Bourbon report 2020

Thought I'd take a break from writing about wine this week and talk about some bourbon I've been drinking lately. In exciting news, my house bourbon has been upgraded from Bulleit to Eagle Rare 10 year old, above. This can generally be found at £30 a bottle so only slightly more than Bulleit which hasn't been on special offer much lately. It's fairly classic i.e. lots of vanilla, and I probably don't pay it enough attention but it seems to have more finesse, depth and intensity than the Bulleit. A good solid option for the money.

This isn't a bourbon as such, but a rye, and I bring it back from Pennsylvania every time I go, so stocks are having to be carefully managed. The delightfully-named Dad's Hat produce a number of rye whiskeys, but this is G's favourite at 100 proof and costs about $70 allowing for sales tax, which I always forget about until I'm at the till!

It's a dark amber colour and has a very distinctive nose - wood and varnish. It reminds me of an old desk, or possibly the school science lab. I think G likes it because it's dry, and he says the 100 proof is *way better* than the 90. I do recall that the first time we had it, it needed a couple of days to open up. It seems the distillery is just outside Philadelphia, so wrong side of Pennsylvania for a tour, never mind!

In order to eke out our remaining bottle of Dad's Hat, I went on the Master of Malt website to search for something new. This came up and at 13 years of age it appealed to me. It's the Big B from Tennessee, sounds like a rapper. This also needed a day open to show its full character, and at 53.7% needs some dilution too! G found a lot of fruit going on and mentioned mirabelle plums, apricots, physallis and kumquat, while I was struck by a hint of ginger on the finish. It's interesting and complex but at £75 I'm not sure I'd rush to buy it again.

I also bought this bottle of Koval, which we'd had before and enjoyed. I was a little taken aback to discover the bottle was only 50cl, and it cost £49, so again rather pricier than usual. Apparently 750ml bottles are available in the USA for around $50 so it definitely feels like a rip off over here. However, the bottle is very aesthetically pleasing - I love the shape of it, and the font on the label. G pointed out it's the font that opticians use to test your eyes not to be confused with the infamous Barnard Castle Eye Test.

For me, this smells of a hardware store or possibly a carpenter's shop, not in a bad way. There are some wood shavings and it's lighter and herbaceous, with notes of wildflowers, honey, and citrus, maybe even a little eucalyptus. It has a wonderful finish, and G detected a note of ripe pear towards the end. It's not aggressive and reminded us alternatively of an eau de vie de poire or a lowland Scotch. G actually said that it's the closest thing he's ever had to Pappy van Winkle 12 year old which we were fortunate enough to have a few years ago. Apparently it's 51% corn and 49% millet, and they make a number of other spirits including a rye which I may just have to try some time!

Bourbon box 2019 report

In the summer of 2017 I found myself acquiring a bourbon habit and, even better, a friend who shared it and has been leading me happily astray. She's very kindly sent me a bourbon advent calendar two years in a row now which has been quite an eye-opener. Last year I failed to make systematic notes, but this year G and I approached it in a more methodical fashion and I'm now in a position to report back on our findings. I've also been doing some price-checking as my plan is to bring back a bottle of bourbon each time I visit the US.

There were 24 miniatures in the box and our top 10 were as follows:

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. At 62.1% this needed some dilution to overcome the fieriness but this was high quality stuff and I intend to seek out a bottle next time I'm in the US. It seems to cost $65 over there but £95 over here, so that's got to be worth a look.

Koval 47%. "It's real aromatic," said G, possibly channelling his inner cowboy. I tried to figure out what we were getting on the nose - smoke? honey? It was light and dry, and we liked it. £49 over here, $51 in the booze store.

Few Spirits. 46.5% This was light, dry and clean, with a decent flavour and some interest. £52 over here, $50 over there.

Kentucky Vintage. This was different from your run-of-the-mill bourbon. It was much drier than usual and lacked the usual vanilla notes. It had a kick to it and reminded G of a Highland malt.
Interesting stuff. £46 over here, can't find it in the Pennsylvanian booze store.

Michters US*1 45.7% had a pleasant nose of toasted vanilla and was smooth. It's £54 over here but a mere $38 over there, so I may investigate further in due course.

Distillery 291 single barrel. This is apparently from Colorado. It was on the dry side which we liked. "Worth a detour," said G. I can't find it in the booze store in the US and it's £87 over here, so not sure that detour will be happening any time soon.

Yellowstone Select 46.5%. This was at the light, dry and fruity end and had some grip. I got a hint of beeswax. We liked it. £49 here, $40 in the booze store.

