Gary’s Blog

“Never had [insert new whiskey], how do I know if I might like it?”

/ / Gary's Blog

Regardless of where you are in your whiskey journey, we’ve all encountered the conundrum of wondering if we might or might not like a whiskey we haven’t tried yet. Wouldn’t it be amazing to KNOW before we lay down our hard-earned (or however you make it) money?

Spoiler alert – there isn’t a foolproof plan outside actually trying it (and trying it only once isn’t foolproof!) But fear not – there are ways to hedge your bet!

For starters – you need to know what you like, and have some idea of what it is about it you like. Consider the following aspects:

  1. Do you like that particular style of whiskey? (e.g., bourbon vs rye vs Irish)
  2. Do you like another similar product from the same distillery? (e.g., Jim Beam, Laphroaig)
  3. Do you like that type of mashbill – if it is known or disclosed? (e.g., high-rye bourbon vs wheated bourbon)
  4. If the whiskey is finished or aged in a unique wood, have you enjoyed whiskies in that same wood (e.g., single malt aged in sherry vs bourbon finished in port)
  5. Do you like that type of whiskey with a similar age? (e.g., Elijah Craig 12 yr vs Elijah Craig 20 yr)

If you are a whisky geek like me, answers to these questions aren’t that simple. Hell it would be easier to detail what I don’t like, although no less important to answering the ultimate question.

Here’s a recent example to try to illustrate the process I go through. Old Overholt Bonded Straight Rye Whiskey is a new product I haven’t had (yet), but saw it on a shelf for $25. Before just grabbing it – I considered what I know about my own likes/dislikes.

Q: Do I like rye whiskey?
A: Abosfreakinglutely.
That’s a good start. If I didn’t like rye, I could probably stop right here (which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like it, but chances are if I don’t like a category, I’m less likely to like any random product within it).

Q: Do I like similar products from Jim Beam?
A: Yes and no.
This is where it gets more challenging. Beam makes several rye whiskies (Jim Beam Rye, Old Overholt, Knob Creek Rye, and (ri)1 Straight Rye). I like Knob Creek Rye, but not the others. In fact, Old Overholt and (ri)1 are two that I flat out dislike.

Knowing I don’t like the standard Old Overholt, why bother considering this new variation? We’ll get to that shortly.

Q: Do I like this type of mashbill?
A: Yes, but . . .
Beam doesn’t disclose their mashbill, but based on information from several reliable sources – all of their rye whiskey is distilled from the same mashbill of 51% rye. Sometimes these are referred to as “barely legal” ryes. A rye with a similar mashbill that I really enjoy is Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond. Granted, that’s a different distiller – and since I’ve tried Beam’s mashbill in similar products, that’s more important. Why think about mashbill? In other scenarios, maybe I’ve never tried anything from that distiller (but if they disclose the mashbill, that provides at least some insight). I’ll tell you right now – if I read that Four Roses were offering a straight rye whiskey, if it weren’t ridiculously priced – that’d be an auto-purchase for me; despite never having had that mashbill from them.

Q: Is the whiskey finished/aged in unique wood?
A: Nope.
But as a “straight rye” I know it was aged in new, charred oak. This question is more likely to come up with scotch, although cask finishes for bourbon and rye have become more popular in recent years.

Q: Do I like rye whiskey of a similar age?
A: Yep.
As a “bonded” straight whiskey, I know it is at least 4 years old (and likely not more or they’d take advantage of that and advertise it on the label). The “bonded” also tells me that it is at least 50% abv (or 100 proof). Do I like that? Hells yeah – Rittenhouse Bottled-in-Bond is one of my standard go-to rye whiskies. I find that rye whiskey develops more character at a young age compared with bourbon or other whiskies (which isn’t to say I wouldn’t love a little more age than 4 years).

This right here is what still has me curious. I like rye whiskey, I generally don’t care for most of Jim Beam’s rye whiskey (although I do like Knob Creek rye), and I really don’t care for Old Overholt standard 3 year old straight rye. But throw another 20 proof points and a year of age in . . . and I’m curious.

Knowing what I know about both what I like and what this product is – can I predict that I’ll enjoy it and not regret the purchase? Unfortunately – nope. At best, I can guess that I might like it. The higher proof and extra year give me some hope, but not caring for most of the other ryes from Beam (and in particular the other with the Old Overholt name on it) gives me pause.

