tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-857132242176995442024-03-06T22:33:53.009-05:00The Coopered TotA collection of tasting notes of wood barrel coopered spirits. Whisky, bourbon, Scotch, Irish, Canadian, Cognac, Brandy, and Rye. Sometimes with a dash of history.NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-26381502648877567862021-01-02T13:46:00.001-05:002021-01-03T09:21:08.502-05:00 Using Whisky To Time Travel Will Physically Rewire Your Brain's Structure: A How-To Guide<h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrU1YC3J6pcxHIRPUS2F51mX6OiR1aQt0AAeBot9kfQ_J3dZiboXcqf-4kbhXL3vSIU6MR5f0jGl6AhhV2GyhOx_rCyvuyCLuBof0mfHCkTRqAk8MPAgWhEH17uKefxuTKTRU86K8RxAcX/s1600/1609609997498404-2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrU1YC3J6pcxHIRPUS2F51mX6OiR1aQt0AAeBot9kfQ_J3dZiboXcqf-4kbhXL3vSIU6MR5f0jGl6AhhV2GyhOx_rCyvuyCLuBof0mfHCkTRqAk8MPAgWhEH17uKefxuTKTRU86K8RxAcX/w233-h400/1609609997498404-2.png" width="233"></a></div><br></h3><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Mastering Whiskey to Reshape your Brain's Right Insula and Entorhinal Cortex</h3><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">What does it take to become accomplished at anything and why does it matter? Expertise isn't only about the possession of skill or knowledge. It turns out that it affects the way you experience sensation and process thought and that changes everything. This sounds like hyperbole, but I'm being completely serious. I mean it literally and I have the science to back it up (well... maybe). And, in a very Coopered Tot kind of way, I'm not going to stop there. I'm going to tell you how to develop whisky expertise yourself and have it expand your consciousness in a way that will literally re-wire your brain. And doing so will be pleasurable and easy and won't require a lick of reading (not counting the untold thousands of words here!) This is some high-grade wisdom, and like any kind of wisdom, it requires a bit of work to understand and implement fully, so I'm going to take you on a journey. First I'm going to give you a poetic example of what I'm talking about before we get to the empirical stuff. Why? Ask deceased neuro-science-popularizing genius Douglas Hofstadter who explains how dendritic mappings in the brain give rise to consciousness and self-awareness in his classic book "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" but first makes you do a lot of philosophy of logic exercises with paper and pen and then read a lot of poetic stuff about Zen and parables and Greek philosophers and mathematics and music and art first. He wasn't just being a jerk. He wants the conclusion to resonate with a larger part of your mind than just the language centers where you'll process his verbal arguments. He wants you to put down a layer of visceral experience so that later when the conclusions hit, they will vibrate the whole complex of associated experiences like a bell and the experience will be powerful and immersive. And, patient readers, that's the whole point of the exercise here too.</p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br>I'm going to relate a portion of an essay here that I titled "Whisky is a Time Traveler". I wrote it back in 2012 for Islay Wild & Magic impresario Rachel MacNeill's blog "Whisky for Girls" (it's now <a href="https://www.islaywhiskyacademy.scot/">https://www.islaywhiskyacademy.scot/</a> ). It's an essay about how *I* drink whisky - but it's also an essay about a certain kind of mindfulness. It illustrates a point that I'll raise later, but I'm hoping it will be thought-provoking along the way in its own right:<br></p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVfUEq2Zm6-6IT36w_XU7YvP-zo2cP4Yc9j6HwuB4_uw00rujYzSx_oBCGijk6Xp88chCez-VdgY780p1eTnGVMDk5oQSt7lGkrNVq3r2UPF7-KerAckjMNBl0dGufWT5005fXgYy_A4G/s1600/1609609639325287-2.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVfUEq2Zm6-6IT36w_XU7YvP-zo2cP4Yc9j6HwuB4_uw00rujYzSx_oBCGijk6Xp88chCez-VdgY780p1eTnGVMDk5oQSt7lGkrNVq3r2UPF7-KerAckjMNBl0dGufWT5005fXgYy_A4G/w400-h400/1609609639325287-2.png" width="400"></a><h3 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;">Whisky Is A Time Traveler</h3></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Everyone drinks whisky in their own personal way. <span style="font-family: inherit;">When I drink whisky I try to slow down and focus very clearly and intensely on what is going on in the glass - as the dram interacts with time and air and water and my shifting and evolving human palate. Part of that appreciation includes knowing the larger context which radiates in like a ring from particulars such as what distillery made it, the nature of the water, what proof, which grains were used, how they were malted and handled, the differnt tree woods used in barrel aging and what other beverages were previously aged in those barrels and so on. Because I like to drink a lot of antique spirits I think about the era they were made, the people involved, the aesthetics and intentions of the crafters. But the flavors also lead me to think about the land, sea, the odors of the air in the places where grain was grown, distillation happened and barrels matured. Whisky is a distillate of mash, but it is also a distillate of the physical environment of where it was made and of where its components came from: of the fields of grain, the water, wood, fuels, breezes and the weather. It is also a distillate of the hands and minds that made it. The spirit, culture and decisions and actions of the people who designed and executed the recipe you end up tasting. The distillate is a concentrated essence of these physical and also human elements which are preserved in the glass bottle as a fly is in a piece of amber.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPrtgPKVvrbFtrzu4M0mP9zKgcJ-z38z9UKbsZCAXfeXEfjIrWo03MOr9GwRL0Wt1ZC9t6Ou726zk2hf3XJ3gB86j9g8LBFO0hYHD6GQJtEKFJO7_A5ZkYdWCwRU3GwCFSGw725XIC_Yr/w320-h306/1609609641231714-1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Valentine Distilling Co. - Ferndale, MI</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We inhabit a particular time and place. The exact meaning of both of these terms are controversial topics in the fields of theoretical physics and philosophy - but everyone has a clear and solid feeling of what it is. We also have knowledge of other times and other places. We read history, see accounts, visit museums and encounter artifacts and depictions. While the power of the abstract is vast, we relate most to the specific. Scientists have plumbed the reaches of the cosmos with theoretical models describe the physical nature of the universe back to within instants of the big bang. But our most intimate knowledge of distant times and places comes from direct physical evidence. These bits and pieces of other times and places take many forms: representations such as documents, records, photographs or artistic representations; or actual things holding the physical essence of time and place; sometimes both.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="374" data-original-width="393" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJg_uintXM_WFIQdZG8dhQwPwvYlTyy8GkNlLeK7maqw8xF4ec9Nt_guZsf1USQJ49wZTjLMQelYHAvcc9pNKpm5o8RdnykFRuFTcY4r2-qF9JzsdldBJoyNxw3O3cO6EkIeaLMuEhnFWe/s320/MarsBlueberries.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>"Blueberry" deposits on the surface of Mars - NASA</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Things like this have been a source of fascination, desire, and obsession for me for as long as I can remember: they are time travelers with the power to take you back to their origins. Coins, documents, ancient artifacts, fossils, mineral specimens meteorites all provide direct experience of distant times and/or places. These things are time travelers because they were made in a particular time and place and they embody and convey that to us. Some connect directly and forcefully to the past. For example I have an ancient Minoan pot shard with a fingerprint on it. It's a tangible physical connection to a moment in time when a potter gripped the clay over 3,000 years ago. The presence of the fingerprint brings home in an immediately obvious and visceral way that a human being touched this actual bit of clay when it was wet on a particular day, feeling a particular mood in a vanished time, a vanished culture, a vanished world. </span></p>
Once you feel how an object can allow you to make a physical connection with distant times and places you’ll find these connection points everywhere. My old lobby was lined with marble with clam shells in it. I was aware that these were once living clams in a living sea over a quarter of a billion years ago. I have a quartz crystal from New York's Herkimer County mines with an inclusion that is water. You can tell it is water because inside the water is a tiny bubble. When you move the crystal the right way the bubble moves. The rocks there are dated to the Cambrian - over 500 million years old. I'm entranced that the little air bubble has been there, fighting the water and exchanging molecules back and forth with it for half a billion years. Inside chondritic meteorites you can see the grains of rock and metal that formed from the collapsing dust cloud that formed the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. These objects speak to me and I feel the distances of time with an almost physical force. At times this has been almost like vertigo. When the NASA rover Opportunity found hematite "blueberries" lying on a rock on Mars I was </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">viscerally aware that they had crystallized out of the evaporating Martian ocean over 3 billion years ago and had just laid there - undisturbed - for unimaginable eons. Somehow that vast ocean of time that those little pebbles had just sat there on that rock seemed overwhelming, almost horrifying - out of scale with anything living or even comprehensible. <p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I work in a museum that has an astounding collection of manuscripts and books. One of the perks of my job is the occasional opportunity to closely encounter amazing objects such as medieval illuminated manuscripts. Over time, as I have learned more about the materials and methods of medieval illuminators, and of their culture, world view, and intensely complicated system of visual metaphor and iconography I experienced a transformation in the way I have come to see these manuscripts. At first, I saw a depiction, like a cartoon. Now I experience being in the same place (i.e. in front of the page) as an illuminator centuries ago. I can see his brush lines, pounce marks, and drafting lines. I can sense his creative struggle and more deeply appreciate his genius and his deeper message. In the moment of reverie of such observations, I’m, briefly, no longer in the room, or even my time. I’m at the cloister, in an illusory way, centuries ago, as his hand is creating the manuscript.</span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_8BF_Z28JREKjVacV4kDP9Ygual9xJ4sZRAg2nbAt7dq6y4R4ZjmeEJsemfVOxFNNOF71i_8N-r_CT76X8uhuwHaVGAi492Q7kkaD7RBSWOSnQM1w4Zn5LMhsz8SWAlAfGDKs1EB6XIj/s986/illuminatedtower.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_8BF_Z28JREKjVacV4kDP9Ygual9xJ4sZRAg2nbAt7dq6y4R4ZjmeEJsemfVOxFNNOF71i_8N-r_CT76X8uhuwHaVGAi492Q7kkaD7RBSWOSnQM1w4Zn5LMhsz8SWAlAfGDKs1EB6XIj/s320/illuminatedtower.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Morgan Library - Las Huelgas Apocalypse (detail)</td></tr></tbody></table><p></p></blockquote><p> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, whisky is a time-traveling physical talisman too. I am moved when I taste a meadow and summer's day from a far off time when drinking certain old whiskies. Here is a tasting note from a dram of Dallas Dhu 12, purchased in 1998 and sipped in 2012:</span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"Nose: Heather, flax, honeyed sherry, vanilla oak notes. There's a distant herbal vegetal note like milkweed sap that is bracing. I would characterize it as wildflowers in lush grass near some oak woods on a dry hot summer's day. Given the context (that the distillery closed in 1983 and that I bought the bottle in 1998 on the eve of my wedding) this is an echo of summer's day from a time far off, when I was young... when things were different"</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/02/dallas-dhu-whisper-of-memory-of-summer.html" style="text-decoration: inherit;" target="_blank">http://www.cooperedtot.com/<wbr>2012/02/dallas-dhu-whisper-of-<wbr>memory-of-summer.html</a></span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/02/dallas-dhu-whisper-of-memory-of-summer.html" style="text-decoration: inherit;" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That feeling I’m describing is an awareness that this whisky was distilled when I was a senior in High School, a year before I moved to New York City and met the girl who would one day become my wife. Before jobs, children, or even whisky, entered my life. The Sun was shining on that barley and that meadow was there. Tasting that dram literally takes me there. It’s not mysterious in any way. Yet it is absolutely magic: real perceptual time travel that anyone can experience with a simple shift in mental perspective.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe_uZbs1xpjrJ2IFhtO_KVc0K2WvQSVRCmDOEi_plVquVi4iSPcW-1Rai7OYvVkhLqikUNENMuH7L6ljxF0i1LjVlyZQmPMEgiOPQqrmdaPiD0ZeX7FzGB1YkVkDMTR94hvE2-W1V1XaT/s1600/1609610001675573-0.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a><span style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span><p></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">To time travel with a dram is about awareness. The cues to time and space in whisky are subtle, underneath the more obvious factors such as spirit, sweet and wood. Our minds have evolved to constantly pick out the most salient feature in any circumstance and skip the rest. In normal situations this is a benefit, otherwise we would be overwhelmed by the flood of sensations that surrounds us most of the time. In order to really experience a dram fully it is necessary to eliminate distractions and let the dram fill up your perceptions.</span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">A wonderful blog post on this topic is Jason Debley's Slow-Whisky movement:</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="http://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html" style="text-decoration: inherit;" target="_blank">http://jason-scotchreviews.<wbr>blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-<wbr>whisky-movement.html</a></span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="http://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html" style="text-decoration: inherit;" target="_blank"></a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It's an essay on the zen meditative approach to drinking a dram. The ultimate goal is, for me, to understand the whisky on its own terms as it evolves in the glass through interaction with air, time, (and water - if you go there - and I often do) and progresses across your palate. And then to understand how this in-the-glass evolution and the on-your-palate progression fits into the larger context of your perception, desire, tastes, and cognition. This should lead you to a deeper sense of your dram’s significance in a larger context.</span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">However, Jason’s excellent article leaves out one important technique that I find vital for detecting the minute details necessary to fully plumbing the depths of a dram: that is detailed observation for representation, i.e. writing out your tasting notes. Writing out your tasting notes is a very useful enterprise. I got the idea from sketching what you see in the telescope's eyepiece in amateur astronomy. In astronomy, you are supposed to sketch, not just to keep a record of what you have seen - but also as a way to induce you really LOOK. When you observe merely to satisfy your conscious mind you gloss over details. The evolved ability to identify the salient detail and not bothering to perceive the rest is very active in the visual sense. The act of recording the observation causes you to observe more deeply - to actually pay attention to the subtle details that you may not have bothered to really notice visually, but suddenly need in order to flesh out your depiction on the paper. All this goes double for tasting whisky. Like astronomy, whisky tasting is best done in solitude, at night, in the quiet still and dark. And like the astronomy eyepiece, the whisky glass is circular porthole into the depths of time and space and the deepest mysteries of the universe. The act of sketching actually forces you to truly OBSERVE. Thus take notes when you critically taste. Tasting (a fusion of the sense of nose and tongue) is tied deeply to the limbic system - the most primitive interior “reptile brain” beneath our cerebral cortex. These areas of the brain are more tied to the subconscious than the conscious. This can be a drawback for awareness - but also a secret strength. Certain smells and flavors can powerfully evoke distant memories and visceral sensations, seemly mysteriously, by exploiting these limbic pathways. Thus it is extremely difficult to put words to flavors and smells - but the act of attempting to do so forces you to focus on the details of what is flying beneath your radar. This is the power of meditation to increase awareness: they key to observing the most subtle cues connecting what’s in the dram to what’s in your mind and body. </span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When you really listen, you’ll find that the whisky is telling you a story.</span></p><p style="height: 11pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><br></p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">------------------------------------------------------------------------</span></p><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br></span></p></blockquote><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe_uZbs1xpjrJ2IFhtO_KVc0K2WvQSVRCmDOEi_plVquVi4iSPcW-1Rai7OYvVkhLqikUNENMuH7L6ljxF0i1LjVlyZQmPMEgiOPQqrmdaPiD0ZeX7FzGB1YkVkDMTR94hvE2-W1V1XaT/s1600/1609610001675573-0.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMe_uZbs1xpjrJ2IFhtO_KVc0K2WvQSVRCmDOEi_plVquVi4iSPcW-1Rai7OYvVkhLqikUNENMuH7L6ljxF0i1LjVlyZQmPMEgiOPQqrmdaPiD0ZeX7FzGB1YkVkDMTR94hvE2-W1V1XaT/w640-h434/1609610001675573-0.png" width="640"></a>What in the world am I getting at with that long-winded story? It's simply this: that my experiences of the flavors are affected by the constellation of associations that I've developed around what those flavors **mean**. For me, the nexus of that meaning is **history**. A couple of years ago I had the wonderful experience of drinking with gifted distiller Lisa Roper Wicker. She had a whole set of associations that were different than mine - but even more useful. She knew the specific chemical compounds that were associated with the flavors I was getting and understood the production-level reasons for those compounds. It's entirely reasonable that her experience trying to influence the crafting of spirits - from mashing through distillation and maturation - would give her a lexicon for those flavor components related to the details of whiskey production. I've had similar experience drinking with other distillers - particularly Chip Tate who is notably articulate about both the flavor and the process to get them. In thinking about this stuff I went back re-read Jason Debly's "Slow Whiskey" blog post and noticed that I had written the following in the comments below:</span><br><br><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span>Writing out your tasting notes is a very useful enterprise. I got the idea from sketching what you see in the telescope's eyepiece "n amateur astronomy. You are supposed to sketch, not just to keep a record of what you have seen - but also as a way to induce you really LOOK. When you observe merely to satisfy your conscious mind you gloss over details. Our minds have evolved to constantly pick out the most salient feature and skip the rest. The act of recording the observation causes you to observe more deeply - to actually pay attention to the details that you suddenly need in order to flesh out your depiction."<br><br><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Like astronomy, whisky tasting is best done in solitude, at night, in the quiet still and dark. And like the astronomy eyepiece, the whisky glass is circular porthole into the depths of time and space and the deepest mysteries of the universe. The act of sketching actually forces you to truly OBSERVE. Thus take notes when you critically taste."</p></blockquote><br>He replied: <br><br><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">"Joshua, I hear where you are coming from, but for me, the act of writing or note taking would distract from the experience. I would quickly become worried that my notes are not 'correct' or missing something."<br><br>"But, for you this is not the case. And that, my friend is totally okay. It's all up to the individual."<br><div><br></div></blockquote><a href="https://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html">https://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html</a><br><br>Jason Debly's response is quintessentially Zen. He wants you to be lost in a sea of pure experience. In Zen, words for things get in the way by putting a layer of abstraction between you and the experience itself. Debly wants you to fully self-immerse in the experience without the screen of abstractions that language demands - that process of arbitrarily putting experiences into the pigeon holes of words. But my position is based on the observation that people's first memories always seem to date back to the time they begin speaking in complete sentences. I believe that language provides the structural cognitive framework for memory and that's a part of rewiring your brain.<div><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6xrVib_o0dlQWx-yK53Jm0_2C_86TOBlghg6XhPrhsIkGuUzgoa6Pd9izIbFniCRYL3PIMMq0OqMFV4dbGfBuIxDZqZ4p5D_JKC4GcCuLnpI1apFzIdLuQwREkZ06mm51s_eDhLOZlmpr/s1600/1609610716029392-0.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blogger and author Kurt Maitland (right) tastes with joy.</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br><b>Rewiring Your Brain By Critically Tasting Your Drams</b><br><br>I received an article in an email from a <a href="https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/892965" target="_blank">fascinating and talented artist named Cindy Morefield</a> (click the link to see her extraordinary art). It was written by one Ann-Sophie Barwich, a scientist who studies the neuropsychology of sensations, particularly smell. She wrote a fascinating article on this topic titled:<br>"Becoming an expert in anything, whether it’s wine tasting or mathematics, changes the way you perceive the world."<br><a href="https://neo.life/2020/09/how-to-change-your-mind-over-a-glass-of-wine/">https://neo.life/2020/09/how-to-change-your-mind-over-a-glass-of-wine/</a><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div>In this article, she's talking about wine tasting - but you can see how everything she says is directly applicable to whisky tasting too:<br><br><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0W7c_GSmI7-HVaw_7OowgjkUFmyQPNOV5MFWTEQ06MkXti8QxUs8QBuujL9qdYFAbKf-CiwYSFhLDouiicqB6AXEca9E7iMmBY4Ruarsqm3iSBsXz9-u5IbuRGle2YArGdmZzRG-omomO/w267-h400/1609610713776455-1.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="267"></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James opened this for me. Gratitude.</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0W7c_GSmI7-HVaw_7OowgjkUFmyQPNOV5MFWTEQ06MkXti8QxUs8QBuujL9qdYFAbKf-CiwYSFhLDouiicqB6AXEca9E7iMmBY4Ruarsqm3iSBsXz9-u5IbuRGle2YArGdmZzRG-omomO/s1600/1609610713776455-1.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
</a><p style="direction: ltr; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></p>"Lots of people think of wine tasting as a scam. But wine tasting is a true scientific art—it’s just that words sometimes get in the way of it being taken seriously. Gasoline-smelling wines do not contain petrol per se—we hope—but often share compounds with another substance with a recognizable aroma. The brains of sommeliers learn how to link categories of sensory experience (i.e., “this smells like petrol”) to qualitative categories of specific chemical compounds. Aged Riesling, for example, contains TDN (short for 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene), a compound with the aroma of petrol. TDN is a result of carotenoids (organic pigments found in many foods, including grapes) breaking down, a process accelerated by higher temperatures. Many odd wine descriptors, including “rubber hose” and—yes—“cat’s piss,” can be identified as a specific chemical compound by expert noses. In the case of cat’s piss, it’s the compound pyrazine found in Sauvignon Blanc.<br><br>Wine has several hundred aroma compounds, which is more molecular information than most of our brains have the ability to compute. Sommeliers have learned how to direct their sensory spotlight to identify specific compounds in a complex mixture. They have trained themselves to be extremely good at discriminating and identifying individual aromas and aroma patterns. The best wine experts can identify a vintage down to its specific vineyard and even year with a virtuosity that can occasionally take less than a minute. <br><br>Acquiring this skillset not only makes sommeliers a knowledgeable (if not sometimes exasperating) dinner-party guest. It actually alters the structure and activity of their brains. <br><br><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Comparing the brain of a mathematician with that of a sommelier, we find remarkable similarities. In both cases, the cellular density of white and gray matter in designated areas increases. Whether it’s sniffing Syrah or performing calculus, the acquisition of expertise makes parts of the brain thicker. In mathematicians, for example, one of the most prominent changes in the density of gray matter is found in the superior frontal gyrus, an area also linked with the coordination of self-awareness and, most intriguing, laughter. <b><i>In comparison, changes in sommeliers’ brain volume were found in the right insula and entorhinal cortex, areas that are notably involved in memory processing. </i></b>Such changes in neural density give those areas enhanced cortical connectivity and signaling speed, as the synaptic connections by which neurons communicate become more tightly packed. A consequence of increased neural density is that dedicated specialized areas of the brain better integrate and orchestrate otherwise widespread neural activity. Expertise of any kind results in a more sophisticated communication architecture of the brain. "</p></blockquote><br><br>In that article, she refers back to a famous and important paper about how London cab drivers have differences in the physical structure of their brains caused by learning the spatial layout of London's crazy streets. From the abstract:<br><br><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">"Structural MRIs of the brains of humans with extensive navigation experience, licensed London taxi drivers, were analyzed and compared with those of control subjects who did not drive taxis. The posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects. A more anterior hippocampal region was larger in control subjects than in taxi drivers. Hippocampal volume correlated with the amount of time spent as a taxi driver (positively in the posterior and negatively in the anterior hippocampus). These data are in accordance with the idea that the posterior hippocampus stores a spatial representation of the environment and can expand regionally to accommodate elaboration of this representation in people with a high dependence on navigational skills. It seems that there is a capacity for local plastic change in the structure of the healthy adult human brain in response to environmental demands. ..."<br><br><b><i>Navigation-related structural change in the hippocampi of taxi drivers</i></b><br>Eleanor A. Maguire, David G. Gadian, Ingrid S. Johnsrude, Catriona D. Good, John Ashburner, Richard S. J. Frackowiak, and Christopher D. Frith<br><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">PNAS April 11, 2000 97 (8) 4398-4403; <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597">https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.070039597</a></p></blockquote><br><br>Ann-Sophie Barwich's Wiki page explains: She "is a cognitive scientist, an empirical philosopher, and an historian of science. She is an Assistant Professor with joint positions in the Cognitive Science Program[1] and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science[2] at Indiana University Bloomington. Barwich is best known for her interdisciplinary[3] work on the history, philosophy, and neuroscience of olfaction. Her book, Smellosophy: What the Nose tells the Mind,[4] highlights the importance of thinking about the sense of smell as a model for neuroscience and the senses.[5][6][7][8][9] She is also noted for her analyses on methodological issues in molecular biology[10] and neuroscience." <br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann-Sophie_Barwich">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann-Sophie_Barwich</a><br><br>So she is well-positioned to take the cab driver result and apply it to the subject of whether critical tasting does the same thing to sommelier's brains (but in the areas of sensory perception, rather than spatial memory). But there is a surprise here: <div><br><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"But here’s the paradox. When an expert’s brain grows, they also use less of it. The more proficient you are at wine tasting, the less activity we’ll see in your brain’s fMRI recording, as reported in a scientific study from 2014. If you’re processing more information, though, how are you using your brain less? This observation is less puzzling if you compare your brain to the body of an athlete. You’ll need to put in less overall effort to lift weights if your body is trained to do so routinely. With practice, some brain activities become “automatized” and, according to the neuroscientist Christof Koch, resemble a “zombie agent”—meaning these processes require less and less conscious effort and attention. <br><br><div><b><i>So do sommeliers become merely better at memorizing patterns, like in the legendary study of hippocampi in London cab drivers, or do they also get better at the sensory part of smelling itself? The answer is both.</i></b> Notably, a sommelier’s skill is not exclusively a method of memory (this is what a Cabernet Sauvignon typically smells like, and that is the aroma profile of a Barolo). <b><i>Training further enhances their ability to be more receptive to aromas in a mixture: the sensitivity to odors changes with repeated exposure.</i></b> </div><br>Yet the real surprise is this: The previously mentioned 2014 fMRI study on expert sommeliers suggests that <b><i>sensory expertise modifies your experience of reality—it affects not just the ability to identify and recall things on a cognitive level, but also consciousness itself. </i></b>During tasting, the scientists observed activation in the brain stem of experts but not in novices. This finding (which is still being further explored) implies a difference in how sensory information is integrated into the cortical cognitive activity of experts and novices. Engaging with your perception on an analytical level thus makes a difference in the quality of your experience by fine-tuning your brain to its input (and having it reorganize its neural story to match). <br><br><div><b><i>You get more control of the quality and content of your own conscious experience … by thinking while drinking</i></b> wine. </div></div></blockquote> <a href="https://neo.life/2020/09/how-to-change-your-mind-over-a-glass-of-wine/">https://neo.life/2020/09/how-to-change-your-mind-over-a-glass-of-wine/</a><br>(emphasis - my own)</div><div><br>Ann-Sophie Barwich (and I'm beginning to think she might actually <b><i>be </i></b>a Bar Witch) is telling us that doing the word of developing the perceiving part of our mind will, like a muscle you work in the gym, make it stronger. But that, like the muscle you've developed in the gym, you'll work it less hard to do the same work in the future. So what? Remember we're not talking about actual muscles with this metaphor; we are talking about the perceiving part of your brain. And once you've developed that part of your brain it will be operational with absolutely everything you use that part of your brain for: tasting, perceiving, seeing patterns and finding meaning in them. It's about awareness and perception. And that brings us back to Zen. You will become more fully present and you will make deeper associations the more you grow in this way.</div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUC_dBdDR5nCL4kcNVe1pqgl6qOg8bDq0Dc2BsD7Y6g-6XUAt9_IYTZkHr8vNpXAK6pucWQM6WFzuG2KXz8A3LMA0S1O8xXxZC9equP_LozGvuiJA7tuMIFZNtVEeAVjzbin54cbU8leSZ/s1600/1609609643363586-0.png" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 18.72px; font-weight: 700; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUC_dBdDR5nCL4kcNVe1pqgl6qOg8bDq0Dc2BsD7Y6g-6XUAt9_IYTZkHr8vNpXAK6pucWQM6WFzuG2KXz8A3LMA0S1O8xXxZC9equP_LozGvuiJA7tuMIFZNtVEeAVjzbin54cbU8leSZ/w325-h400/1609609643363586-0.png" width="325"></a></div></div><div>So, how to proceed? The answer is simple. <b>Drink mindfully and in a way that engages with your passion. </b> For Lisa Roper Wicker and Chip Tate that involves knowing the molecular compounds involved in flavors and how the process of making whisky creates or destroys them. For me, it's finding history in the time, place, culture, and people involved in the liquid. For Jason Debly it's pure Zen: experience without words. </div><div><br></div><div>Let's take Jason Debly's "Slow Whisky Movement" tenets as our guide for what to do:</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Tenets of the Slow-Whisky Movement</h3><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div>No. 1: A couple of hours after your last, non-spicy meal, seek out a quiet place where you will not be disturbed. Preferably in the evening when your abode is quiet. No T.V. or radio. Blackberry, smartphones, turned off and preferably buried in the backyard. Get comfortably ensconced in your favorite chair. Next to you will be a glass with 1 1/2 oz of your favorite comfort scotch or whisky of the moment. Make sure it is what you want, not some recommendation of a fool whisky blogger or a critic's windy must-buy malt suggestion of the moment.</div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>No. 2: Close your eyes. Focus on your breathing. Listen to it. When your mind wanders, come back to your breathing. Just be aware of it. If a thought comes into your head, that's ok, but again, be conscious of your breathing. </div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>No. 3: Reach for your glass of whisky. Hold the glass and look at the color of the whisky. Is it dark? Light? Reddish? Really look at it. Don't worry about the 'proper vocabulary' because there isn't any. Just you and a glass of whisky. Bring the rim of the glass to your nose. Close your eyes and gently sniff twice and move the rim of the glass away. What do you think of? Old leather books? Grandpa's steaming tea in a Thermos? Cherry pipe tobacco? The sea? Eucalyptus oil? Hospital bandages and pungent ointment? Bring the glass back for one more sniff. Again, do some free association? </div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>No. 4: Eyes closed, take the tiniest of sips. How does the spirit behave on the palate? Sweet? Sharp? Spicy? What else is there? Cherries? Oak? Honey and sea salt? Kosher pretzel. Let your mind wander into the past to good thoughts. Childhood food and baked goods. Note the range of flavors. Marvel at them.</div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>No. 5: Swallow. What remains? Smoke? Iodine? Coarse salt? Malty notes? Spiced honey and oat cakes? Balsa wood?</div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>No. 6: Slowly repeat steps 3 through 5 until your 1 1/2 oz dram serving is gone. Once it is gone there will be no refills. One key aspect of the 'slow-whisky' movement is the restriction of your enjoyment to one modest serving of whisky. In this way, you will relish and catalogue in your mind every nuance, fabric, weave of flavors of the spirit. Remember! No refills.</div></div><div><div><br></div></div><div><div>Follow these main tenets and drinking any whisky will be a much more immediate and special experience. You will experience a greater range of flavors, that would be lost with subsequent refills.</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Taken from Jason Debly's "Scotch Whisky Reviews" blog post:</div><div><a href="https://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html">https://jason-scotchreviews.blogspot.com/2012/03/slow-whisky-movement.html</a></div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJiYPZLm_31oE164s5PFwaX7Ep7qdLPbiwmP3WWm5ZDjPYexByjynRzZevrv63hPVcYTaNm7-mOqSA8z1FW4PFyq7wp8kcyqdrnMdMDDg8BHWq3M_PaTAqLTCYePl4CISEUUQH90wNg-7/s1600/1609609994653175-3.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
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</a>Follow your passion and be open to how it informs your perception of the whisky. Write notes - or don't - but be mindful about it and integrate all your thinking and bring it to bear on the dram in the dram in your glass. In the end, it's about really being in the moment. Instead of using a koan - a sound or word like "OM" to take you out of your head and allow you to be meditatively present - really present - in the present, I'm suggesting you use mindfully inhabiting the rich tapestry of flavors and aromas in your glass. Make whisky your koan. Like all paths to wisdom, you have to find your particular path yourself - because it is unique to you. But in doing so you'll be changing the actual physical structure of your brain in a way that will change the way your perceive and that will change who you are.<blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><br></blockquote></div></div>The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-23558426357136225922019-07-12T22:41:00.003-04:002019-07-13T19:24:15.761-04:00Elijah Craig's Shift to NAS: A Decline? The Krav Organizes An Empirical Test<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A fascinating vertical tasting of Elijah Craig 12 & NAS bottlings.<br />Photo by Michael Kravitz of <a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html" target="_blank">Diving for Pearls blog</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The bottles above as blind samples poured and ready to go on my table.</span></td></tr>