David Nicholson 1843 50%. We thought this was really quite good, more woody and powerful and less bland than some. I brought a bottle back with me on my recent travels - at $28 it seemed a bargain compared to the £40 being charged over here.

Eagle Rare 10 year old, 45%. This had an interesting nose and with some wood shavings going on. It was quite dry, congruent and had some backbone to it, with a really great finish. G compared it to a lowland malt whisky. £36 here, $30 in the booze store, so at the lower end.

Impressive that they managed to find room for all that waffle on the label

Woodford Reserve Masters Collection Sonoma-Cutrer Finish, 45.2%. I found out afterwards that this is finished off in some fancy pinot noir casks from the Sonoma-Cutrer winery. This had a lot of vanilla on the nose and G found it too sweet. I enjoyed it more. Probably not at £130 a bottle though, which is what it costs over here!

The also-rans can be divided into those we'd have again and those we wouldn't bother with.

Would have again:

• Hudson Baby Bourbon. We actually had this in 2017 and I liked it so much then that G got me some for Christmas. We still liked it this time round but it's £50 a pop ($50 in the US) and I'm more interested in the others above right now
• James E Pepper 1776 Bourbon 46%. We found this enjoyable, light and pleasant but not serious. I stated that I wouldn't kick it out of bed. £40 here, $28 over there.
• Makers Mark 46. This was aromatic, decent and had a good finish
• Elijah Craig 47% was at the sweeter and more commercial end, not bad but a little obvious. 
• Old Forester 43% had a bit more going on but still didn't excite us.

Wouldn't bother:

• Bulleit 10 year old. Normal Bulleit is my house bourbon, costs about £25 a bottle and hits the spot. The 10 year old is fine but is £45 and not worth the price differential, in my opinion 
• Buffalo Trace. I've had a bottle of this before (when the price of Bulleit had weirdly gone up by 50%) and it's pleasant enough, but not thrilling. Cheap and cheerful. 

The total duds were:

That Boutique-y Bourbon Company Reservoir Bourbon 2 year old batch 1 46.6%. We were probably already irritated by the cutesy name but this did not go down well. It was a dark colour and very sweet. G didn't like it and I found it rough and obvious. However, it was eclipsed by...

Benchmark Bourbon Old Number 8. "Comfortably the worst we've had" pronounced G. For me, it didn't smell of anything and it didn't taste of anything. (Did I actually pour any onto my ice cubes, I wonder now...) G however detected some synthetic rubbery quality. Oh dear. Looking it up just now, I see it costs £20. I guess you get what you pay for...

And finally, there was an unlabelled mystery bottle! Fortunately it turned out to be unexciting, or I would have been quite annoyed. We'll never know what it was, but it's ok, we don't really care.

Enormous thanks to J for sending me this box - it really has been great fun to work our way through them. I look forward to doing the Kentucky Bourbon Trail together one day...

All gone :(

Dinner at mine, Friday 18th Jan

Last Friday, I was joined by my friend J for dinner, as she was making a detour to London en route from India back to the US. Girl gets about. I rushed home after work in order to make gougeres. As usual, I forgot that they are supposed to be small and dainty, and they ended up enormous but still pretty damned good even if I say so myself.

To accompany these, we had a bottle of 2011 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru Morgeots from Domaine de la Choupette, which was top notch premier cru Chassagne, drinking perfectly now. A great combination!

We were then joined by S, J's friend, who it was a pleasure to meet, and I served beef carbonnade along with a bottle of 2009 Santenay also from Choupette. I've really been enjoying this wine, and think it's absolutely at its peak at the moment, with lovely red fruit. J was suffering from a cold but was still able to appreciate its prettiness.

J had procured this 1968 Barolo which we opened, but unfortunately it had turned to vinegar and the colour of it was something I never wish to see again in my lifetime. It went straight down the sink and glasses had to be washed thoroughly. I might add that this wasn't any old vinegar, but a remarkably pungent variety which lingered in my flat for the next two days.

But all came good in the end with the opening of this "A Midwinter Nights Dram" about which I had heard great things. It did not disappoint. This is made in Utah at High West distillery and is a limited release. It's finished in port and French oak barrels and that certainly gives it an edge over other bourbons, with notes of fig and dried fruits in addition to caramel and vanilla. I soon forgot my some reservations about the kitsch name and I'm rationing myself carefully to make it last longer. Thanks very much J for hunting it down and bringing it halfway round the world - my bourbon education has improved no end under your tutelage!