The easiest way is to skip all of the analytical bullsh!t and the simply try it. Why even bother with trying to figure out if you might like something short of simply trying it? I’ll tell ya: there is simply too much whiskey and too little time (not to mention too many miles I’d have to walk to burn it off!) I personally find that the time taken to assess and calculate whether or not I might like something saves me some searching to either buy or try products that ultimately I’m not going to enjoy – not to mention saving me money from buying whole bottles of stuff I won’t enjoy.

Is all of this too much thinking and not enough drinking? Maybe – to each their own. But spending way too much time thinking about whiskey . . . sorta our thing. If laying this out can help one fellow whiskey apostle out there from buying a bottle they later find they wouldn’t have liked, it’s all been worthwhile.

Cheers!
Gary

“Never had [insert new whiskey], how do I know if I might like it?” Read More »

Pitching In

/ / Gary's Blog

Some whiskey blogs have helped me sort out whether or not I might like a whiskey, or educated me about some new (or old) distillery. This blog has helped me in ways I can’t begin to count. In 2012 (only six years ago, but feels way longer) I reached out to Richard to ask for more information about a post that mentioned the ‘Georgia Bourbon Society’. I had done much of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail the year before, and was still pretty new to whiskey in general. He recommended I get on StraightBourbon.com for more information, which I did. Long story short – I can trace more friendships than I can shake a stick at to this whiskey blog, not to mention countless evenings spent with amazing people and some pretty good whiskey.
When Richard asked me if I’d be interested in helping out with some reviews a couple years later, I jumped at the opportunity. Not only did I get to try some new, cool, interesting (ok – sometimes ‘meh’) whiskies, it helped me identify and appreciate different flavors, aromas, textures – and learn more about what I like. Any time he mentions that he has a sample for me, I get excited and can’t wait for the chance to try it and do my best to capture the experience in a review.

So when Richard asked me if I’d be interested in taking on a more active role with the stewardship of the site, I jumped to my phone to google “stewardship”, and then said absolutely. What he and Matt built here is extraordinary, and I’m looking forward to keeping it going. I’m a big believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, so you won’t see a lot of changes around here. What you will continue to see are guys who love whiskey and love proselytizing the way of the malt. I hope you enjoy reading it – whether it is to answer a question, research a potential purchase, or help figure out what you might or might not like.

Cheers!
Gary

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Whiskey Wedge

/ / Gary's Blog

From time to time we also get requests to take a look at whiskey related books and products in addition to the actual whiskey. Gary was kind enough to take a stab the The Whiskey Wedge by Corkcile which retails for about $17.95 (and is also available on Amazon). Here are his thoughts…

Writing reviews of whiskey is still new territory, although the format is fairly standard (while there are variations, nearly all of us comment on the nose, taste, and finish). How to write a review of a whiskey tool was a challenge. I started with what questions I would want to answer. My list started with these:

  1. How much would the Whiskey Wedge cool my whiskey?
  2. Would whiskey get around the edges of the cube right away, causing it to break away prematurely and become an “obstacle” to pleasant drinking?
  3. How long would it take before the ice would break away from the glass, and how large would the remaining cube be at that time?
  4. What might surprise me along the way that I hadn’t thought of initially?

With those in mind, I started to play with the Whiskey Wedge. After opening the package, I washed the glass and mold – twice. The mold still had a chemical odor, though as long as it doesn’t impart this on the ice (and my whiskey!), it isn’t a big deal (spoiler: it didn’t). After filling the glass per the instructions, it looked like some water may have worked its way around the mold, although it would be a very small amount. Filling right to the fill line is tricky, since the area you are filling is getting smaller and smaller. Twice I over filled, and had to tip the glass on its side to remove some of the water. I’m not sure if having it a bit above the fill line would do any harm, but wanted to follow their instructions as best I could.