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Elijah Craig was one of my favorite daily pours back in the day. It was good Bourbon and, perhaps coincidentally - or perhaps not, it was a 12 years old age-stated product. Then a familiar pattern unfolded: popularity drove the product towards scarcity and Heaven Hill opted to remove the age statement so they could goose the production volume to keep it from becoming an allocated item like so many other brands which lose out because they can't deliver enough product to meet market demand. You gotta hand it to Heaven Hill, they have managed to keep the product on the shelves even while the boom has boomed. But the Bourbon-Skeptical people notice a different facet of the decision first: it's higher profit margin to sell younger whiskey so dropping the age statement is just "straight up corporate greed". What's the real story?<br />
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And, who cares? Is younger whiskey necessarily worse? It's one of those "truisms" of whiskey which need to be punctured and deflated: that older whiskey is necessarily better. Experienced whiskey-lovers all have tales of old whiskeys which were over-oaked and flabbier than powerful, vibrant younger whiskeys can be. I've had my mind blown by young whiskey that, tasted blind, had the complexity and deliciousness of much more mature stuff. Prominent examples include Balcones, Amrut, Westland, Kavalan, and Koval. I remember one night when Josh Hatton poured a Single Cask Nation 7 year old Glen Moray which drank like a 20 year old BenRiach with phenols and everything. So you can't simply be dogmatic about "older whiskey is better". But like many stereotypes, there is a core of truth. A given whiskey, all else being equal, gains in complexity and richness as it matures in wood up to a certain point, and then it declines. There's still not any way around that. Cherry picking active-cask outliers scores rhetorical points, but doesn't alter the basic physics of the equation. (Although the physics is definitely altered in tropical climates like India, Taiwan, and Texas). It seems almost not worth calling out or testing, on its face. Yet, <a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html" target="_blank">Diving for Pearl's rigorous blind tasting</a> really puts this question to an empirical test.<br />
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Michael Kravitz is a thoughtful drinker, a whisky blogger of wide experience, and an articulate and intelligent drinking companion. When he asked if I wanted to participate in a blind tasting he was organizing for <a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html" target="_blank">Diving For Pearls</a> blog where we would taste a ladder of Elijah Craig expressions ranging from a pre-fire Heaven Hill (DSP-KY-31) EC12 from around 2001, to the current NAS in the new taller slender bottle, I jumped. The flight took us through the evolution from a new Bernheim DSP-KY-1 EC12 age stated on the front from around 2015, to the transitional EC12 with the age statement tucked away in the block of text on the back circa 2016, to the old style bottle NAS EC circa 2017, to the new bottle design NAS of today. This would cut across the transition period of NAS implementation and then a few years in, so we can see, empirically, whether a shift to NAS actually matters to the quality of the whiskey. Or, as the distillery's argument goes, "by having the freedom to choose the best barrels regardless of age, we can get as close as we can to the flavor profile, so the NAS version should get even better - not worse.". I know everyone "knows" the answer going in. But, by doing the tasting blind, and in a group of 20 people, we'd get to see whether i) people can taste the difference when the age statement is dropped, and, more importantly, ii) I could find out whether I, personally, could tell the difference.<br />
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Read Michael Kravitz's blog post about his blind tasting. It is chock full of convincing statistics that show a plurality of people found more or less as I did in the notes that follow... or did they?<br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html</a><br />
Then, bless his heart, Krav gives us a separate post with full tasting notes for each expression (links are at the bottom of this post). He's good. What follows isn't that - but it's my personal experience of that shift to NAS evolution..<br />
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When I sat down to the blind tasting, the first sample was clearly the odd man out. It had a darker color and much clearer, stronger, flavor than any of the others. Because I knew in advance that we'd have a single sample from pre-fire Heaven Hill dsp-ky-31 (thanks for the correction, Steve Urey. I had previously erroneously called it "Old Bernheim" which was the previous generation of the distillery Heaven Hill moved to after the fire, eventually), and four samples from new Bernheim dsp-ky-1, I had a pretty good idea what the odd man out was. I had never tasted EC12 from the old Heaven Hill distillery before, so the flavor signature was somewhat new to me, but it had a constellation of the features I associate with old Bourbon: dank sweetness, richness, darkness, and a funky untidy quality. I have come to prize those features highly. But what of the other four? While they all shared a bunch of flavor signature aspects: peanuts and corn oil and a grassy sweetness; there was one of the four which was head and shoulders above the rest. And those other three were mediocre and pretty similar to each other. How to proceed?<br />
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I made a snap decision: I would forget about all of the iconoclastic honey-barrel cherry-picked challenges to conventional wisdom and I would just go with the stereotype: richer flavor means older whiskey and thinner hotter flavor means younger whiskey. Then I added the assumption that Heaven Hill's evolution of Elijah Craig was a straight-up linear growth in demand with a somewhat fixed supply of aging stocks and a growing premium market, so there would be a linear decline in quality as the expressions moved through time. In the 2001 bottling, some (most) of the whiskey was probably much older than 12. By the time Heaven Hill was planning to ditch the age statement, by hiding it on the back, they were probably already pulling out the honey barrels for higher-priced premium bottlings, and then in the NAS era, they were free (or forced) to use younger and younger whiskey so that the flavor slope should be a one way decline.<br />
<br />
So I ranked my tastings by score and preference and assigned identifications in a straight linear by date arrangement. This approach turned out to be correct and I nailed all of the identifications. Furthermore, I wasn't the only one. Florin (@whiskystat on Twitter) also nailed all the identifications (and he's a man who seems to know Bourbon quite well). He said in the comments below The Krav's first post on the tasting that he was guided by the same simplistic assumption that I was: that Elijah Craig was just going to simply decline in quality over time. To his great credit, Michael Kravitz stuck with what he knew and didn't quite say so on any of his blog posts on the topic (even while holding Heaven Hill's feet to the fire regularly in his review of their contemporary whiskey products).<br />
<br />
I'm a huge fan of Heaven Hill, but there's no denying the evidence I was experiencing first hand here. I found that the quality of Elijah Craig declined dramatically when the age statement was dropped. Furthermore, I found that the current version of the product scores about the same as the next brand down in their line up - Evan Williams. My tasting notes are as follows, as submitted as guesses to the Krav for his blind tasting. All my identifications are guesses - and you can see, I'm pretty cocky in my confidence:<br />
<br />
<b>Sample A - Ranked #1. 12 year old, bottled ca. 2001, distilled at the old distillery, before the fire.</b><br />
N- Pecans, hops, iron (ketchup), marigolds, brown sugar buttercream and a hint of Kentucky tobacco That nameless smell of old mature Bourbon<br />
P- Honeyed, nutty, notes of brown sugar, leather, mint and beery hops. Richer mouth-feel and clearly more mature. Herbal and mossy with some dank well notes on the turn and in the long finish. Nice rich bourbon with the old-school brown sugar and vegetal mossy and hoppy notes,.<br />
<br />
Score: <b>87</b><br />
<br />
This one stands head and shoulders above the rest in quality, and clearly has a different flavor profile, which is consistent with it being the only one of these made at a different distillery than the others. Different water, different washbacks, different stills. It's also the end of the glut so this batch would probably have included barrels far older than the stated age. Also, fewer special editions had drained out the honey barrels. Not to mention a couple of decades of bottle maturation.<br />
<br />
<b>Sample B - Ranked #5. Small Batch, no age statement, current bottle/label style</b><br />
N- linseed oil - solventy, sunflower seeds, daisies and clover, earthy loam<br />
P- Thin, hot, lightly floral, spicy<br />
<br />
Corn oil note. A little bitter on the finish. Not unpleasant but clearly thinner than the rest.<br />
<br />
Score: <b>76</b><br />
<br />
The weakest of the bunch and I’m assuming it’s the most recent of the bottlings and that there is a linear progression of decline in the richness of Elijah Craig as it gets sold younger as a consequence of its popularity. I also wonder if more selectivity in the barrel management is routing more honey barrels elsewhere<br />
<br />
<b>Sample C - Ranked #4 Small Batch, no age statement, previous bottle/label style</b><br />
N- very shy on the nose. But what there is: Corn oil, Unroasted peanuts and pecan. Nut brittle (candied). With air some coconut and peach notes emerge.<br />
P- Thin again. Nutty grassy and young. A bit of bitterness. Some bitter orange. A bit of solvent.<br />
<br />
Score: <b>79</b><br />
<br />
Not great, perhaps just a hair better than Evan Williams - and also noticeably a hair better than sample B. Why would a label change correlate with a flavor change? Maybe it’s just a bit of random variation. Or maybe Elijah Craig continues to get younger as time progresses as a result of rising sales?<br />
<br />
<b>Sample D - Ranked #2. 12 year old Small Batch with the red 12 on the front label.</b><br />
N- Honeyed Pecans, barn dirt, glove leather, hints of tobacco and a bit of distant lavender and mint<br />
P- Big, sweet, grassy, notes of honey, cooked , stonefruit, juicyfruit gum, and oak and char on the finish. <br />
<br />
<b>82</b><br />
<br />
The real stuff, from the New Bernheim distillery. It’s good. But I can’t help but notice that tasted blind it is smoked by the stuff from the Old Heaven Hill distillery. (If my guesses are correct). I wonder if the old stuff had older barrels because they were still working through glut stocks in that era? In any case, this is good, but it’s not in the same league. Still, it’s better than any subsequent expression.<br />
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<b>Sample E- Ranked #3. 12 year old Small Batch with the age statement moved to the back label.</b><br />
N- Corn oil leading, linseed oil (solvent), corn husks, cream, daisies, and sun-dried oak<br />
P- Nutty, grassy. Hot at mid-palate with more grassy sweetness, some marigold florals, but a tad bitter on the finish. Things open up slowly and it gets a tad richer and sweeter with more time.<br />
<br />
<b>80</b><br />
<br />
This is the mysterious one. Still age-stated 12 years old, why is it noticeably less tasty than the stuff with the age statement on the front? I don’t think it’s just the location of the age statement ink. I suspect that barrel management “improved” and that more honey barrels were removed for use in single barrel private, or premium distillery-only “Select” releases.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>Control: Evan Williams BiB WOL Cut glass</b></div>
N- Corn oil, earth oak<br />
P- Grassy sweet and thin, hints of honey but also a solvent note. Opens into grassy sweetness<br />
<br />
<b>79</b><br />
<br />
Evan Williams is the less expensive expression from Heaven Hill, and it’s clearly an expression of the same distillery. It’s amazingly good for such a bargain basement price (the 86 proof Black goes for around $14-18, and the BiB, although rarer, is only a few dollars more) and, amidst the blind, is clearly as good as at least two of the Elijah Craig bottlings. Eye opening.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVTCj3oSxe5kBARrn3TXmTGZcXMiynQOvNs1gOCu31MonsdSb5y4j9LDvLGhh4q8BhcacdYugRSzEj5eZAm252CQbZFV1oMfHW1ro4EN7zLcGZFTciDi9r-DagOzQZTCgWtUQ1TWWEzBX/s1600/DSC00825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuVTCj3oSxe5kBARrn3TXmTGZcXMiynQOvNs1gOCu31MonsdSb5y4j9LDvLGhh4q8BhcacdYugRSzEj5eZAm252CQbZFV1oMfHW1ro4EN7zLcGZFTciDi9r-DagOzQZTCgWtUQ1TWWEzBX/s640/DSC00825.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
<br />
Bottom line, it's yet another sad tale of dropped age statements leading to younger whiskey which, I'm so sorry to say, just doesn't taste as good. Period. I mourn Elijah Craig's long slow decline. We all know Heaven Hill makes good whiskey. If they can mature this stuff a bit more, Elijah Craig can return to tasting less like Evan Williams and more like Elijah Craig once again. It's almost enough to make one wish for the end of the Bourbon Boom. I know... bite your tongue.<br />
<br />
Again: read Michael Kravitz's blog post about his blind tasting. Great stuff.<br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/an-elijah-craig-taste-off.html</a><br />
<br />
Then read his subsequent posts with tasting notes for each of the expressions:<br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch.html" target="_blank">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch-12.html" target="_blank">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch-12.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch-12_26.html" target="_blank">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-12-year-old-small-batch-12_26.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-nas-small-batch-bottled-ca.html" target="_blank">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-nas-small-batch-bottled-ca.html</a><br />
<a href="http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-nas-small-batch-current.html" target="_blank">http://www.divingforpearlsblog.com/2019/06/elijah-craig-nas-small-batch-current.html</a><br />
<br />The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-6469925370599690812018-02-13T11:06:00.001-05:002018-02-14T15:34:44.172-05:00Chuck Schumer's Gaffe and Why It Matters To New York Whiskey<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoosgE8b1err93pSv8eTY8YzsWSlMD4sRObzlKsWFSG5F4rnY7Z-7oyOKhWocMyKCMHjFFxf-TpdstS_NmHQB2vJkwnwYNVvcmONLV2IEISoFpO9bshyx4gS5otFPA6m-CfL3JvDx6Yg1/s1600/ChuckSchumer%2526MitchMcConnell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="496" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoosgE8b1err93pSv8eTY8YzsWSlMD4sRObzlKsWFSG5F4rnY7Z-7oyOKhWocMyKCMHjFFxf-TpdstS_NmHQB2vJkwnwYNVvcmONLV2IEISoFpO9bshyx4gS5otFPA6m-CfL3JvDx6Yg1/s320/ChuckSchumer%2526MitchMcConnell.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
On <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/senators-chuck-schumer-and-mitch-mcconnell-enter-new-fight-over-bourbon-803372" target="_blank">video </a>it doesn't look like much of anything. Chuck Schumer, Senator from New York, in a suit, at a conference in Kentucky addresses Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell:<br />
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<b>"Brooklyn, where I was born, raised and proudly live, produces some of the best bourbon in the world."</b><br />
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Then he hands him a bottle of Widow Jane Bourbon. McConnell replies<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>"There's no such thing as Brooklyn bourbon," </b><br />
<br />
which gets a laugh. But Chuck Schumer committed a gaffe today that has the whiskey world slapping its head in frustration and hilarity. Widow Jane is one of those famous examples of a distillery that sources whiskey from a distillery somewhere else (in this case, supremely ironically, Kentucky of all places) and then lied (I'm using the past tense here) about being made locally in Brooklyn. When people talk about "Potemkin Distilleries" (<a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2010/02/potemkin-craft-distilleries.html" target="_blank">Chuck Cowdery's coinage</a>), Widow Jane in Redhook is one of the famous, classic examples. Chuck Schumer actually gave Mitch McConnell Kentucky Bourbon in a New York bottle and erroneously crowed about it being Brooklyn whiskey. It's just awful, or hilarious, or pathetic, depending on how you look on it.<br />
<br />
Newsweek got the angle first at 11am - well ahead of most of the press, in a piece by Gersh Kuntzman which gleefully points out that Widow Jane is Bourbon sourced from Kentucky. The story spread from here. Amusingly, Mr. Kuntzman makes sure to tell us in 3 separate parenthetical asides that he has been drinking the whiskey actively while writing up the story, and he really likes it. He likes it a lot. e.g.:<br />
<br />
<i><<...</i><b>Widow Jane is (full disclosure) exemplary whiskey...</b><i>>> </i>and <i><<</i><b>...a taste of honey and cherrywood and a finish of charred oak and orange peel" (fuller disclosure: That is deliciously accurate).</b><i>>></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.newsweek.com/senators-chuck-schumer-and-mitch-mcconnell-enter-new-fight-over-bourbon-803372" target="_blank">http://www.newsweek.com/senators-chuck-schumer-and-mitch-mcconnell-enter-new-fight-over-bourbon-803372</a><br />
<br />
By now, it's a talking point about what an idiot Chuck Schumer is. But here is a moment when much of America is actually talking about and thinking about whiskey and they are getting exactly the <b>wrong </b>lessons about whiskey. First of all, Mitch McConnell's retort "There's no such thing as Brooklyn bourbon," is simply factually wrong. That "Bourbon must be made in Kentucky" is one of the most common fallacies. The legal restrictions governing the production of Bourbon only specify the mash bill, strength, and wood of maturation and the United States as the nation of origin:<br />
<br />
<div>
<i><b>27 CFR 5.22 - The standards of identity.</b></i>...<br />
<i>l, class 12, section 1: "...That the word “</i><b>bourbon</b><i>” shall not be used to describe any whisky or whisky-based </i>distilled spirits<i> not produced in the </i><b>United States</b><i>.</i><i>"</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/27/5.22">https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/27/5.22</a></div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
There is Bourbon made in every State in the Union (except Hawaii and Nebraska - thanks <a href="https://muckrack.com/susannah-skiver-barton/articles" target="_blank">Susannah Skiver Barton</a>!) And there are plenty of Brooklyn Bourbons. <a href="http://kingscountydistillery.com/" target="_blank">King's County Distillery </a>was the first legal distillery in New York since Prohibition and has been making some really good Bourbon in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for years. Other Brooklyn distilleries making true Bourbon include <a href="http://www.vanbruntstillhouse.com/products/" target="_blank">Van Brundt Stillhouse</a>, and even <a href="http://widowjane.com/distillery/" target="_blank">Widow Jane </a>itself (with their Wapsie Valley, Bloody Butcher and other boutique corn variety bottlings - which I don't recommend btw). And there are plenty of other Bourbons in New York State, including some really good ones made at <a href="http://fingerlakesdistilling.com/our-products/whiskey/" target="_blank">Finger Lakes Distilling</a> by Tom McKenzie (who left the distillery last year). There was zero reason for Schumer to make this error. Anyone could have spent literally five minutes on the Internet and figured this out.<br />
<br />
Chuck's gaffe makes Brooklyn looks bad to people who don't know whiskey because it seems apparent that if the Senator from New York can't even grab a bottle of New York Bourbon when he has set out to rib Kentucky about Bourbon then clearly there isn't one. They will all say "everyone knows Bourbon comes from Kentucky". Mitch McConnell's error that "Bourbon only comes from Kentucky" will be reified. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6-0nxoDMPOjfhoNNJzko9mFc0dRMBAoPRyWNBL2qXlo51FulkdU7w9SsX1KlxBIEdK97nHLiCflIVXb2KIuxLXaLUwdW8-xhzZHWk_T9aqw1_bfYm9AgBksbKo_moAkW6trhVYRxRSKm/s1600/EmpireRyeCoppersea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1133" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid6-0nxoDMPOjfhoNNJzko9mFc0dRMBAoPRyWNBL2qXlo51FulkdU7w9SsX1KlxBIEdK97nHLiCflIVXb2KIuxLXaLUwdW8-xhzZHWk_T9aqw1_bfYm9AgBksbKo_moAkW6trhVYRxRSKm/s400/EmpireRyeCoppersea.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coppersea Straight Malted Empire Rye</td></tr>
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But there's a deeper irony here; and it's the big story in New York craft distilling this year: the creation of the <a href="https://www.empirerye.com/" target="_blank">Empire Rye</a> designation. New York just laid down the gauntlet, claiming a long tradition of rye whiskey production and leveraging that into a new era with some serious efforts by seven (and counting) craft distillers. I recently sipped through seven of the new Empire Ryes (or their immediate predecessors) and was extremely impressed. These don't drink like the flawed raw Craft Whiskeys you'd expect from a new standard. A big reason for that is because New York's craft distillers aren't new. They have climbed the learning curve and are making some really good whiskeys - and in particular - rye whiskeys. Coppersea's malted rye was dusky and complex with rich mouth feel and rich flavors imparted by malting the rye. King's County rye was a powerhouse, with a rich clean rye flavor and a lingering bracingly herbal finish. <a href="http://www.nydistilling.com/spirits/" target="_blank">New York Distilling Company</a>'s Ragtime Rye was softer, but with really pleasing flavors and good balance. Hillrock's Double Cask Rye was more austere - but still elegant and tasty. The Empire Rye designation stands for something real: At least 75 percent of its grain must be New York-grown rye. It must be distilled to no more than 160 proof; put into a barrel at no more than 115 proof (which is below the industry standard of 125 proof); and aged at least two years in charred, new oak barrels. The original six members of the Empire Rye consortium — Coppersea, Tuthilltown, Black Button Distilling, New York Distilling, Kings County Distillery and Finger Lakes Distilling have been joined by three more distilleries since. This is a real story for New York whiskey and it hasn't gotten enough press.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNxxTt7Zzc7O9TVQXyWB94RXJDAOGFxWudIpRib5ounsCki4J_vsDkzOvSrfIbbtB8_3KaVONxeIjCbn7sWmER9TqlyAevGWY1DzZBbeDZWJyIkgDNwDL9GfcswHnlr7Z6eZMZb24v9mK/s1600/EmpireRyeKingsCounty.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDNxxTt7Zzc7O9TVQXyWB94RXJDAOGFxWudIpRib5ounsCki4J_vsDkzOvSrfIbbtB8_3KaVONxeIjCbn7sWmER9TqlyAevGWY1DzZBbeDZWJyIkgDNwDL9GfcswHnlr7Z6eZMZb24v9mK/s320/EmpireRyeKingsCounty.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">King's County Rye 51% ab</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NEbGajvbL7fyERWGmBbINfL4X-jmtDhGg9W3768CAUf2SC8iwTKRXhgQ_Z5B2xmXxJMwUA3QTFZGvCd9hQNbffu8zkZK0QoEIhvt7FadMm1nkdpo0uPwR7VZbcRrH9CPjdOCG1d0ik3C/s1600/EmpireRyeRagTimeRye.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6NEbGajvbL7fyERWGmBbINfL4X-jmtDhGg9W3768CAUf2SC8iwTKRXhgQ_Z5B2xmXxJMwUA3QTFZGvCd9hQNbffu8zkZK0QoEIhvt7FadMm1nkdpo0uPwR7VZbcRrH9CPjdOCG1d0ik3C/s320/EmpireRyeRagTimeRye.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New York Distilling Ragtime Rye</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvE0aBTT47t0L9VwazUNej7Zc7ed0uboiVXYbm0DDe_0C5YGQRLhce3rViN5TMBck09WXO_a8n7vEkw0QNyWgOPfLhqsE8_xevO29WYHmObSbZYcP71nBcyVJGk4HsvykKbqt0SG7z7GK/s1600/EmpireRyeHillrock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUvE0aBTT47t0L9VwazUNej7Zc7ed0uboiVXYbm0DDe_0C5YGQRLhce3rViN5TMBck09WXO_a8n7vEkw0QNyWgOPfLhqsE8_xevO29WYHmObSbZYcP71nBcyVJGk4HsvykKbqt0SG7z7GK/s320/EmpireRyeHillrock.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hillrock Double Cask Rye.</td></tr>
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</div>
<div>
<br />
Last October I got to geek out about the history of rye whiskey in New York at an event called "New York Whiskey - Past, Present, Future" - part of the Empire Rye appellation celebration and New York State Craft Beverage Week, held by Josh Richholt at his cavernous super-bar <a href="http://www.thewellbrooklyn.com/" target="_blank">"The Well"</a> in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Dave Pickerell (master distiller formerly of Maker's Mark but who now works on many distilleries including the Hillrock Rye project and, formerly Widow Jane), Christopher Briar Williams, master distiller (and I don't use the term lightly here) of Coppersea Distillery - one of the founders of the Empire Rye idea, Reid Mitenbuler (author of Bourbon Empire, and a serious whiskey geek), myself, and Josh Richholt (dusty enthusiast, owner of The Well, and another serious whiskey geek) - right to left in the photo below - discussed the long and fascinating history of rye whiskey in New York State.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ZD6K2n81ngRPCQbUEK1VWiPnLaRlpRK31vKzgGRLANeThEtf3dpyRBAZanGDZ6W63o00bgkeV1N6qZd9xguyvhA0aLwZKUP4vTDy4ZWvcz6myYfv__7WFhbGmA6wa2z7xljR_6hxfsd/s1600/EmpireRyePanelNYCwhisky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="588" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ8ZD6K2n81ngRPCQbUEK1VWiPnLaRlpRK31vKzgGRLANeThEtf3dpyRBAZanGDZ6W63o00bgkeV1N6qZd9xguyvhA0aLwZKUP4vTDy4ZWvcz6myYfv__7WFhbGmA6wa2z7xljR_6hxfsd/s640/EmpireRyePanelNYCwhisky.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">PhotoCredit: nycwhisky.com<br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/nycwhisky" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/nycwhisky</a></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dPltfePriVfm4qDBqVZuXEUM-oAPR5jF80y_eOCjPXfg-lAM0YU993WUOCdY0xBJo4uq8P6WK28rIrzy4XpR3PSYpz-7yV6-f5eGlbCP767Oaw8m4pddmBkBfjIrZc-hdDlI9NPkdcng/s1600/EmpireRyeEmerson%2527.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4dPltfePriVfm4qDBqVZuXEUM-oAPR5jF80y_eOCjPXfg-lAM0YU993WUOCdY0xBJo4uq8P6WK28rIrzy4XpR3PSYpz-7yV6-f5eGlbCP767Oaw8m4pddmBkBfjIrZc-hdDlI9NPkdcng/s320/EmpireRyeEmerson%2527.jpeg" width="319" /></a><br />
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It begins with farm distillery production of rye. In the pre-industrial era there were literally hundreds of small distilleries in the original 13 colonies of the US - with strong concentrations in the heavily populated areas like New York. Rye whiskey was the traditional form for people coming from central Europe and rye grew well in the colder environment of the NorthEast. Josh Richholt brought a fascinating example from the end of that period - an 1892 vintage dated bottle of Emerson's Old "5x" Pure Rye Whiskey. It was produced at <a href="http://www.brotherhood-winery.com/aboutUsHistory.html" target="_blank">Brotherhood Wine</a> (which still exists, operating a vineyard out of Washingtonville, NY (Orange County) founded 1839. The Emerson family purchased the wine made by the Jaques family according to the Brotherhood wine history for 60 years (until apparently 1899 or 1900) when the Emerson family purchased the winery. They named it after the Brotherhood of New Life Utopian community in the Hudson Valley. They apparently operated a wine and liquor shop out of Soho because this bottle of 5x whiskey says so. Was this whiskey made in New York or sourced from somewhere else? Who can say? This might be local New York farm distilled whiskey, part of that long tradition, or it might be sourced whiskey from somewhere else and bottled in New York by New York City merchants - also a long tradition associated with some of the greatest names in whiskey.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFPFdFbZEFugqI9Ea1_Eojk78etvdS6CWCIvg04mdEQ-P0vqvspd09opQUOEZSgnbDIR5jUlgwmeKDoXi_aCmAJpe5OZd-jezdCxrL9kGcraJkCA9UEYbAQMimlXBxbKDLW_Miif7Wqy8/s1600/OldCrowRye-HBKirk1872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFPFdFbZEFugqI9Ea1_Eojk78etvdS6CWCIvg04mdEQ-P0vqvspd09opQUOEZSgnbDIR5jUlgwmeKDoXi_aCmAJpe5OZd-jezdCxrL9kGcraJkCA9UEYbAQMimlXBxbKDLW_Miif7Wqy8/s320/OldCrowRye-HBKirk1872.jpg" width="268" /></a>For example, H.B. Kirk & Co. of 69 Fulton St. New York City extensively advertised Old Crow and Old Hermitage rye from the Old Hermitage distillery Frankfort KY.as exclusive distributor. This 1884 ad (right) states: "We have taken every barrel made since January 1872". Josh Richholt brought (and cracked) a bottle of Old Crow Rye from the 1940s that was still bottled in New York even then. (It was pretty damned good and deserves its own post).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRl3sxcb78Wm8miuMVcmD4jV2dNIXUEh2L1hdkefkv4kIcJ9O1bHgx98TOGV_cCv1CHqeKmmgB20kZaTpgjP5mbW6axOoSEoktIpsL1T_S2U0KbSVPzfHQoBdfV5iL1k1zgJajs5hA9nrb/s1600/OldCrowRye-HBKirk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRl3sxcb78Wm8miuMVcmD4jV2dNIXUEh2L1hdkefkv4kIcJ9O1bHgx98TOGV_cCv1CHqeKmmgB20kZaTpgjP5mbW6axOoSEoktIpsL1T_S2U0KbSVPzfHQoBdfV5iL1k1zgJajs5hA9nrb/s320/OldCrowRye-HBKirk.jpg" width="215" /></a>Another example you might have heard of is a New York merchant named Austin Nichols who operated a famous (and vast) warehouse in 184 Kent St. Williamsburgh Brooklyn that was built in 1915. The famous Turkey shoot story that Jimmy Russel always tells everyone dates from 1940s. Austin Nichols First bottled Wild Turkey in 1954 (the year that Jimmy Rusell began working there.) They used sourced bourbon from many distilleries at that time, and throughout the 50s-60s. Later on, in 1971, they bought the Boulevard Distillery (previously JTS Brown, originally Old Moore, & Ripy Bros) to make Wild Turkey. So Wild Turkey, even though it's a Kentucky whiskey brand, is a New York company with a New York story.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5oGorWmk_IhvL7G_6L3aZ_xdQIFv3OFVvY4pwX4-dMVFoE4clLQRCfZiFP__tVp0hmRYlLL2lDoM9BHr87INgIwZFaoVW6bHBS6dnwbDmU3a5Dynu6WQr4VNDetCpoETzOMjJJmd1Y2d/s1600/EmpireRyeDusties.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="1046" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk5oGorWmk_IhvL7G_6L3aZ_xdQIFv3OFVvY4pwX4-dMVFoE4clLQRCfZiFP__tVp0hmRYlLL2lDoM9BHr87INgIwZFaoVW6bHBS6dnwbDmU3a5Dynu6WQr4VNDetCpoETzOMjJJmd1Y2d/s640/EmpireRyeDusties.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dusty bottles of New York rye - and other whiskeys just bottled in New York - courtesy of Josh Richholt.</td></tr>
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There is a lot more to this history story. Park & Tilford appears in Richholt's lineup. Schenley too. Both were New York companies. (Tasting notes will follow in another post). Wine & Spirits Bulletin in the pre-pro era shows dozens of distributors on the Manhattan & Brooklyn waterfronts. The famous "Kevin Bacon" of the 20th century whiskey world, Sam Bronfman, who is in just about every American whiskey history story somewhere, built the Seagram's Building in Manhattan. JP Morgan's cellar books in 1884 show New York State rye and winter wheat whiskey in wicker demijohns. The more you look, the deeper the story goes. New York State is making seriously good whiskey, it has a serious whiskey history. If Chuck Schumer had just researched a little bit - or had talked to any of us who know and love the ongoing story - he could have delivered a real whiskey gauntlet to Mitch McConnell, and everyone in America might be talking about whether New York just might actually be a whiskey power, instead of laughing at Schumer and at the idea of New York whiskey. This was a lost opportunity for New York and for Chuck Schumer - and for America.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOGy4mSmsu1qQmgpqnl7EITdZo2hkKbH1Y8i9i46cd0ptfQ1Q48G6mJy4wyr_CJHdQoldQxtGcKEVE8Ljx53Fx5ySMwLf1HZmJG-jip12soGdqkUXowcC1hC5rZ3BzFLGrT3CHYmeN0v5/s1600/EmpireRyeSelfie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="588" data-original-width="784" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHOGy4mSmsu1qQmgpqnl7EITdZo2hkKbH1Y8i9i46cd0ptfQ1Q48G6mJy4wyr_CJHdQoldQxtGcKEVE8Ljx53Fx5ySMwLf1HZmJG-jip12soGdqkUXowcC1hC5rZ3BzFLGrT3CHYmeN0v5/s400/EmpireRyeSelfie.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">On a panel with awesome whiskey people talking about<br />
New York whiskey history... Yeah - I took a selfie.</td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-4658541650824394012017-10-24T11:46:00.004-04:002017-10-24T13:22:40.993-04:00Updated: actual selections for the BeastMaster Dusty Battle: CooperedTot Vs The Well.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqyaKYiw97_VhiZmljXrxM0vgHKMEv1rkK1b_Ou4URe77PjJdWPvWiqzD6rFVw0kYox4xYK6zXckHmrkbEKRFJO9bFUzfl2jrs_u7ClfUvVbcGxKTnXhPYSePI7K-iQ7TbTsYdvN9b4lu/s1600/P1100866-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="709" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXqyaKYiw97_VhiZmljXrxM0vgHKMEv1rkK1b_Ou4URe77PjJdWPvWiqzD6rFVw0kYox4xYK6zXckHmrkbEKRFJO9bFUzfl2jrs_u7ClfUvVbcGxKTnXhPYSePI7K-iQ7TbTsYdvN9b4lu/s640/P1100866-01.jpeg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Branded as Gibson's Distilling Co. - this bottle actually<br />contains whiskey from Stewart Distillery, Baltimore.<br />Made prior to September, 1917.</span></td></tr>
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Update: My previous post announcing the upcoming <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112" target="_blank">BeastMaster Dusty Battle event</a> between myself and and Josh Richholt showed a lot of pretty dusty bottle pics. But I didn't specify which bottles we would actually be pouring - so it's just hype. Except... it wasn't. We are really going to be pouring some amazing bottles. In brief, a Prohibition bottling of a Maryland rye, a 1950s bonded Beam, and a pair of glut era 1970s Bourbons: a Wild Turkey 101 8 year old, and National Distillers Bourbon DeLuxe. There will be contemporary Beam and Wild Turkey so you can taste vanished expressions against today's head to head. The ways that these flavor signatures have changed will be one of my topics. But first, let me get specific with the two bottles I'll be pouring:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FnomO-HwewsJMeF9b2m5JmwvLn-XuwJx7cjWDQl0e5DBuph_P9cC_Al8r0ZoUP6LIpkJ_YM7J4ziylN68JQOZTldCj3B7LVxxKcXZ69Fe6CnLtN_kTof_wP5WHr_SMjGbtTddwuNBJKe/s1600/Stewart+Distillery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="539" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-FnomO-HwewsJMeF9b2m5JmwvLn-XuwJx7cjWDQl0e5DBuph_P9cC_Al8r0ZoUP6LIpkJ_YM7J4ziylN68JQOZTldCj3B7LVxxKcXZ69Fe6CnLtN_kTof_wP5WHr_SMjGbtTddwuNBJKe/s320/Stewart+Distillery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stewart Distillery, RD No.12, Baltimore, MD around 1909</td></tr>
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<h3>
I Prohibition era bottling of Maryland Rye - labeled "Gibson" but actually "Stewart"</h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4trXdOJIEXYTAk9vTAw-lndbUXnfGH2QxEixjSW9m2MExsvmXNQZqUIVd_6pWwUJgUe7mJKEBgk7LMC9ZbNAjZmH-MgH-gydc_Lam2I6tLPWZDuxRfoG-vk0ynXPcHKrQ2x471zUbF2IJ/s1600/P1100872-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="746" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4trXdOJIEXYTAk9vTAw-lndbUXnfGH2QxEixjSW9m2MExsvmXNQZqUIVd_6pWwUJgUe7mJKEBgk7LMC9ZbNAjZmH-MgH-gydc_Lam2I6tLPWZDuxRfoG-vk0ynXPcHKrQ2x471zUbF2IJ/s640/P1100872-01.jpeg" width="297" /></a>Distilled prior to September 8th, 1917 at The Stewart Distillery. Two stories in one because the bottle is labeled one way, but contains a different whiskey. This kind of thing was common in Prohibition when brands were consolidated into a few companies who had medicinal whiskey licenses to sell to pharmacies. Actual whiskey was taken from closed distilleries and stored together in a smaller number of more defensible concentration warehouses and brands and spirits were often conflated as expediency demanded. In this case we have Lewis Rosensteil's Schenley operation - which would become the second largest liquor company in the United States (second only to American Medicinal Sprits, which became National Distillers after Repeal). Rosensteil's concentration warehouse was at Schenley PA, RD No. 2 - and sure enough - the back label on this bottle says that whiskey from Stewart Distillery, Baltimore was "bottled for" Gibson Distilling Co. of Brownsville, PA (the heart of the Monongahela region), at Schenley's concentration warehouse.<br />
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These are interesting brands. Gibson's was a classic pre-Prohibition high-rye mash bill "red" Mongahela valley rye. Rosensteil purchased the brand and had obviously run out of the juice by the time this bottle was filled. Schenley shifted production of Gibson's up to Canada after Repeal, and Gibson's remains one of the major brands of Canadian whisky to this day. It's fascinating to see that its roots are in PA rye.<br />
