals in there. It is almost like a craft gin married with a somewhat typical rum.
Palate: Vanilla, the sugar moves a little toward burnt from the nicely caramelized nose, there is also an oak component.
Finish: Here the sugar moves all the way to burnt with a long alcoholic burn.
Comments: Rum has never been my favorite alcoholic beverage. In my youth, I had too many encounters with inferior rums like Captain Morgan or Bacardi. I did not really appreciate rum until I spent some time in the Caribbean, where rum is a part of the culture. I discovered that rum can be really good. Indeed, rum is starting to become part of the craft distillation movement. This means that rum will be increasingly drinkable as a stand-alone. This rum lives up to those standards. This means that it holds up to being served neat. However, compared to other craft rums, this lacks a little nuance on the palate. The palate just does not deliver what the nose promised. This makes the rating a little difficult. By the standards of every rum on the market, I would say that it stands out, but compared to craft rums it is only average. In fact, I would recommend Appleton’s, a widely available macro-rum, above this one.
Rating: Average

What Richard says:

Nose: Burnt caramel, vanilla, candied apricots, honey-dipped oranges, a hint of mint, floral notes of lavender and…rose? Very, very sweet. You can almost taste the sugar cane through the nose.
Palate: All sugar and alcohol. As lovely as the nose was, the palate is very two dimensional.
Finish: Heavy on the alcohol. It kind of finishes like a strong cough syrup.
Comments: I am admittedly not the most well versed rum drinker. That said, this stands out against your baseline Bacardi and Captain Morgan. That palate and finish aren’t noteworthy but nose is exceptional. But we buy it to drink it not to smell it.
Rating: Average

Overall Rating: Average

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Amaro Nonino

/ / Matt's Blog, Other Spirits
Amaro Nonino
Amaro Nonino

I was at a wine bar the other night (not my idea, but I didn’t put up too much of a fight). My wife and I went with a couple of friends. I’m only telling you about it, because I fell in love with a delightful liqueur that night.

We were at Veloce below Spring St. in Manhattan because one of our friends knows the sommelier. While we were waiting for our drinks and food, Nathan (another follower of the malt) and I noticed a squat little bottle filled with red-gold liquid. We were intrigued. Luckily, at the end of the night, my new friend Douglas (the bartender) introduced us to the golden-colored liqueur called Amaro Nonino.

Amaro Nonino is an herbal liqueur made with water, neutral spirits, brandy, herbs, and sugar and aged for 5 years in oak barrels. At first, the nose is like Red Hots candy with a trace of alcohol. As the liquer oxydizes, the cinnamon and sugar notes give way to smells remniscent of a Chinese herb shop. The palate was very cordial-like in texture (syrupy and chewy) and tasted like Red Hots. Cinnamon and sugar were the overwhelming flavors, but I immediately had an affection for this drink that extended beyond such simple flavors. I don’t want you to think that Amaro Nonino tastes like cinnamon schnapps, because it does not. There are notes of licorice and burnt orange buried beneath the cinnamon spice. The finish is long and satisfying.  It is dangerously drinkable and is equally good before or after dinner. Amaro Nonino is sold as a digestif and is around 35% ABV.  It will set you back $35-40.  I encourage the adventurous to go out and find it, if only for those few nights you don’t want whisk(e)y after dinner.

-Matt

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Glen Garioch 15 Year

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky, The Collector's Cabinet /

43% ABV/86 Proof
Available in the United States and Europe – $45 to $55

What the distillery says:

Honey in color. Medium-bodied with hints of lavender and oak with a syrup sweetness. Long, mellow and very sumptuous finish.