Despite this effort, the ice barely came out of the top.
WW1
This made removing the mold a bit of a struggle, but not too bad. I realized that I didn’t know how much the glass would hold – so I started with 2 oz of Stagg Jr. bourbon (134.4 proof, 67-68 degrees F). This left a fair amount of room in the glass, so I added another 2 oz which still left about a ½ inch of room from the lip of the glass.
WW2
For me, 4 oz is a major pour, and likely my only one of the night. After just under 2 minutes, I tested the temperature of the whiskey, and it had already dropped to 48 degrees. While it had cooled quickly, my first couple of sips stilled seemed quite stiff. I noticed that as the ice was melting, the water seemed to be settling at the bottom of the glass, to where the “point” was perfectly clear. I wanted to mix it up a bit, but simply giving the glass a casual turn was not effective. I used my thermometer as a stirrer, which mixed the water and whiskey nicely.
WW3
After 15 minutes, the whiskey was a cool 34 degrees – much colder than other tools I had used (although to be fair, I hadn’t employed a frozen glass with those!). After stirring, the dilution you expect from some ice was working much better – so I definitely recommend employing a stir stick. I sipped the drink for an hour, not coming close to finishing it. At that point, the whiskey had only warmed to 38 degrees – still plenty cold, and syrupy sweet.

Feeling satisfied, I revisited my initial questions.

  1. How much would the Whiskey Wedge cool my whiskey?
    • Quite a bit! From 68 degrees to 34 degrees in 15 minutes, and held it below 40 degrees even an hour later. I was very pleased on this front!
  2. Would whiskey get around the edges of the cube right away, causing it to break away prematurely and become an “obstacle” to pleasant drinking?
    • Another score. I approached this with healthy skeptisicism, and while I certainly wasn’t rooting for failure, I kinda thought it would break off the bottom sooner than I wanted it to. Hell, I even set the glass on the table with some force after 45 minutes, and it never budged. In fact, after one hour, I dumped the remaining whiskey in another glass, and held the Whiskey Wedge upside down over my sink . . . and the cube still stuck like glue to the glass. Again – flying colors in my book.WW4
  3. How long would it take before the ice would break away from the glass, and how large would the remaining cube be at that time?
    • If it would have happened, it would have been more than an hour later – and the cube at one hour was a pretty manageable size (I’d say it was between ¼ and 1/3 the size of the original cube).
  4. What might surprise me along the way that I hadn’t thought of initially?
    • The bit about needing a stirrer is something I hadn’t anticipated. I’m used to just holding the top of my glass and rotating it a bit to mix things up, but that wasn’t very effective given that the cube is stationary.

All in all, if you are looking to chill your whiskey without diluting it too quickly (but still diluting it over time), I have no reservations recommending the Whiskey Wedge (although I would also recommend having a stirrer on hand).

Thanks to Kim Miller at Corkcicle for providing the sample!

– Gary

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How did you find whiskey?

/ / Gary's Blog, Matt's Blog, Richard's Blog

I was thinking the other day about how I ended up as a whiskey enthusiast. From there I started thinking back to the founding moments on my journey toward whiskey. The more I thought about it the more I thought that it would make an interesting topic for my next blog. And since turnabout is fair play I figured I’d rope Matt into chiming in on this one too after his “The Best” blog pulled me in for comments.

Richard’s Story:
For me whiskey began with a series of unfortunate events. The first such event was a long time ago and it didn’t begin well. I think I was around 14 years old when I took a nip of my dad’s bottle of Crown Royal. You have to understand that the old man drank Budweiser and Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill on regular occasions so to him the Crown Royal was a special drink. He used to keep it in the little cabinet above the refrigerator. One evening when no one else was home I thought I’d take a bit a little swig. The taste was absolutely awful and it was everything I could do not to spit it out or gag. It went down like bathwater and fire. You may be a big fan of Crown and I‘m not knocking it but to this day I still don’t drink it. Some memories never fade.

The next two incidents had a similar result. The first was my high school girlfriend and I sneaking some of her mom’s Dewar’s. The second was my junior year of college. I had an older roommate who was a big fan of J&B with water. To this day I still don’t drink J&B but Dewar’s has grown on me.

I finally turned the corner right after I finished college. My friend Matt (yes the W.A. Matt) came down from UGA to see me in Atlanta. We stopped in at the liquor store and he talked me into a bottle of Bushmills White Label. From the first sip I was hooked. Matt headed off to Wales for a semester abroad and I dove headlong into researching whiskeys of all varieties. We conversed back and forth and usually it started something like…”if you come across something called Redbreast, you’ve got to bring me some back” which was prior to it being available in the U.S. of course. By the time Matt got back I was hooked, both from a flavor perspective and intellectually. One of my favorite past times continues to be research and knowledge gathering of all things whiskey related.