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Stewart's is one of the brands of Maryland rye that disappeared with Prohibition. In a <a href="https://casetext.com/case/distillery-v-distilling-co" target="_blank">1920s lawsuit</a>, the plaintiff alleged that the Stewart's Rye Whiskey brand dates back to 1788 (it also appears as Robert Stewart Distillery in the late 19th century). According to tax records it was self-owned until 1901 when it was sold to the Carstair's Brothers - best known for Carstair's White Seal (another venerable Baltimore rye brand with 18th century roots. Carstair's White Seal became a blended American whiskey after WWII).<br />
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This particular bottle has a front label that is age stated as 11 years old. On the back is that odd statement "Made prior to September 8th, 1917". The bottled in bond tax strip is missing so we can infer that this is probably a 1917-1928, or possible a 1916-1927 (or a 1915-1926). <br />
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So this medicinal pint represents a rare opportunity to taste the whiskey from a vanished and historic Baltimore MD distillery which was part of the formation of Lewis Rosensteil's Schenley Industries in its heady formative days.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53YmJmpypWp9X8vI73RL6XKMPlJQY_jRjs4fTH4Vdq448u2c0iF2mLyYOzow-NtZ52rXZ6d09bQxKBb39Ws7bgKCko0xQSyWRS8KQjQRqMREQ0qJNDrjJTSnewJoJujI25Z6qWqzEwY2x/s1600/P1100855-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="733" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53YmJmpypWp9X8vI73RL6XKMPlJQY_jRjs4fTH4Vdq448u2c0iF2mLyYOzow-NtZ52rXZ6d09bQxKBb39Ws7bgKCko0xQSyWRS8KQjQRqMREQ0qJNDrjJTSnewJoJujI25Z6qWqzEwY2x/s640/P1100855-01.jpeg" width="292" /></a><br />II 1955-1961 Jim Beam Bonded In Bond blue glass "Grecian" decanter. 100 proof.</h3>
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How did mid-century Jim Beam differ from today's expressions? Find out. This lovely piece of mid-century kitch is a Mad Men era classic. The decanter is blue glass - so there's no lead risk. It feels and sounds full. This bourbon is should be a rich with that mid-century heavy vanilla and brown-sugar loaded sweetness and that characteristic Jim Beam "funk" (which some people tastes like a barn smells - and other people say is "earthy").<br />
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This is a classic case of a historic American distillery which is still in major production. Continuity and tradition will stand against industry changes in types of corn, length of mashing period, rising barreling proofs, shorter maturation periods, and other "enhancements to production". Bottle maturation might also be a factor. It's a half-century plus old decanter - who knows? That's part of the fun of cracking a dusty.<br />
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And that's not all! Josh Richholt is bringing some classic dusty Bourbons for our enjoyment as well:<br />
<br />
a 1978 Wild Turkey 8/101 and a 1976 Bourbon deLuxe from National Distillers. These are legendary delicious classics.<br />
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Want to attend. Get your tickets here:<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1751368634"><br /></a><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxJUP2aSeI5pMHSNh0tjipWCJGymBZFhDMjgcXQEFdusObGurnDAFRxwLmoCV-8fSpcZRh9xFkHiOiC7lav5F0fqx4YyMfxnavE-ufD5eqPNEvcwpFWCufbUb9kxMcoFAsHuR4k79IrrO/s1600/P1100858-01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGxJUP2aSeI5pMHSNh0tjipWCJGymBZFhDMjgcXQEFdusObGurnDAFRxwLmoCV-8fSpcZRh9xFkHiOiC7lav5F0fqx4YyMfxnavE-ufD5eqPNEvcwpFWCufbUb9kxMcoFAsHuR4k79IrrO/s640/P1100858-01.jpeg" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The green bottled in bond tax strip on the Beam Grecian Decanter showing<br />the year and season of distillation - and of bottling as a 6 year old.</span></td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-91765866253261940392017-10-20T22:41:00.002-04:002017-10-24T11:48:40.642-04:00The Dusty Battle: Coopered Tot v.s. The Well at BeastMaster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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FYI - this post was updated with the actual selections that will be poured: <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2017/10/updated-actual-selections-for.html" target="_blank">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2017/10/updated-actual-selections-for.html</a></h3>
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Why drink old found bottles? (The term "dusties" refers to whiskies which are no longer available, but which can be found in old liquor stores, orphaned on shelves). My friend Steve Zeller - the blogger of <a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Smoky Beast blog</a> - sometimes tells a joke.<br />
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<i><b>"How many whiskey bloggers does it take to screw in a light bulb?"</b></i><br />
<i><b>"A hundred. </b></i><i><b>One to screw in the light bulb and 99 to write about how the old bulb was better!" </b></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOzHQWtyTPRQEfPY1vLIta5BoT3kyX2hyYhr9CB74IZMG2DcmruIWF9ls3hbxrUIkgxZVa99IMVf1ULvbc8ZO4W3c4bmMnmFFweRxBRVfOXbJqjEU5qZjl5x1uOAPrw7Eqf3uYiPLf_Wj/s1600/CoverDusties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="745" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijOzHQWtyTPRQEfPY1vLIta5BoT3kyX2hyYhr9CB74IZMG2DcmruIWF9ls3hbxrUIkgxZVa99IMVf1ULvbc8ZO4W3c4bmMnmFFweRxBRVfOXbJqjEU5qZjl5x1uOAPrw7Eqf3uYiPLf_Wj/s400/CoverDusties.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Old bottles, "dusties, with old styles,<br />obsolete age statements, <br />or produced at vanished distilleries.</span></td></tr>
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But all joking aside, a lot of old bottles are really interesting, and many are better than the current versions and there are sound reasons why. Over the last couple of decades, whiskey has become a victim of its own popularity - with age statements disappearing and younger whiskey now standing in. Less flavorful faster-growing grains are used. Higher-yielding faster-acting yeasts make more alcohol out of units of grain, at the expense of complex flavors. Mashing periods have declined. Barreling proofs have increased. And maturation times have decreased. Each change has reduced costs and increased profits for distilleries - at the expense of complexity and flavor. You can tell the difference by drinking old whiskeys. It's fascinating and often delicious. Dusties can be hard to find. If you want a guided introduction, join me in attending a unique event where dusty hunters score and pour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju18idx_JbGzf6FKr52wyT7aWwSgXcFb2Y5go4D9tVIggVX7TkKLd_CzoIP-gCANm7CDQmRMGMPBMSWJwugBdH8IkTK3KY3Varn26MNhUVSvn8mCWbSX-H4Gf2At-AcOdnCHiaVfAmnbaG/s1600/OFBiB2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="557" data-original-width="266" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju18idx_JbGzf6FKr52wyT7aWwSgXcFb2Y5go4D9tVIggVX7TkKLd_CzoIP-gCANm7CDQmRMGMPBMSWJwugBdH8IkTK3KY3Varn26MNhUVSvn8mCWbSX-H4Gf2At-AcOdnCHiaVfAmnbaG/s400/OFBiB2.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The 1973 Old Forester BiB I sourced<br />for the first BeastMaster event.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2015/04/old-forester-and-old-taylor-new-versus.html" target="_blank">The last time I presented whiskey at a Smoky Beast BeastMaster event</a> it was their very first public event and Steve Zeller and I were presenting a tasting that involved two dusty whiskeys: a National Distiller's Old Taylor and a 1973 Old Forester Bottled in Bond from 1973. We were comparing them against current expressions of the same brands.<br />
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Now, I'm coming back to BeastMasters Club, in the new head 2 head contest format against my friend Joshua Richholt in a Dusty battle where we dusty hunt and bring our best finds to a public tasting. If you've ever wanted to taste dusties with me here's a chance.<br />
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The format is simple Josh and I will be given $300 and we will find the best dusties we can. (If we strike out we can provide bottles from our own private collections). I've known Josh Richholt for a while and I've drunk whisky with him a number of times and I can attest that he is a talented dusty hunter with amazing taste. He founded<a href="http://www.thewellbrooklyn.com/" target="_blank"> an amazing bar on the border of Brooklyn and Queens called The Well</a>. It has an amazing line up of bottles and beers on tap. It's built inside a 19th-century brewery. Richholt knows the history and is well connected with the history of alcohol. He will be formidable opposition. We source the dusties and pour them for everyone in attendance. Knowing me, I'll probably tell some stories about them. I don't know what bottles will show up. I'm going to be hunting hard because I want to impress. It sounds like a whole lot of fun. </div>
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When? </div>
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Fri, October 27, 2017<br />
6:30 PM – 9:30 PM</div>
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Where? At the BeastMaster's Popup Lair on Canal St. in Manhattan. Tickets are cheap at $50 and available here.<br />
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<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112</a><br />
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FYI - this post was updated with the actual selections that will be poured: <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2017/10/updated-actual-selections-for.html" target="_blank">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2017/10/updated-actual-selections-for.html</a></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwn0f8BSdkwJ8T4DWMyLhNFIDcNfpZBKL5uvtmmPxeXmOrdwVxUrdfYVnV8egMcXafOiQISOdGrQSqZBTgoZbohWTUEIW1o2Y5xFEMNyhaTntkfDxphCoGTMvMnLnLmIe1ch94XSiKakt/s1600/DustyMotionGif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="972" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNwn0f8BSdkwJ8T4DWMyLhNFIDcNfpZBKL5uvtmmPxeXmOrdwVxUrdfYVnV8egMcXafOiQISOdGrQSqZBTgoZbohWTUEIW1o2Y5xFEMNyhaTntkfDxphCoGTMvMnLnLmIe1ch94XSiKakt/s640/DustyMotionGif.gif" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don't look at it! Dusties cover my kitchen table..</span></td></tr>
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I didn't do nearly as good a job of romanticizing the story as Steve Zeller did. Check it out his description from the eventbrite site:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKikV8y06B-8ABqW-QAo41qRxSLW3_28RXsMHuw9qHqEjLdqRHsGXYRMhe2_ANnOkydjgUiTm-1Qcq932iu3JJLMgxpS1bapxm64CSr-qn1dgu3hXia1dKsxp2ZgQd1Dpcy2rJiKSJf-ZI/s1600/OGD80.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="559" data-original-width="314" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKikV8y06B-8ABqW-QAo41qRxSLW3_28RXsMHuw9qHqEjLdqRHsGXYRMhe2_ANnOkydjgUiTm-1Qcq932iu3JJLMgxpS1bapxm64CSr-qn1dgu3hXia1dKsxp2ZgQd1Dpcy2rJiKSJf-ZI/s320/OGD80.jpg" width="179" /></a></div>
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<i>Dusties are the true sport of bourbon hunting, setting apart the rookies from the veteran die-hard whiskey aficionados. We’ve been wanting to do a Dusty Battle for some time, but we needed to find the perfect two warriors who would be up to the task. Meet Josh & Josh…</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <i>Josh Feldman, whiskey historian and author of <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/">www.cooperedtot.com</a> has been collecting, writing, and all-around obsessing about whiskey for over a decade. He was an early mentor to Steve and Dana as they began the SmokyBeast blog, generously guiding them into the unknown territory of shuttered distilleries, dusty gems, and the decades of history that surround these special whiskies.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcqiJDDOeJnvRlofV-mrsrte9y3bnXuofoJF_UJ3LtHsiL55gDCGo8ajWEcvwcwtZEt7T_OvCowwqaS0HbVW53tfW73hPudpZIw5zjRu5DQVP4XX1rk5xXg0_OSFtrbrgfPmUybensISl/s1600/OT%2526AC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="587" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcqiJDDOeJnvRlofV-mrsrte9y3bnXuofoJF_UJ3LtHsiL55gDCGo8ajWEcvwcwtZEt7T_OvCowwqaS0HbVW53tfW73hPudpZIw5zjRu5DQVP4XX1rk5xXg0_OSFtrbrgfPmUybensISl/s320/OT%2526AC.jpg" width="192" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQpXjwgljO9U5pOdu8DHHXlNls-dasH67p9GdMlHKb1sTLpT-gKhQosJYiAMXqTomr5ohJnehYUhuYBxwB-T7MrMFe1pt3BOm4b6ZE1QUc7lRIwyxpiunDFCM079XdtM5Uyom5-yG4sluI/s1600/Teachers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="217" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQpXjwgljO9U5pOdu8DHHXlNls-dasH67p9GdMlHKb1sTLpT-gKhQosJYiAMXqTomr5ohJnehYUhuYBxwB-T7MrMFe1pt3BOm4b6ZE1QUc7lRIwyxpiunDFCM079XdtM5Uyom5-yG4sluI/s320/Teachers.jpg" width="124" /></i></a><i>Josh Richholt is the co-founder of The Well. Dubbed the “biggest local bar you’ve ever seen”, The Well boasts 200 beers on tap, a tasty whiskey selection. and a mammoth outdoor music venue. We caught Josh sneaking a bottle Jack Daniels into our “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer” event. Little did we know it was a 1960’s Jack Daniels (which changed the move from sacrilege to bona fide). It turned out that Josh had come directly to our event from a successful dusty hunt of epic proportions.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwcqiJDDOeJnvRlofV-mrsrte9y3bnXuofoJF_UJ3LtHsiL55gDCGo8ajWEcvwcwtZEt7T_OvCowwqaS0HbVW53tfW73hPudpZIw5zjRu5DQVP4XX1rk5xXg0_OSFtrbrgfPmUybensISl/s1600/OT%2526AC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i></i></a><i>Each contender will bring two dusties from his private collection for your consideration. You will vote to decide who shall hold the belt as BMC Dusty Champion.</i><br />
<i><br /></i> <i>We’re very excited to be able to share this special event with you. Don’t miss out!</i><br />
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112" target="_blank">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beast-masters-club-dusty-battle-tickets-38289228112</a><br />
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Join us!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dusty Old Overholt Rye</span></td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-50735265379960316572017-05-10T00:15:00.000-04:002017-05-10T12:54:23.182-04:00What Makes The Water of Life Whisky Event Extraordinary?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGQ8mbg_-aLOMzfrpavXsArK8xsWLGAhJuclOTGSMGyoy_YsqgX8Wf2dxySMXakV84U3Z8so2hwcozHOGTVSI_oFDRJ_y4oZtL-DIOB_xpL9GLizXE8l03WgbWuMu9vrSzCZzwPDHSk95/s1600/MattLurin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdGQ8mbg_-aLOMzfrpavXsArK8xsWLGAhJuclOTGSMGyoy_YsqgX8Wf2dxySMXakV84U3Z8so2hwcozHOGTVSI_oFDRJ_y4oZtL-DIOB_xpL9GLizXE8l03WgbWuMu9vrSzCZzwPDHSk95/s640/MattLurin1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Matt Lurin hosts The Water Of Life Event</span></td></tr>
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What is the best whiskey event in the world? Indeed, what makes a great whisky event? Great whisky to be tasted, to be sure. But comfort, decadence, and camaraderie have evolved, for me at least, to be almost as important. I'm going to make the case that Matt Lurin's Water of Life just might be the ultimate whisky event. I'm going to lay out my reasoning in detail and back it up with photos and descriptions of last year's astonishing event and details of this year's which continues a dramatic evolution towards whisky event greatness. This event is going down May 18th 2017 and you'll want to attend and pony up for one of the VIP ticket options (and there are more than one). Read on.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswrl9wugFV4qmK6eyADIYJAJJGgSS5jFJXL915hPgMfQkeOj5rGsQjBThk_J4BFeRnJwdD9ahZfui4Nbc9OTQzatBOMhtjJ0xIxKGMq0hN4kLJ3dITxU-KnArmnbSRTSCqsZqT5f5G9Uy/s1600/RajBalcony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgswrl9wugFV4qmK6eyADIYJAJJGgSS5jFJXL915hPgMfQkeOj5rGsQjBThk_J4BFeRnJwdD9ahZfui4Nbc9OTQzatBOMhtjJ0xIxKGMq0hN4kLJ3dITxU-KnArmnbSRTSCqsZqT5f5G9Uy/s640/RajBalcony.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Malt Maniac Peter Silver gets the story from Raj Sabharwal on the VIP Terrace</span></td></tr>
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Why go to a whisky event at all? The usual answer is - to taste a widely among current offerings - learning a lot. The other reason is to reconnect with friends - and make new ones. The classic format, which I associate with the parent of modern whisky events: WhiskyFest, involves a large bourse with many tables each devoted to a given distillery, brand, or distributor. People crowd around - Glencairn glasses extended - vying for a pour. Presenters run through their spiel quickly - stating the same thing over and over to a disorganized swirl of people. Over the course of such an evening, you spend most of the time standing. Most of the drams are drunk too quickly - and too soon after the pour, lacking time to open up. You run into friends, connect, lose them again in the crowd, and if you're lucky to reconnect. Most whisky events - even the best ones (like the extraordinary Whisky Jewbilee) - tend to run like this. They often have VIP sessions which are classroom style with sit-down tastings - but they tend to be at the beginning which means cutting out of work early to make them a challenge.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LxUEPwP2tmGPgNZ2XLW739oEYV2Bt8Ri2d2MTW4gY1ai3c-URrxd1TGjrGsGwiXuFeSduaYoeOod7_tX5u5rrhLDtUVuOEXAJzUsP4HKjN0_d9DlJaBwgt-rCPQGW7lqUiGQ6XClolEo/s1600/JoeGratkowski2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LxUEPwP2tmGPgNZ2XLW739oEYV2Bt8Ri2d2MTW4gY1ai3c-URrxd1TGjrGsGwiXuFeSduaYoeOod7_tX5u5rrhLDtUVuOEXAJzUsP4HKjN0_d9DlJaBwgt-rCPQGW7lqUiGQ6XClolEo/s640/JoeGratkowski2.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Diageo rep and fount of human warmth,<br />Joe Gratkowski, pours the extraordinary<br />Lagavulin 8.</span></td></tr>
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The Water of Life is inherently different, and the difference comes from the central mission which is charitable. Matt Lurin, the whisky enthusiast doctor who created it, developed it for a cause: helping cure a rare form of stomach cancer (GIST - gastro-intestinal stromal tumors) by supporting The GIST Cancer Awareness Foundation. Every attendee is helping this charitable cause and this higher calling imbues the evening with a sense of celebration and meaning.<br />
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The main event (the non VIP ticket) is a sit-down format 'speed-dating' type of event where you sit with small group of 4-5 people at a table and at intervals move to a new table. At each, you sit down and have the whisky representative's undivided attention for a chunk of time. This eliminates the crush and creates a more leisurely comfortable tasting session that fosters real conversation, whiskies opening up, and a feeling of luxury and ease. There are hors d'oeuvres, dinner, and dessert and the option to buy an additional ticket for cigars and terrace access (normally a VIP only perk).<br />
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This year, Matt has something special planned with different focuses available for both the standard and the VIP tickets. You can choose either "The American Whiskey Trail"(which debuted last year) which is about Bourbon and rye, or the "Island Getaway" which is about Islay Scotch. You can also choose "A little bit of everything" which omits the specific focus. You can specify Kosher or non-Kosher meals. The food was excellent in 2015 and 2016. VIP adds special pours, a beautiful cut crystal glass and that cigar terrace (which has special pours).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWs6So2WRwNE7x19K3YB6ltBZvXbYQjlRGu0ky7UXl02lzcp8QKQn5Vqsl8FLH-yhY3oQTaKYhTZGjylTySaTnARhodOslhkPPedEDd6pH8ZIGTr6T2-hTS3ZIVUvTtHkGdZIrXay3s1O/s1600/Flavian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIWs6So2WRwNE7x19K3YB6ltBZvXbYQjlRGu0ky7UXl02lzcp8QKQn5Vqsl8FLH-yhY3oQTaKYhTZGjylTySaTnARhodOslhkPPedEDd6pH8ZIGTr6T2-hTS3ZIVUvTtHkGdZIrXay3s1O/s640/Flavian.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Rare Japanest from Flavien's<br />private collection in the ultra-VIP sessions</span></td></tr>
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If you want to really experience what makes The Water of Life amazing you need an ultra VIP ticket - even more than at just about any other whisky event. It comes back to the charity angle again. This basis of the event in charity motivates presenters in a special way. At the 2016 ultra VIP sessions, extraordinary people brought extraordinary drams. A 50 year old Dalmore was served at the apex of an extraordinary flight. Josh Hatton, impresario of The Jewish Whisky Company, Single Cask Nation, creator of the Whisky Jewbilee, and also brand ambassador for Impex, led a VIP session with the very cream of Impex's offerings. The impresario behind New York's greatest whisky bars, The Brandy Library and Copper and Oak, Flavien Desoblin brought an astounding array of Japanese whiskies from his private collection - most of which I had never heard of or seen before. They were incredibly delicious. And, most amazingly of all from my perspective, was Joe Hyman's session which included a pre-Prohibition Belmont Bourbon - one of my unicorns, and medicinal pints, WWII era Scotches and Canadian whiskies and more. You just don't see whiskies of this rarity and caliber at ordinary whisky events. Unlike Germany's dusty smorgasbord Limberg where rare antiquities are on sale by the dram, to be had standing, these VIP sessions were included with the VIP ticket and were convivial, seated, leisurely, and extraordinary. These VIP sessions came out of the love the NY whiskey community has for Matt Lurin and his cause. It evokes generosity and people came with their A-game and it really showed. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTgiWZvgiPgrbg3kmH4dfAHbwiTw4DnLDfgrd0QHWYIqLnMrVuhwgLAF982e5lilSGqgH327tAOo3Xw_NLvEOZpS_AEi1uU4LlKqi9g7YZf-m6UuNNHkpi4oP6yvhzr-yor0cKMd5oeVv/s1600/TomieTardieEmpireState.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXTgiWZvgiPgrbg3kmH4dfAHbwiTw4DnLDfgrd0QHWYIqLnMrVuhwgLAF982e5lilSGqgH327tAOo3Xw_NLvEOZpS_AEi1uU4LlKqi9g7YZf-m6UuNNHkpi4oP6yvhzr-yor0cKMd5oeVv/s640/TomieTardieEmpireState.jpg" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">The view from the cigar table at the 2016<br />Water Of Life VIP Terrace</span></td></tr>
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For 2017 the Ultra-VIP ticket gets a whole second evening (May 17th) dedicated to those amazing pours. That way ultra VIP session attendees don't have miss time at the speed dating portion. There is also a separate kick-off party on May 17th. Get the details here:<br />
<a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/ticket-info.html" target="_blank">http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/ticket-info.html</a><br />
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Last year the VIP venue was gorgeous and the cigars were delicious. I love that he has created a way for standard ticket holders to get access to this.<br />
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All this luxury and charity doesn't come cheap. But this isn't a regular whisky event. It's for a cause - and it's something special. The standard tickets are $275 and the VIP tickets are $400. Use this <b>discount code</b> to get $25 off standard tickets and $50 off VIP ones: "<b>gcaf2017</b>"<br />
Get tickets here:<br />
<a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/ticket-info.html" target="_blank"><b>http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/ticket-info.html</b></a><br />
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Here are a few more photos of the 2016 event. Notice the smiles. The warmth and joy are real. It was the best whisky event I went to in 2016 and may have been the best I have ever attended. I'm excited to see Matt's assault of whisky event greatness continue to evolve in 2017.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgmwVXDtQ7rIY-vJG961_9cRqV4lRFdr9GuaU1dK_4luLjIpsM2JaVHJYabC-qogk2g23CDWpnOtBacgaYM768VXRCfKwO99yk2ZqFvV0tWBJHhuTmHrW1PTctSPksAPx9nQkMq1YVJK3/s1600/Skyline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmgmwVXDtQ7rIY-vJG961_9cRqV4lRFdr9GuaU1dK_4luLjIpsM2JaVHJYabC-qogk2g23CDWpnOtBacgaYM768VXRCfKwO99yk2ZqFvV0tWBJHhuTmHrW1PTctSPksAPx9nQkMq1YVJK3/s640/Skyline.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LxUEPwP2tmGPgNZ2XLW739oEYV2Bt8Ri2d2MTW4gY1ai3c-URrxd1TGjrGsGwiXuFeSduaYoeOod7_tX5u5rrhLDtUVuOEXAJzUsP4HKjN0_d9DlJaBwgt-rCPQGW7lqUiGQ6XClolEo/s1600/JoeGratkowski2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8SyLdJge3plrrG3EuY5yGvY5hX2Yn0SqtDB4-15NC9gbcuHYNSFb_4GXFbWBhBgfyaViVSKTVFR0-KieaNH2UwQCkRwSoeBhCWJasI69OCMkwPlGo2Col0nnwtstbFaecwOX5XGyu8Jp/s1600/RajBlackadder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8SyLdJge3plrrG3EuY5yGvY5hX2Yn0SqtDB4-15NC9gbcuHYNSFb_4GXFbWBhBgfyaViVSKTVFR0-KieaNH2UwQCkRwSoeBhCWJasI69OCMkwPlGo2Col0nnwtstbFaecwOX5XGyu8Jp/s400/RajBlackadder.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Extraordinary pours courtesy of Raj Sabharwal<br />of Purple Valley Imports on the VIP Terrace</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1v1UJ90PQkQ_VHanJo2zPi5B6gOln2R27EpDAOwd35jzRFSag3mp84vgI2eAgDizsdcYHNJhmNEBTHVnGktrbgBvMeyyglWiPFDJQQoOdnDM4M4ITQj5DZKcCc1wIjtQymZL0eVSXflW/s1600/HP2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 12.8px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1v1UJ90PQkQ_VHanJo2zPi5B6gOln2R27EpDAOwd35jzRFSag3mp84vgI2eAgDizsdcYHNJhmNEBTHVnGktrbgBvMeyyglWiPFDJQQoOdnDM4M4ITQj5DZKcCc1wIjtQymZL0eVSXflW/s320/HP2.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Steph Ridgeway spreads HP joy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;">This was standard pour at WOL</span><br />
<span style="font-size: normal;">but not at any other show.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P1OCEwmJQZKcBQH0ZJMXxvTeASPMoQ8ByN6lOnZqQC3nzUN73oD2rO1azkKOQu__oHgV1R30AxI3BC3G2q9JtweGmkxBXZKUD8YEYdMGFOqKZW2FiRqEwwXu1ygl59n-z6b3lfQbRoNp/s1600/JF%2526Ari2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1P1OCEwmJQZKcBQH0ZJMXxvTeASPMoQ8ByN6lOnZqQC3nzUN73oD2rO1azkKOQu__oHgV1R30AxI3BC3G2q9JtweGmkxBXZKUD8YEYdMGFOqKZW2FiRqEwwXu1ygl59n-z6b3lfQbRoNp/s640/JF%2526Ari2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: normal;">Prohibition medicinal half pint and 1950s </span>dusties<span style="font-size: normal;"> at The Water Of Life ultra VIP</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: normal;">Yoni Miller, Ari Susskind, and Josh Feldman</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPG5A1eUu0RS3fC1q2frCNlkVV-rP96WfOC08ZYUadyyrMNB9K_5cGplkoigwnQAk6EBvFDejFqiENVJlPncFzgP8KLC80HHBokAE9NYcBRy5c0y66-2o6qx1vwgwYtO_b7Hnte8F1hISw/s640/AriSusskindSCN.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">Ari Susskind pours Tomatin, and also something dusty and special in his copper flask.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTXbF1cDOXYIEnhvx7-We-ZU5B3PXnceRAfvQCbko5GiJ765A8ubxUtM_sCIR0iVhl3cobISI7-FPttRUqhjPM5-IIiZeJp1E3WgBl3fDzZHydEoJa-eZHqyJcPZ1QQuKMAymaWrD5nHd/s1600/MattLurin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixTXbF1cDOXYIEnhvx7-We-ZU5B3PXnceRAfvQCbko5GiJ765A8ubxUtM_sCIR0iVhl3cobISI7-FPttRUqhjPM5-IIiZeJp1E3WgBl3fDzZHydEoJa-eZHqyJcPZ1QQuKMAymaWrD5nHd/s640/MattLurin2.jpg" width="640" /></a>The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-48454018855093664862017-03-29T17:50:00.001-04:002017-03-29T19:04:07.989-04:00Whisky Gets Glamorous Tomorrow Night in Harlem<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNtW9cuFk8TM-Fk5C1Y5dVycbgnMZy4BdrUrVQVu0xxFkWy_TsyUI1fCvX09I1ZcXu7Tr2GG_TLGQ7moE4BLME4VbbMF_gvMK1e6HESIrDQxBJyDuxXAgEgKF1Mvqp8qBBtMV0ScEjh9R/s1600/Smile2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoNtW9cuFk8TM-Fk5C1Y5dVycbgnMZy4BdrUrVQVu0xxFkWy_TsyUI1fCvX09I1ZcXu7Tr2GG_TLGQ7moE4BLME4VbbMF_gvMK1e6HESIrDQxBJyDuxXAgEgKF1Mvqp8qBBtMV0ScEjh9R/s640/Smile2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">That Harlem Rensaissance vibe... Photo by <a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-O_6VfrLHbVfTNaTrydqN5eNnugQ1M1NWrEbaH08LKb_bGc_56IoK44G1KPdEtBfht73UPEmKq1PdhFioyfs9r-3A1evUN2-fDaqGZnEK4zCIED4orwV9zxfB0zuNfuRnqzpLw3JLKsV0/s1600/HarlemWhiskyShowPerformance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-O_6VfrLHbVfTNaTrydqN5eNnugQ1M1NWrEbaH08LKb_bGc_56IoK44G1KPdEtBfht73UPEmKq1PdhFioyfs9r-3A1evUN2-fDaqGZnEK4zCIED4orwV9zxfB0zuNfuRnqzpLw3JLKsV0/s400/HarlemWhiskyShowPerformance.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Jazz and dance. Photo by <a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a></span></td></tr>
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I'm headed to the Harlem Whiskey Renaissance 2017 tomorrow, Thursday March 30th, 2017. It's a whiskey show - where you get an engraved Glencairn glass and can visit tables where brand ambassadors will take you through their lines - but you also get a lot more. Live jazz music by Dandy Wellington and his Band with burlesque acts by The Maine Attraction and Calamity Chang. Also an awesome raffle and charity auction, cigars, chocolate, food, and a great vibe.<br />
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There are a ton of whiskies on offer (I'll put the list at the bottom). There are VIP tickets which include a master class tasting five different Heaven Hill mash bills and another contrasting Corsair, Leopold, and Charbay offerings. Also, VIPs receive the book "Distilled Knowledge: The Science Behind Drinking’s Greatest Myths, Legends, and Unanswered Questions" by Brian Hoefling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpNdYgNaRk6GUmenKHMoxNK1JcBEMmvYc86HFFLxwm4rZmo3PVqtj5I0jH4aQnCqbBiA24oDD7nict1O97sLPqac93zP5AAbeX00nyJOvlYQIYpqg2Vr4MMAKyusjgsysHBZH3SOofcvv/s1600/AllanRothMasterClass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVpNdYgNaRk6GUmenKHMoxNK1JcBEMmvYc86HFFLxwm4rZmo3PVqtj5I0jH4aQnCqbBiA24oDD7nict1O97sLPqac93zP5AAbeX00nyJOvlYQIYpqg2Vr4MMAKyusjgsysHBZH3SOofcvv/s640/AllanRothMasterClass.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last year's VIP tasting featured Alan Roth presenting Glenfiddich - photo by <a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a> </span><br />
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Proceeds from this event will benefit a worthy charity which helps kids in Harlem: <b>The Boys & Girls Harbor.</b><a href="http://www.theharbor.org/" target="_blank"> http://www.theharbor.org/</a><br />
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The venue is conveniently located right on 116th St at MIST-HARLEM, 46 W 116TH ST, NY, NY<br />
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Visit the event's web site to learn more:<br />
<a href="http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/" target="_blank">http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/</a><br />
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Here is the link to get tickets: <a href="http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/tickets" target="_blank"> http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/tickets</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9s0w1dRz990FpshCq_J7jEhF8bKofN5BA8GDOoQcLJiL2QOu9SeLZv1nz7tqhI7G_BETnsqB6APNdBak0W5aKYptk2jJRtIy222FP_EPCXAAuqR3Eb9mDYXJKMwWVHHmwLfQlqk3NHurI/s1600/ShowGirlCostume2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9s0w1dRz990FpshCq_J7jEhF8bKofN5BA8GDOoQcLJiL2QOu9SeLZv1nz7tqhI7G_BETnsqB6APNdBak0W5aKYptk2jJRtIy222FP_EPCXAAuqR3Eb9mDYXJKMwWVHHmwLfQlqk3NHurI/s640/ShowGirlCostume2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dancer joins in - photo by <a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a> </span></td></tr>
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Some of pours and other attractions will include:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQz8WhSxFCIWNTro-4y6reV0JY2X8DQlONVJPhe3xod9iotYPRYYrZcD1KwJA3_Sr89yydBEwYWKeCxaXYLpw4zMzWdN8gWm0_LaUtw9dCZ1ug_fiiLw3xRHWLCTPP55kvsUADhmSAr-e/s1600/HarlemDance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbQz8WhSxFCIWNTro-4y6reV0JY2X8DQlONVJPhe3xod9iotYPRYYrZcD1KwJA3_Sr89yydBEwYWKeCxaXYLpw4zMzWdN8gWm0_LaUtw9dCZ1ug_fiiLw3xRHWLCTPP55kvsUADhmSAr-e/s320/HarlemDance.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Dandy Wellington and his band jazz up the joint.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;">photo by</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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Aberlour<br />
Andullo Cigars<br />
Bain's<br />
Bernheim<br />
Black Bottle<br />
Bunnahabhain<br />
Crown Royal<br />
Dad's Hat<br />
Deanston<br />
Elijah Craig<br />
Evan Williams<br />
Filibuster Bourbon<br />
Four Roses<br />
Glenlivet<br />
Glenrothes<br />
Glen Scotia<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaPb00HW8w5C0HNOK8E4G6LLaobtwDtw0AfSSr25WgB-5ge9qALQWtghsLSeciQxMZSU7AFRRtbADdvc0Bd5AiKFySe_-EUltSMK2LEr9-DQ_kMIo73YkuaY6sl-ZXF0piVt-hLQC2gi5/s1600/JakeCahill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaPb00HW8w5C0HNOK8E4G6LLaobtwDtw0AfSSr25WgB-5ge9qALQWtghsLSeciQxMZSU7AFRRtbADdvc0Bd5AiKFySe_-EUltSMK2LEr9-DQ_kMIo73YkuaY6sl-ZXF0piVt-hLQC2gi5/s320/JakeCahill.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jake Cahill pouring Four Roses Kentucky Bourbon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;">photo by</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a><span style="font-size: small; text-align: center;"> </span><br />
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Harlem Chocolate Factory<br />
Harlem Swing Dance Society<br />
Henry McKenna<br />
Hudson Whiskey<br />
Johnnie Walker<br />
Kavalan<br />
Kinahan's<br />
Larceny<br />
Ledaig<br />
Loch Lomand<br />
Magnum<br />
Meyer's Alsatian Whisky<br />
Nikka<br />
Old Portrero<br />
Pikesville Rye<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCHiQ17DvzfTT1XQvrxQ33sQYphFq4bZ4K_GNDhN9Xv7VpQocbnYCKmraUH5VlD4_aTdksDgrtJibR62J8CYTv2OavjVl2wNwkEuhAcvDjV4YRDItTA6VsDyvZzIiHd7gykxC1ccKsKaw/s1600/ArdbegSmile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCHiQ17DvzfTT1XQvrxQ33sQYphFq4bZ4K_GNDhN9Xv7VpQocbnYCKmraUH5VlD4_aTdksDgrtJibR62J8CYTv2OavjVl2wNwkEuhAcvDjV4YRDItTA6VsDyvZzIiHd7gykxC1ccKsKaw/s320/ArdbegSmile.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">photo by<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></td></tr>
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Sonoma County Distilling Co.<br />
Tomintoul<br />
Tullibardine<br />
Wolfburn<br />
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Sounds like a fabulous time. Join me there.<br />
That link for tickets again:<br />
<a href="http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/tickets" target="_blank"><b> http://www.harlemwhiskeyrenaissance.com/tickets</b></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIY0Gxq-AhERzNahZgISBXyNbuncWYqxr53ZZmklssVbpgVgNTWlPOAA9OI8moC2ghs-Jy2prEBUk7uLOLv-wf-K3ARkWaDu1Mt0PqPu2qgRiyDGKP6YPNQtdX2ARwo7NXxqEw9MM4RQa2/s1600/DavidBaileyPours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIY0Gxq-AhERzNahZgISBXyNbuncWYqxr53ZZmklssVbpgVgNTWlPOAA9OI8moC2ghs-Jy2prEBUk7uLOLv-wf-K3ARkWaDu1Mt0PqPu2qgRiyDGKP6YPNQtdX2ARwo7NXxqEw9MM4RQa2/s640/DavidBaileyPours.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">David Bailey pouring elegant Scotch. - </span><span style="font-size: small;">photo by</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRWc6Y8I73JZebgUIwHo54UuxGlyM_FrSkIfx4uKoVivJ-o829B6mD3T9Aa1yddkAv-20Iv6mRnELPQQN6kcxdbhDk63iZSffMvzf-lSWPLqrsNYCApiDCZq66Vrv4xtezPz1638PYjA7/s1600/FourRosesCostume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGRWc6Y8I73JZebgUIwHo54UuxGlyM_FrSkIfx4uKoVivJ-o829B6mD3T9Aa1yddkAv-20Iv6mRnELPQQN6kcxdbhDk63iZSffMvzf-lSWPLqrsNYCApiDCZq66Vrv4xtezPz1638PYjA7/s640/FourRosesCostume.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">photo by</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a href="http://www.claywilliamsphoto.com/" style="font-size: medium;" target="_blank">Clay Williams</a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-91379602279072664232017-03-25T21:47:00.001-04:002017-03-26T22:28:30.164-04:00New Study "Proves" You Can't Taste The Difference Between Single Malts And Blends. Or Does It?It is a classic truism in the malt whisky world that single malts are "better than" blends. The usual reason given is that single malts are free of the "inferior" grain whisky. It's been popular in the whisky blogosphere to debunk this conclusion, usually by pointing to certain high-end blends and grain whiskies which are so good they stand up to any spirit. The point is valid: high-end grain and blended whisky can be as good as all but the most incredible single malts. However, the reputation of single malts as a category remains, and for good reason. Single malts have an extraordinarily wide gamut of flavors: from 'honey and heather', to 'richly sherried', to 'powerfully peated' and all sorts of distinctive flavors in between. Alternately sweet, or dry, or phenolic, grassy, smoky, floral, shy or huge, malt is a chameleon which is a terrific carrier for flavor factors such as malting method, wood management, and terroir. For many single malt enthusiasts, this wide gamut is the exactly the point. Where bourbon, rye, rum, and brandy can often win out on richness and intensity of their distinctive flavor signature, no spirit can hold a candle to malt for such kaleidoscopic variety.<br />