What Matt says:

Nose: Heather, dulce de leche, trace hints of smoke
Palate: Clean palate with honey, vanilla, peat, cardamom, and what I could only assume is sherry.
Finish: Medium-long finish. The peat asserts itself here with a little alcohol and vanilla.
Comments: A very respectable Highland Malt. Fairly typical, which is to say good. Richard sent me this, so I don’t know much about it. I’m assuming that it spent some time in a sherry cask based on the flavor and color. Among the broad spectrum of all whiskies, I would say this is slightly above average, but does not quite stand out.
Rating: Average

What Richard says:

Nose: Tobacco, cedar, orange blossoms and a slight hint of vanilla.
Palate: Spicy and smoky but with a light bit of sweetness.  All of this is layed on a foundation or earthiness.
Finish: The finish gives me a bit of briney peat and alcohol burn.
Comments: I really find this dram uninspiring.  It was the last “blind buy” that I made, meaning bought without tasting or hearing anything about it.  It’s not particulary bad.  It just doesn’t make me want a 2nd dram.
Rating: Average

Overall Rating: Average

UPDATE 1/26/10: As this is now a discontinued version of Glen Garioch replaced with a 12 Year Old we’ve moved this to The Collector’s Cabinet

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Boilermaker in a bottle

/ / Matt's Blog

Few things go together like whisk(e)y and beer: peanut butter and jelly, chocolate and strawberries, bacon and… well, anything. Plus, a boilermaker is about the only thing that no bartender can screw up. A while back, I did a blog about how some whisk(e)y makers who are using barley traditionally reserved for beer to make some really great whisk(e)y. Well, today I’m talking about beer aged in whisk(e)y barrels. A lot of craft and micro breweries are experimenting with cask conditioned beers aged in bourbon casks and at least one brewery is making beer aged in single malt scotch casks.

Most breweries are using dark beers like porter or stout. Goose Island in Chicago brews up Bourbon County Stout. This bourbon barrel-aged imperial stout is rich, chocolaty, and smoky. For my taste, the beer picks up too much sweetness from the bourbon (although it is better than most of it’s competition) and at 13% ABV this beer has some bite. It tastes a little like dropping half a shot of bourbon into a chocolate stout. My brother-in-law loves this beer and only complains that it gets him drunk too quickly so he can’t have one with lunch. Goose Island also does a version of this beer with coffee beans added to the barrel only available at one of the Goose Island locations in Chicago. I have not had the pleasure of making its acquaintance.

Another brewery to age a sweet, dark beer in whisky casks is Scotland’s Harviestoun Brewery. Harviestoun offers not one, but three porters (roughly based on the ever popular Old Engine Oil), called Ola Dubh, aged in HIghland Park cask; a 12yr, a 16yr, and a 30yr. Of three, the 16 is the best. The 12 is overly sweet and tastes more like a boilermaker in a bottle than a unique beverage. Highland Park 30yo is a very fine whisky (very fine), but is too complex and delicate to survive the porter’s bolder qualities. The Ola Dubh 16, is absolutely stunning. This is not just a beer. This is something altogether different. There are notes of dark chocolate, hops, damp earth, fruit, smoke and peat. This is truly an example of a sum that is greater than its parts (and the parts weren’t bad).

Although most breweries opt for dark beers, Twisted Pines Brewing in Boulder, CO has created a red ale aged in Buffalo Trace casks. By using a red ale, Twisted Pines gets around the over-sweet pitfall. This is without a doubt one of the best beers I have had. Like the Ola Dubh 16, Oak Whiskey Red is greater than the sum of its parts. You get a lot of Buffalo Trace on the nose and the bourbon adds some toffee and smoke to an already great beer (they use their Red Mountain Ale). Hopefully, more breweries will take the cue and give us some more bourbon barrel-aged red ales.

As you can imagine, these are small run beers from small breweries. What does that mean to you? They can be hard to find (Old Whiskey Red is not available outside of Boulder) and more expensive than your average beer. However, this is such a big trend, there is likely a micro-brewery in your area that is working on something like this (especially with porters and stouts). If not, go to the brew master and request it.

I know I also promised a review of Brooklyn Brewery’s Black Ops bourbon barrel-aged Russian imperial stout, but my best efforts came up empty. If I find it, I’ll post an update.

If you know of a good whisk(e)y barrel-aged beer, let us know about it. Happy hunting.

-Matt

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