Matt’s Story:
I don’t know that my whiskey story is all that interesting (at least the one I can tell in mixed company). The short of it is that I didn’t like beer (I’m over that now). I used to go to parties where beer was about the only option. Feeling the need to be drinking something, but not willing to drink something I don’t enjoy, I started looking for a hard liquor option. The first alcoholic beverage that I enjoyed was Southern Comfort (a whiskey liqueur). From there I moved to three of the “Four Js” (Jameson, Jack Daniels, and Jim Beam). Later, I met a madman from Montana who turned me onto some other Irish whiskeys (namely Bushmills and Tullamore Dew). So I called myself an Irish whiskey drinker for a while. I introduced Richard to my way and went off to the University of Wales to discover how deep the well really was. While on Easter holiday, I took to opportunity to visit several distilleries across the U.K. and spent one long morning tasting whiskies and whiskeys with the owner of Royal Mile Whiskies in Edinburgh (go there if you get the chance). The whole experience was very enlightening and deepened my love and understanding for the water of life. When I came home, Richard and I started developing our philosophy and became whisk(e)y apostles.

Ultimately, I liked the way my body handled whiskey and I liked the ritual of it. There is myth and mystique to whiskey. Things like that have always intrigued me. Of course, I have always liked the taste as well. I’ve never been into shots (if you have to shoot it, you shouldn’t drink it). I like to nurse a beverage. Whiskey can mellow a man or it can give him grand thoughts, thoughts of sitting around a camp fire conversing with the old gods. So join me, Richard, Lugh and Arawn. Raise a glass to your health, to all that is knowable and that which is not.

Gary’s Story:
I’ve never really enjoyed beer, although I would drink it to be social. One day I realized this was silly. I don’t recall where/how/when I first tried Crown Royal, but for many years – that was my drink. A shot of Crown (as I didn’t know you could order whiskey any other way, outside of in Coke), with a Diet Coke back. My Dad brought me a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel that he got from the distillery, and I really enjoyed that. Then one year he brought me a bottle of Buffalo Trace – which I’d never heard of. They had stopped by the distillery on their way to visit us (from Michigan to Georgia), and I was hooked. My grandfather was born in Kentucky, so it felt like there was a family connection to bourbon. I started to try new bourbons, and Elmer T Lee became my favorite (this was in 2009, when almost everyone I met or talked with had never heard of it). I splurged on a bottle of Bookers in 2010, and didn’t like it; was way too hot for me, so I put it in the back of my cabinet (with all of 3-5 bottles). I had tried Scotch somewhere along the way (probably Johnnie Walker Red) and didn’t like it, so had never revisited it.

October 15th, 2010 was a key date in my whiskey journey. I attended “The Great Whiskey Debate” at the International Food & Wine Festival in Epcot Center. It included Simon Brooking (Laphroaig), Bernie Lubbers (Beam), and Dan Tullio (Canadian Club). They each waxed poetic about why their style of whiskey (Scotch, Bourbon, Canadian) was superior – and we all got to taste some of each. Laphroaig 10 yr was the first scotch I loved. I thought for sure I would pick the Knob Creek since I was a “bourbon guy”, but Laphroaig challenged my notion of what whiskey/whisky was, and what it could be. It was so unlike anything I’d ever tasted before – I was hooked. I bought a bottle when we got home, and couldn’t wait to share it with my Dad. I still loved bourbon, but that opened my mind to try new things. In 2011 my Dad and I spent several days and hit many distilleries in Kentucky (Wild Turkey, Woodford Reserve, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, Barton, Maker’s Mark, and Heaven Hill). We also not only sampled from the various distilleries, but in Bardstown attended a place where you could taste some premium bourbons like William Larue Weller and George T. Stagg. I couldn’t imagine spending $75 for a bottle of one of these, as I had read about them on-line, but after trying them – I understood.

While at that point I had found whiskey, it was my thirst for knowing more about it that led me to this blog, which I owe for many friendships and great memories.

So that’s a little insight into how your Whisk(e)y Apostles started down this ever burgeoning path to liquid nirvana. We’d love to hear your stories about how your journey began either via email or in the comments section of this blog.

How did you find whiskey? Read More »