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Could you tell single malts from blends if you were tasting blind samples? Experience has taught me that it can be devilishly hard to identify what you're drinking when you aren't told anything up front. <i>(I did a double blind tasting of American and Canadian rye whiskies and <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/08/canadian-ryes-bottled-in-usa-surveyed.html" target="_blank">failed to tell which was which</a>. Then, there was the time that I mistook a rye for a Bourbon (<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2015/07/smoky-beasts-barrel-of-smooth-ambler.html" target="_blank">see sample #1 in a Smoky Beast blind tasting</a>). And, one time <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/05/beginner-luck-winning-drammingcom-blind.html" target="_blank">I actually won Dramming.com's first blind tasting competition</a> - and I didn't get a single identification right, just attributes like ages and proofs.) </i> Still - single malts and blends and single grains whiskies. You should be able to tell them apart, right?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jennifer Lucille Wren (left) and Emily Ross-Johnson (right) at one of the USA tasting sessions involved in the research.</span></td></tr>
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Recently a piece of formal academic research came out which takes on this question and hopes to settle it empirically. The paper is called "<b><a href="http://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13411-017-0056-x" target="_blank">The perceptual categorisation of blended and single malt Scotch whiskies</a></b>" by Barry Smith et.al and it was published in a journal called "<a href="http://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/" target="_blank">Flavor</a>", put out by Biomed Central (sadly Flavor is due to cease publication after the next issue) - (DOI: 10.1186/s13411-017-0056-x).<br />
<a href="http://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13411-017-0056-x" target="_blank"><b>http://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13411-017-0056-x</b></a><br />
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The paper notes that "<i><b>a firm distinction exists in the minds of consumers and in the marketing of Scotch between single malts and blended whiskies</b></i>" but asks "<i><b>But does this category distinction correspond to a perceptual difference detectable by whisky drinkers</b></i><b><i>?</i></b>" In order to tell, expert and non-expert tasters in three different countries (UK, France, and the USA) were asked to apply standardized descriptors to the nose and palates to the following whiskies tasted blind<br />
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Four single malts Scotches:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Cardhu 12 </b></li>
<li><b>Mortlach (Flora & Fauna 16 yo)</b></li>
<li><b>Glenlivet 18</b></li>
<li><b>Glenmorangie</b> (10 - although erroneously stated as 12)</li>
</ol>
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Four blended Scotches:</div>
<ol>
<li><b>Chivas Gold 18</b></li>
<li><b>Ballantine's 17</b></li>
<li><b>Johnnie Walker Black 12</b></li>
<li><b>Johnnie Walker Platinum 18</b></li>
</ol>
and one grain whisky:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Cameron Brig</b> (6 years old) </li>
</ol>
The standardized descriptors allowed the researchers to compare results across 92 different tasters in the three different countries and to chart the results. Here are the charts for the results of nosing these whiskies by experts (top chart) and non-experts (bottom chart) for example. Single malts are in blue, blends are in black, and the lone grain is in red. Single malts and blends are all mixed up - although I notice that the experts and the non-experts put a number of the whiskies in the same general areas (although not the grain - which veers drunkenly).<br />
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I had the pleasure of sitting on one of the tasting panels, along with some very distinguished members of the New York whisky community at that time (September 2014), including Matt Lurin, the man behind what is probably the best whisky event on the planet at the moment, <a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/" target="_blank">The Water of Life</a> (more on this blog about that event very shortly - meanwhile click the link to buy tickets), Emily Ross-Johnson who, at the time, was the founder of the Astoria Whiskey Society (now she is the founder of the <a href="http://www.portlandwhiskeysociety.com/" target="_blank">Portland Whiskey Society</a> - and you should join if you're out there - click the live link), Jennifer Lucille Wren, a whisky blogger and event organizer then, who is now the West Coast brand ambassador for Glenfiddich, and Susanna Skiver Barton, whisky blogger, journalist, and now manager of the Whisky Advocate's web presence. The experience of participating in the tasting gives me a personal perspective on how this study operated because I was there.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lead author, Barry Smith, explains the tasting procedure to Matt Lurin (left) and Jennifer Wren (right)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Susanna Skiver Barton (left) and Josh Feldman (the author of this post) at one of Smith et al.'s NY tastings. The blind samples in the study are before us. Photo by Emily Ross-Johnson (thanks)</span></td></tr>
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Smith et. al.'s conclusion is that people can't taste the difference between single malts and blends:<br />
<i></i><br />
<i><b>"The present study shows that the distinction between blends and single malts, which is central to the production, presentation and marketing of Scotch whisky, does not correspond to a clear cut perceptual distinction for tasters."</b></i><br />
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Barry Smith and his colleagues have structured an empirical blind study with a good methodology - so have they settled this topic? In my opinion, <b>absolutely not.</b> The problem has to do with the types of single malts and blends they selected for the study. All of the single malts selected - with the sole exception of Mortloch, fall squarely in the "honey and heather" flavor profile, and that's exactly true of the blends selected too. This isn't representative of those overall segments. When you walk into a liquor store and peruse the blended Scotch, many of the options are considerably lighter and less distinguished than Johnnie Walker Platinum 18, Chivas Gold 18, or Ballantine's 17 - or even Johnnie Walker Black 12. The likes of J&B, Johnnie Walker Red, Passport, 100 Pipers, Bell's, Clan McGreggor, Dewar's White Label etc... are far more grainy and less honeyed and floral than the unabashedly high-end blends in the study. Conversely, many single malt enthusiasts will often opt for single malts well outside the "home plate" honey and heather flavor profile - going for sherry bombs like Glendronach, Aberlour, or Macallan, or peat monsters like Laphroaig, Ardbeg or Lagavulin, or dozens of different interesting variants (the rubber of Ledaig, the pheolic Strathspey, the salt and honey of Old Pultney, Springbank's fungal notes... etc...) rather than the gentle likes of Cardhu, Glenlivet, and the base Glenmorangie. These single malts, delicious as they are, tend to be close to the center of the "honey and heather" "Highland" flavor profile that is exactly what the blenders at Diageo and Pernod Ricard are aiming for.<br />
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To some extent, there is no way to structure a piece of scientific research which adequately captures this broad flavor gamut - precisely because it would be so easy to pick them out blind which would muddy the central question of whether something specific about single malts versus blends is objectively detectable. It's clear that the designers of this study selected whiskies for the blind tasting deliberately to have a very similar flavor profile with the specific aim of trying to see if tasters could identify the<i> sole distinction</i> with flavor signature held constant as much as possible. And, in that aim they have succeeded. I couldn't tell the difference. The preponderance of the other tasters couldn't either. And I bet you couldn't reliably tell the difference blind with this set of drams either. But, I argue that these selections don't represent the nature of blended Scotch whiskies and single malt whiskies generally. Looking at the segments as a whole, you and I would be far more likely to be able to pick out blends versus single malts when the full gamut of flavors is in the mix. Select J&B and Bells as the examples of blends, and Laphroaig 10 and Glendronach 15 as the single malts, for example, and then taste those blind. I bet I could pick the single malts and blends in that example that every time and you probably could too. It's those real perceptual differences that gave rise to the generalizations that aren't always true - but are true often enough to make them commonly held - which is why whisky bloggers are still writing pieces about how good blends can make you question those assumptions.<br />
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So where does that leave us? Is there some Platonic ideal of "single maltness" which can be differentiated from "blendness"? No. Barry Smith et. al. have scientifically proved that, <b><i>when flavor signature is held relatively constant</i></b>, tasters cannot distinguish between single malts and blends. My complaint is that they left that qualifying clause out of the language of their published conclusion, and I find that omission misleading. It implies, to someone not carefully reading, that all this whisky epicureanism is some kind of snobby mirage and that no one can really taste the difference between the carefully crafted and inexpensive bulk stuff. That isn't the case at all - and it's not what Barry Smith et. al. meant to imply either. But they left the door wide open to that misinterpretation. In social media where many people will only read the headline, that incorrect message will be the one that people will learn most from this study. In the real world, you can actually taste the difference between many many single malts and many many blends all day long.<br />
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-22516184281163924202016-07-03T22:04:00.000-04:002017-07-20T12:53:58.425-04:00Cedar Brook Plankington Reserve - The Whiskey at the Intersection of Old Judge McBrayer's and the Whiskey Trust's Julius Kessler's Stories<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Cedar Brook Plankington Reserve - photo by Chad Hartsfield</span></td></tr>
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Bourbon, like America, evolved from humble roots on frontier farms to something big and industrial which, in the era of America's robber barons, meant trusts. Farmers were replaced by corporate titans. This is a story of two men who owned a particular Anderson County, Kentucky, distillery - Cedar Brook - at different times. A new kind of American hero was replacing an older one.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFZn8TTFoLK6wjkSQARObxT4BmwKsm4mlvOYycbjzBA3m7BBxGbBtZKdn-OQFMhuwx5y8A5VFaMiEo2BLGsjBNKPFKI2BoZ3Q2TV3pBB356YtQQqirzhxqRAZsy71iFf94PgAQfTZfuce/s1600/cedarbrook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHFZn8TTFoLK6wjkSQARObxT4BmwKsm4mlvOYycbjzBA3m7BBxGbBtZKdn-OQFMhuwx5y8A5VFaMiEo2BLGsjBNKPFKI2BoZ3Q2TV3pBB356YtQQqirzhxqRAZsy71iFf94PgAQfTZfuce/s640/cedarbrook.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">A Cedar Brook ad from the early days of the Bottled In Bond Act - under Kessler's control.</span></td></tr>
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<h3>
Old Judge McBrayer</h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEsoVrjieG_bMbcwtVKhJJ_i-bB6j8tGou7fq7yXwvGlcxz2ayxeGbEcL-VkFLFOn3Wm6tR_d0_ZavkULUB57uaV1lEpf4h1ucSjgiN69vLSWsf9cJGHfvAYRwGd3F1QpZ7Ra0EX_z_iS/s1600/JudgeMcBrayer_Portrait.jpg" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #141823; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnEsoVrjieG_bMbcwtVKhJJ_i-bB6j8tGou7fq7yXwvGlcxz2ayxeGbEcL-VkFLFOn3Wm6tR_d0_ZavkULUB57uaV1lEpf4h1ucSjgiN69vLSWsf9cJGHfvAYRwGd3F1QpZ7Ra0EX_z_iS/s320/JudgeMcBrayer_Portrait.jpg" /></a></h3>
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"Old Judge" William Harrison McBrayer was born in 1821 into a family of 11 children in a log cabin on the frontier, a mere generation after Kentucky became a state. W.H. McBrayer was a true native Kentucky son. Both his father and his grandfather probably made whiskey on their family spreads. By the age of 18 he had joined his brothers in owning and running a general store in Lawrenceburg, KY (an Anderson County town about a dozen miles west of Lexington. He used the proceeds to buy a parcel of land in the early 1840s from a freed slave who had inherited the land from his owners who had died childless. He started off raising cattle there - and operating a still on the spread in the way he had been raised. Sam Cecil reckons distilling operations started in around 1844. It was RD No. 44 in Kentucky's 8th district. I wonder what that whiskey tasted like. I imagine it might have been pretty good, at least by the standards of the day, because he became popular enough that he was elected Judge of the county in 1851. He would be referred to by that title for the rest of his life. By 1856 he had parlayed that influence into a seat in the State Senate. He was able to put more money into upgrading the distillery operation on his spread. By 1861 Cedar Brook appears as a registered trademarked whiskey brand. The details of the story about he created a superior product that we would recognize as fine Bourbon today are not known to me - but he had created something which impressed a global audience in the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. That show was of major significance. It was the first World's Fair on US soil in the golden era of World's Fairs and to win the whisky category's gold medal must have been a very big deal. It shows up in<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=nSTjzjDkpRUC&pg=PA13&dq=Judge+MacBrayer+1876+Centennial+Philadelphia+gold+whisky+whiskey&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwibwvOj59XNAhVD6oMKHZf_AxwQ6AEIIDAA#v=onepage&q=Judge%20MacBrayer%201876%20Centennial%20Philadelphia%20gold%20whisky%20whiskey&f=false" target="_blank"> family histories</a> to this day. McBrayer bought the distiller at the time, Newton Brown, a gold watch as a reward. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmErBQSUU268MwKnv9pDIwCAz2Th4GWcNiUq07m4Oi65-3r7OZLDujiBNSkvEGUm66umcGnYDyfOtnpX_DZ_1RC9URyM31NZ3ptreCadW4FXOxwic6E_yiGXY2y4PGiL5pK5x9IC7bElH/s1600/PhillyCentennialMedal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtmErBQSUU268MwKnv9pDIwCAz2Th4GWcNiUq07m4Oi65-3r7OZLDujiBNSkvEGUm66umcGnYDyfOtnpX_DZ_1RC9URyM31NZ3ptreCadW4FXOxwic6E_yiGXY2y4PGiL5pK5x9IC7bElH/s640/PhillyCentennialMedal.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Centennial Exhibition Award Medal - 1876</span></td></tr>
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Business was good and the distillery expanded again to 570 bushels a day by 1887. In December of 1888 W.H. McBrayer died, still at the helm of his distillery - and a strange inheritance drama played out because in his will he specified that he allowed his heirs to use his name in association with whiskey for only three years and then he wanted his name removed from what came after. Was he a religious man who didn't want his name to stand for whiskey? He was an officer in a teetotaler church and his widow had anti-liquor views (a bit ironically given her source of income). This story is admirably told by Sullivan on Pre-Pro Whiskey Men blog:</div>
<i>"Moore, as manager of the distillery and co-executor of the Judge’s will with the widow, attempted to nullify the clause. He argued that the McBrayer name was worth at least $200,000 to the Judge's grandchildren (millions today). Nonetheless, Mary took him to court."<br /><br />"When a lower court agreed with her, Moore appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The judges there were more sympathetic, apparently well acquainted with McBrayer’s Cedar Brook. While their opinion suggested that the quality of the whiskey had suffered with the Judge’s death, they agreed with Moore that he had never intended to disadvantage his beloved grandchildren. The McBrayer name stuck."</i><br />
<a href="http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2011/10/wh-mcbrayer-judge-of-good-whiskey.html">http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2011/10/wh-mcbrayer-judge-of-good-whiskey.html</a><br />
<br />
His son in law Colonel D.L. Moore, who was already in the whiskey business, ran it for a few years and then sold it to the Whiskey Trust in 1899. The trust expanded it again to 1800 bushels a day. Meanwhile, the term "Old Judge" became associated with whiskey broadly - and a host of copycat brands used the term - hoping to catch some of the glamour of of the quality of what William Harrison McBrayer had created in his lifetime - exactly what McBrayer had been trying to avoid.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyQKkYMy0bNtRuEzwpw5SXE4jYzURPAvwHbPREd4oErBrsWkVK9pXK842FgY6fxoTJS23gpSoVAXAOkNFaanGiwUDqyipeDe7GPSc9P6uH-QWdTK1I6g3gRL_SAGV2sXZWDgQA_P1qoz5/s1600/OldJudgeMontage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyQKkYMy0bNtRuEzwpw5SXE4jYzURPAvwHbPREd4oErBrsWkVK9pXK842FgY6fxoTJS23gpSoVAXAOkNFaanGiwUDqyipeDe7GPSc9P6uH-QWdTK1I6g3gRL_SAGV2sXZWDgQA_P1qoz5/s640/OldJudgeMontage.jpg" width="633" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The irony is that Judge McBrayer didn't want his name associated with whiskey.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnS-__NLYweOgKy0_aWzhH09WF9s5YZpcb70nf329TENL_RP5KvHYx-M6fFCmHjRTbnVEAODpOcFjxdBLUfgiKjlsL8_b63HDajKRVLfeyADmHRKdXVA8HyN1eUegBnW7q2jonPstYEttk/s1600/CedarBrookAd1913ElPasoMorningTimes.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnS-__NLYweOgKy0_aWzhH09WF9s5YZpcb70nf329TENL_RP5KvHYx-M6fFCmHjRTbnVEAODpOcFjxdBLUfgiKjlsL8_b63HDajKRVLfeyADmHRKdXVA8HyN1eUegBnW7q2jonPstYEttk/s640/CedarBrookAd1913ElPasoMorningTimes.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Kessler went whole hog on marketing Cedarbrook's whiskey.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Ad in El Paso Morning Times (El Paso, Tex.), Thursday, September 11, 1913</span></div>
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<a href="http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196655/m1/11/">http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth196655/m1/11/</a></div>
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<h3>
Julius Kessler</h3>
Julius Kessler was a Hungarian Jew, born in Budapest in 1855, who had immigrated to the US and came to dominate the Colorado whiskey trade in the mining boom era of the 1870s. By 1899 when Julius Kessler bought Cedar Brook, he was a major veteran of the whiskey business and had become among the most powerful people in the industry. He had led the reorganization of the remnants of Joseph Benedict Greenhut's first whiskey trust - the Distillers & Cattle Feeders' Trust - in 1896 and named the new entity, initially, "The American Spirits Manufacturing Company". In 1899 the <b>Kentucky Distillers and Warehouse Company</b> emerged out of a complicated merger of 4 different companies including "The Distilling Company of America". The complexity of the corporate formation was necessitated by the need to evade Federal attention. Thus, the reboot of the Whiskey Trust required a lot of paper trail cover. To understand that we have to go back a decade. The first Whiskey Trust ran from 1887 to 1895. The largest distillery in the world, Greenhut's Great Western, and 65 other distilleries merged to form the <b>Distillers & Cattle Feeders' Trust</b> with the goal of controlling the price of the commodity alcohol. The problem was a large number of small distillers who dumped onto the market without tactics or control, lowering prices at awkward times. The Trust aimed to buy them all up and close down the smaller less efficient ones and run the larger more efficient ones to higher profits. The problem was that whiskey distillers were ornery people and many chose not to sell out. The usual array of strongarm tactics were employed: threats, arson, killings, lawsuits. Trusts were the Zeitgeist of the era and social reformers battled them. The Sherman AntiTrust act of 1890 began the legal edifice which ultimately tore it down. Greenhut bailed out in 1895 under the heat of Federal prosecution. Kessler found a way to assemble the trust back to together and evade prosecution.<br />
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In that same year of establishment of the new Trust, 1899, Kessler also purchased Cedar Brook. He renamed "Cedar Brook" "Kessler" and made its Bourbon his namesake product. The Bottled in Bond Act had just passed in 1897 and Kessler made the most of it in his advertising. He upgraded Kessler Distillery and was trying to build something big. The first two decades of the 20th century were the good times. Kessler advertised extensively and Cedar Brook was his top of the line. True, the whiskey trust wasn't effective in controlling commodity alcohol prices, but whiskey was a good volume business in that era. But it wasn't long until it was all shut down by Prohibition in 1920. Kessler tried his hand selling women's underwear - but only a year later - 1921 - he had decided to give it up and retire to Austria (in some versions it's back to Hungary). He languishes in the Old World - apparently running out money until 1934 when Sam Bronfman brought him out of retirement to front a huge new brand roll out. The brand sold big and old man Kessler made a fortune and died rich in 1940 - with an obituary in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7pkFivnjceph6uSW1EuvlWwS7oOLhCoiAkwNu9UlRbMyhY5mbPWHpB0FmvaogmoVvPIwXgF5D9KdfEH9JlxUArhehTa3KJHgvs_joRVOhX72BJiHy0vl_WzHA1L_a5MVU1Z7YoLWmMzv/s1600/Kessler%2527s363.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7pkFivnjceph6uSW1EuvlWwS7oOLhCoiAkwNu9UlRbMyhY5mbPWHpB0FmvaogmoVvPIwXgF5D9KdfEH9JlxUArhehTa3KJHgvs_joRVOhX72BJiHy0vl_WzHA1L_a5MVU1Z7YoLWmMzv/s400/Kessler%2527s363.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kessler's portrait on a Repeal era mini bottle on<br />
<a href="http://www.czajkus.com/" target="_blank"> http://www.czajkus.com</a>/</td></tr>
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The big question in that story is why Bronfman chose Kessler. Many Jews had produced major and important brands of American whiskey (Kessler no less than anyone.) But no one had ever put one of their Jewish names on any of the brands. Kessler himself had gone with the court fought value of the name of Old Judge McBrayer when selling his own whiskey. Now, in the first dawn of Repeal Bronfman was putting the might of Seagram's behind branding for a product that was always conceived of as a blend: i.e. a mix of Bourbon and grain neutral spirits (vodka). Blends are always about glamour - and Sam Bronfman paid Kessler a fortune to be the name and face and ambassador of the brand.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Maybe it was the romantic story of Kessler's early career?<br />
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<br />
One <a href="http://www.beerliquors.com/buy/liquors/kessler_whiskey.htm" target="_blank">liquor store site</a> says - paraphrasing the WSJ obituary: "<i>Julius Kessler (born Gulag Kessler) ... is said to have gone saloon to saloon selling more whiskey than any man alive... He personally used pack mules to haul whiskey over the Colorado Mountains to many thirsty silver miners in Leadville, Colorado.</i>"'<br />
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Another idea is that Bronfman may have been recognizing a kindred spirit in Kessler as a manager of the Whiskey Trust - with it's attempting to strong arm the market. Bronfman played the same game. There is the facts of their biographies: both were Eastern European Jews who had come to the North America and had shot the moon in the liquor industry. Or maybe it was just the whiskey itself. Kessler had put his face all over Cedar Brook's whiskey advertising. Maybe Bronfman loved the juice from the Kessler distillery (Cedar Brook) and felt that it was something that should be iconic. The whole affair fills a section of Stephen Birmingham's<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017APD5OK" target="_blank">"'The Rest of Us': The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews"</a>. It's a fascinating story - with Kessler giving away the last of his money to a mysterious Hungarian and then embarrassingly trying to make a living by selling liquor consultancy services to American liquor barons. Sam Bronfman didn't know Kessler, but apparently, after a visit by a mysterious Hungarian he created Kessler Distilling Corporation as a subsidiary of Seagrams with Julius Kessler as President and Seagram's Master Blender Calman Levine to create a special whiskey calculated to sell well in the marketplace. Birmingham speculates that maybe Kessler "had something" on Bronfman - perhaps from back in their mobbed-up Prohibition days. But he also recounts a warm friendship and an anecdote about Kesller giving his gold musical watch to little Edgar Bronfman who admired it. There was a charming exchange reported where Kessler said "I'll give it to you on your Bar Mitzva", but when little Edgar replied "But you're an old man. You might not be here for my bar mitzva", Kessler gave the child the watch on the spot.<br />
<br />
Seagrams produced Kessler's Blended Whiskey until WWII when it was taken off the market because of the demands of the war effort for alcohol. But by 1951 it was back with aged stocks and fresh grain neutral spirits. When Seagrams began breaking up most of their brands went to Vivendi (Pernod Ricard) or Diageo (via United Distillers) but Kessler's ended up with Beam and thus to Beam Suntory. Quietly, Kessler's - as a bottom shelf well whiskey - remains a huge seller. According to Beam Suntory, it's the #2 selling blended American whiskey in world.<br />
<br />
On Beam Suntory's official web site for the Kessler brand they say that Julius Kessler was known as "Uncle Julius". They also say his whiskey has always said "smooth as silk" and that it delivers on this promise to this day. It's a blended American whiskey with high 72.5% level of grain neutral spirits (same stuff as everclear). Josh Peters, over at Whiskey Jug, <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/american-whiskey/kessler-american-blended-whiskey-review/" target="_blank">tasted it and didn't much like it</a>. It's a sad legacy - but perhaps the fact that it's a huge seller with a lot of bulk grain alcohol in it is true to the aims of the Whiskey Trust.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityf5XXjTgKkx12isyl5gHSd8wqy789RseWcgDKlsxuelI5kuGnQ1H8PBTLi4LZpIYBaIDAQlGjLqdxgZKikU7zhFQ0Ah3Ou24gUkVjKZrmJGS1w7mqtksxYpw0TEih0-KjN_jOvZh5VLp/s1600/Kessler.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityf5XXjTgKkx12isyl5gHSd8wqy789RseWcgDKlsxuelI5kuGnQ1H8PBTLi4LZpIYBaIDAQlGjLqdxgZKikU7zhFQ0Ah3Ou24gUkVjKZrmJGS1w7mqtksxYpw0TEih0-KjN_jOvZh5VLp/s640/Kessler.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">The current Beam Suntory product - and image of Julius K. </span></td></tr>
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Kessler is a puzzling figure in many ways. Both warm and generous, and also potentially coercive and powerful. He exists in the nebulous area between the glamour of the old West and the mobbed up world of machine politics and violent business tactics common in the "Boardwalk Empire" world of the early days of the 20th century. I suspect the truth is complex. As it turns out, so was his whiskey.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZjsNM0p7IaFGrry-h0UgoHpNyeLN6IiFh1OUTFIsRt5j9digzyqH3jEJKDh7c2KE4Z2YEJ3R3weXSkBR14y1kST0YSWtHju2w4cJwxcqevb5HmtVbPPDZH93p9sM7EE8GEL648nrEp0K/s1600/cedarbrook-ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #141823; float: left; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZjsNM0p7IaFGrry-h0UgoHpNyeLN6IiFh1OUTFIsRt5j9digzyqH3jEJKDh7c2KE4Z2YEJ3R3weXSkBR14y1kST0YSWtHju2w4cJwxcqevb5HmtVbPPDZH93p9sM7EE8GEL648nrEp0K/s320/cedarbrook-ad.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><br />
A glimpse of both Kessler's style and the positioning of Cedar Brook can be seen in an interview one of his marketing managers gave an advertising journal in 1902:<br />
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<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=rrMpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=THE+JULIUS+KESSLER+COMPANY+SYSTEM+As+a+contrast+to+the+usual+methods+of+selling+whisky+which+is+appeal+to+the+consumer+a+demand+is+created+to+which+dealer+must+respond+witness+method+adopted+by+Julius+%26+Company+That+concern+operating+an+aggregation+of+distilleries+attacks+the+dealer+and+is+never+diverted+from+straight+object+of+inducing+him+buy+in+lots+of+five+barrels+or+in+bond.%22+...&source=bl&ots=De3LskCN9Q&sig=jd3ODZ7jpTwcx4qioVbWC7CNxog&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwid8Iimi9jNAhWJbD4KHaojASUQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank">January 1, 1902 issue of Printer's Ink (a "Journal for Advertisers"):</a><br />
"THE JULIUS KESSLER COMPANY SYSTEM As a contrast to the usual methods of selling whisky which is appeal to the consumer a demand is created to which dealer must respond witness method adopted by Julius & Company That concern operating an aggregation of distilleries attacks the dealer and is never diverted from straight object of inducing him buy in lots of five barrels or in bond." ...<br />
" Our leading brands for instance WH McBrayer's Cedar Brook Atherton and Sam Clay Whisky has previously been sold to wholesalers only and if to the retailer at all only in the shape of a blend containing a small percentage of this whisky mingled with other brands and while our brands were known to the wholesale trade their sale in bond direct to retailers thus assuring absolute purity found friends so rapidly that our success during the past two years has placed us beyond doubt at the top of the ladder in our line "<br />
<br />
FYI - the brands of that era in Kessler's Company control were some of the biggest and most respected:<br />
"Anderson County", "Belle of Marion", "Belle of Nelson", "Big Spring", "Blue Grass", "Bond & Lillard", "Boone County", "Camp Nelson", "Cedar Run", "Chicken Cock", "Coon Hollow", "E L Miles", "Honeymoon Whiskey", "Hume Bourbon", "J B Wathen", "J M Mattingly", "J N Blackmore", "New Hope", "Old A Keller", "Old Boone's Knoll", "Old Darling", "S P Lancaster", "Spring Hill", "Sweetwood", "T B Ripy", "Taylor Whitehead", and "Wm Appleton & Co.."<br />
So - what did that legendary old pre-Prohibition Cedar Brook taste like? Well, thanks to whiskey enthusiast Chad Hartsfield, I actually had the opportunity to taste from a bottle of it that he opened. Chad also has a 2 gallon carboy that is up for auction at Christie's right now:<br />
<a href="https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/christies-wine-online-nyc-the-all-american-sale/cedar-brook-distillery-plankinton-reserve-whiskey-1903-1/30433" target="_blank">https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/christies-wine-online-nyc-the-all-american-sale/cedar-brook-distillery-plankinton-reserve-whiskey-1903-1/30433</a><br />
<br />
FYI - all the carboy and bottle pics to follow are Chad's photos (with the exception of the sample bottle and filled glass tasting note pic which is mine).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCNClXMawZfgoop4J5QGyKresAO6ckZCFFdQEkoM7Ra0dOsN68vAvVQZneECTVRX06Yxp7oKxip3TimsQ8GciXRZB2t0FjC7LuGvMZrX7XsLNV92cuAckksPxWhPiGsA_67vkLse1_Hxv/s1600/PlankingtonBox%2526Carboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzCNClXMawZfgoop4J5QGyKresAO6ckZCFFdQEkoM7Ra0dOsN68vAvVQZneECTVRX06Yxp7oKxip3TimsQ8GciXRZB2t0FjC7LuGvMZrX7XsLNV92cuAckksPxWhPiGsA_67vkLse1_Hxv/s640/PlankingtonBox%2526Carboy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chad's carboy currently <a href="https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/christies-wine-online-nyc-the-all-american-sale/cedar-brook-distillery-plankinton-reserve-whiskey-1903-1/30433" target="_blank">on sale at Christie's</a>. Spring 1903-1915</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DEfmCiRPKx0g2com9G5rsF1B4izrfn4tCOzi9ozCsD0Oa_7CAZT187MV0GxLt_JZ-I_caMCtxhWqHUNBNEV4iT-Id2UehQIAG-Hn6kIdUQ7S2YpMmPZqDZP6YXgrq1HbzDZkSf13-2Oy/s1600/ChadHartsfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2DEfmCiRPKx0g2com9G5rsF1B4izrfn4tCOzi9ozCsD0Oa_7CAZT187MV0GxLt_JZ-I_caMCtxhWqHUNBNEV4iT-Id2UehQIAG-Hn6kIdUQ7S2YpMmPZqDZP6YXgrq1HbzDZkSf13-2Oy/s320/ChadHartsfield.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chad Hartsfield</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkeVZw62zj2PM7GSzKTelJucX_g6lLdnBEdfFSliaaC7NJzpbe6iWIe0XJL4IDlxSmZ0LY5882-RIzuWtqYj0sZ9cpFHInOC1baiZ-dzTZloZr_LjvdqZp-c3C8jxVPPU0Uz_ubjUqx89/s1600/PlankingtonCarboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: "times new roman"; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOkeVZw62zj2PM7GSzKTelJucX_g6lLdnBEdfFSliaaC7NJzpbe6iWIe0XJL4IDlxSmZ0LY5882-RIzuWtqYj0sZ9cpFHInOC1baiZ-dzTZloZr_LjvdqZp-c3C8jxVPPU0Uz_ubjUqx89/s400/PlankingtonCarboy.jpg" width="300" /></a>Plankinton Reserve was the name of several bottlings of 10 and 12 year old bourbon distilled around 1902-1904 and bottled 1912-1916. I don't know much more about it than that - except that bottles and 2 gallon carboys and boxes infrequently turn up on auction sites - such as the old pre-liquor ban Ebay (some photos at the very bottom of this post). I didn't have a theory about Plankington Reserve but Chad Hartsfield did. Chad had heard that "Plankington Reserve" was a special premium aged version of Cedar Brook made for Milwaukee's Plankington Hotel. How do we know? Well, John Plankington was one of the midwest's leading industrialists. A guy who built a meat packing empire on sausage and canned ham in Milwaukee as an only slightly smaller version of what the Armour brothers were doing in Chicago at the time. The Plankinton house itself was a grand edifice which has had at least 3 major incarnations over its century and a half of existence. The photo below is of the form it would have had in the first decade of the 20th century when the Plankinton Reserve would have been sold there.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><i>"In 1868, John Plankinton, founder and owner of the Plankinton Meat Packing Company, erected the Plankinton House Hotel on what is now the corner of Wisconsin and Plankinton Avenues. In 1915, the building was razed and the hotel was rebuilt just south of the original structure. In its place was built the Plankinton Arcade, which consists of the basement and first two stories of the current building." </i><a href="http://www.doorsopenmilwaukee.org/buildings/plankinton-arcade/" target="_blank"> http://www.doorsopenmilwaukee.org/buildings/plankinton-arcade/</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57tTVJAwP0UHGXLWEBpFD9v6H-Aho4y29xkZr_T82wtR4_d8s38WW5gDXBzpXMOiPO7x0Ve0zoGka3mYz4ZBxjKDQCR42EhA0NcIi1C1KS0appi6BstLz09YUgy5GFPlL6_yoQvgFTfbL/s1600/Plankington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57tTVJAwP0UHGXLWEBpFD9v6H-Aho4y29xkZr_T82wtR4_d8s38WW5gDXBzpXMOiPO7x0Ve0zoGka3mYz4ZBxjKDQCR42EhA0NcIi1C1KS0appi6BstLz09YUgy5GFPlL6_yoQvgFTfbL/s1600/Plankington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="504" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh57tTVJAwP0UHGXLWEBpFD9v6H-Aho4y29xkZr_T82wtR4_d8s38WW5gDXBzpXMOiPO7x0Ve0zoGka3mYz4ZBxjKDQCR42EhA0NcIi1C1KS0appi6BstLz09YUgy5GFPlL6_yoQvgFTfbL/s640/Plankington.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Plankington Hotel circa 1889</span></td></tr>
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But how do we know that the Plankinton reserve bottlings were really meant for the Plankinton House Hotel? A strong piece of independent circumstantial evidence is found in the tax statement on Chad Hartsfield's 2 gallon carboy. As the photo below (Chad's photo) shows - it's a Wisconsin tax statement.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XvGFVmJD2QRICajdgppEeJy6k9X8MjlE18BgTBkxdJj7WHuiQDX2KoEbHU2DyJfP8DyXc4dxsi4TUu3oSRvlV3Bp0YUPy6EoPyDrNaivGfdvgnvRn-KWG1AdTSz9YhTVDQzwpVD1T649/s1600/TaxOnCarboy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7XvGFVmJD2QRICajdgppEeJy6k9X8MjlE18BgTBkxdJj7WHuiQDX2KoEbHU2DyJfP8DyXc4dxsi4TUu3oSRvlV3Bp0YUPy6EoPyDrNaivGfdvgnvRn-KWG1AdTSz9YhTVDQzwpVD1T649/s640/TaxOnCarboy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wisconsin tax strip backs up Plankington Hotel theory.</span><br />
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Wisconsin's First District is in the southeast corner of the State - forming the southern part of Milwaukee itself. This is strong evidence, indeed, that the Plankinton Reserve was really made for the Plankinton House Hotel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVHYVaxKxTcoFz8s43fwyabpIeCQbtDiXhMVBplaeVZJpgrxpB_8AcL8IY1K-lbOhlUteQWKG6D0CF4uyqX8gTeCmGXYlvatdOhW9UKzen7sc8PMKbIU9ru3LjMn9EHx4-6bkwNBJj69i/s1600/PlankingtonBottle1902Label.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpVHYVaxKxTcoFz8s43fwyabpIeCQbtDiXhMVBplaeVZJpgrxpB_8AcL8IY1K-lbOhlUteQWKG6D0CF4uyqX8gTeCmGXYlvatdOhW9UKzen7sc8PMKbIU9ru3LjMn9EHx4-6bkwNBJj69i/s1600/PlankingtonBottle1902Label.jpg" /></a></h3>
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Cedar Brook Plankinton Reserve - 1902-1916 (or possibly 1914)</h3>
Color: medium coppery amber<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-PYpa2m2-mG9zwImc1g8wmwMgZm0C4iweZK3S_LPgme2IurjfuIjK1F8tjJdrLQ-ppbT4kVjSuIzdpwwv3QPy_KoFYlnG3MiID3qdeh58nPLOcYXbXa3qYhNrfKVVae8T0i6aSTzEWek/s1600/PlankingtonBottle1902Opened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw-PYpa2m2-mG9zwImc1g8wmwMgZm0C4iweZK3S_LPgme2IurjfuIjK1F8tjJdrLQ-ppbT4kVjSuIzdpwwv3QPy_KoFYlnG3MiID3qdeh58nPLOcYXbXa3qYhNrfKVVae8T0i6aSTzEWek/s320/PlankingtonBottle1902Opened.jpg" width="240" /></a>Nose: Phenolic, sweet and nutty. Toffee, leather, corn, acetone, and sweet straw lead off, with sawn oak, vegetable oil, dried marigolds, bourbon vanilla pods, and chamomile underneath. Elegant, herbal, and inviting.<br />
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Palate: It starts on bright sweet, vegetal tree sap sweetness, along with its tannin edge. Bright heat and rich mouth feel give a 50% abv BiB sense of high proof. Rich dark toffee with molasses and big black greasy vanilla influence glows honeyed sweet in the expansion. There are coconut lignan flavors, along with bright herbal flavors of corn shucks, dried flowers, and sun dried meadows iterating that sweetness. Herbal rye flavors creep in as we get close to the turn to the finish along with some effervescent mouth feel - almost like how carbonation feels. I'd wager this was made from a high rye mash bill. At the turn to the finish the oak hits and there is a bitter tannin note, along with a sense of oak char's bitterness. I have no doubts that the age statement on the bottle is true. This drinks like a mature 14 year old Bourbon. The finish is long, with a an interplay of the toffee sweetness and a whole ton of dark herbal flavors like the shadowy ivy places past the shed heading into the forest. I get a feeling some of these dark bitter herbals have something to do with long maturation in barrels made of old growth wild oak. The green and gamey taste of those trees sometimes get tagged as "wintergreen" but I read it more as "ivy and forest weeds". I confess that I love how it plays against the rich dark sweet bourbon flavors up front.<br />
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Sniffing the glass after it's over reveals a richly oaked and sweet residual - almost like a sherried Scotch.<br />
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90 *****<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkb5c3Gyvqs04ybIDEt3ZQKOkywHLWYc9_O8wP8yfjsz_ub2431nHT2-Yx5VSc0bgEjFU-S5IWm1la94XzaUPP2s8W2C6dpcEOH4fCnhrQueoPAdNqdDRXD1TXBswXsNsdh-56d_J6Oy9/s1600/IMG_20160407_173423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkb5c3Gyvqs04ybIDEt3ZQKOkywHLWYc9_O8wP8yfjsz_ub2431nHT2-Yx5VSc0bgEjFU-S5IWm1la94XzaUPP2s8W2C6dpcEOH4fCnhrQueoPAdNqdDRXD1TXBswXsNsdh-56d_J6Oy9/s400/IMG_20160407_173423.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
How has age affected this century old dusty? It's fresh. The only tell as to age is that it starts to fade with extensive air time a bit more than I'd expect a contemporary BiB to fade. Balanced, rich, dark Bourbon cut from the same cloth as 1960s-70s vintage Wild Turkey, or pre-mid-1980s dsp-ky-414 Old Forester, Old Prentice era Eagle Rare, or Old Taylor BiB from the 60s-70s. None of the candied fruity sweetness of Yellowstone or IW Harper or Old Charter. It's a big dark bruiser. It has more herbal flavors and more obvious rye than the aforementioned dusties. This darker, more herbal intensity might be the influence of old growth oak in the barrels where this bourbon spent a long time. Old growth oak forests were still being cut down in that turn of the 20th century era. Or it might be something to do with the production methods. Corn and yeast strains from the Pre-Prohibition era are different than what followed for the most part. A fresh and delicious peek at an old classic brand. Might be a tad too bitter from herbal flavors, old growth oak wintergreen, and oak tannin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZjsNM0p7IaFGrry-h0UgoHpNyeLN6IiFh1OUTFIsRt5j9digzyqH3jEJKDh7c2KE4Z2YEJ3R3weXSkBR14y1kST0YSWtHju2w4cJwxcqevb5HmtVbPPDZH93p9sM7EE8GEL648nrEp0K/s1600/cedarbrook-ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; color: #141823; float: right; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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Thanks, Chad, for a special opportunity to taste a bit of history. In Cedar Brook we see the ambitions of two American whiskey pioneers. They never met, but they shared a passion for a particular Bourbon flavor signature that was clearly and recognizably Bourbon - but was unique to a distillery that died with Prohibition.<br />
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Enjoy some more of Chad's photos of the historic carboy below...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukiswrOnhtXjeCjmeILRLoTzIqqCyWmynJWjOxrdZWx6Au3Z77YcvhtDeartO3rYphVgsn5zuSXoZeoYVX8siytggyGQ6PMtNMCBcSwkT9PwjCtrr5lKqRFtVszD3L2mYkGWzTBVQx2ZV/s1600/PlankingtonBottle1903Label.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgukiswrOnhtXjeCjmeILRLoTzIqqCyWmynJWjOxrdZWx6Au3Z77YcvhtDeartO3rYphVgsn5zuSXoZeoYVX8siytggyGQ6PMtNMCBcSwkT9PwjCtrr5lKqRFtVszD3L2mYkGWzTBVQx2ZV/s640/PlankingtonBottle1903Label.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Chad's other bottle (empty) was dated Spring 1903-1914</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3Z9P2P9X6Xl2zPvULAYjb1VZYSQIw4VyxaZSk6IKmHrDpHi5Jf8UAu3WtXovUQFaqKLgvLbZXbDql1hUhfyxNaYSo-DFqRuUDwmhe1DvCzOl4D-uiIeGAcXaVvg8v2I7KnE2xjLiMQC6/s1600/PlankingtonBox1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA3Z9P2P9X6Xl2zPvULAYjb1VZYSQIw4VyxaZSk6IKmHrDpHi5Jf8UAu3WtXovUQFaqKLgvLbZXbDql1hUhfyxNaYSo-DFqRuUDwmhe1DvCzOl4D-uiIeGAcXaVvg8v2I7KnE2xjLiMQC6/s640/PlankingtonBox1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Stuff on Ebay previously:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rdpcJNCTj4BrBINMtOQuI5J_4J9NDj3E2kfd6HWE6eaDdBYEHuUMk5dwc5LnJ-LzR0__wycjE_kEQaWvDlOeSqCARbxXv-tMwi1XgbRa44EkGZF9DF_HIE3asRs2pm9sg8A4Le3QKe8J/s1600/PlankingtonBottleEmptyEbay1902-1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4rdpcJNCTj4BrBINMtOQuI5J_4J9NDj3E2kfd6HWE6eaDdBYEHuUMk5dwc5LnJ-LzR0__wycjE_kEQaWvDlOeSqCARbxXv-tMwi1XgbRa44EkGZF9DF_HIE3asRs2pm9sg8A4Le3QKe8J/s400/PlankingtonBottleEmptyEbay1902-1914.jpg" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Bottle (January 2015) Ebay:</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggskDVAh5Vgyxgfnt8pSLDJ4WO1OB4BeiCwbVoyjG4gWhNP6D032-p9xYB_zmbzsK0B-pZ12jV2J3dedRXpIvvh0l9Q6Bmqd3CR3UlBDByc19gwkgs32kpka9jxjBaHQYD_X8Kuk0sUcdg/s1600/PlankingtonBoxonEbay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggskDVAh5Vgyxgfnt8pSLDJ4WO1OB4BeiCwbVoyjG4gWhNP6D032-p9xYB_zmbzsK0B-pZ12jV2J3dedRXpIvvh0l9Q6Bmqd3CR3UlBDByc19gwkgs32kpka9jxjBaHQYD_X8Kuk0sUcdg/s320/PlankingtonBoxonEbay.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Box and Carboy in March 2015:</span></td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-63893308469440636382016-05-10T18:24:00.003-04:002017-01-30T17:42:36.284-05:00Why I Am Going To The Water of Life Event - And You Should Too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRg7oH0G_ZVC2zE7B6oUsh1GQi-rRX2w_3t3cMkYrhhvvbrO43Ip4lZ3E7b6tyWHYmCQwPIVN0M6mrMK29nSz72dkaoLVw-zeArkYGtHrXb0qU-JZNaIBNsSknSBtzj0BLHW5caBsjoRbN/s1600/WaterOfLifeLogo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRg7oH0G_ZVC2zE7B6oUsh1GQi-rRX2w_3t3cMkYrhhvvbrO43Ip4lZ3E7b6tyWHYmCQwPIVN0M6mrMK29nSz72dkaoLVw-zeArkYGtHrXb0qU-JZNaIBNsSknSBtzj0BLHW5caBsjoRbN/s1600/WaterOfLifeLogo.jpg" title="http://www.lrgwateroflife.org/" /></a></div>
Passionate whisky enthusiast Matt Lurin is hosting the second annual Water of Life whiskey event Thursday night 5/12/16 and it's not to be missed. The event serves an important charitable cause, supporting the medical research charity<a href="https://liferaftgroup.org/" target="_blank"> Life Raft Group</a>'s efforts to cure Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumors (GIST). It's a good cause and, as a fund raiser, the cost of admission is tax deductible. But that's not why you should go. The whisky community is generous, and many people donated excellent whiskies and other prizes for a raffle at the culmination of the event. Personally, I'm bringing a 1970s-80s I.W. Harper to donate. My friend Joe Hyman of Skinner's spirit auctions is bringing some stuff too - for one of the VIP extra classes:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwlibpgvcAS9Y093zGbZm-h6zEAv78d9U7FJTEF0Kz3iQaMWJt-JuVTim9BbeIEnDRVirNun2upsJBbrRPd2T4oy2RjTmw0NNDl84p9FRaoR8pislOs1risCBth07cLAAerFCb2NZEM5o/s1600/WaterofLifeDusties1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwlibpgvcAS9Y093zGbZm-h6zEAv78d9U7FJTEF0Kz3iQaMWJt-JuVTim9BbeIEnDRVirNun2upsJBbrRPd2T4oy2RjTmw0NNDl84p9FRaoR8pislOs1risCBth07cLAAerFCb2NZEM5o/s400/WaterofLifeDusties1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joe Hyman is bringing this....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn94m4kWJ9cdQJN9oy08JM82gJlGBpSXxeOiESfIIyZR1HbqTR_WEsO_HmdTzx-hIUP9mgsf45jRKgzwy8AciJqFKBT9Y417pnYIxo7iTh-xmsrwSmlcLjgrf4p90WdXdQ2zeljJwmNoaR/s1600/WaterofLifeDusties2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn94m4kWJ9cdQJN9oy08JM82gJlGBpSXxeOiESfIIyZR1HbqTR_WEsO_HmdTzx-hIUP9mgsf45jRKgzwy8AciJqFKBT9Y417pnYIxo7iTh-xmsrwSmlcLjgrf4p90WdXdQ2zeljJwmNoaR/s400/WaterofLifeDusties2.jpg" width="220" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and this.</td></tr>
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They feed you at this event too - with a focus on some<br />
unique food and whisky pairings. One of the VIP program options is a cigar terrace where you get to smoke special cigars with some special whiskies. Last year the cigars were amazing and the whiskies were even more tremendous.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDS7E6xmhpYYPBeskis5tTeyUj8ItK00u8S2WTf81U_shlQ1IeOmcJMd2CIl3mApxErMjhNo2kH6dnRhqY2VOucjTIcXNbR0zU0FCd-vUY0rXZtF6Z91fnSA1x6gPRFo_UhjcaZtuKpNAs/s1600/WaterOfLifeTimMalia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDS7E6xmhpYYPBeskis5tTeyUj8ItK00u8S2WTf81U_shlQ1IeOmcJMd2CIl3mApxErMjhNo2kH6dnRhqY2VOucjTIcXNbR0zU0FCd-vUY0rXZtF6Z91fnSA1x6gPRFo_UhjcaZtuKpNAs/s640/WaterOfLifeTimMalia.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Last year - hanging on the cigar terrace with good friends:<br />David Bailey, Compass Box rep (left) and Timothy Malia </span></td></tr>
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But those aren't the real reasons why you should go either. <br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxz-dEoZc_xxXAM_gxtrRr0yCJ0LvYs_rC15OLeHbtu7J5r93w0IGVN3Cb-hfWuLWV_ktHPWQbZxsq0Dp1uHDTzprk8NVGjesNglueIoD-f76xDT9sECzZIQvRJjlOAQgWES9Ghg5pemT/s1600/WaterofLifeDram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxz-dEoZc_xxXAM_gxtrRr0yCJ0LvYs_rC15OLeHbtu7J5r93w0IGVN3Cb-hfWuLWV_ktHPWQbZxsq0Dp1uHDTzprk8NVGjesNglueIoD-f76xDT9sECzZIQvRJjlOAQgWES9Ghg5pemT/s400/WaterofLifeDram.jpg" width="225" /></a>There are going to be over a hundred whiskies being poured - and if you go you will have the opportunity to taste over 25 of them (and please don't drive after having 25 whiskies). These are top expressions from the best distributors and distilleries. It's a top tier show. The format for the tastings are really special. Rather than crowded at tables, you get to sit down with the brand ambassadors and have a relaxed set of drams. It's a "speed dating" arrangement where after a while you switch tables to enjoy a new set of drams. It's incredibly civilized and makes a big difference. It's more relaxing and pleasurable than any other whisky show I've ever gone to. There is also a terrific raffle afterwards with a lot of fantastic whisky and other great prizes. Your odds of winning are very high given the numbers. <br />
<br />
But that's not the ultimate reason you should go either.<br />
<br />
For more about the event go to the event's web page: <a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/</a><br />
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Tickets aren't cheap (but, again, your purchase is a tax deductible donation for a very good cause): $300 for standard admission. 11 whisky speed dates, initial cocktail and hors d'oevres hour at 6pm. Dinner, dessert, and glencairn. $375 for VIP which steps up to 13 whisky speed dates, with some special VIP selections, premium VIP offerings to be found in exclusive roof seating areas and a cut crystal glencairn. You can use discount codes for 24 more hours (until 5/11/16). Here's one from <a href="http://nycwhisky.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the best web site for checking out NYC's whisky scene</a>: "<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18.76px;">NYCWHISKY"</span><br />
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Here is the link for tickets: </div>
<a href="http://www.eventbrite.com/e/water-of-life-2016-tickets-18901772711" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.eventbrite.com/e/water-of-life-2016-tickets-18901772711</a><br />
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So - why should you go? The people. There are a TON of great NYC whisky people going to Matt's event. There will be a ton of love in the room. It's something you can feel and it colors the whole event. I had an absolutely amazing time last year and I can't wait to go again. See you there!<br />
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(FYI - The write up of last year's event on Coopered Tot:)<br />
<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2015/05/the-water-of-life-event-fund-raising.html">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2015/05/the-water-of-life-event-fund-raising.html</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KkgW6AcsRn7z_9p7L6Zz-wpw3LK-rFpQ4-4J-Tb-YXRtZvRNuToH86tNyuFy70-iCpTXra1wpBLnPfoos41mOBZCJt4HMVt01xlbC8jQY_Udbr8X-1O0Q9VYzhDTF-0HPkC1vYB_CZsl/s1600/MattLurin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6KkgW6AcsRn7z_9p7L6Zz-wpw3LK-rFpQ4-4J-Tb-YXRtZvRNuToH86tNyuFy70-iCpTXra1wpBLnPfoos41mOBZCJt4HMVt01xlbC8jQY_Udbr8X-1O0Q9VYzhDTF-0HPkC1vYB_CZsl/s640/MattLurin.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Matt Lurin - host of Water of Life</span></td></tr>
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The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-71274641416244239122016-01-19T23:08:00.002-05:002016-10-26T21:51:56.162-04:00Old Lancaster, Three Shawhans, and Boss Tom Pendergast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczN93t1vEFVqxncO_bfjGjnagYRW1s00i8UQ1MyXzu3Vib-lwa6XZaN4nL_7rJK44DPNYeozolcyfj_mFhEv0Qwi7kSfwR4-JYy6a1xbfCoCf3L9ogaDkq-3cs06zgRSGY6b4cTvANzcc/s1600/PendergastQuarts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiczN93t1vEFVqxncO_bfjGjnagYRW1s00i8UQ1MyXzu3Vib-lwa6XZaN4nL_7rJK44DPNYeozolcyfj_mFhEv0Qwi7kSfwR4-JYy6a1xbfCoCf3L9ogaDkq-3cs06zgRSGY6b4cTvANzcc/s640/PendergastQuarts.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Bourbon's history includes farmers, pioneers, entrepreneurs, and industrialists. It also sometimes includes operators, wise guys, and gangsters. Today's hero is a whole lot like Nucky Thompson from "Boardwalk Empire."<br />
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(Bottle photos credit: Chris Martin)<br />
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<h3>
I Tom Pendergast's Machine</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNXUIhX9Pwn2Fmu8f5a7HCQgcgJCsg-hXrQX6WMwUtD-x1UrHg_S6hWC3ztEfYMxH3UH8LgIOSe81xzLnkZMWNB42Zrim7Xu1byYxE6ILtNDHoh1W3-pafONEKImdHl2NfcJ14q-_MTk6/s1600/220px-Tom_Pendergast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNXUIhX9Pwn2Fmu8f5a7HCQgcgJCsg-hXrQX6WMwUtD-x1UrHg_S6hWC3ztEfYMxH3UH8LgIOSe81xzLnkZMWNB42Zrim7Xu1byYxE6ILtNDHoh1W3-pafONEKImdHl2NfcJ14q-_MTk6/s1600/220px-Tom_Pendergast.jpg" /></a>Tom Pendergast (1872-1945) was born in a poor Irish immigrant family, the last of nine children. He rose from working in his brother James' saloon in Kansas City to rule a vast political machine that controlled government patronage jobs, voting fraud, organized crime, law enforcement, and political policy in Missouri and ultimately sent a Senator to Washington who ended up as President of the United States. Crime paid, but he got his comeuppance in the end.<br />
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Along the way, in 1938, Pendergast purchased a distillery called S.P. Lancaster in Bardstown, KY. He gave it the name "Shawhan" - a storied distillery name from Missouri that he bought during Prohibition. It wasn't surprising that Pendergast would have wanted a distillery. His criminal activities during Prohibition had almost certainly involved a share of the bootlegging action. Certainly whiskey oiled the saloon lifestyle in Kansas City in an era when a special type of Jazz was born; made famous by the likes of Count Basie, Walter Page, Bennie Moten, Lester Young, and the "Bird" himself, Charlie Parker. Along the way, Pendergast briefly resurrected a some historic 19th century Kansas City whiskey brands one last brief time before they disappeared again into the darkness of history - carried along by the tide of social justice which routed Tom Pendergast out and put him in prison in an attempt to rid Missouri of systematic graft and political corruption.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-aWfTnWrofQon2zUbfNze-UM974VB60U3zIJpCCni9thtH0esAU_7Xg2o6R5uq-DqdoP5QCdDEK0FdAqTpkhC0hLQvqEmDFa7TUhlzCu0y26I6GUTneV9R5aoTQkKHhBKtchsygE5h03/s1600/pendergast11_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO-aWfTnWrofQon2zUbfNze-UM974VB60U3zIJpCCni9thtH0esAU_7Xg2o6R5uq-DqdoP5QCdDEK0FdAqTpkhC0hLQvqEmDFa7TUhlzCu0y26I6GUTneV9R5aoTQkKHhBKtchsygE5h03/s640/pendergast11_lg.jpg" width="524" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Tom Pendergast depicted as the head of a machine <br />whose tentacles encompassed Kansas City - Daniel Fitzpatrick cartoon.</span><br />
[St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Cartoon Collection, March 31, 1939, The State Historical Society of Missouri]</td></tr>
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<div>
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In the era before Repeal, urban working class life centered around a peculiar institution that no longer exists: the saloon, where laborers headed with the week's paycheck. In Kansas City, some saloons were the banks and the only way an immigrant got cash. Saloons offered prostitutes, gambling, music and entertainment and access to patronage jobs and gigs in organized crime. Tom Pendergast was only 17 in 1889 when he arrived at his brother James' saloon, named after the race horse "Climax" (a sexual double entendre maybe) in "West Bottoms." "Big Jim" was active in the machine politics of the day and had a good deal of pull in the community. Twenty years later, Tom inherited the saloon (and a couple of more besides) and the political influence. Tom found it expedient to open <span style="text-align: center;">T.J. Pendergast Wholesale Liquor Company. Look at him here </span>in Howard G. Bartling's 1912 "Kansas City in Caricature" (pic below).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQMAAaYTJzAb4UJdNH22qbJABEVmuQ6NsWqmUCOZTm9OyHGRjhwMgRNgACuBPBJl4hNYcqwI4JCqPF-zf0jNawuH6N2Jru7sZGdDXuJpR3nm7c9GG6mGyqVN_7DM9-iBypQ8L8a5dZkkl/s1600/pendergast4_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisQMAAaYTJzAb4UJdNH22qbJABEVmuQ6NsWqmUCOZTm9OyHGRjhwMgRNgACuBPBJl4hNYcqwI4JCqPF-zf0jNawuH6N2Jru7sZGdDXuJpR3nm7c9GG6mGyqVN_7DM9-iBypQ8L8a5dZkkl/s400/pendergast4_lg.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Tom Pendergast - owner of the </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">T.J. Pendergast Wholesale Liquor Company - </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;">[Kansas City in Caricature]</span></div>
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But politics proved irresistible. He ran for his brother's seat as Kansas City Alderman in 1911 - the year Big Jim died. He won. He controlled a wide section of KC - but he shared control over the immigrant machine political pie with another boss, Joseph Shannon. Pendergast's supporters were called "Goats" and Shannon's "Rabbits". There was a truce with a 50-50 split agreement that lasted for several years. In the end Shannon double crossed Pendergast and the Goats by giving all the jobs to the Rabbits for a time. It was a mistake. By the mid 20s Pendergast's wards had a higher number of voters. He got rid of Shannon in the following election cycle by getting control of the city council and then boxing him out for good. <br />
<br />
Over the 20s and 30s Pendergast ruled Kansas City and Missouri politics with iron control. He successfully fought the State government for control over Kansas City's police force over a period of several years with his proxy, City Manager Henry McElroy ("Old Pencil Neck") defunding the police, and driving a turf argument with the State for control all the way to the State Supreme Court which ultimately turned over the hen house to the foxes in granting control over KC's police to McElroy and Boss Tom. He also had iron control over organized crime. That included close associations with mob bosses like John "Brother Johnny" Lazia. He wasn't above setting up competition among organized crime captains such as that between <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lazia" target="_blank"> Lazia</a> and Michael "Jimmy Needles" LaCapra which resulted in Lazia being fatally shot on the street as he stepped out of his car (with his family still inside it) by a car full of LaCapra's men. McElroy's daughter was kidnapped by petty thugs in 1933 and later fell into a depression when her captors were caught and sentenced to death. <a href="http://www.kclibrary.org/blog/week-kansas-city-history/kidnapped" target="_blank">She had become friends with them.</a> Kansas City was a tough town. It was notorious. America's most corrupt city.<br />
<br />
Harry Truman started off under Pendergast's umbrella as an elected judge in 1922 and was appointed a county official in 1926. While Truman stayed clean - and ran successfully for senator - he couldn't shake the implications of Boss Tom's corrupt control over the region. In 1934, Huey Long mocked him on the Senate floor, greeting the new arrival as "the senator from Pendergast."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzf_nMzMWhHozm8rlwxlEZnumLb6BeZnnqOoNeSTD6JkqFyXTd9SxCKQz1SBct5PriC9gApZc8ovqPaq_kXuA7-0xBzTN-eK9EQtr365GRtcpHsJ-Om08WgVgxML4IgyRwsBgfijiuPKT4/s1600/PendergastGlassBox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzf_nMzMWhHozm8rlwxlEZnumLb6BeZnnqOoNeSTD6JkqFyXTd9SxCKQz1SBct5PriC9gApZc8ovqPaq_kXuA7-0xBzTN-eK9EQtr365GRtcpHsJ-Om08WgVgxML4IgyRwsBgfijiuPKT4/s400/PendergastGlassBox.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pitch.com/FastPitch/archives/2012/05/09/summoning-spirits-a-brief-history-of-kansas-city-speakeasies" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Pendergast's name on a box found in a secret <br />speakeasy stash found walled up a in KC home.</span></a></td></tr>
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In Prohibition. Pendergast seems to have been connected to the illicit liquor business. Recently a renovation in Kansas City turned up a secret room full of moonshine jugs and bottles.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>"A hidden room in the basement. A tall steel vault door. Inside, a collection of approximately 40 empty jugs and liquor bottles, themselves awash in an almost ankle-deep tide of close to 1,000 corks, glass caps and stoppers."<br /><br />"And a plank of wood from a wooden crate reading 'TJ Pendergast.'</i></span>”<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article301699/Long-hidden-stash-of-empty-bottles-hints-at-KC-secrets.html" target="_blank">http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article301699/Long-hidden-stash-of-empty-bottles-hints-at-KC-secrets.html</a><br />
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Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article301699/Long-hidden-stash-of-empty-bottles-hints-at-KC-secrets.html#storylink=cpy</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9GtrUpPkI1FcHmF48OBm-RbI27fHMw8vMZEIoChydIgw-J_-zyCUslB0RaGetSkD6jrBN1KSM8ALX5pB-2jQtrUQZk0j7h6wmUXme32F7yTJ8zoLGy3eovrndpBtapNV_s7OCyZDHMJK/s1600/pendergast6_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji9GtrUpPkI1FcHmF48OBm-RbI27fHMw8vMZEIoChydIgw-J_-zyCUslB0RaGetSkD6jrBN1KSM8ALX5pB-2jQtrUQZk0j7h6wmUXme32F7yTJ8zoLGy3eovrndpBtapNV_s7OCyZDHMJK/s640/pendergast6_lg.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="552" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Another awesome Daniel Fitzpatrick late 1930s cartoon<br />of Tom Pendergast for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch</span></div>
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It all fits. Pendergast's prior career as a liquor wholesaler and saloon owner had put him in directly contact with the network of liquor distribution prior to Prohibition. With his organized crime connections and political control there is little doubt he was involved, or directly controlled, a lot of the illicit trade and production of alcohol in KC during that time. There are millions of stories and rumors. But the actual written accounts of history leave all that out. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswo9KXKjx5v3t-qRQOSMaliL9LvXfvLTgIV3qDLKhzMg5DgQ2dSmq-vxuCuGsM3vQSqpRGxDPGsk2SRmTaULhjj0efkO20TShlireCjdkexCWlBcyKu5TIqo5iG0ubItES3b0zA45HgPd/s1600/pendergast_mug_shot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjswo9KXKjx5v3t-qRQOSMaliL9LvXfvLTgIV3qDLKhzMg5DgQ2dSmq-vxuCuGsM3vQSqpRGxDPGsk2SRmTaULhjj0efkO20TShlireCjdkexCWlBcyKu5TIqo5iG0ubItES3b0zA45HgPd/s320/pendergast_mug_shot.jpg" width="204" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Tom Pendergast's<br />1939 mug shot.</span><br />
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What they ended up actually getting Tom Pendergast on was tax evasion. Reminiscent of the story of Al Capone - Pendergast's operation was clean as a whistle. But the downfall was pure political dirty pool. Pendergast had helped to create Missouri State Governor Lloyd Stark. But Stark wanted to go to Washington as a Missouri Senator and Pendergast told him to stay put. Stark helped get a Federal voter fraud investigation underway. It resulted in 100s of firings and arrests. It wasn't enough to take Pendergast down until in 1939 a Federal investigation found that Tom Pendergast had intervened on behalf of a consortium of insurance companies in a lawsuit involving the State of Missouri in exchange for $750,000 back in 1936. Pendergast had failed to declare this on his taxes - so the IRS was able to put him in jail on tax evasion charges. The affair was called "The Insurance Scam". Pendergast was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 5 years of probation. It didn't end his machine - but it was the beginning of the end. Pendergast died in 1945.<br />
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<h3>
II Three Distilleries named "Shawhan"</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtXmgtGZ7WbvYxmPTMyUT8RR_Gw1jPfYrPBZUCLl_XCqyknS_GWUI1RzDPGmqJC9gm4vrxNY1FeopeNQbpOLDrVVF62PE4yJCxUJn34en2jUP1ZHsSnsitoiKeuQ5D2VHhlm-DDntfVyl/s1600/OldShawhanbottle.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbtXmgtGZ7WbvYxmPTMyUT8RR_Gw1jPfYrPBZUCLl_XCqyknS_GWUI1RzDPGmqJC9gm4vrxNY1FeopeNQbpOLDrVVF62PE4yJCxUJn34en2jUP1ZHsSnsitoiKeuQ5D2VHhlm-DDntfVyl/s400/OldShawhanbottle.jpeg" width="243" /></a></div>
Somewhere during Prohibition, Pendergast bought the name of the Shawhan distillery. The name was prized by Pendergast because of its role in Kansas City's whiskey history. George Shawhan, a man from Kentucky who understood Bourbon, had started a distillery called "Shawhan" on a farm in a place called Lone Jack, Missouri, after the Civil War. (He had served with Morgan's Raiders cavalry on the side of the Confederacy). He produced a number of brands but the best known one was "Shawhan Whiskey". As his business grew he purchased a larger, more industrial distillery, in Weston, Missouri that had been started in 1856 by David Holladay, with management offices in Kansas City. (Ben Holloday is <a href="http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS010.pdf" target="_blank">another great story</a>). Shawhan sold out in 1908 (I'm not sure to who). By the end of Prohibition Shawhan distillery in Weston MO was in Isadore Singer's hands. In some accounts it had closed with Prohibition. In others it still ran producing medicinal whiskey. The Singer family apparently sold the name "Shawhan" to Pendergast and then renamed the Weston MO distillery "McCormick" after another distillery nearby. Pendergast bought the brand name, apparently, because he believed that Repeal was going to take place and wanted the local Kansas City Shawhan brand name to use. I like to imagine that it meant something to him - a saloon owner in the era of smoky backroom deals and sultry and vibrant jazz in great clubs in their 1930s heyday in Kansas City's bottoms. In any case, in 1947, the distillery, still called "McCormick", in Weston MO was sold to United Distillers for its old stocks. They flipped it a few years later in 1950 to Cloud McRay, President of Midwest Grain Products. <a href="http://mccormickdistilling.com/" target="_blank">The McCormick distillery</a> has been owned by Ed Pechar and Mike Griesser since 1992 and continues to operate to this day making vodka, tequila, Platte Valley moonshine and Triple Crown Whiskey. It has a claim to being the USA's oldest continuously operated distillery going all the way back to 1856. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZfMI_wlGZP7wMqC9m19tnF-jKi0d1lxQz2DowVPz8CAFxBVkb6wcuQXqRAIsEGNOcLcBB862VPft1L04Eocc5X_gbDkqksKKGsXxxELzZAw0dTBJcz2CkHTYOR03U5ucP9IcNAMJxetl/s1600/Bardstown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwZfMI_wlGZP7wMqC9m19tnF-jKi0d1lxQz2DowVPz8CAFxBVkb6wcuQXqRAIsEGNOcLcBB862VPft1L04Eocc5X_gbDkqksKKGsXxxELzZAw0dTBJcz2CkHTYOR03U5ucP9IcNAMJxetl/s320/Bardstown.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So that's how Tom Pendergast came to purchase a newly rennovated distillery in 1938 in Bardstown, Kentucky and rename it "Shawhan" right away. The distillery he bought was in Nelson County's 5th District. From the 1840s until 1919 it was known as S. P. Lancaster, RD No. 415 This wasn't the original S.P Lancaster distillery though. That one had been built as a farm distillery in 1850 by J.M. "Matt" Lancaster on Plum Run Road (south of Bardstown about 5 miles). The railroad came through Bardstown in 1860 and Matt's brother Sam wanted to move close to the railroad. Sam bought a parcel of land near the railroad containing a spring called "Old Blue Talbott" (after the family who owned the farm originally on the land). Matt didn't want to move - so they didn't. But when he died in 1881, Sam moved the distillery right away. It thrived and grew over the late 19th century in the new location. The primary brand over this period was "Old Lancaster". In 1903 it sold up to The Whiskey Trust who continued to operate it until Prohibition when it was shut down. By Repeal at the end of 1933 the property was owned by a Will Stiles and he organized funding and refitted Old Lancaster (with his brother Jack Stiles as the distiller). But their first barrels were barely ready to drink before they sold out to Tom Pendergast in 1938. Pendergast had his own employees in mind and brought on Chester Hecker to manage the distillery. A scant half decade later - an ex-Con and with his empire crumbling and just two years from in death in 1943 - Pendergast sold Shawhan to the States of Oregon and Washington under a special wartime provision for manufacturing industrial alcohol for the war effort. It returned to Bourbon, rechristened "Waterfill and Frasier" after the war by its new owner, Joe Makler of Chicago. The distillery closed for good in 1969, although the facility was bought by Jim Beam for warehousing and bottling in 1974 and remains with them to this day. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSLU-akhUxRLmzryT7SAAYtsM2auvGE85H_lk-G9D0yPk2SjKD1bHJovwOzm6oS0jAJMasdbbOdMtHBlKOyFJNAUM5VRLS_wcUmBpjHruQV9WupYKNvCnw4F0txKBkFKxjFzyz-fdtRQD/s1600/Pendergast+Hoard2.jpg"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSLU-akhUxRLmzryT7SAAYtsM2auvGE85H_lk-G9D0yPk2SjKD1bHJovwOzm6oS0jAJMasdbbOdMtHBlKOyFJNAUM5VRLS_wcUmBpjHruQV9WupYKNvCnw4F0txKBkFKxjFzyz-fdtRQD/s640/Pendergast+Hoard2.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbabitMCGFW6p0lGVe701aHj8L_mh1lougWzlXXz-pkpt6itaMMaGeuauUJIRkdcdyB9fkg_GtG9ae_bd4EC_b7ZKi7iEasKsELKhQaWFC3hDAqa3Mgm0zFQsED8Bf2v_ddAjoa20reMFW/s1600/Pendergast+Hoard.jpg"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbabitMCGFW6p0lGVe701aHj8L_mh1lougWzlXXz-pkpt6itaMMaGeuauUJIRkdcdyB9fkg_GtG9ae_bd4EC_b7ZKi7iEasKsELKhQaWFC3hDAqa3Mgm0zFQsED8Bf2v_ddAjoa20reMFW/s640/Pendergast+Hoard.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
<h3>
III A Hoard - & Some Tastings</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadRdfBZv9OW7PTg8UcG-JQxXKcHAYvYKD4bsYpIgAZj93tTQOwZXPcQ-izqQeO-ZFmV0BE4nrdUwGlMEh9PAnMnUofNbERURvEnGBQLShxjuED6BjcKQs1zTIOZSsUdZBNDMYLoWHdF23/s1600/OldLancaster1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadRdfBZv9OW7PTg8UcG-JQxXKcHAYvYKD4bsYpIgAZj93tTQOwZXPcQ-izqQeO-ZFmV0BE4nrdUwGlMEh9PAnMnUofNbERURvEnGBQLShxjuED6BjcKQs1zTIOZSsUdZBNDMYLoWHdF23/s640/OldLancaster1.jpg" width="290" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The bottle we tasted.</span></td></tr>
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Tom Pendergast loved his whiskey. Recently a spectular trove of Prohibition and Repeal era bottlings from the Pendergast period (1938-1943) showed up. There is excellent pedigree connecting these bottles to Tom Pendergast but no one wants to go on record. Suffice it to say, I'm pretty convinced of the provenance. It's an unusual hoard - solidly limited to the period of Boss Tom's period of power - and centered on Kansas City brands and the products of Shawhan. The brands represented in the hoard include the eponymous "Old Lancaster" with examples of both Prohibition and Repeal era bottlings. There's a brand called "Pride Of Nelson" which clearly refers to Old Lancaster's Nelson County location. "Pride of Nelson" was probably a new brand made up by Pendergasts crew. It seldom appears anywhere. In the NYPL's menu archive<a href="http://menus.nypl.org/menu_pages/60245/explore" target="_blank"> it appears exactly once</a> - in 1940 where it's among the cheapest on the menu. The 1940 date is squarely in Pendergast's period of ownership. There are Repeal era bottlings of the eponymous"Shawhan". "Waterfill And Frazier" - an amazing brand with a long and colorful history that will be subject of its own post soon. I don't know anything about "White Seal". It's a pretty generic name and might have been made up. The more famous "White Seal" was Carstair's White Seal - a venerable Maryland rye whiskey that came back after Repeal as a cheap blended American whiskey from Schenley. I suspect this brand might have ended quickly and quietly with a letter from Rosensteil's lawyers. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizS2kHutzmyYgCg__rpSouwoRXvTos1ChK1Hr7io2o8vQRwOpd4EAGM8fMLVtP8fRr1rL7OVyW2zqHJRggjFyiSEB2bztn6GfTTZyCP9X5gFs5OwIU8Waq0QOBDhzQ2bWyB1eT1HKMSiy/s1600/match2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiizS2kHutzmyYgCg__rpSouwoRXvTos1ChK1Hr7io2o8vQRwOpd4EAGM8fMLVtP8fRr1rL7OVyW2zqHJRggjFyiSEB2bztn6GfTTZyCP9X5gFs5OwIU8Waq0QOBDhzQ2bWyB1eT1HKMSiy/s400/match2.jpg" width="265" /></a><br />
"Old 1889" commemorates the year that Tom Pendergast moved to Kansas City as a boy to work in his brother "Big Jim's" saloon. He made it better than the rest - 7 years old BiB (the oldest allowed at that time - and at the highest proof). Old 1889 is currently owned by Heaven Hill and sold in the Japanese market. But all of these were exactly the brands that Tom Pendergast's distillery in Bardstown was making in the late 1930s and early 1940s. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF-QxtUpHHZ4G38HrPfkRQh0MCSCt7nDpPhe2vL2ubtBS-udICbJMhmzsTFSdayJhVnJtdE4hTex6qmCKQWQ78Dx-cl7uXdI4Hju57tVpqvVehZ68g6P_6yIIBHQFl0lNl45U54Jzh9RQ/s1600/OldABBEYAppleBrandyJamesPendergast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyF-QxtUpHHZ4G38HrPfkRQh0MCSCt7nDpPhe2vL2ubtBS-udICbJMhmzsTFSdayJhVnJtdE4hTex6qmCKQWQ78Dx-cl7uXdI4Hju57tVpqvVehZ68g6P_6yIIBHQFl0lNl45U54Jzh9RQ/s320/OldABBEYAppleBrandyJamesPendergast.jpg" width="238" /></a>There are items in the find that expand the story of the Pendergast brothers. For example, there is an empty bottle of California apple brandy called "Old Abbey" that references the Pure Food Act on the label, dating it after 1906 - but by the style of it not much after. Further confirmation comes at the bottom of the label. It says "Bottled By James Pendergast & Co. 526 Delaware St., Kansas City". Since James died in 1911 it probably predates that. Significantly, it shows that James was bottling hooch too. It holds out the tantalizing possibility that Tom got onto the liquor business in James' footsteps.<br />
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Recently, I had the rare opportunity to taste a few of the items from this hoard. My three selections include a Prohibition era bottling and two from Pendergast's ownership time (and brands). It represents a good opportunity to try to see if there's a consistent Old Lancaster / Shawhan distillery character.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPa4KHO8Bt4gt8pNWu7dnl2vfoNGUng7fiRHkA31IRJ0q-pkM5f5R22GPBG9Cp0NzZ6nqD6pF-1ZV_HT66mV-RZDY0Mcrp7bpsUofL12en98hvkQ6IxEaSp3xbOluMQyBz5o263V2uhlG/s1600/OldLancasterPintHoard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcPa4KHO8Bt4gt8pNWu7dnl2vfoNGUng7fiRHkA31IRJ0q-pkM5f5R22GPBG9Cp0NzZ6nqD6pF-1ZV_HT66mV-RZDY0Mcrp7bpsUofL12en98hvkQ6IxEaSp3xbOluMQyBz5o263V2uhlG/s640/OldLancasterPintHoard.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<h3>
</h3>
<h3>
Old Lancaster BiB Spring 1917-Fall 1930 50% abv</h3>
A lot of old Prohibition bottlings are overoaked, or just taste weird with old growth oak notes, or destruction caused by oxidation, heat damage and/or light damage. Not this one. Mint condition (see photo above)<br />
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Color: medium amber.<br />
Nose: tingly brown sugar, apricot pie, peanut shells, char, old barn, the inside of an old chest, and something distant but distinctly fungal. Forest floor with mushroom.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu6ms188RQmW7nTK_cTKHQAAEQoHQe0kqRliOXQuiw8xudoQqJuTEOvglieF0FQdB3RxJBb7shLlxq0aUmV7VgfgsbjzTG9K6cq9sYQ7sjYAxuyepT9XAC02DwakRsLSaQGy0iWNAkNMG/s1600/LanCasterSampleCloseUp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidu6ms188RQmW7nTK_cTKHQAAEQoHQe0kqRliOXQuiw8xudoQqJuTEOvglieF0FQdB3RxJBb7shLlxq0aUmV7VgfgsbjzTG9K6cq9sYQ7sjYAxuyepT9XAC02DwakRsLSaQGy0iWNAkNMG/s320/LanCasterSampleCloseUp.jpg" width="320" /></a>Palate: Creamy sweet opening with honey, sandalwood, nutmeg and a bright acid fruity note like strawberry lemon. The mouth feel is creamy. Buttery vanilla kicks in on the mid-palate. At the turn there is plenty of char and oak - burned oak and old trunk oak and also herbal rye notes: licorice and mint, but also something less tidy: dank ivy behind the shed. The finish brings the char and the herbal dark note to the fore and ends a bit bitter. This a pretty decent pour. A tad lacking in intensity (probably the degree of oxidation common in Prohibition era medicinal pints), but really interesting - with a wealth of unusual flavors and a decent balance between bright fruity acids and dark herbal bitter which is plenty drinkable. <br />
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87 ****<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3vFuQd2LXsV6f-CeYQL0NSlcU0i4g3DjeS1g5iyPFf_HKcEk6CiXMtIDpcsRF3ssn1-3O0P626-WOHeBN_daII-iXRPIk9SiB_ZfR0J2DCt88vxwlUZ0kLJK1SvnuTKbqOqEsbBcWVLD/s1600/OldLancasterPintHoardRev.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY3vFuQd2LXsV6f-CeYQL0NSlcU0i4g3DjeS1g5iyPFf_HKcEk6CiXMtIDpcsRF3ssn1-3O0P626-WOHeBN_daII-iXRPIk9SiB_ZfR0J2DCt88vxwlUZ0kLJK1SvnuTKbqOqEsbBcWVLD/s640/OldLancasterPintHoardRev.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The reverse of the Old Lancaster medicinal pints<br /> shows it was bottled by J. A. Dougherty's Son's - Philadelphia. <br />But the Bourbon was from S. P. Lancaster Distillery No. 415, <br />District Of KY.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
Old 1889 BiB 1938-1946 50% abv</h3>
<h3>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">
Color: medium copper red - like an old copper coin that is still red, but on the verge of toning.</div>
<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">
Nose: Tingly spicy rides above carob, solvent, dark karo syrup, sawn oak, creamy vanilla pudding, damp earth, and distant fire. </div>
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Palate: Sweet and dark on opening: like dark chocolate with coffee or mocha cocoa but curbed with mint and a buttery wood herbal note giving way at mid-palate to char and grape magic marker. There is a dank herbal "noble rot" flavor - like crushed ivy with a bit of mildew at the turn too. It's a flavor I associate with Old Hickory (Pennsylvania Bourbon from the glut era). The finish is lightweight but lingering on old oak, char and angostura bitters. Lacking in intensity - almost certainly some oxidation, but a fascinating mix of flavors remain. There is definitely kinship with the flavors of Prohibition era Old Lancaster - but lighter, as you'd expect in a younger whiskey. 7 1/2 years is the oldest that the Bottled In Bond act delayed tax payment for at the time.</div>
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84 ****</div>
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King of Nelson bottle bottom glass stamped '43 45% abv</h3>
Color: medium amber with a strong copper penny red tint.<br />
Nose: Oak, varnish, marigold, more of that herbal bitter dank ivy aroma, chalk dust, with a peculiar metallic twang down deep - like dried ketchup,<br />
Palate: sweet opening with vanilla, honey, an a creamy citrus compote note up front. The expansion brings more citrus zing and some spice (oak, sandalwood tannin spice), but also the dank herbal crushed ivy and a bit of old basement almost mildew - but also a bit like wintergreen. The turn to the finish is about the sweetness draining leaving oak tannin and char and fading herbals terminating in a bitter fadeout. Also somewhat subtle (bordering on weak). I suspect oxidation again - or the fragility of great age. Another take on what is now clearly the Old Lancaster distillery character of high-rye Bourbon with old growth oak and maybe some dirty washbacks. Interesting, and not unpleasant to drink despite some off flavors.<br />
<br />
81 ***<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pvEvAvIiij0ug85zr2Y-xObXCUNxbdjIgF-cw37eCyTRp0U7kV8GW8p2CCRaUOjem98Nnq78EGv1vLYCeZnqBUsIYfnUGtUP5TE-LfRMF4Jp91UzBWSZbMC84MftxasRIddO5Sc_h2W6/s1600/PendergastQuartsLabels.jpg"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1pvEvAvIiij0ug85zr2Y-xObXCUNxbdjIgF-cw37eCyTRp0U7kV8GW8p2CCRaUOjem98Nnq78EGv1vLYCeZnqBUsIYfnUGtUP5TE-LfRMF4Jp91UzBWSZbMC84MftxasRIddO5Sc_h2W6/s640/PendergastQuartsLabels.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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So, Tom Pendergast's whiskey is Ok, but not spectacular. I can see why Old Lancaster / Shawhan / Waterfill & Frazier No. 415 ended up closed. The odd musty herbal notes might be a detail of production, or they might be the flavors of old growth oak - or something from long basement storage. The fact that these all come from the same hoard means that common storage may have helped produce common flavors. But I think I was tasting the whiskey and not the basement here. Tasting Boss Tom's liquor isn't just about the taste buds anyway. It's about time traveling back to the world of gangsters, smoky rooms, and the golden era of Kansas City jazz. America in a glass.<br />
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Sources:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Missouri Life</b> Magazine's history of Tom Pendergast: <a href="http://www.missourilife.com/life/the-senator-from-pendergast/" target="_blank">http://www.missourilife.com/life/the-senator-from-pendergast/</a></li>
<li>San Jose Univ. History Of Pendergast v.s. Shannon: <a href="http://www.applet-magic.com/pendergast.htm" target="_blank">http://www.applet-magic.com/pendergast.htm</a></li>
<li>The Shawhan family history: <a href="http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shawhan/whiskey.html" target="_blank">http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~shawhan/whiskey.html</a></li>
<li>Jack Sullivan's history of Pendergast's ownership of Shawhan: <a href="http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-whiskey-dealer-and-president.html" target="_blank">http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-whiskey-dealer-and-president.html</a></li>
<li>Jack Sullivan's bio of George Shawhan: <a href="http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2011/05/george-shawhan-giant-in-distilling.html" target="_blank">http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/2011/05/george-shawhan-giant-in-distilling.html</a></li>
<li>Sullivan's history of Ben Holladay (who founded McCormick):<a href="http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS010.pdf" target="_blank"> http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS010.pdf</a></li>
<li>Sullivan's history of Shawhan and Dunham: <a href="http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS026.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS026.pdf</a></li>
<li>The wiki's history of McCormick Distilling Co.: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCormick_Distilling_Company" target="_blank"> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCormick_Distilling_Company</a></li>
</ul>
Below is a gallery of bottle shots from the Pendergast hoard taken by the talented Chris Martin. These were whiskies that Tom Pendergast kept - perhaps because they were notable in connection with his distillery activities, or because he liked them, or who knows? They are a remarkable set of bottles. These are just a few highlights from the extensive group. Enjoy:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pre-Pro 21 year old whiskey? A Kansas City mystery.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The earliest possible Prohibition bottling. Almost Pre-Pro</span>.</td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-79178922754536493652015-09-25T17:39:00.000-04:002015-09-26T17:20:24.066-04:00Tasting A 1970s Dusty Cabin Still<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlbAYlafT3rYUlEVGYPpkzWZsDALXUM6ETFEcv9TynJm7E2ws5Ec-uf03zfzbLARpRhxT90somiR6IJe1NElP1BWwkrthAPxfyg3-C_aoJ7Ai2le804CGVeOalqrSTzo4_zITHni3b1NP/s1600/CabinStill1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlbAYlafT3rYUlEVGYPpkzWZsDALXUM6ETFEcv9TynJm7E2ws5Ec-uf03zfzbLARpRhxT90somiR6IJe1NElP1BWwkrthAPxfyg3-C_aoJ7Ai2le804CGVeOalqrSTzo4_zITHni3b1NP/s400/CabinStill1.jpg" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josh Peters' 1970s Cabin Still</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUI15_J0vIyOQy6f5IM5H8v_8jr6jJzJhNX7VK_p8QhOt27cjZshkJyVWKTyn_339cWIGM_FqMaq2DSgJI2wJiGasyBKDsUSbWpghfp1iLLNjMxS4UvSBfLOpMadfCbsJ58cLO8QKJvJ5/s1600/CabinStillRear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzUI15_J0vIyOQy6f5IM5H8v_8jr6jJzJhNX7VK_p8QhOt27cjZshkJyVWKTyn_339cWIGM_FqMaq2DSgJI2wJiGasyBKDsUSbWpghfp1iLLNjMxS4UvSBfLOpMadfCbsJ58cLO8QKJvJ5/s400/CabinStillRear.jpg" width="250" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIsW7Kt_bxN-c08Dyb147U6pHN3HIiHwn2L1RJUn3H2ET6DMTwd5l7gqfDZ7Tli_FfFUYsaxilgJeMBAY5Y9ow3xoxbpmXsyOLbUW8OQJfyniNf-Wki4hE8Kb_M6ETP6YYb8ZZfOV7DJG/s1600/CabinStillTop.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>A year and a half ago<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/04/the-tragedy-of-old-cabin-still.html"> I wrote about how the Cabin Still brand was murdered by Norton Simon corporation</a>. It had been the entry level product of Pappy Van Winkle's legendary Stitzel-Weller distillery. Norton Simon had struck out with Canada Dry Bourbon, their attempt to enter the Bourbon market in the 1960s. Canada Dry Bourbon was produced at the Nicholasville, "Camp Nelson" distillery in Jessamine county, KY and apparently there was a musty flavor because of a problem with storage. Stuck with the tax liability of whiskey they couldn't sell, they bought Stitzel-Weller in 1972 and proceeded to dump the problem whiskey into the base expression - Cabin Still. You can read the full post here:<br />
<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/04/the-tragedy-of-old-cabin-still.html">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/04/the-tragedy-of-old-cabin-still.html</a><br />
<br />
When, exactly, the dumping happened, isn't clear. I have had people tell me that higher proof examples of Cabin Still from after 1972 were perfectly good. I've been assembling samples and planning to try to nail down the date of the transition as best I can from taste alone (i.e. make an educated guess based upon tasting). Furthermore, the evidence is inconclusive about <i>how </i>the dumping occurred. Was Camp Nelson juice simply substituted for Stitzel-Weller? Were the two mixed together? If so, were the proportions constant or did they vary? I don't know. What I did know was that 1960s Cabin Still tasted like lovely Stitzel-Weller (cherry cola, dusty honeyed malt and light and sweet coffee) and the 1980s Cabin Still I knew from college and subsequent tastings was a musty, cardboardy, nasty pour. Those experiences were the visceral support that made me a real believer in the tale.</div>
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So, when Josh Peters of <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/">The Whiskey Jug</a> blog offered a taste of 1970s Cabin Still I was anxious to participate and find out if it tasted the pre-1972 good stuff or the inferior later stuff.</div>
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First of all, let's date the bottle. Let's use the tips found on The Whiskey Jug's excellent page on dating dusties:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/whiskey/how-to-date-a-bottle-of-whiskey/">http://thewhiskeyjug.com/whiskey/how-to-date-a-bottle-of-whiskey/</a><br />
<br />
Josh Peter's photos of the bottle are at left and below. We see:<br />
<ul>
<li>No UPC code - thus prior to 1985 at least</li>
<li>Imperial measurement ("One Pint" impressed in the glass). This suggests the bottle was made prior to 1980.</li>
<li>"Series 112" on the tax strip just below the eagle. No volume markings on the end of the tax strip. This narrows it in to 1973-1976.</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIsW7Kt_bxN-c08Dyb147U6pHN3HIiHwn2L1RJUn3H2ET6DMTwd5l7gqfDZ7Tli_FfFUYsaxilgJeMBAY5Y9ow3xoxbpmXsyOLbUW8OQJfyniNf-Wki4hE8Kb_M6ETP6YYb8ZZfOV7DJG/s1600/CabinStillTop.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzIsW7Kt_bxN-c08Dyb147U6pHN3HIiHwn2L1RJUn3H2ET6DMTwd5l7gqfDZ7Tli_FfFUYsaxilgJeMBAY5Y9ow3xoxbpmXsyOLbUW8OQJfyniNf-Wki4hE8Kb_M6ETP6YYb8ZZfOV7DJG/s320/CabinStillTop.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Series 112 below eagle and no volume marks on the ends.</span></td></tr>
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<li>As Sku notes in <a href="http://recenteats.blogspot.com/2015/09/dusty-tasting-1970s-cabin-still.html">his post about this bottle</a>: "a 1974 copyright appears on the label". </li>
</ul>
<div>
This complex of attributes would put the date of this bottle pretty specifically to 1974-76. That's just 2-3 years after the Norton Simon takeover of Stitzel-Weller. If this stuff has the cardboard flavors of Camp Nelson / Canada Dry Bourbon then that lends more support to the notion that Norton Simon began the dumping right away. Tasting is subjective, though, so it's circumstantial evidence at best. But that's still evidence in my mind. Here we go. </div>
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<h3>
Cabin Still 40% abv. Louisville 1974-76</h3>
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Color: Medium amber.<br />
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Nose: sweet with hard candy, candy corn and cola with an earthy musky note. Not bad</div>
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Palate: Opens sweet with citrus and cherry. Good so far! The expansion adds oak char and then it gets salty. It's more the suggestion of salt with a mineral and iodine aspect. At the turn a musty cardboard note enters. The finish has a bitter note that keeps calling up cardboard. There is some heft to the mouth feel. This feels very much like a vatting of Stitzel Weller and Camp Nelson juice to me. But the Stitzel Weller flavors are in evidence in the cherry and cola flavors up front. The opening is this whiskey's best part. The finish, however, very much ruins it for me. Prickly, bitter, cardboard... just unpleasant. This is easily remedied by another sip which refreshes the pleasant flavors of the entry. A real case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. How do I score it? The fore-palate is definitely four star / 80s territory, but the finish drags it way down in my opinion.</div>
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** 76<br />
<br />
This stuff is clearly way better than the 1980s Cabin Still I tasted in my formal review in early 2014. But with dusties the manner of storage matters. Was the whiskey better in the mid 70s? Or is this just a nice fresh bottle? More tasting is necessary. But this bottle confirms, in my mind, that:</div>
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<ol>
<li>Norton Simon was mixing Canada Dry bourbon into Stitzel-Weller, at least at first.</li>
<li>That they started this mixing pretty early after they acquired the brand.</li>
</ol>
Thanks again, Josh, for the opportunity to taste this fascinating whiskey and also be a part of a group whiskey blogging thing that involves some very distinguished bloggers. Definitely check these guys out:</div>
<ul>
<li>Josh Peters of The Whiskey Jug: <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/" target="_blank">http://thewhiskeyjug.com</a></li>
<li>Steve Ury (Sku) of Sku's Recent Eats: <a href="http://recenteats.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://recenteats.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>Aaron Kraus (of the West Coast branch of It's Just The Booze Dancing): <a href="http://boozedancing.com/" target="_blank">http://boozedancing.com/</a></li>
<li>Stephen of The Axis of Whisky: <a href="http://axisofwhisky.com/">http://axisofwhisky.com/</a></li>
<li>and Patrick "Pops" Garrett of Bourbon and Banter: <a href="https://www.bourbonbanter.com/" target="_blank">https://www.bourbonbanter.com/</a></li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYOt5CvGRsDMuFpUi_bfbIThuDyYl6GdxaMdff-Zy0EViJfBtiPGALwZ3gn_wzUGQ6bjcl8YSqKcPsztGt1nbLjl8HEm7ahbR_QCyDkXBeBkQQe7bgJkipuB_IBV0YUKB7gLeL7PkfZMC/s1600/The4_1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXYOt5CvGRsDMuFpUi_bfbIThuDyYl6GdxaMdff-Zy0EViJfBtiPGALwZ3gn_wzUGQ6bjcl8YSqKcPsztGt1nbLjl8HEm7ahbR_QCyDkXBeBkQQe7bgJkipuB_IBV0YUKB7gLeL7PkfZMC/s640/The4_1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The four bottles Josh Peters sent samples of.</span></td></tr>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-15181671287905871562015-09-24T21:24:00.005-04:002015-09-26T23:58:47.616-04:00Old Crow New Versus Old: Tasting 1970s Against The Current Stuff In Very Good Blogger Company.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheRbQT463o0x9bNdDjhPj45i_rh6NFCKewXcEP3k-zaupJkaNFSLK2SNdsM69KmKiUqEC8BGvDkOjfEEbVzAtipfANY6VPGKkT4Zd8nyAQFUk-aI7R00NhnC9su_oC1HvHd0WOxWkLR0i6/s1600/OldCrow70s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheRbQT463o0x9bNdDjhPj45i_rh6NFCKewXcEP3k-zaupJkaNFSLK2SNdsM69KmKiUqEC8BGvDkOjfEEbVzAtipfANY6VPGKkT4Zd8nyAQFUk-aI7R00NhnC9su_oC1HvHd0WOxWkLR0i6/s320/OldCrow70s.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josh Peters' </span><span style="font-size: small;">1970s </span><span style="font-size: small;">bottle of Old Crow</span></td></tr>
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Tasting dusty Bourbons and pitting them against the current expressions to learn about what has changed and, all too often, what has been lost, can be poignant because the dusty often represents a vanished distillery. That's the case here with the 1970s Old Crow. These exercises are often educational though. By knowing history we come to a deeper appreciation of the current state of the art. It's even better when you get to share the experience with others of a like mind. Today we have a special opportunity to do all that courtesy of Josh Peters of <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/">The Whiskey Jug</a> blog. Josh sent a quartet of samples (seen below) to a quintet of whiskey bloggers. None of use communicated anything beforehand, other than Josh sending us the samples and bottle shots. Now we get to enjoy reading all their perspectives about the same whiskies. <br />
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The blogs involved are:</div>
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<ul>
<li>Josh Peters of The Whiskey Jug: <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/bourbon-whiskey/1970s-old-crow-review-review/" target="_blank">http://thewhiskeyjug.com/bourbon-whiskey/1970s-old-crow-review-review/</a></li>
<li>Steve Ury (Sku) of Sku's Recent Eats: <a href="http://recenteats.blogspot.com/">http://recenteats.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>Aaron Kraus (of the West Coast branch of It's Just The Booze Dancing): <a href="http://boozedancing.com/">http://boozedancing.com/</a></li>
<li>Stephen of The Axis of Whisky: <a href="http://axisofwhisky.com/">http://axisofwhisky.com/</a></li>
<li>and Patrick "Pops" Garrett of Bourbon and Banter: <a href="https://www.bourbonbanter.com/">https://www.bourbonbanter.com/</a></li>
</ul>
I'm honored to be among such a great group of bloggers. Let's get started with a head to head of 1970s Old Crow versus the new stuff.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWkO46v532ayoUcTPM3N1B0tCfUtelgl5MK7sicPkGTs3o4QHiyk9wshEVgnNTOZE4rH4-XzuEYssOEXQ1w-1aVtqbXAlCB0vMZ2SGFByDYe_7fhaGiyClgEzY_1u-kqj8FzYnkUwRTshq/s1600/20150916_203820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWkO46v532ayoUcTPM3N1B0tCfUtelgl5MK7sicPkGTs3o4QHiyk9wshEVgnNTOZE4rH4-XzuEYssOEXQ1w-1aVtqbXAlCB0vMZ2SGFByDYe_7fhaGiyClgEzY_1u-kqj8FzYnkUwRTshq/s640/20150916_203820.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">The samples. The Old Crows are in the two in the middle.</span></td></tr>
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Old Crow is one of the greatest brand stories in all of whiskey. It has the most noble and legendary of beginnings but the recipe is lost at least twice along the way and it's currently a bottom shelf item. A classic American Rust Belt tale. Named for Dr. James C. Crow, a Scottish physician and chemist who emigrated to the US in the 1820s and who had come to work for Oscar Pepper in 1838 in Woodford county, Kentucky. He is generally (and probably incorrectly) credited with inventing the sour mash process where some of the spent mash from the previous batch is reserved and used as a starter in the next batch where it acidifies the mash and provides continuity of yeast and fauna. He also barrel aged his Bourbon in era what that wasn't the norm. And he properly cleaned his mash tuns and washbacks and tended the recipe with a careful and scientific manner. All this gave early Old Crow an admirable level of quality and consistency which made it beloved. <br />
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James Crow died rather suddenly in 1856, apparently taking details of his recipe to the grave with him. Oscar Pepper continued to make Old Crow, but passed away himself a few years later. A group of investors, led by E.H. Taylor bought the brand and all remaining stocks. They called the company W. A. Gaines & Co. Old Crow of this era was famous. Supposedly it was the whiskey of choice of probably the 19th century's most famous heavy drinker, General and President Ulysses S. Grant. Jack Sullivan (of the brilliant history blog <a href="http://pre-prowhiskeymen.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Those Pre-Pro Whiskey Men!</a>) wrote:<br />
<br />
<i>"In his book, The Social History of
Bourbon, Gerald Carson recounts that
during one night during the long and
stressful siege of Vicksburg, General
Grant said to his aides: “See here, before
we go to bed, let’s have a nightcap. Stewart
[an aide] has got some prime Old Crow
whiskey around here somewhere.” Stewart
got the bottle and then watched as Grant
filled a large goblet with Old Crow whiskey
and tossed it down. ”It was a whopping big
drink...”'</i><br />
<a href="http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS021.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.pre-pro.com/midacore/articles/JS021.pdf</a><br />
<br />
In 1878 the brand had grown to the point that a new, larger, and more industrial distillery was built further down the same road, South of Frankfort Kentucky, on the Kentucky river. It would be made there for almost a century. But in the 1960s sometime a tragic development happened where the amount of setback was changed and the original recipe forgotten. Then the brand was sold and the the original recipe completely abandoned. Chuck Cowdery, in his masterful book of whiskey history <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bourbon-Straight-Unfiltered-American-Whiskey/dp/0975870300" target="_blank">Bourbon Straight</a> writes of Old Crow:<br />
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<i>"After the war, whiskey-making resumed and Old Crow became one of the world's top selling bourbons. Until 1952, it was sold only as a bond, i.e., 100 proof. In that year, an 86 proof version was introduced. In the 1960s, with sales still booming, production capacity at the Old Crow plant was increased significantly. According to a former National Distillers employee who was the last master distiller at Crow before it was acquired by Jim Beam in 1987, it was during this expansion that the original formula was accidentally changed. The error was in the percentage of backset returned to the new mash. This is ironic because the use of backset to condition new mash is the very essence of the sour mash process introduced by Dr. Crow. Despite falling sales, many customer complaints about the product’s new flavor, and even negative reviews from the distillery’s own tasting panels, the plant’s managers were either unwilling or unable to correct the mistake until just a few years before Jim Beam closed the plant in 1987. But by then the damage had been done. Sales of almost all bourbon brands declined during the 1970s and 1980s, but none worse than Old Crow. In addition to losing sales, it also lost market share. Formerly number one, today it does not even rank in the top ten. For most of the period between Prohibition and Old Crow’s fall from grace, the brand’s chief rival for the position of best-selling bourbon was Jim Beam. As a final irony, the Old Crow whiskey in stores today is Jim Beam. That is, it is whiskey made by Jim Beam from the standard Jim Beam bourbon mash bill."</i><br />
<i></i><br />
<i></i>
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bourbon-Straight-Unfiltered-American-Whiskey/dp/0975870300" target="_blank">Cowdery, Charles (2011-05-20). BOURBON, STRAIGHT: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey</a> (pp. 114-115).<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWPvuHqk4mf9uuDbbRvpjG7iv1fsrSVMQXkb7hRP9jxf6XJZo0wNzwu1fpHPGFhyphenhyphenlcC6wSpZfqGJ_9O_sjoZggX9PWdq3ccmgA3f4ez0Y0JbCVOaMD2TrBvR5Xu9InF6E0OK_tB-uefTF/s1600/OCDistilleryInterior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWPvuHqk4mf9uuDbbRvpjG7iv1fsrSVMQXkb7hRP9jxf6XJZo0wNzwu1fpHPGFhyphenhyphenlcC6wSpZfqGJ_9O_sjoZggX9PWdq3ccmgA3f4ez0Y0JbCVOaMD2TrBvR5Xu9InF6E0OK_tB-uefTF/s400/OCDistilleryInterior.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/old-crow-distillery/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Interior of Distillery Building</span></a></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6yofn5eacO-5Fripkw78Pz1IEBD7ls6Wjq-U77slUGzPPIxOiFaRA4wFtVxhiyvQ6reHBzSlv6txCoLHv6cFUTq6yGASvaebXc0LT9pMx7K6jD0dTCbftRW6ywdq2kyEpq6NjWHOZkte/s1600/OCRickhouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk6yofn5eacO-5Fripkw78Pz1IEBD7ls6Wjq-U77slUGzPPIxOiFaRA4wFtVxhiyvQ6reHBzSlv6txCoLHv6cFUTq6yGASvaebXc0LT9pMx7K6jD0dTCbftRW6ywdq2kyEpq6NjWHOZkte/s320/OCRickhouse.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Old Crow overgrown r<a href="http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/old-crow-distillery/" target="_blank">ickhouse</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFR6vyFNrv-VAnCB2-FG7eBjEKuXjOF0aHrvvDwlt_DKi6a0H6fybT78TbSsgkvg1g_0X___fuYxaGD8mL00EJPP0C72FQy2f9a9a3CxhBDd07ewILTkrAb6B71USufHhLUUCUeVuidYwk/s1600/OCDistillery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFR6vyFNrv-VAnCB2-FG7eBjEKuXjOF0aHrvvDwlt_DKi6a0H6fybT78TbSsgkvg1g_0X___fuYxaGD8mL00EJPP0C72FQy2f9a9a3CxhBDd07ewILTkrAb6B71USufHhLUUCUeVuidYwk/s320/OCDistillery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Old Crow <a href="http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/old-crow-distillery/" target="_blank">Distillery Building</a></span></td></tr>
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After the 1987 sale to Beam, the Old Crow distillery where Old Crow had been made since 1878 and through the glory days of the 50s was closed and allowed to become a ruin. There is a wonderful web site with many photographs of this ruin circa 2014. Here are a few pictures from that site for color:<br />
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<a href="http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/old-crow-distillery/" target="_blank">http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/old-crow-distillery/</a><br />
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So, what we're tasting in this head to head is Old Crow from the last decade or so of the Old Crow Distillery (that gorgeous ruin) - which was part of National Distillers Corporation at the time, and the new stuff from Jim Beam.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GN-Zyy18NpQIVE5mX24PEapvJoUXQW3Rowhl9hIR-RQD2M2hOFWYKdEeGyrJbes0ItRkHESilARA9pkvjhH65NkUf-PdpPZTBk8lL1P_Zpi_CNb8W4-xfdHsDnWGMIdEwTKY7nLZm9cn/s1600/OldCrows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_GN-Zyy18NpQIVE5mX24PEapvJoUXQW3Rowhl9hIR-RQD2M2hOFWYKdEeGyrJbes0ItRkHESilARA9pkvjhH65NkUf-PdpPZTBk8lL1P_Zpi_CNb8W4-xfdHsDnWGMIdEwTKY7nLZm9cn/s640/OldCrows.jpg" width="556" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josh's new (Jim Beam) Old Crow (left), 1970s National Distillers Old Crow (right)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3>
Old Crow 40% (Current bottling - Jim Beam) 3 years old.</h3>
<br />
Color: Pale gold<br />
The nose is grainy (grassy, sour) with some blue cheese and plastic. <br />
<br />
A bright, sweet sugar opening. There is some light corn and citrus on the expansion and then a lightly sour and bitter finish with a nice doughy after glow. With air it opens sweet gentle and not so bad. Young and light, but certainly drinkable.<br />
<br />
** 74<br />
An undistinguished but inoffensive young Bourbon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFeraaIk56ZljqyS5oMGmeEGHNwRwCm6XlcIB5Hx6bxL5M_m_VntiR9gzoDPHmkKWiRvrCyCFP_u0xre6NXgjVfBtl04qj0DivYHNCDBZ81adMiutKcphJ7ec7I8umYpnwXYCH_ncXeEhy/s1600/OldCrowNew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFeraaIk56ZljqyS5oMGmeEGHNwRwCm6XlcIB5Hx6bxL5M_m_VntiR9gzoDPHmkKWiRvrCyCFP_u0xre6NXgjVfBtl04qj0DivYHNCDBZ81adMiutKcphJ7ec7I8umYpnwXYCH_ncXeEhy/s320/OldCrowNew.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Old Crow 1970s 40% National Distillers</h3>
Color: Medium amber<br />
Nose: Cream and butter. Vanilla. Citrus. Blonde tobacco. Something musky and little earthy.<br />
<br />
Palate: sweet marmalade. Citrus compote. Dynamic and honeyed. Strong buttery texture and sweet butter flavor notes join hard candy at the mid palate expansion. Light leather and gentle charred oak turn and short finish that ends slightly bitter.<br />
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**** 86<br />
<br />
Way more vivid and intense than the new stuff. Classic mid-century style Bourbon in the light and candied mode. And this is the decade after the setback amount was accidentally changed and the recipe lost. Earlier versions had a richer darker aspect. Also this is the 80 proof version. 86 an and BiB (100 proof) are no doubt even better. I have some of those lying around. I look forward to following this up at higher proof.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpJUGvZYSuFCI8cl7MFY_0lJIJ5xCkVGCaA4RJ_C7gWIPos3YGIknfHOdxgzZ5iRBtMkHFS29Nx52A_XO17pk8O6PSJq9rc3owcnMp8QtZpedwsntMHJlQqMkYqW6Y_7I9P6_tHsiuYMP/s1600/IMG_20150924_102237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSpJUGvZYSuFCI8cl7MFY_0lJIJ5xCkVGCaA4RJ_C7gWIPos3YGIknfHOdxgzZ5iRBtMkHFS29Nx52A_XO17pk8O6PSJq9rc3owcnMp8QtZpedwsntMHJlQqMkYqW6Y_7I9P6_tHsiuYMP/s400/IMG_20150924_102237.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Allan Roth poured this pairing at</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Char No. 4 a couple of years ago.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, it's clear that the old National Distiller's stuff was leagues ahead of the bottom shelf younger version of Jim Beam White Old Crow has become. A sad legacy indeed, for one of America's top brands.<br />
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A bit of personal history: I had this head to head poured by Allan Roth, then of Brooklyn's terrific restaurant and whiskey bar Char No. 4 (now sadly closed) back in January, 2014. I was having dinner and whiskey flights with a friend when Allan, beverage director, brought out a lovely early 1980s tax stamped dusty bottle of Old Crow (see photo at left) and poured my companion and I the National Distiller's dusty and the new stuff as complimentary pours. It was a highlight moment. BTW, our impression of these two whiskies was identical to my impressions in the current tasting: National Distillers Old Crow was a lovely and flavorful pour which bears little resemblance the current stuff. It's no surprise given that only the name is the same. The long and proud legacy is lost.<br />
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Thanks for the samples and the opportunity to play along, Josh. Be sure to check out the other bloggers reviewing this same stuff. Here they are again:<br />
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<div dir="ltr">
<ul>
<li>Josh Peters of The Whiskey Jug: <a href="http://thewhiskeyjug.com/bourbon-whiskey/1970s-old-crow-review-review/" target="_blank">http://thewhiskeyjug.com/bourbon-whiskey/1970s-old-crow-review-review/</a></li>
<li>Steve Ury (Sku) of Sku's Recent Eats: <a href="http://recenteats.blogspot.com/">http://recenteats.blogspot.com/</a></li>
<li>Aaron Kraus (of the West Coast branch of It's Just The Booze Dancing): <a href="http://boozedancing.com/">http://boozedancing.com/</a></li>
<li>Stephen of The Axis of Whisky: <a href="http://axisofwhisky.com/">http://axisofwhisky.com/</a></li>
<li>and Patrick "Pops" Garrett of Bourbon and Banter: <a href="https://www.bourbonbanter.com/">https://www.bourbonbanter.com/</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-24845422278297376702015-09-07T15:41:00.000-04:002015-09-12T10:05:24.754-04:00Westland Is Kicking Butt - Particularly In Recent Single Cask Nation Releases.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJdzJ6OjW_JnqKqBIICAxGrvnuSTzZO7HnvgDVDW2C_wIdCB7LHMVOluWilDL7oJ1wCtjwXKfDdRr9EmpjVSF0IXgkfO47EZaI1N-6BxeVnWsq7TPWMtJyx2mdl7uOvAH32fzMEg0OpkD/s1600/IMG_20150804_223531.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyJdzJ6OjW_JnqKqBIICAxGrvnuSTzZO7HnvgDVDW2C_wIdCB7LHMVOluWilDL7oJ1wCtjwXKfDdRr9EmpjVSF0IXgkfO47EZaI1N-6BxeVnWsq7TPWMtJyx2mdl7uOvAH32fzMEg0OpkD/s640/IMG_20150804_223531.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Westland single barrel selections vatted to create the <br />Single Cask Nation Third Jubilee Festival Bottling</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Westland, a five year old distillery in Seattle, is producing interesting single-malts that aren't trying to imitate the Scots. Instead, they're taking cues from the American Craft beer movement, using intriguing malts and yeasts from craft brewing. A creative vatting of the range of flavors they are working with lately deserved to be the third of the adventurous bottlings the Jewish Whisky Company selects for their annual Whisky Jewbilee.<br />
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American whiskey production tends to focus on corn and rye. Malt whisky is more often associated with Scotch, Irish, Japanese, and the new malts emerging in places like Scandinavia, England, Wales, Brittany, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the like. But American Craft distillers are making single malts too, such as Balcones' Texas Single Malt, St. George Single Malt, Sons of Liberty Uprising, Stranahans, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt, Lost Spirits, and Hudson, among others. An interesting aspect of the American single malt movement is that a number of them show signs of emerging from the Craft beer movement. Some, like Charbay, Corsair Rasputin, Sons of Liberty seasonals, and Pine Barrens (among others) are explicitly hopped, having been distilled from finished beer. That's not the case here - but signs of evolution out of craft beer brewing are all over Westland's stuff. They have an interesting story about using complex mash bills which involve a lot of different malts, the kind usually used in craft beer, such as Washington Select Pale Malt, Munich Malt. Pale Chocolate Malt, Brown Malt, and also Peated Malt. They further amp the flavor in the mash by using Belgian Saison brewer's yeast - a variety normally used in craft beer. They claim the yeast produces a lot of esters and creamy flavor compounds. I was initially skeptical about this claim. However, my early tastings of their standard expressions showed me that the whisky was rich, sweet, dark and musky in a way I really enjoyed. Given that Westland is choosing to bottle their stuff young, typically 2 to 3 years old, I view this as a minor miracle. It makes me inclined to believe the story about mash bill and yeast. How else to explain the richness and apparent maturity in such a young malt? This stuff is mostly too young to be legally called "whisky" in Scotland, but it drinks a lot like the real deal - and has its own set of flavors which are worth exploring. </div>
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Part of the <a href="http://www.anchordistilling.com/brand/westland/" target="_blank">Anchor Distilling's portfolio</a> - a sweet distribution platform - Westland joins excellent whisky peers like Nikka, BenRiach, Kavalan, GlenDronach, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, and Anchor's own Old Potrero. The urban downtown distillery features a very Scottish looking setup with two substantial pot stills from Vendome for wash and spirit two part distillation (with column tops, although the plates are only used on the spirit still) and a beefy gorgeous spirit safe, There's clearly some money behind the outfit. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhAZw1Axiu9D_wzsp4c34X9y7D4Ea5rPZ5SpLNNAyyuEOv8h0uWD_nfseyEwVAuJERCIR6mTz2fzUiyTe9dH439tMwgV4EYeGDs0gtgrDnEI_XIyEjgrU2zulqjm_KjuvMefQav0Npw2T/s1600/WestlandTweet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVhAZw1Axiu9D_wzsp4c34X9y7D4Ea5rPZ5SpLNNAyyuEOv8h0uWD_nfseyEwVAuJERCIR6mTz2fzUiyTe9dH439tMwgV4EYeGDs0gtgrDnEI_XIyEjgrU2zulqjm_KjuvMefQav0Npw2T/s640/WestlandTweet1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Nima Ansari, spirit buyer at Astor Place Liquors in NYC tweeted this photo of Westland's stills & spirit safe.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUvCqvAg1PCf3IPlVIsqFVaMBrBIBlMfRqUsACxSn5WAo09-LKgtIB3f9P6Wq21FQ0KC72Ezz80vjsV0FFtYVjS_xdiRT1dHKjSatwyymVG67M3H3WMwkt-uiiPrudAwJif9tB-LOdKsO/s1600/IMG_20150804_224052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCUvCqvAg1PCf3IPlVIsqFVaMBrBIBlMfRqUsACxSn5WAo09-LKgtIB3f9P6Wq21FQ0KC72Ezz80vjsV0FFtYVjS_xdiRT1dHKjSatwyymVG67M3H3WMwkt-uiiPrudAwJif9tB-LOdKsO/s400/IMG_20150804_224052.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
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<i>Plus, see a great set of photos of Westland here: <a href="http://thesunbreak.com/2013/10/03/westland-distillery-takes-single-malt-whiskey-to-a-new-level/">http://thesunbreak.com/2013/10/03/westland-distillery-takes-single-malt-whiskey-to-a-new-level/</a></i><br />
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I had my first taste of Westland at the
June 2014 Whisky Jewbilee in New York, poured by Matt Hoffman, the
master distiller and co-founder of Westland. A big bearded man who
looks like a lumber jack, he comes off as warm and very knowledgeable
with much to say about his production philosophy.. . A few
months later, I got to taste some amazing Westland sherried and
peated malt whisky barrel samples poured by Single Cask Nation's
Josh Hatton with whiskey enthusiast Ari Susskind's crew last fall (later bottled by SCN and reviewed below). So
when I heard that Hoffman was leading a master class this year (June 2015) and
presenting the third Whiskey Jewbilee bottling, I signed right up.
The first two festival bottlings, a 15 year old Heaven Hill single cask
Bourbon, at barrel proof; and a custom vatting of rye whiskies and
LDI Light whiskies, selected and blended by David Perkins of High
West, had quickly attracted a cult following. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFumEFzGMyFokpvhNQzvyFUVgwtMPZhjwbHFrd6pzMwYd2SZqXLwH85ACPe6H4h05Q-5xYWFptfIe724BtfZDVJ9ZSge6CFu9wKjp8mLnqSRTUQEirNHekNHjW22RFkCJnrEuC3EDMlbE8/s1600/Whisky-Jewbilee-First-Bottling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFumEFzGMyFokpvhNQzvyFUVgwtMPZhjwbHFrd6pzMwYd2SZqXLwH85ACPe6H4h05Q-5xYWFptfIe724BtfZDVJ9ZSge6CFu9wKjp8mLnqSRTUQEirNHekNHjW22RFkCJnrEuC3EDMlbE8/s320/Whisky-Jewbilee-First-Bottling.jpg" width="175" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU1ckneUJgabpFDS4CFhssu86ocG7RVxCrlJRGNSOn_JtJGr0AUcnibJmj8Je1Lpku45Dm2KhiHp_KmYg9U97PCRjJW-dlxg4FJy66_d5Jk3N2k5lA3AlrKfpWAG5G73cIz4m6E5H_0ln/s1600/WhiskyJewbilee22014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU1ckneUJgabpFDS4CFhssu86ocG7RVxCrlJRGNSOn_JtJGr0AUcnibJmj8Je1Lpku45Dm2KhiHp_KmYg9U97PCRjJW-dlxg4FJy66_d5Jk3N2k5lA3AlrKfpWAG5G73cIz4m6E5H_0ln/s320/WhiskyJewbilee22014.jpg" width="157" /></a><br />
(above: the first and second Jewbilee festival bottlings. The first, left, a rich and intense Heaven Hill 15 yo single cask, had a young Jewish man sitting on a NY building stoop on the label. The second, right, was a vatting of LDI rye and light whiskies by David Perkins of High West, has a label depicting the same young man, this time sharing a pour with a beautiful woman. The bottle they are drinking is the first festival bottling depicted in miniature on the label). The depiction of the previous bottle labels is now a "thing".</div>
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Matt started off by explaining about the Westland production story (the cool rainy Scotland-like climate in Seattle; their use of two large pot stills, full sized barrels; carefully selected woods, the many malts, the yeast, etc...) Then we dove into 6 different selections starting with the base OB expression and then through the single cask components of the Third Jewbilee Festival bottling.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzG-vPnRUuS7y5_YTBWhyphenhyphenqhFkiZyZoMYr3V0Ky4DawF85ygzkxm6Gx1eG8y6mIuKrOLw4OVEGQKKx4aurI8MpZoeleq881u77Sh60J6F8EySmef5T4XTVNEAbTS5rAh-NgSmqeuX8ggltt/s1600/IMG_20150804_223847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzG-vPnRUuS7y5_YTBWhyphenhyphenqhFkiZyZoMYr3V0Ky4DawF85ygzkxm6Gx1eG8y6mIuKrOLw4OVEGQKKx4aurI8MpZoeleq881u77Sh60J6F8EySmef5T4XTVNEAbTS5rAh-NgSmqeuX8ggltt/s640/IMG_20150804_223847.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJu69T-hEqUmnHbZHUnxZcZ1VDSHW6IokjuPQsPrrH_EMrGJrY_rBI0ffpVrrUab9xI9d8IWWEAC14sRmwokT9UtjDf2CE5rbB09SyiVyeFA_ydk6cP9HWiRmWUpcB-C_Taq2wZ0P9WKd/s1600/WestlandSingleMalt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJu69T-hEqUmnHbZHUnxZcZ1VDSHW6IokjuPQsPrrH_EMrGJrY_rBI0ffpVrrUab9xI9d8IWWEAC14sRmwokT9UtjDf2CE5rbB09SyiVyeFA_ydk6cP9HWiRmWUpcB-C_Taq2wZ0P9WKd/s320/WestlandSingleMalt.jpg" width="99" /></a>
OB Westland Single Malt - 2010 distillation 46% abv.</h3>
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<a href="http://westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/american-single-malt" target="_blank">http://westlanddistillery.com/whiskey/american-single-malt</a><br />
Barley grown locally: Washington Select Pale Malt<br />
Munich Malt, Extra Special Malt, Pale Chocolate Malt, Brown Malt, Belgian Saison yeast. #3 char air cured barrels by Independent Stave and 24 month maturation. </div>
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Dusky malty and sweet on the nose with cocoa and malt, cocoa and milk chocolate. The palate starts malty and honeyed, like malted milk balls. On the expansion things move to candied citrus fruit and rind. The turn is moderately oaky and pretty well balanced. The finish is moderately long, with char and herbal notes. There is some of the brashness of youth, but there's a whole lot going on and most all of it is good. <br />
**** 84</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF5LZoGxfik3kRVk786FbgDu1oytIppCbVY5nQ4ULI8o4u8uiQ55W0ZJt8HxhuhPPSlWlp4SBJ5Gwyi4I0qhFDADBvBi8Ana2mCcoHoTQu3qgMNwHNJ0_1vg7YdHLvJr6FtOsgPSF63jw/s1600/WestlandSBDetails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijF5LZoGxfik3kRVk786FbgDu1oytIppCbVY5nQ4ULI8o4u8uiQ55W0ZJt8HxhuhPPSlWlp4SBJ5Gwyi4I0qhFDADBvBi8Ana2mCcoHoTQu3qgMNwHNJ0_1vg7YdHLvJr6FtOsgPSF63jw/s640/WestlandSBDetails.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Left to right: Westland casks 539, 193, 90, and 189</span></td></tr>
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Next we hit the single barrel selections used in the vatting to come. I didn't note their alcohol by volume percentages, but these are all barrel proof - around 62% abv for all of them. These were tasted at the event, so I'm not giving formal tasting notes or scores - but they were outstanding. Each of them were delicious and would crack ***** 90 point (+) territory. The following brief notes were taken at the tasting.</div>
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Cask 539 New American Oak Peated</h3>
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(left in the photo above) </div>
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Amber color</div>
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Peated malt. 2 years old.<br />
Nose: bacon or smoked ham. Smoke. Nutty sweet meats.<br />
Sweet elegant opening. Honey candied meat. Smoke. Addictive. Delicious.<br />
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<h3>
Cask 90 New American Oak - 6 Malt Mash</h3>
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(second from the right in the photo above)<br />
Amber with red glints.</div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Nose Buttery oak. Cream. Untanned skin. Pork fat (procutto) panne cotta.<br />Palate: intensely fruity (lychee, chardonnay, banana, apricot), creamy, blond leather, soft mouth feel. Clove heat. Finish is lightly fruited, oak tannin, Water amps the sweet. </span><br />
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Cask 189 62.6% abv. 39 months old ex bourbon </h3>
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(right, in the photo above)</div>
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Pale gold.<br />
Nose Sawn oak, fruity, vanilla, malt.<br />
Palate: honey, herbs, white fudge, and citrus. Substantial intensity and long finish.</div>
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<br />
(Note. This barrel is also being bottled as a Single Cask Nation selection:)</div>
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<a href="http://singlecasknation.com/collections/nation-bottlings/products/westland-3-wild-turkey-boubon-barrel" target="_blank">http://singlecasknation.com/collections/nation-bottlings/products/westland-3-wild-turkey-boubon-barrel</a></div>
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<h3>
Cask 193 pale malt ex bourbon</h3>
Same batch as cask 189. Even lighter. Crisp floral honey clover candied citrus oak. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAYLtOCe6sJ0EZN4KdXH2BqksvSyBL30f77EYPJ-aPFzqK-z1gA77cQXYvzCUAGM4BnM7FVC9YYW6X4h3zuXGW1c0_FtkmZZmroUz8DgAt0Wmf8o4Tg6rlq9arCLl8_oaJFef9opL8fKr/s1600/WhiskyJewbilee3closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAYLtOCe6sJ0EZN4KdXH2BqksvSyBL30f77EYPJ-aPFzqK-z1gA77cQXYvzCUAGM4BnM7FVC9YYW6X4h3zuXGW1c0_FtkmZZmroUz8DgAt0Wmf8o4Tg6rlq9arCLl8_oaJFef9opL8fKr/s640/WhiskyJewbilee3closeup.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>The beautiful lady has returned on the third bottling, happily bearing the previous two bottlings, depicted in miniature, in her hands. </i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggQXbCStf-BVaUd-wE90iITJPwXd-D8a-p5PPfHpejdevEwJW_O1GocM7FCCx__wgAome2M14MGy6obMGgiajlzdaDIq9Tf3BvSztjmhQuDla9K4TNkS6tfiN9-8uLOy8MH8DD1HWgzCx/s1600/WhiskyJewbileeRingBoxView2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiggQXbCStf-BVaUd-wE90iITJPwXd-D8a-p5PPfHpejdevEwJW_O1GocM7FCCx__wgAome2M14MGy6obMGgiajlzdaDIq9Tf3BvSztjmhQuDla9K4TNkS6tfiN9-8uLOy8MH8DD1HWgzCx/s640/WhiskyJewbileeRingBoxView2.jpg" width="405" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>She is greeting the man from the first two labels. He is bringing flowers and behind his back a wedding ring and crossed fingers indicating his secret intention to propose marriage.</i></span></td></tr>
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Then Matt's tasting advanced to the the vatting for the Jewbilee festival bottling itself. Along the way, Matt described his motivation for the vatting as a marriage story. He was inspired by the narrative progression of a romance leading to marriage on the bottle labels and chose to marry together peated and unpeated, and new oak and ex-bourbon barrels of Westland to make a marriage of a bunch of Westland's different flavor signatures. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidspVskyvp7PeBuQsqsx9cdXjXvGouoH_dUDXYN8H-T9-xH1JC1zesumjH_RVoJo75JVNNAX7Gv-pHtnlbG9l_Z04ATsba7hyZSP-kuQ2ycGCMOXcbPTtN2V-MTYlzJ73k2OIsVx12e8XD/s1600/IMG_20150804_212515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidspVskyvp7PeBuQsqsx9cdXjXvGouoH_dUDXYN8H-T9-xH1JC1zesumjH_RVoJo75JVNNAX7Gv-pHtnlbG9l_Z04ATsba7hyZSP-kuQ2ycGCMOXcbPTtN2V-MTYlzJ73k2OIsVx12e8XD/s400/IMG_20150804_212515.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The redish color is from new oak maturation.</span></td></tr>
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<h3>
Whisky Jewbilee Third Festival bottling: Westland single malt vatting. 59% abv. 150 bottles.</h3>
Color: dark gold with reddish tints.<br />
Nose sawn oak, honey and vanilla. Then red fruits, mineral and cedar pencils, distant roses, flax seed oil, phenolic notes of young whiskey, animal skins, wood smoke, and smoked meats,<br />
Palate: sharp and hot and big with young grassy sweetness up front. Then rich toffee, cocoa, vanilla, musky rich malt with cocoa notes, candied citrus, and also hefty syrupy richness. The expansion admixes dusky notes of animals with a pointy spiky young oak that I associate with young craft whiskey. The turn brings char and herbal bitters like an Amaro. Oak tannins and bitter on the finish which is long but a little dark. With a teaspoon of water and a good 15-30 minutes of air time some magic happens. It becomes more open, sunny, honeyed, and rich. Head to head blind, I'd be hard pressed to differentiate the palate from this one from a lightly peated Highland Scotch, sherry cask matured, and at full cask strength. Yet, there's something about the oak in the nose that communicates that this is an American Craft spirit. This is very good stuff, knocking on the door of extraordinary. I might have preferred some of the components on their own to the vatting together, but there is a lot of complexity here. This is a significant achievement.<br />
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**** 89<br />
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<div>
Single Cask Nation has other bottlings of Westland too - including a previously released cask strength sherried and peated 2 year old:</div>
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<h3>
Single Cask Nation Westland 2 year old 60% (current edition) Sherried and peated. </h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07AoqhadotmgKei_Fm8xP6FCJq0RDRB5w7GH3x6BDcfdJP8_9rzjhQZt67CKQ__6axD7zSXGnD6-kk9lUxA9twv-5YNSTKGREBvJL4i3OiMK1f25DCZpj7y6nm0zH0oYj6cETYFL9Aw6/s1600/WhiskyJewbileeClosure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07AoqhadotmgKei_Fm8xP6FCJq0RDRB5w7GH3x6BDcfdJP8_9rzjhQZt67CKQ__6axD7zSXGnD6-kk9lUxA9twv-5YNSTKGREBvJL4i3OiMK1f25DCZpj7y6nm0zH0oYj6cETYFL9Aw6/s1600/WhiskyJewbileeClosure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07AoqhadotmgKei_Fm8xP6FCJq0RDRB5w7GH3x6BDcfdJP8_9rzjhQZt67CKQ__6axD7zSXGnD6-kk9lUxA9twv-5YNSTKGREBvJL4i3OiMK1f25DCZpj7y6nm0zH0oYj6cETYFL9Aw6/s1600/WhiskyJewbileeClosure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjJMkznJYn2w8a7EJGp3K0N2RR2-zZqMuJ7yq457odyiXzMXZyuEoXHXZBeEWueBsLs7Fy9wA5YlTCKagv2X6mvnElpcAWL_lv9nw1_h80bw3Lokgq2e8IWOxe6Mgu7BU94xN9FYojkru/s1600/IMG_20150804_212756.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitjJMkznJYn2w8a7EJGp3K0N2RR2-zZqMuJ7yq457odyiXzMXZyuEoXHXZBeEWueBsLs7Fy9wA5YlTCKagv2X6mvnElpcAWL_lv9nw1_h80bw3Lokgq2e8IWOxe6Mgu7BU94xN9FYojkru/s640/IMG_20150804_212756.jpg" width="408" /></a>Color: rich medium amber with some coppery tints. This looks a lot like Bourbon in the glass. But the nose instantly gives this away: it's a darkly peated malt whisky. The nose is honeyed and loaded with warm bbq smoke, animal skins, prunes, black raisins, balsamic vinegar then a big load of some very active first fill ex-Olorosso sherry barrel. The palate is explosive at cask strength - beware. This is a Churchill ring cigar of a whiskey. It comes on sweet and malty and dark purple fruity and leathery and rich and then gets aggressively oaky fast. The turn is a char attack - but char with depth of flavor. You can taste the red line behind the char here. Caramel and toffee notes in a fierce battle grip with all kinds of dark licorice and black herbal flavors. Sherry sweetness plays above the very intense and iterated wood. This is an unbalanced whiskey. The finish is bitter. This gives this whiskey a very dark aspect. It has a spiky quality to the interaction between the young whiskey's hot body and sweet attack, and the smoldering earthy smoke and oak char. It's strong meat and a lot people will find this a young brash young whiskey a little bit out of control with flavoring aspects (peat, sherry, and oak) that were applied pedal to the metal. But some will applaud and I'm one of them. This whiskey is big, insanely rich, and incredibly fully flavored. It has some of the roughness of youth but, by virtue of tons of rich complexity baked into the flavor up front from the way it's malted, a sinful, pudding like mouth feel and big tannin effect, it exceeds thrillingly. A big Black Christmas pudding of a dram with extra cloves and nutmeg. An 85% cacao dark chocolate bar with nibs paired with a slightly oversteeped but very high quality black tea. This isn't for every day. But it certainly fits a certain mood: (i.e. wanting a big smoke encounter like having a massive dark leaf cigar). It is a HUGE sweet, young brash smoke bomb dessert feast that takes a long time to open. And it's a <b>two year old</b> single malt whiskey. It definitely pushes the boundaries of complexity of flavor in a young whiskey. I mean, this kind of thing isn't rare in the worlds of Rhum Agricole, Tequila, or Mezcal. But it is in the world of malt whiskey. It mostly suffers sins more commonly seen in old whiskey: (i.e. borderline over oaked). Yet, it's so young that in the UK it can't be defined as whisky at all until it's at least three years old. So, that this very young whiskey plays so big and sweet and dark is a mammoth achievement. This stuff is an adventure. How do you score it? Who the hell cares? (I'm going to dock it for being so dark and tannic, but that shouldn't discourage those of you who know you have to have it. This stuff is among the peaks of the American craft whiskey movement at the moment in my opinion. It'll all be gone in a heartbeat, of course, but it's more testimony that the Jewish Whisky Company really knows what the hell they're doing.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidspVskyvp7PeBuQsqsx9cdXjXvGouoH_dUDXYN8H-T9-xH1JC1zesumjH_RVoJo75JVNNAX7Gv-pHtnlbG9l_Z04ATsba7hyZSP-kuQ2ycGCMOXcbPTtN2V-MTYlzJ73k2OIsVx12e8XD/s1600/IMG_20150804_212515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />
**** 89<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07AoqhadotmgKei_Fm8xP6FCJq0RDRB5w7GH3x6BDcfdJP8_9rzjhQZt67CKQ__6axD7zSXGnD6-kk9lUxA9twv-5YNSTKGREBvJL4i3OiMK1f25DCZpj7y6nm0zH0oYj6cETYFL9Aw6/s1600/WhiskyJewbileeClosure.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh07AoqhadotmgKei_Fm8xP6FCJq0RDRB5w7GH3x6BDcfdJP8_9rzjhQZt67CKQ__6axD7zSXGnD6-kk9lUxA9twv-5YNSTKGREBvJL4i3OiMK1f25DCZpj7y6nm0zH0oYj6cETYFL9Aw6/s640/WhiskyJewbileeClosure.jpg" width="409" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Single Cask Nation bottlings have a very cool bottle closure with a glass stopper.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In conclusion, Check out <a href="http://singlecasknation.com/" target="_blank">Single Cask Nation</a>. Great palates are making great cask selections. And Westland is an American craft distiller making young single malts with a surprising and impressive degree of complexity and refinement. The future of American malt tastes pretty good.<br />
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<b><i>Source disclosure statement:</i></b> <i> I bought all bottles reviewed here and paid for all events described, including my own membership in Single Cask Nation. I'm a consumer of all this stuff purely as a whisky enthusiast and a fan.</i></div>
</div>
NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-37060967508361330052015-07-26T00:08:00.000-04:002017-03-20T15:48:41.673-04:00Smoky Beast's barrel of Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Rye Shoots The Moon.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpQ5X4QwVJRhdNeB8_TU09pC3QniglgWQGIqrg8_pAWdkSvTW_9z043zXx4CgOx7YnNKSmQtyEvQbXQYMItt-Hhw3KWSnoEAMqLlR3tFDqPV4zgzjqajR-UNrV2ysehnsVtZVUHhMN1_c/s1600/SmokyBeastRyeBottle1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpQ5X4QwVJRhdNeB8_TU09pC3QniglgWQGIqrg8_pAWdkSvTW_9z043zXx4CgOx7YnNKSmQtyEvQbXQYMItt-Hhw3KWSnoEAMqLlR3tFDqPV4zgzjqajR-UNrV2ysehnsVtZVUHhMN1_c/s640/SmokyBeastRyeBottle1.jpg" width="230" /></a>
There has been a lot of excitement lately about a pretty special private barrel pick of Smooth Amber Old Scout Rye selected by Steve Zeller aka the "<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Smoky Beast</a>"<b>. </b><a href="http://smoothambler.com/spirits/old-scout-rye-single-barrel/" target="_blank">Smooth Ambler's Old Scout Single Barrel Rye</a> is typically 7 years old, cask strength, and very good; John Little's nice cherry picks of MGP/LDI's rye barrels. There was some consternation recently when Smooth Ambler announced that the Single Barrel rye expression were going to disappear off the standard line-up and become a gift-shop exclusive. That sad news implied that the honey barrels of mature rye in MGP/LDI's rickhouses were becoming scarce. Hardly surprising: part of the drum beat of scarcity afflicting high-end American whiskey all over the place these days.
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My connection with the story began in the dimming days of last autumn, October 17th, 2014 when Steve Zeller, messaged me:
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<br />
<i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/drsteviez">Steven Zeller</a>: i need your help on an urgent whiskey related matter</i>
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<br />
<i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joshua.g.feldman">Joshua Gershon Feldman</a>: What's up?<br /><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/drsteviez">Steven Zeller</a>: you wouldn't be free to come up to our place for a few minutes after work today would you? B</i><i>lind tasting, american. will be the most consequential tasting of my young whiskey career. don't want to spoil it any more than that</i>
<i><br /></i><br />
<i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/joshua.g.feldman">Joshua Gershon Feldman</a>: ...dum dum dum DOHM!</i><br />
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I had been to blind tastings at Steve's before. Some had involved some of the finest Bourbons possible. <a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2014/05/battle-of-beasts-introducing-blind-smoke.html" target="_blank">One involved the peatiest whiskies on the planet.</a> (Finale post of that blind <a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2014/06/battle-of-beasts-finale-baddest-beast.html" target="_blank">here</a>). <br />
<br />
I had no idea what I was going to be tasting - other than it was American. But Steve was excited and that made me excited. I was assuming very high end Bourbon. When I arrived, I was facing this:
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUc0NzaDlwGR2MabwZH7nEE7fwM_nIrKQ1cNguoRFvudzr0UM2cyFRbGSecncw2xkFaLhwArZDxgi-YdVRT5Uwk_4gGj3C-VXM9HSh4hg6LQYVayCZvKwEeZM7XvUH9EMD78kaMc8a0-G/s1600/SmokyBeastRyefulls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKUc0NzaDlwGR2MabwZH7nEE7fwM_nIrKQ1cNguoRFvudzr0UM2cyFRbGSecncw2xkFaLhwArZDxgi-YdVRT5Uwk_4gGj3C-VXM9HSh4hg6LQYVayCZvKwEeZM7XvUH9EMD78kaMc8a0-G/s640/SmokyBeastRyefulls.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The blind flight of 5 with the blank tasting notes.</td></tr>
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My job was to rank them. I did so by writing out tasting notes and then numbering them in order of preference from #1 to #5. I'll list my blind tasting notes (faithfully transcribed) below the reveal listed immediate below each note:
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<b>1.</b> <b>Color</b>: Amber<br />
<b>Nose</b>: buttery nose (ND OC, IWH). Nougat wax vanilla w/touch of bitter herbal (rot).
<b>Palate</b>: Honey, juicyfruit, yellow florals, light citrus. 100 proof BiB. High corn Bourbon. <b>#5</b>
<b>Reveal: Michter's 10 yo Rye (2014) </b>
I thought that this was a dusty high-corn Bourbon like Old Charter 7 or IW Harper. I was completely wrong: it was a rye. I ranked this one last. Michter's Rye 10 experienced a big change in 2014 compared to previous years, going from a dark and very mature tasting rye to a much lighter profile, presumably because it stopped being old rye purchased on the bulk market when their contract distillate began hitting 10 years old. Their contract distillate is apparently Brown-Forman (dsp-ky-354) - thus the same stuff as Rittenhouse Rye from a few years ago - but aged 10 years. The comedy is that not only did I not recognize this as rye at all, but that I thought it was a low rye Bourbon mash bill! The perils of tasting blind...
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<br />
<b>2. Color</b>: Dark Amber red.
<b>Nose</b>: Rancio, herbs, big (high proof) dark KY tobacco peach compote bark. Lush
<b>Palate</b>: Huge lush honeyed herbal malty ivy, licorice (black) caramel cilantro rancio High proof (=- 57% (old Medley Rye). Intense. Bold. Long finish – honey herbal. <b>#1</b>
<b>Reveal: Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Rye - Barrel 990 (the winner)</b>
Yes, I thought this was an Old Medley rye - like Rathskeller or LeNell's or one of the big old Willett's ryes. Blind, I thought that was a $1,000+ bottle of American classic rye.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Color</b>: Coppery dark amber.
<b>Nose</b>: oak varnish, herbs.
<b>Palate</b>: Big 55-60% high rye bourbon. Candied orange peel \blonde VA tobacco. Peach/citrus stewed fruit. Four Roses vibe <b>#3</b>
<b>Reveal: Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Rye (a different barrel, not selected)</b><br />
<br />
<b>4.</b> <b>Color</b>: Copper penny.
<b>Nose</b>: Oak sandalwood nougat, honey, citrus, leather, dust, vegetable oil.
<b>Palate</b>: 50-55% high rye bourbon. Candied citrus, blond VA tobacco, honey, vanilla BT (Buffalo Trace) vibe – ER17. Big bold assertive tobacco spice leather rich rancio bitter. <b>#2</b>
<b>Reveal: Thomas H. Handy Rye 2012</b>The biggest shocker for me. Thomas H. Handy rye is among my favorite ryes; a benchmark for me. Here I didn't even recognize it as a rye. To my credit, I recognized the distillery (Buffalo Trace), and that it was from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. But I thought it was probably the most different member of that group possible: the Eagle Rare 17. Yes, I'm making my humiliation public. This was the real kicker of the group. I had ranked my favorite rye SECOND after Zeller's barrel pick. This was utterly shocking to me. Friends who have drammed with me recently know that I have been putting some century old Old Hermitage pro-Pro rye up against Handy 2012 in tastings. I do that because Handy is a benchmark for me. Such are the perils of tasting blind.<br />
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<b>5.</b> <b>Color</b>: Copper.
<b>Nose</b>: Peanut, rancio, honey, light tanned leather, vegetable oil, floral vanilla, sawn oak.
<b>Palate</b>: Vanilla! Honey. Rancio. Ivy herbs. Mint. High rye Bourbon. #<b>4</b>.
<b>Reveal: another unselected barrel of Smooth Ambler Single Barrel Rye</b>
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When the smoke cleared I had only correctly identified one of them as a rye at all. I had incorrectly thought the rest were Bourbons. Pretty humiliating. But I knew which ones I liked best - and in that I was dead on correct.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzs_5lK9SyLBQuS8LhM4zUWa9LGfZNxuMP2VfqrB5hw54xh58CxAeUFoocoVPc9Pghg5L6vAeAr10cky5XLMWPfOt_t_khFtEDsRfCFO6bsi748V-bywwODv6Zct_XpaZwUylqLXflQJ4/s1600/SmokyBeastRye1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNzs_5lK9SyLBQuS8LhM4zUWa9LGfZNxuMP2VfqrB5hw54xh58CxAeUFoocoVPc9Pghg5L6vAeAr10cky5XLMWPfOt_t_khFtEDsRfCFO6bsi748V-bywwODv6Zct_XpaZwUylqLXflQJ4/s640/SmokyBeastRye1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The big reveal.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The rest is history. Steve picked barrel #990, which yielded a whopping 56 bottles. The massive amount of evaporation suggests storage in a very hot part of the warehouse. This would explain the massive amount of wood extraction and rich flavors. Steve generously gave out samples to a selection of very interesting people who showed pictures of their hoards. Steve picked the most outrageous ones, figuring they must have a story. Their notes have appeared on his blog all week. They are good reading. Steve's voice, in particular, is often laugh out loud funny.
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<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-1.html" target="_blank">http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-1.html</a>
<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/angelbarrel2.html" target="_blank">http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/angelbarrel2.html</a>
<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/angelbarrel3.html" target="_blank">http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/angelbarrel3.html</a>
<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-4-guest-review.html" target="_blank">http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-4-guest-review.html</a>
and my favorite:
<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-5-guest-review-by.html" target="_blank">http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/07/the-angel-barrel-part-5-guest-review-by.html</a>
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<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYGP64Wk044ce2zlZi3ubqYj3xFDHFs16XytExPjQKTgueoJiuxzESyrUx3w6_qK6S7BZW7v1-wJouVxehB9DsMIhQsNwuVlQ3iiepnbRbxcew4s_LVMsmbcUnPGD39dpZninEa6XLkVu/s1600/SmokyBeastRyeZeller1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYGP64Wk044ce2zlZi3ubqYj3xFDHFs16XytExPjQKTgueoJiuxzESyrUx3w6_qK6S7BZW7v1-wJouVxehB9DsMIhQsNwuVlQ3iiepnbRbxcew4s_LVMsmbcUnPGD39dpZninEa6XLkVu/s640/SmokyBeastRyeZeller1.jpg" width="508" /></a><br />
<br />
I recently had another sip. Here are my official (sighted) tasting notes and score:<br />
<h3>
Smooth Ambler Old Scout Rye Single Barrel - Smoky Beast Barrel #1 - 8yo 64.1% abv.</h3>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW10JzwPpJGSwsR2c12-RocWpz93AaSQjZ1aS0X-pW4iioWs8AiM3MQBsaT3kF8t7wrvZfWiZv0gDzGcTAQr13f2mUwfdKK4aHrw2RrKQeWXXJQHWh0ofwAPWn7mUy1Np9xihVAfcYftqP/s1600/SmokyBeastRyeColorBot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW10JzwPpJGSwsR2c12-RocWpz93AaSQjZ1aS0X-pW4iioWs8AiM3MQBsaT3kF8t7wrvZfWiZv0gDzGcTAQr13f2mUwfdKK4aHrw2RrKQeWXXJQHWh0ofwAPWn7mUy1Np9xihVAfcYftqP/s640/SmokyBeastRyeColorBot.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at that color...</td></tr>
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Color: dark reddish amber - a stunning color.<br />
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Nose: Big, forward, dark and rich loaded with swirling kaleidoscope of aromas: honey, sap, citrus, sandalwood, blond tobacco, balsamic, ivy, licorice, aloe, flax oil, vanilla, char, and oak.<br />
Palate: Richly sweet and powerful on opening with dark cooked honey, raisin, and citrus compote, then vanilla, the sap of herbs cut vegetation. The expansion is all about black licorice root - woody, herbal, sweet, and richly "black". The expansion also adds some delicious cognac-like rancio (a rich nutty flavor of noble rot usually associated with madeira, sherry, and Cognac). Then, as the mid-palate begins to turn towards the finish, a big dose of acid - like balsamic vinegar or pickle juice which turns to char, and then sweet oak. The finish goes on and on with plenty of char, herbal bitters, more black licorice and all manner of darkness.<br />
<br />
Adding a drop of water - automatic at this big proof amplifies the sweetness and thickens the mouth feel. This stuff feels big, bitter, dark, rich, and old. A magic trick of faux maturity from an amazing honey barrel.<br />
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***** 93<br />
<br />
Bottom line: the best rye I've ever tasted out of MGP/LDI and probably the best 21st century rye yet. This particular honey barrel, which tastes so rich are dark and mature at only 8 years old, is one of those astounding examples which make you question what you know about maturation. If a rye can be this good at 8 years old, maybe there's a way to repeat it? I hope so. But I'm not holding my breath. Congrats, Steve (and also Anthony Colasacco of <a href="http://www.pourmtkisco.com/" target="_blank">Pour, Mt. Kisco</a> who went in on the barrel with Steve).<br />
<br />
Full disclosure: the blind tasting and follow up tasting was from pours provided by Steve - as a host in his home. I do own a single bottle of this whiskey - which I purchased. I would have owned more if I had been allowed to purchase more.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxV-m9HX_Xw6DtN61zpoT4t93ZyTCX6q_UcOtX0gs6Co8Iqy-bwmxACeBQXmaq-nNH-3kYOXtKKDP1tdav0l50YXx-NJIUz3bNiG3HZbJ3p_EQV13vej_I3_8j3JT6_GFO7teJozJ5oyC/s1600/SmokyBeastRyeGridZeller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZxV-m9HX_Xw6DtN61zpoT4t93ZyTCX6q_UcOtX0gs6Co8Iqy-bwmxACeBQXmaq-nNH-3kYOXtKKDP1tdav0l50YXx-NJIUz3bNiG3HZbJ3p_EQV13vej_I3_8j3JT6_GFO7teJozJ5oyC/s640/SmokyBeastRyeGridZeller.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve Zeller is a happy man with this honey barrel.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJP_L4zC7nezIXdr2qTT9CMK8F_NxOoFMFYoclpoV8dAqQL_lmYH1ftGXLrGBBb-5eTyWHu3BkByqCh-bRMaEHf4IstzRAWJ_xPc-2e2hbPh6C8DcZ6ELdKkbqnlXwDwMAzMj17iG3axrQ/s1600/SmokyBeastRyeNotes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJP_L4zC7nezIXdr2qTT9CMK8F_NxOoFMFYoclpoV8dAqQL_lmYH1ftGXLrGBBb-5eTyWHu3BkByqCh-bRMaEHf4IstzRAWJ_xPc-2e2hbPh6C8DcZ6ELdKkbqnlXwDwMAzMj17iG3axrQ/s640/SmokyBeastRyeNotes.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blind tasting notes. Read it and weep.</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p>NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-85703937228196521372015-06-01T23:02:00.000-04:002016-10-27T00:16:04.669-04:00Blood Oath Pact 1 - Luxco Makes A Luxury Vatting. Marketing Hype or Innovation?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dMPQJEFyCXQZ2qJ5kZowJTHQLXcKL0H0QdGhCKDjQwOuw_Wh_F2LxzFuUKHPMMHz7pT2zVRbGDFkkXf2ewgFcWr_UhpTSlWUqSQZgdvHPvkHYbbPy0642UK_BMJBB6HGPkialnnTTRfm/s1600/20150511_174138+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2dMPQJEFyCXQZ2qJ5kZowJTHQLXcKL0H0QdGhCKDjQwOuw_Wh_F2LxzFuUKHPMMHz7pT2zVRbGDFkkXf2ewgFcWr_UhpTSlWUqSQZgdvHPvkHYbbPy0642UK_BMJBB6HGPkialnnTTRfm/s640/20150511_174138+%25281%2529.jpg" width="360" /></a><a href="https://www.luxco.com/" target="_blank">Luxco</a>, the aggregator and NDP bottler of the great defunct Bourbon brands <a href="https://rebelyellbourbon.com/" target="_blank">Rebel Yell</a>, <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/12/limestone-branch-and-craft-whiskeys.html" target="_blank">Yellowstone</a>, , has a new brand, a possibly interesting vatting of rye and wheat mash Bourbons. But the wooden box and comic-book dramatic name "Blood Oath" make the brand sound like a Disney ride. Apparently the releases of Blood Oath are designated by "Pact" number. This first batch is "Pact No. 1". But the "pact" itself is a promise on the label that "this rare whiskey shall never again be made". But the real story is the signature on the bottom of the front label: "John Rempe". Rempe is a flavors wiz for Luxco. He works with Bourbon, but he works with flavored vodka too. As an interview with "Sauce" magazine put it:<br />
<a href="http://www.ezrabrooks.com/" target="_blank">Ezra Brooks</a><br />
and <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"<i>At local spirits producer Luxco, someone h</i><i>as to formulate the flavors for Pearl vodka and the other 100-plus alcoholic beverages in its portfolio. For the last 16 years, concocting flavors has been the job of John Rempe, Luxco’s director of corporate research and development, otherwise known as “<b>the mad scientist</b>.</i></span>” <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>How popular is flavored alcohol?</b><br /><i>Ten years ago, you didn’t see anything on the shelf in terms of all the different flavors. Now’s it’s just exploded. The main one I’m focused on now is Pearl. We’ve got 19 different flavors. </i><b>Other than that, it’s flavored whiskies. There’s cherry, honey. </b><i>Cocktails are starting to come back, ready to drink – just open and pour.</i><br /><br /><b>How many flavors are in your lab?</b><br /><i>Several hundred. I’m constantly updating my library of flavors and extracts.</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=38147#sthash.fRCo4qzr.dpuf" target="_blank">http://www.saucemagazine.com/blog/?p=38147#sthash.fRCo4qzr.dpuf</a><br />
<br />
(emphasis my own). <br />
<br />
Yes, he talked about flavored whiskies in the same breath as flavored vodka. This is his baby and Luxco is emphasizing his prowess with flavors. I'm wondering, will he vat Bourbon the way he designs whipped cream vodka or cherry Bourbon? In Bourbon & Banter's video from their <a href="https://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-banter/blood-oath-bourbon-announced-luxco/" target="_blank">post announcing the launch of the brand</a>, Rempe talks corporate marketing-ese while cool jazz plays in the background. ..<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>."in bringing this product to market our particular goal was to bring an innovative and unique tasting experience and bourbon experience to the bourbon connoisseur.</i></span>" Later he tells us that the product is designed to deliver "<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>what the Bourbon connoisseur is looking for</i></span>". He explicitly says that NDPs have an advantage because they are not "<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>tied down" to a spirit that they are producing</i></span>". It's hard not to wonder whether he considers Blood Oath a flavor blending exercise like he does making Honey Bourbon or Cucumber flavored vodka. <br />
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<a href="https://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-banter/blood-oath-bourbon-announced-luxco/" target="_blank">https://www.bourbonbanter.com/bourbon-banter/blood-oath-bourbon-announced-luxco/</a></div>
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Rempe does convey some useful information in the video. We learn that Blood Oath is a vatting of three Bourbons with two different flavor grain mashes (and that's the extent of the information we are given): a 7 yo rye mash bourbon, a 12 year old rye based Bourbon, and a 6 year old wheat based bourbon. Bottled at 98.6 proof. Yes - the proof is the temperature of blood. Is it just me, or is that a tad theatrical? At least it's a relatively high number.<br />
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My impression of all this branding stuff is to feel manipulated. I don't buy into the "pirate" or "old west" visual theme of the label. I'm not too romanced by John Rempe talking about hitting a flavor profile for "the Bourbon connoisseur". In the video they refer to Blood Oath as a "super premium" Bourbon. All the fancy packaging certainly implies a marketing positioning of the contents as "super premium". But what little we know about the contents doesn't particularly imply super-premium: that the wheat mash bill is 6 year old stocks from somewhere (almost certainly Heaven Hill - in the form of Rebel Yell Reserve) and some 7 and 12 year old rye flavor-mashed Bourbons (Luxco currently sell a 12 year old single barrel expression of Ezra Brooks sourced from Heaven Hill for $36) None of that sounds like something worth $80. I get the feeling that there's an attempt to get with the Bourbon mania and try to tap into the raging market for cult Bourbons, like Buffalo Trace inspires with the BTAC or Heaven Hill does with the Parker Heritage Collection. But there is a vatting story that might be interesting. OK, so throw down - let's get to tasting. All this talk about branding - and either liking the story or not liking the story ultimately doesn't mean a thing if the whiskey isn't good and doesn't seem a reasonable value. The angle here is clearly the vatting. Is it delicious?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jOzbDuW5-EnOfzoB1YuHXpftGUJkXQpOt-nr6TwVzAPaoFqm5phN9MESe3ZGS4HUnx1Krlqj9r_XX5sJFoZ2isvoM8qSq6Pz8btSX0QpkD17Xgpf4kHQ_iNFcVONA0Cb4hAVCPOFzdze/s1600/IMG_20150414_151418+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-jOzbDuW5-EnOfzoB1YuHXpftGUJkXQpOt-nr6TwVzAPaoFqm5phN9MESe3ZGS4HUnx1Krlqj9r_XX5sJFoZ2isvoM8qSq6Pz8btSX0QpkD17Xgpf4kHQ_iNFcVONA0Cb4hAVCPOFzdze/s640/IMG_20150414_151418+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a>Blood Oath Pact 1 49.3% abv. 98.6 proof.</h3>
Color: coppery orange.<br />
<br />
Nose: vanilla, honey, charred oak, musk, daisies and marigold flowers.<br />
<br />
Sweet on opening. Fruity candy - juicyfruit. Honey, wine gums. Citrus compote. Candied orange rind. Chocolate, then oak tannin.<br />
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A drop of water adds sweetness. Vanilla buttercream on top of the honeyed entry. The body becomes a little thicker. The expansion tingles with some blond tobacco. Prickly heat with white pepper spice. The finish is medium long with oak char and tannin bitters.<br />
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****<br />
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It's an interesting vatting alright. It hits the juicyfruit flavors I like so much in some mid-century dusty Bourbons, but with some freshness and intensity. I poured this for Steve Zeller,<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> the Smokey Beast</a>. Steve like it. Heck, I'm giving it 4 stars - I like it too. It's a little too sweet and open and sunny and fresh to feel like a Bourbon I'd spend a lot of money for. Bourbons that get big bucks, like mid-aged Willett's, Parker Heritage, BTAC, EH Taylor, have darker richer flavor profiles and are bottled at higher proof. But, that said, the flavors here are certainly good and this is an enjoyable pour, even if the comic book branding stuff isn't to your taste. But even if it is, you still need to ask yourself whether it's a good value and, in my opinion at $89.99 retail the answer has to be "no". There are good store picks of Four Roses Single Barrel (with the shiny gold labels bottled at barrel proof) available for $55-$70. There are High West rye based vattings with serious appeal for less. Although the particulars of this Bourbon vatting are a bit different from what's on the market right now, 4 grain vattings aren't totally unique, and this isn't uniquely good at its price level. But the whiskey itself is a perfectly nice pour. I'd just be happier about it if it were sold in a regular bottle at a more moderate price and without the limited edition story. If this is pretty much a vatting of some older barrels of Rebel Yell reserve, Ezra B., and Ezra Brooks black then it could well be a regular expression at a much more moderate price indeed. Are we paying a premium price for some hardware and some fancy printing? That's not really something I'd like to encourage. But with the Bourbon boom in full swing none of this may matter if enthusiasts snap it all up.<br />
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Disclosure: this review was based on a full bottle I received from the PR firm Common Ground (thanks, Pia).<br />
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-79402840524280223692015-05-30T08:49:00.000-04:002017-01-30T17:41:14.131-05:00The Water of Life Event: a fund raising effort that produced magic<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsZa6ZNFD536uqs-PqkngU2ELG7aan_zYABKTvSd9aHaknxW_5NKlkLgJ_GBpfQqut97FmiHy0IXHVQGZ_JtiLkRDTwdTslakkPWnz7V753JUUwLEPNxtMqSZE3SmZdBu1U6__2K0ahkE/s1600/20150506_190234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAsZa6ZNFD536uqs-PqkngU2ELG7aan_zYABKTvSd9aHaknxW_5NKlkLgJ_GBpfQqut97FmiHy0IXHVQGZ_JtiLkRDTwdTslakkPWnz7V753JUUwLEPNxtMqSZE3SmZdBu1U6__2K0ahkE/s640/20150506_190234.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Matthew Lurin hosts <a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/" target="_blank">The Water Of Life event</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzbzSH-dz3T9wrnY9-0MMv5SwyPd4tE_S-S2D3kwvaqsONyl-sbmotcTtYZbF436B8z7wSgQsdKn-4xY65RdvFecfxIulc_urrubB_GxNV-D_19TxeH8FbikpskjQJgFbP5JJH3vXpq5C/s1600/20150506_182529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkzbzSH-dz3T9wrnY9-0MMv5SwyPd4tE_S-S2D3kwvaqsONyl-sbmotcTtYZbF436B8z7wSgQsdKn-4xY65RdvFecfxIulc_urrubB_GxNV-D_19TxeH8FbikpskjQJgFbP5JJH3vXpq5C/s400/20150506_182529.jpg" width="225" /></a>May 6th saw the birth of <a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/" target="_blank">a new kind of whisky event</a>: one with a both a moral purpose and a different format that lends itself to deeper tasting. Matthew Lurin is a well-known whisky enthusiast and doctor in New York. His stepfather struggles with a rare form of cancer called "Gastro Intestinal Stromal Tumors" (GIST). Matt conceived of a whisky tasting event as a fund raiser for <a href="https://liferaftgroup.org/" target="_blank">The Life Raft Group</a> which supports research on GIST and supports patients. It's a good cause and, as a fund raiser, the cost of admission is tax deductible. The whisky community is generous, and many people donated excellent whiskies and other prizes for a raffle at the culmination of the event. A critical mass of the North-East's whisky community attended and the selection of spirits being poured was superb. But there was something more to it.<br />
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Lurin chose a great venue for the event: the Battery Gardens restaurant in Battery Park at the foot of Manhattan. The views were excellent and the sunset was glorious. A terrace allowed the holders of VIP tickets to enjoy cigars with some special whisky selections. (Matt Morrissey provided Villager Elite cigars. And special drams were provided by Raj Sabharwal of Purple Valley Imports and also by Compass Box.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Jennifer Wren shares news she is now</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">a brand ambassador for Glenfiddich</span></td></tr>
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But what ended up being the most significant thing about the evening, for me, was that the format was conducive to close focused whisky dramming sessions with high quality experiences. The structure of sitting down in a small group of people at a table with the whisky brand ambassador and having what feels like a one on one personal dram session feels more intimate and conveys more information, which simultaneously feeling more relaxed and convivial. It's more like having a drink with a friend, which is very much what this event was all about. The structure of the evening has you cruising in a tight formation with a group of fellow drinkers through a series of tables. The people at this show included a fabulous group of whisky people who are <a href="http://maltimpostor.com/" target="_blank">Malt Impostor</a>, and Jennifer Wren, the whisky event instigator known as <a href="https://whersky.com/">Whersky</a> . Jennifer, by the way, had just learned that she had landed the job of repping Glenfiddich for the NorthWest - living her dream and moving to the spirits world professionally. She was bursting with happiness about it and between her beauty, grace, amazing palate and love of the whisky, was an exhilarating drinking partner. Later, there was ample opportunity to break from the group for dinner and terrace time. The cigars were terrific and the company was fantastic. There was a very special energy, with people really engaged and upbeat. <br />
friends of mine and I was very fortunate to do the show with a great group of human beings, particularly Malt Maniac Peter Silver, The <br />
<br />
It sounds like such a simple and small thing, sitting down with the brand ambassador rather than just standing at the table, but it turned out to be much more than that. In the normal whisky show format people mob the tables and the people pouring are racing to fill the extended glencairns and rushing to give a basic orientation spiel over and over. With the the "speed dating" format of The Water of Life Event there are no mobs and you have a solid piece of time in a small tight group at each table so you can relax and get the full attention of the rep and the people you're with. It's civilized and more relaxed. It fosters real conversations and more careful tasting. It actually made an unexpectedly huge difference. I'm going to post a bunch of pictures so you can get the feeling.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAg-MUZ7I-39kpqYMxA-BOvYUKbBVPF9_khItQMzdAYJti1dSSOqRZrd_4cYmfxl9R85h45Z8dTZqeEBxXx7i_dy7izpwrYfSX7aOU5tTquP7GLV9cgQqe5fqnnGiH5p3WdE0f8lUPcIiM/s1600/20150506_184916.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAg-MUZ7I-39kpqYMxA-BOvYUKbBVPF9_khItQMzdAYJti1dSSOqRZrd_4cYmfxl9R85h45Z8dTZqeEBxXx7i_dy7izpwrYfSX7aOU5tTquP7GLV9cgQqe5fqnnGiH5p3WdE0f8lUPcIiM/s640/20150506_184916.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Robin Robinson poured Compass Box, but more than that, he shared his love and enthusiasm for the spirit.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Malt Impostor and Jennifer Wren</span></td></tr>
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The Malt Impostor posted a review of this event here:<br />
<a href="http://maltimpostor.com/2015/05/1st-annual-water-of-life-charity-whisky-event-in-nyc-2015/" target="_blank">http://maltimpostor.com/2015/05/1st-annual-water-of-life-charity-whisky-event-in-nyc-2015/</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Steph Ridgeway pops up a surprise - a taste of Odin.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Can you tell that Steph Ridgeway loves what she does?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Raj Sabharwal of Purple Valley on the VIP balcony with Glenglassaugh 43.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Craig Bridger was pouring the good stuff from Macallan</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sallie Dorsett </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Susannah Skiver Barton noses Glenglassaugh 43</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">David Bailey of Compass Box and Timothy Malia</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Matt Lurin, our host, on the VIP balcony</span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">David Laird of Balvenie did a chocolate whisky pairing</span></div>
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There were so many highlights. One of them was definitely David Laird's brilliant presentation of Balvenie 12 Doublewood, Caribbean Cask 14, and Single Barrel 15 paired with excellent chocolate from Green and Black. As a special encore, he also poured 21 Portwood. It was an amazing treat and the pairings were brilliant.</div>
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There was fantastic food and terrific dessert. At the end of the event there was the raffle drawing. The tickets were expensive - but the event was for charity after all - and the percentage of winners was unusually high given the large number of donated prizes that the charity format inspired.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Full disclosure: Josh Feldman totally scored this awesome</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Mark Gillespie original photo print in the raffle.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Brandy Library was there - warm and wonderful.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josh Hatton was representing Impex</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Peter Silver and I enjoying An Cnoc - photo courtesy of Ellie of <a href="http://nycwhisky.com/" target="_blank">nycwhisky.com</a></span></td></tr>
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Matthew Lurin was clear that this was the First Annual Water of Life Event. He intends this to happen again and again and wants it to grow. Given how amazing it was, I hope he succeeds. The mix of attributes - the tax deductible nature of the costs and donated raffle prizes, the excellent and relaxed format, the wonderful group of whisky enthusiasts, the superb venue, and the top flight food, cigars, views, and environment makes this an absolutely premier event. I recommend it highly. Watch for it next year. It's not to be missed. Bravo, Matthew Lurin. What a wonderful way to foster community, love of whisky, and also to give something back to help those with GIST and help find a cure.<br />
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Keep track of The Water of Life Event on their web site:</div>
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<a href="http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.wateroflifenyc.org/</a></div>
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...and their Facebook group:</div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1444427269200867/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/groups/1444427269200867/</a><br />
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Kurt Maitland's excellent interview with Matt Lurin prior to the event:<br />
<a href="http://whiskeyreviewer.com/2015/05/fight-cancer-with-whisky-fundraiser_050115/" target="_blank">http://whiskeyreviewer.com/2015/05/fight-cancer-with-whisky-fundraiser_050115/</a><br />
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-60856395667932302532015-05-17T10:23:00.000-04:002015-05-17T13:14:38.779-04:00Brenne 10 - Taking It To Another Level<br />
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<a href="http://drinkbrenne.com/" target="_blank">Brenne</a>, the single malt whisky brand from Cognac, is preparing to release a 10 year old limited edition expression this Fall. This is exciting news to people who have been seduced by the ineffable combination of creamy fruity flavors and silky mouth feel of Brenne Estate (a single cask bottling that is 7, and sometimes 8 years old). It's also intriguing news to those who have wondered what Brenne would taste like at higher proof and with more oak. How will additional maturation affect the flavors? (<i>I have some answers later on. And if you aren't familiar with Brenne, I have some links at the bottom of this post.</i>)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiau57NfTTr87Vvcmh7L-SfkO2A7KwGNFTnPrif7LIu6NPGZzu7Ull37groruvB-w7RwzaIN0oMUzHUIBkUA39gbrG7o_P9MAJZ2BVQr-8v1gX1IlQPDu2gS-tm8T6pbpIHlQ6ZFTVnRsV/s1600/BrenneStills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiau57NfTTr87Vvcmh7L-SfkO2A7KwGNFTnPrif7LIu6NPGZzu7Ull37groruvB-w7RwzaIN0oMUzHUIBkUA39gbrG7o_P9MAJZ2BVQr-8v1gX1IlQPDu2gS-tm8T6pbpIHlQ6ZFTVnRsV/s320/BrenneStills.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Brenne's stills.</span></td></tr>
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Brenne is all about the terroir of Cognac. It is distilled from a mash of Vanessa and Prestige barley strains grown on the same estate where it is distilled, plus local Charente River water, and the same yeast strains used for the estate's Cognac. It is double distilled in charantais alembic stills normally used for Cognac and then matured with an interesting wood management scheme that starts with half a decade in virgin French oak and then finishes for a couple of years in ex-Cognac casks. That wood management story is, as it turns out, something else that is unique about Brenne 10 beyond just the maturation. Instead of being a single cask product, it is a vatting of casks with a varied wood management program, including ones that have spent the full ten years in virgin oak and ex-Cognac casks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9h4J_7dpzHdn8ClaRLeRYBjSyVLJADyd7_srefWmOfZ7LkfcbMzeM2mlLo87-UFw6w1hXP_oH4jIGGPggeNjodVi5O-4C-pJN5L56kS4T3Djq6tUAcZ3QoXzXXyYPKzGxFsQ5Nh5BYZa/s1600/APnosesBrenneNewMake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC9h4J_7dpzHdn8ClaRLeRYBjSyVLJADyd7_srefWmOfZ7LkfcbMzeM2mlLo87-UFw6w1hXP_oH4jIGGPggeNjodVi5O-4C-pJN5L56kS4T3Djq6tUAcZ3QoXzXXyYPKzGxFsQ5Nh5BYZa/s320/APnosesBrenneNewMake.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Allison Patel nosing Brenne new make.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Allison Patel, Brenne's creator, is a personal friend of mine. Over the years she had mentioned that she was holding stocks back to make a ten year old expression - but had wanted to keep things confidential until she could get all the details arranged. Secrets aren't easily kept in the whisky world, however. There have been rumors of this release for months. Steve Ury of </span><a href="http://recenteats.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">skusrecenteats blog</a><span style="text-align: center;"> keeps tabs on the COLA label announcements on the TTB's web site and he tweeted out </span><a href="https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/viewColaDetails.do?action=publicFormDisplay&ttbid=15054001000463" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Brenne 10's label application</a><span style="text-align: center;"> back on April 4th:</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxf-SiKFD2QQ6c7Rw2Q2EajysBwGsaS74vVNoOdGypb6ChYlnzo571DGCZTgAQIt8fQaL8qh-D_fgvBrr_pLyQfUWYRowlG3YhWeFkdLlVqh4FnLIvJCnjNy5DSpex5oEoKQ9h-1L0kkKG/s1600/Brenne10_Label_all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxf-SiKFD2QQ6c7Rw2Q2EajysBwGsaS74vVNoOdGypb6ChYlnzo571DGCZTgAQIt8fQaL8qh-D_fgvBrr_pLyQfUWYRowlG3YhWeFkdLlVqh4FnLIvJCnjNy5DSpex5oEoKQ9h-1L0kkKG/s640/Brenne10_Label_all.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Brenne 10 label from the TTB COLA form back in April.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">A couple of weeks ago <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BrenneWhisky" target="_blank">Brenne's Facebook fan page</a> released a couple of photographs of Allison picking color swatches and working on the bottle's design. Those (plus a few more from the Brenne FB page and some she e-mailed me are the photos you see here. All of them, minus the COLA form, are courtesy of Allison Patel.) </span><br />
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The story of how this 10 year old expression came to be is a testament to Allison's foresight and perfectionism. Demand for Brenne has run high and she could easily have sold every drop she had. But she deliberately held back stocks in both cask types to understand how each kind of wood affects the spirit over time. She did so because she's a whisky geek (bless her heart). She's also a genius at branding and releasing a higher end expression a couple of years in builds excitement and provides fresh exposure. <br />
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I asked Allison a few questions about it and her responses are illuminating:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Q: Normally Brenne is aged for 5 years in unused toasted french oak casks and then finished for 2 years in ex-Cognac casks. Is the 10 aged 5 years in new and 5 years in ex-Cognac? </i><br /><b><i>A: "This first release (the 2015 bottling) of Brenne Ten - the 2nd product in my French Single Malt brand - is a blend of 4 barrels of Brenne. I'm using a combination of virgin French Oak and ex-Cognac casks as I've done for Brenne Estate Cask but choosing this time to have some that have been in both barrels and others that are exclusively aged in either the virgin French Oak or the Cognac barrel for the full 10 years."</i></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW-7LwczpfQfpH6N1thGFpUpyAt-xi6CA935kBdT5E1ExV9gpQhbLm1rs48I9JfrDxgHPZIWUMUs8jHpI7qK82qVpOBse-UMz84yf8vTgRRcg1fkZhf6zNl5VsCJX38F-0U150lQqwNrq/s1600/Brenne10_AP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimW-7LwczpfQfpH6N1thGFpUpyAt-xi6CA935kBdT5E1ExV9gpQhbLm1rs48I9JfrDxgHPZIWUMUs8jHpI7qK82qVpOBse-UMz84yf8vTgRRcg1fkZhf6zNl5VsCJX38F-0U150lQqwNrq/s400/Brenne10_AP.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Allison Patel working on the label and box for Brenne 10</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /><br /><i>Q: Did you specially select the casks that became 10 early on? What criteria did you use in cask selection for the 10?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>A: "When I first met my distiller, a majority of the whisky he had been making prior to our introduction had been laid down in virgin french oak (the oldest of these barrels being 4 years old at the time, when they came up to 5 years old, I started moving some of them into the Cognac barrels which have now been released at 7-8 yrs old in the Brenne Estate Cask line). There were a few barrels at that time that had been aging exclusively in Cognac barrels (not started in the virgin French oak). To be able to study the barreling effects on his (and now our) distillate, I wanted to keep those aside as well as age further some of the all-virgin Limousin oak barrels AND the double barreled juice once we had that going too. Every year since I've kept an assortment of barrels aside. So, when I was playing around with the idea of releasing some of the oldest ones in a 10yr old expression, it was exciting to my palate to use a combination of these barrels a blend them together (versus doing single cask releases like Brenne Estate Cask) to showcase the typical profile of Brenne in much a richer & balanced way. "</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8rA3PJ9Y44iJY5z__CxdlNIT_d_Lvfi8sJQNyxBM4B-AtrFa4q0aqTBAQ98yQqlSf6DYstks2pRH0hR2jhEoZCb52AglxlyRQFQRt6PeGZxAs2p4w6DzgIOuxUMyIpwwa63cIKxAEL48/s1600/Brenne10_Swatches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8rA3PJ9Y44iJY5z__CxdlNIT_d_Lvfi8sJQNyxBM4B-AtrFa4q0aqTBAQ98yQqlSf6DYstks2pRH0hR2jhEoZCb52AglxlyRQFQRt6PeGZxAs2p4w6DzgIOuxUMyIpwwa63cIKxAEL48/s1600/Brenne10_Swatches.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A darker shade of blue.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>"The fun continued when it came time to choosing the proof at which I wanted to bottle the Brenne Ten. At cask-strength, it's totally awesome but you loose too much of the subtleties of the fruit and floral notes. At 40% abv I found Brenne Ten to be far too weak. So I played around in the 45% abv - 55% abv range and settled on 48% abv, experiencing that this gave the whisky's characteristics just the right platform upon which to really shine."</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b><i>Q: Will the 10 become a regular (limited) expression or is it a one time thing?</i><br /><b><i>A: Yes, the goal of Brenne Ten is to release it in limited quantities annually. Since the initial release is so small (just 290 cases), I predict it won't be something that stays on the shelf a long time but I hope there is enough that those who want it are able to get it. While I have this year launched Brenne in France (through <a href="http://www.leswhiskiesdumonde.fr/en/" target="_blank">Les Whiskies du Monde</a>), Brenne Ten will be something exclusive to the USA this first year.</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Allison had a small sample of a pre-release batch of Brenne 10 at Whisky Live in April. This is the stuff that she used to develop the expression. It's a half year or so younger than the final released version will be, but it shows her thinking and what the product, in the main, will taste like. S</span><span style="text-align: center;">he was nice enough to provide a bit of it to me. Peter Silver and I tasted it shortly thereafter and tasting notes follow. Because all of the branding prowess and great story doesn't mean a whole lot if the whisky isn't good.</span><br />
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<h3>
Brenne 10 - Prebatch 1 (aged 9 1/2 years) - 48% abv </h3>
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Color: Gold<br />
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Nose: richly floral (magnolia and lily), fresh cream, and citrus buttercream confectionery filling. Undercurrents of musk, canola, and oak. The oak is light and refined - like fresh sawn yard aged oak.<br />
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Palate: Really big ripe banana amid floral sweetness on the opening. Spiciness like cloves tingle on the expansion. Then sweetness and waxing apricot cream on the mid palate which blooms with toasted oak and some incense complexity and filigree. The turn has a moment of musk melded with apricot and cream. The finish is medium long on apricot banana with oak tannin with some herbal bitters and pumpkin seeds.<br />
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My dominant impression is the massive banana on the opening. I should make it clear that this sample is from Allison's initial development of the product. It's at least half a year younger than the released product will be. But still, this answers the question of whether extra maturation will amp up the esterification already rampant in Brenne. The answer is "yes", This already effusively estery fruity whisky has become even more intensely so with additional years in the wood. At higher proof and with this extra time there is more intensity and richer flavor with the 10 than the regular expression, which is most welcome in my book. This is Brenne on steroids. It's more everything. Like a trip from Angoulême to Cognac on the back roads, this whisky breathes the air, soil, and water of a magical place.<br />
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FYI: Brenne Ten is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2015 via Classic Imports (<a href="http://www.classic-imports.com/Classic-imports.aspx" target="_blank">http://www.classic-imports.com/Classic-imports.aspx</a>). It will retail in the $100-$120 range.</div>
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<h3>
<b>Other posts about Brenne:</b></h3>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<i><br /></i>The first review of Brenne that hit the web:<br />
<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/09/brenne-single-malt-made-in-cognac.html">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/09/brenne-single-malt-made-in-cognac.html</a></div>
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<div class="gmail_quote">
The story of the "Last Call" cocktail which marries Brenne and Sorel:<br />
<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2013/12/sorel-and-brenne-odd-and-compelling.html">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2013/12/sorel-and-brenne-odd-and-compelling.html</a></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
The first rumor of Brenne:<br />
<i>"One of her current projects is the development of an exciting new single malt world whisky expression called Brenne. It promises to be a significant new spirit: Cognac's first single malt."</i><br />
<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/07/tasting-special-unreleased-casks-of.html">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/07/tasting-special-unreleased-casks-of.html</a></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
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<div class="gmail_quote">
A great review of Brenne on Sean Fousheé's WhiskyMarks:</div>
<div class="gmail_quote">
<a href="http://whiskymarks.com/brenne-estate-cask" target="_blank">http://whiskymarks.com/brenne-estate-cask</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76r8Mnh48lBbQbLuMTBJAygWEmfZ_Un9Rh5QwydCP1CN49VZXJ4WFcXooJ6ZhRZJI2CooNOTsMPAE8nOlfAHmkdQ6aTa1B3OsDsJFU7QH-E2w_uxo1808RHLYNvacqcdOilRsUYIrkQ8j/s1600/Brenne10_AP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh76r8Mnh48lBbQbLuMTBJAygWEmfZ_Un9Rh5QwydCP1CN49VZXJ4WFcXooJ6ZhRZJI2CooNOTsMPAE8nOlfAHmkdQ6aTa1B3OsDsJFU7QH-E2w_uxo1808RHLYNvacqcdOilRsUYIrkQ8j/s640/Brenne10_AP.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-54551701279262649792015-04-19T10:27:00.002-04:002015-04-19T13:35:46.699-04:00Old Forester and Old Taylor: New Versus Old. A Historically Inflected Tasting.<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo courtesy of Xavier Wine Co.</td></tr>
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What makes a Bourbon great? Corn's sweetness melded to the smoky richness of charred oak with the glorious maillard sugars of cooked oak's red line and some herbal bite of rye grain, and oak tannin. It's the combination of mash, distillation, oak, and time. All Bourbons, by law, have these things (although the flavoring grain can vary). But some are extraordinary and some are less compelling. Why? Fascinatingly we see some brands achieve greatness and then slip over time. Others up their game. Part of the story is that American whiskey brands exist independently from particular distilleries. Some brands get sold to new owners who shift production to new distilleries and new mash bills and have little in common, as time passes, with what they once were. In fact, that's pretty much the norm for most whiskey brands, no matter what the marketing says. But it seldom jumps out at you like when you taste new and old expressions head to head.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz81u_SBYdtIxUOkk7XyE44aDL371eNBEwRVKvVU0PRw1FPHP7YJ6PfBsKKncs5Z3uKAWW7T-YYwWYF-kNFuWAhfIhZ7FLLaXTKy84OBr94sseOZBHEWlAARTDGMMXN0f74kYow-qHYB7G/s1600/JFLeadsTasting3ed+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz81u_SBYdtIxUOkk7XyE44aDL371eNBEwRVKvVU0PRw1FPHP7YJ6PfBsKKncs5Z3uKAWW7T-YYwWYF-kNFuWAhfIhZ7FLLaXTKy84OBr94sseOZBHEWlAARTDGMMXN0f74kYow-qHYB7G/s1600/JFLeadsTasting3ed+-+Copy.jpg" height="474" title="Josh Feldman and Steve Zeller present Bourbon" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Josh Feldman and Steve Zeller </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Photo by Dana Weisberg Zeller</span></td></tr>
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A couple of weeks ago I had the great pleasure of doing a public tasting that did just that with Steve Zeller of <a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Smoky Beast </a>at a new liquor store called the <a href="http://www.xavierwines.nyc/" target="_blank">Xavier Wine Company</a>, a fine emerging establishment down in Manhattan's slick Meat Packing District. Jim Parisi of Xavier Wine welcomed us with open arms to a wonderful event space in the basement, around a single enormous table built from a gigantic slab of a single tree. Steve and I had structured the tasting to compare old and new expressions of two Bourbon brands that are deeply connected with the history of Bourbon itself: Old Forester and Old Taylor. Steve and I have great chemistry. We love to drink together and geek out together. Steve has tasted more widely of American whiskey than I have and is a great presenter. Personally, I like to tell a long detailed history - but in a structured tasting you need to rein it in and let people drink. <i>Ha ha! I'm completely joking!</i> I talked everyone's ears off and here's the gist of what I said and what it all tasted like:<br />
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<i>FYI - Steve Zeller has already blogged about this tasting on his excellent blog: <a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Smoky Beast:</a></i><br />
<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/03/bourbon-past-vs-present-tasting-at.html" target="_blank"><i>http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/2015/03/bourbon-past-vs-present-tasting-at.html</i></a><br />
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<b>Old Forester was the original Bourbon brand sold exclusively in sealed bottles.</b> The branding story emphasizes continuity of family ownership of Brown Forman corporation and fidelity to the original expression.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5vptlBSfj80AMaXNOfslEvjlfUZfyydwNJFYvfg3VczvLs3VhU2LBqpp6KaRsikI1K1T2b4IkacImstLQJL39ja4UyQlaHFA8YZlO-127YEHXbKYd-6-wIkbhRU_a-fTdlg4-IsXMAAP/s1600/20150323_091604.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv5vptlBSfj80AMaXNOfslEvjlfUZfyydwNJFYvfg3VczvLs3VhU2LBqpp6KaRsikI1K1T2b4IkacImstLQJL39ja4UyQlaHFA8YZlO-127YEHXbKYd-6-wIkbhRU_a-fTdlg4-IsXMAAP/s640/20150323_091604.jpg" /></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<b>George Garvin Brown (1846-1917)</b> joined his half brother John Thompson Street Brown Jr. (J.T.S. Brown) who had started a wholesale whiskey business on Whiskey Row, Main Street, Louisville in 1870. They bought in bulk from J.M. Atherton Distillery and Mellwood Distillery and BF Mattingly Distillery. Blended and sold under brand names like “Sidros Bourbon”, “Atherton…” “Mellwood Bourbon” sold by the barrel. Other brands included “Larue’s Best” “Widow McBee”, “Diamond Bluff”, “Beech Fork”, “Fox Mountain”, Old Forman” “Golden Age”, “Major Paul” etc… But barrels were often adulterated and/or diluted. To counter this G. G. Brown decided to bottle the whiskey with the brand “<b>Old Forrester</b>”. Named for “<b>Dr. William Forrester</b>” a leading Louisville KY physician. (Michael Veach’s story - debunking the popular rumor of it being named for Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest). The label was meant to look like a doctor’s prescription. So, right off the bat, Old Forester was what would today be called an "NDP" brand (whiskey bottled by a company that buys it bulk from other distilleries, which doesn't distill any whiskey of its own). We don't think of the brand that way because the situation soon changed.</div>
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In 1902 Brown Forman bought the Mattingly Distillery that had been their major supplier. 1907 they added St. Mary’s Distillery. In the 1920s, during Prohibition, Brown Forman bought the Early Times brand from S. L. Guthrie. Whiskey at the many rickhouses was moved to <b>White Mill’s Distilling #414</b>, located at Jefferson County 5th District, Louisville, as a concentration warehouse to bottled for medicinal purposes. The distillery was rebuilt in anticipation of Repeal - and was renamed <b>"Brown-Forman Distillery" DSP #414</b>. It produced the Old Forester brand from the end of WWII until 1980.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Distilled and bottled at DSP-KY-414</span></td></tr>
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After that, production of Old Forester was moved to<b> Early Times Distillery DSP #354</b> (originally called the Old Kentucky Distillery, it had been purchased by BF in 1953 and renamed Early Times). Shively, KY (suburb of Louisville) <br />
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By the way, in 1956 Brown Forman - purchased the Jack Daniels Distillery too. They have had some success with that brand as well. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvOzOr9K2QTIxRjnfwA5ZeeJ_5KRf48QIXKhX43jnmi51cqcWfzQb8voAKKwDmEDjlpehZ70GDz3nQoilk3jXfBU8lAFNZsd9qPW1C7lOWNeYWlSQxlCWxQnkZoXuXsFlb2RnlraGaYra/s1600/IMG_20150418_201206.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; white-space: normal;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlvOzOr9K2QTIxRjnfwA5ZeeJ_5KRf48QIXKhX43jnmi51cqcWfzQb8voAKKwDmEDjlpehZ70GDz3nQoilk3jXfBU8lAFNZsd9qPW1C7lOWNeYWlSQxlCWxQnkZoXuXsFlb2RnlraGaYra/s640/IMG_20150418_201206.jpg" /></a><b>The family continuity angle is completely true.</b> George Garvin Brown IV, great great grandson of George Garvin Brown, is chairman. In May 2015 his brother Campbell Brown (age 47) will take control.</div>
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So, from a modern dusty hunting angle, the big divide is around 1980 when production shifted from Brown Forman #414 to Early Times #354.</div>
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We tasted two expressions head to head: 2014 Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and Old Forester Bottled in Bond Fall 1973-Fall 1979:</div>
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Old Forester BiB Fall 1973-Fall 1979 (6 years old) 50% abv. DSP-KY-414</h3>
Color: Medium-dark amber<br />
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Nose: Dark malty sweet, pecan nutty, and complex sandalwood incense with dense oak filigree. Rich.<br />
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Palate: Big sweet opening, with dark brown malty rich flavors and a rich mouth feel. Maple and fig on the expansion, melded with big and complex oak, redolent of old furniture, leather, and char. The finish is long and lingering, back to nuts and figs and sandalwood incense with a fragrant herbal bitter aspect. Superb, memorable Bourbon, redolent of the dark, rich, sweet brown qualities that typify the best Bourbons of America's mid-20th century golden age.<br />
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Old Forester Birthday Bourbon 2014 (distilled 2002 - 12 years old) 48.5% abv (97 Proof), DSP-KY-354</h3>
Color: Light amber.<br />
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Nose: Sweet caramel, pecans, malt, solvent, oak, char, and loam. <br />
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Palate: Sweet opening with toffee, and honey. The mouth feel is thin and hot. There is citrus, solvent and some yeast on expansion. Oak and bitters on the turn. A fairly short finish for a big Bourbon.</div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;">****</span></span><br />
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There's little comparison here. Despite being half the age in wood of the new stuff, the 1970s Old Forester BiB totally skins the new stuff. It's richer, thicker, more complex, and more satisfying. Why? Clearly there was something special going on at the Brown Forman Distillery #414 in the mid-century decades. That said, there is a nutty flavor in common. You have to linger over them, but the kinship is clearly detectable, even though they were made at different distilleries. <br />
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<b>The second pairing was between Old Taylor produced by National Distillers and Colonel EH Taylor produced at Buffalo Trace.</b> </h3>
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Old Taylor fits the theme of "Bourbon origins" because Edmund Haynes Taylor himself was one of the major 19th century early leaders of industrialized Bourbon production in Kentucky and is often credited with getting the Bottled In Bond act passed, which completed what the Brown brothers started in moving the market permanently away from selling Bourbon in barrels to selling it in sealed bottles with recognizable brand names.</div>
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<b>E. H. Taylor (Edmund Haynes Taylor 1832-1922)</b> was the grand nephew of Zachary Taylor. He was named for his father's wealthier and more successful brother, a banker, and he started working at his uncle's bank in Frankfort, KY, at age 19. In 1857 the bank closed and Taylor got into various schemes with an incorporated "E.H. Taylor and Company" started in 1858 including dealing cotton during the Civil War. After the war, Taylor provided financial backing for the Gaines, Berry, and Co. who built the Old Hermitage distillery and resurrected the Old Crow brand (after Dr. James C. Crow, the Scottish immigrant distiller who is popularly credited with the sour mash process no near universally used for making Bourbon, had died taking his recipe with him to the grave). Old Hermitage distillery was a success and post-war demand for Kentucky whiskey was high so Taylor assembled investors and started the O.F.C. Distillery in 1869. <br />
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Taylor wanted O.F.C to be a showpiece and he invested heavily in it. He also purchased the Carlisle Distillery, and then the Old Oscar Pepper distillery. Over production and then the run on the banks known as the Panic of 1875 forced Taylor into bankruptcy. Two of Taylor's major customers, August Labrot and the firm of Gregory and Stagg took over Taylor's distilleries. <br />
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EH Taylor's son, Jacob Swigert Taylor had purchased a distillery on Glenn's Creek in Woodford County in 1879 called James C. Johnson Distillery. He renamed it J. Swigert Taylor Distillery and sold it to his father in 1882. They renamed it E.H. Taylor, Jr. & Sons Distillery RD#53 - a name it bore until 1900 when it was henceforth known as Old Taylor Distillery. Taylor, as he had done with O.F.C. desired to make it a showpiece and invested heavily. Taylor built the distillery building known as "The Castle" by 1887 and created a new brand called "Old Taylor". It was a success. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl9fbMFB4sFVRjYZUiYqYiKIe-dIyUeKQLcG3qpn_A8xL4DlTLAMRjy5pK9dqEfxWGaxo86SQJTZIPqlCxMJXe46Xr1Ab8yBdJlEKnkYVR4cUX7zAboL7pUZN1d9Zyjeb6z1WIWqVDN3k/s640/20150324_193423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEl9fbMFB4sFVRjYZUiYqYiKIe-dIyUeKQLcG3qpn_A8xL4DlTLAMRjy5pK9dqEfxWGaxo86SQJTZIPqlCxMJXe46Xr1Ab8yBdJlEKnkYVR4cUX7zAboL7pUZN1d9Zyjeb6z1WIWqVDN3k/s640/20150324_193423.jpg" /></a>EH Taylor was interested in politics and eventually held many posts including the Mayor of Frankfort, and a Representative in the Kentucky State government. Savvy in politics and an experienced hand in the whiskey business, he was influential in the passage of both the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 and the related but much further reaching Pure Food Act 1906.<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.38; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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National Distillers Corporation (the rump of the Whiskey Trust, which had operated as "American Medicinal Spirits Corporation" during Prohibition) purchased the distillery in 1936 and production continued until 1982. In 1985 American Brands (Beam) purchased the distillery which was allowed to become a ruins, while the warehouses continued to be used. The Castle is currently being resurrected by independent investors Will Arvin and Wes Murray who bought the site and are investing $6 million into renovating it. Marianne Barnes, 28, formerly of Brown-Foreman, was just named first master distiller. .<br />
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Beam produced Old Taylor until 2009 when it was purchased by Sazerac Corporation as part of a deal involving Effen vodka. Old Taylor is still produced in Frankfort, KY, but now at Buffalo Trace.<br />
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That's quite a story. But we were drinking whiskey and we had the opportunity to taste a 1970s example of Old Taylor produced at The Castle head to head against one of the new high end boutique expressions of Colonel EH Taylor produced at Buffalo Trace - the Barrel Proof (the 64.5% edition - which isn't known necessarily as the best of them - but is, without a doubt an assault on the high end by Buffalo Trace - a distillery that knows about making high end Bourbon.)<br />
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Old Taylor 40% abv. 1970s 4/5th quart bottle, no UPC, castle on the label.</h3>
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Color: Medium amber.<br />
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Nose: Toffee, vanilla, jelly candies, turkish delight with powdered sugar.<br />
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Palate: Earthy sweet on opening. Juicy compote of citrus and apple. Sweet creamery butter. Then fruity on the expansion with notes of jelly candies and cotton candy joined to earthy loam. There is a cardboard note at the height of the expansion - a kiss of bitterness. Then the fruity returns in the medium long finish. <br />
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***<br />
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Experience has taught me that the 80 proof Old Taylor is a shadow of the Bottled In Bond version. I'll put these to a head to head in an upcoming post. But as it stands, this was the weakest pour of the night.<br />
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Colonel EH Taylor Barrel Proof 64.5% abv</h3>
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Color: Medium amber<br />
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Nose: Vanilla, linseed oil, herbal notes of cut corn stalk, musky loam, and lurking notes of charred oak. <br />
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Palate: Explosive bourbon goodness. Sweet and grassy on the first hit, rapidly expanding into a big expansion full of citrus zing, blond Virginia tobacco and clean new leather. The turn to the finish is marked by herbal notes of licorice and cilantro which I recognize as rye. The finish itself is fairly long and nutty with herbal bitters and toasted seeds and oak char. <br />
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*****<br />
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This was a totally unfair head to head pairing, pitting the lowest possible proof Bourbon against among the highest. But they are both young classic Bourbons and the palates are telling. The National Distillers OT of the 70s was fruity and candied - a classic flavor profile of the time. The new EH Taylor is a young Bourbon, but superbly crafted and a delicious pour. Totally different, but both successful and delicious to drink. The point here is that Bourbon's glory days are not in the past. The future of Bourbon remains bright - perhaps brighter than ever with plenty of demand, interest, and money stoking the production end of things to reach for the high end.<br />
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Jim Parisi is interested in having future events of this type at Xavier Wine Co. Hopefully there will be many more and I'll see you there.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8agcmWOdellq7hBBDheYfr6c2bSbptTk-sTnzIWpTNQpBNjJ3qz_xbtoXbKbLv7tZ_meihayqm77b_I-wPVCLouy9b5y26dOQjqKN_4usB3yqZ8FJmL-nD2VKEJNyVvlakFH7UkxS_cJZ/s1600/XavierTableWhisky+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8agcmWOdellq7hBBDheYfr6c2bSbptTk-sTnzIWpTNQpBNjJ3qz_xbtoXbKbLv7tZ_meihayqm77b_I-wPVCLouy9b5y26dOQjqKN_4usB3yqZ8FJmL-nD2VKEJNyVvlakFH7UkxS_cJZ/s1600/XavierTableWhisky+-+Copy.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The great table at Xavier Wine's tasting room. Photo by Jim Parisi</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NfkRnPmi42EOot4EWANVBo-UYDaYhapPgVAQ0GTXoyIQVr5oEJf4iAYwf8RaXaUEWuV6L2k4MO285WjunoaGM4K0GOIaIb4cGqsixrNA-aHtzwgaz1Tg36s45kdE1ptWRnlPBFmOsAKC/s1600/Past+Present+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NfkRnPmi42EOot4EWANVBo-UYDaYhapPgVAQ0GTXoyIQVr5oEJf4iAYwf8RaXaUEWuV6L2k4MO285WjunoaGM4K0GOIaIb4cGqsixrNA-aHtzwgaz1Tg36s45kdE1ptWRnlPBFmOsAKC/s1600/Past+Present+Poster.jpg" height="640" width="492" /></a></div>
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Steve Zeller,<a href="http://smokybeast.blogspot.com/"> the Smoky Beast</a> and I present a historically interesting experience. Come and taste classic 1970s dusty Old Forester BiB from DSP-KY-414 and National Distillers Old Taylor against premium expressions of the current stuff: Old Forester Birthday Bourbon and the powerhouse EH Taylor Barrel Proof at <a href="http://www.xavierwines.nyc/">Xavier Wine Co</a>. down in the Meat Packing district. Tuesday March 24th. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;"><br /></span></div>
<b>Tickets (only 10 left) are available here: <a href="http://thepastpresentofbourbon.splashthat.com/">http://thepastpresentofbourbon.splashthat.com/</a></b><br />The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-32237248535539813692015-03-08T16:01:00.000-04:002017-11-20T01:41:15.819-05:00The Ancient Metaphor of Alcohol as Female Sexuality<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RvLqHcBFSXMEdYPILEIT4Kd-rFKbh-fwG5kdylf5IqC_9-bkTKe4OIBv7KADzq86t2voc20Ta8W94NxvxzVszDDN2Wh4Q90r0QmDzUzYzxaiTr6hAidoU18HeTRZNrucyN2_M2S-GLaZ/s1600/GuillotSecasMothersMilk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4RvLqHcBFSXMEdYPILEIT4Kd-rFKbh-fwG5kdylf5IqC_9-bkTKe4OIBv7KADzq86t2voc20Ta8W94NxvxzVszDDN2Wh4Q90r0QmDzUzYzxaiTr6hAidoU18HeTRZNrucyN2_M2S-GLaZ/s1600/GuillotSecasMothersMilk.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A female spirit as the source of the juice.<br />1940s Guillot Triple Sec poster</span></td></tr>
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There is a deep symbolic connection between alcohol and femininity in art from ancient times until the current moment. It stems from notions of a "cosmic feminine" that are both nurturing and erotic. In ancient art and modern advertising we see alcohol represented as feminine, repeatedly over time in two distinct ways: 1) as mother's milk emerging from glasses shaped like breasts, and 2) as a metaphor for sexual ecstasy. Women appear as spirits in cocktail glasses. Cocktail glasses show up as vaginas. Beware. Once seen it cannot be unseen.<br />
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Is all of this objectification of women? You bet. The very definition of sexual objectification is reducing human beings to sexual parts. The fact that these tropes are ancient helps explain them but doesn't make it right. The use of women's bodies - and body parts - to represent aspects of alcohol, nourishing, nurturing, inebriating, or ecstatic - is metaphoric but the gendering can be ugly.<br />
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The beauty here for me is the unity of nurturing, sex, and alcohol. It goes to the root of human agricultural civilization. Humanity made a fundamental change in lifestyle in the fertile crescent of the Levant somewhere around the end of the last ice age. A devil's bargain was made whereby people exchanged the freewheeling but precarious existence of nomadic hunting and gathering for a socially regimented dutiful life of agriculture. Why would people do this? With the hindsight of history we can see the advantages of plentiful food fueling social stratification with advances in science, religion, technology, statehood and authority with professional metal workers arming professional armies. But in the moment of inception, early domesticated plants were indistinguishable from their wild ancestors. Yields were poor. Methods were rudimentary. Enabling co-technologies like rodent resistant grain storage, the plow, baked leavened bread, etc... didn't yet exist. Given up were freedom, dietary variety, and protein. What was the compelling thing that led people to trade away the wandering herds for the promise of grain? Jeffrey Kahn in NY Times' "Grey Matter" in March of 2013 explains:<br />
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<i>"Current theory has it that grain was first domesticated for food. But since the 1950s, many scholars have found circumstantial evidence that supports the idea that some early humans grew and stored grain for beer, even before they cultivated it for bread." </i><br />
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<i><br /></i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html</a><br />
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This idea has been around for a while:<br />
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<i>"There is ample evidence of small-scale fruit wine production during the Neolithic and possibly the Paleolithic Era (Stanislawski 1975: 429). Alcohol occurs naturally when fruits freeze and thaw repeatedly or when fruit accumulates under the right conditions, and many species of birds and primates alter their feeding behavior in order to access seasonal quantities of alcoholic fruits (Poo 1999: 124). Foraging societies often have knowledge of alcohol preparation, but are unable to produce alcohol on demand throughout the year. Indeed, many foraging and horticultural tribes around the world today produce alcohol periodically, but on a far diminished scale compared to agricultural societies."<br /><br />Hence when some 11,500 years ago, humans living in the Fertile Crescent began to domesticate wheat and barely, as their ability to grow and store sizable crops increased so too did their capacity to make alcohol on a year-long basis."</i><a href="http://www.eaines.com/archaeology/the-archaeology-of-ancient-alcohol/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.eaines.com/archaeology/the-archaeology-of-ancient-alcohol/</a><br />
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Alcohol is compelling stuff. It isn't just one of the things you can make with the staff of life. It's a gateway to something extraordinary. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=2AezbiIYHssC&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=William+James+the+sway+of+alcohol+over+mankind&source=bl&ots=LHW73jf-9B&sig=73LVrj9CtAjmPwqKigqv5WDfo0s&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBWoVChMIiJnq6vCPxwIVRxc-Ch3eXwlH#v=onepage&q=William%20James%20the%20sway%20of%20alcohol%20over%20mankind&f=false" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">William James in The Variety of Religious Experience</a> says</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HLzWtLFN_elHueoXQEGOGOC28_siAsB4zwtXwIgD09mpzUW7R_ZgYF3GdxPepZQilsgyrUPda_fEioiZ8hrnIeyMj1Q71yp0sahIbnsyVku-BPYPf4bE-oOXtcKCtA8gvf5b6jKkNueL/s1600/GirlasVineChampagneHair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-HLzWtLFN_elHueoXQEGOGOC28_siAsB4zwtXwIgD09mpzUW7R_ZgYF3GdxPepZQilsgyrUPda_fEioiZ8hrnIeyMj1Q71yp0sahIbnsyVku-BPYPf4bE-oOXtcKCtA8gvf5b6jKkNueL/s1600/GirlasVineChampagneHair.jpg" width="205" /></a><i>"The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour. Sobriety diminishes, discriminates and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes. It is in fact the great exciter of the Yes function in man. It brings its votary from the chill periphery of things to the radiant core. It makes him for the moment one with truth. Not through mere perversity do men run after it."</i><br />
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William James, writing at the nexus between the dawn of modern rationalism and the end of romantic spirituality captures the transcendental nature of alcohol vividly. Kahn, in the previously cited NY Times' March 2013 "Grey Matter", connects it to its essential role in the dawn of agricultural civilization:<br />
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<i>"Five core social instincts, I have <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Angst-Depression-Jeffrey-P-Kahn/dp/0199796440">argued</a>, gave structure and strength to our primeval herds. They kept us safely codependent with our fellow clan members, assigned us a rank in the pecking order, made sure we all did our chores, discouraged us from offending others, and removed us from this social coil when we became a drag on shared resources. Thus could our ancient forebears cooperate, prosper, multiply — and pass along their DNA to later generations.<br /><br />But then, these same lifesaving social instincts didn’t readily lend themselves to exploration, artistic expression, romance, inventiveness and experimentation — the other human drives that make for a vibrant civilization. To free up those, we needed something that would suppress the rigid social codes that kept our clans safe and alive. We needed something that, on occasion, would let us break free from our biological herd imperative — or at least let us suppress our angst when we did.<br /><br /><b>We needed beer.</b>"</i><br />
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/opinion/sunday/how-beer-gave-us-civilization.html</a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvMRXRO7JhqCfb6SYFFY7uRTNnLcjUCmv-wTltaqzSmQdv2I2QWJOBByTe1AkgFS1Q1HvAkNxs38UZ2tAMkhzseFfcCj8V7JWWt_5CST5U_1Khg7QNd4Lnb1497lRRT8wXp_LCnzBdDnN/s1600/GirlAsVine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvMRXRO7JhqCfb6SYFFY7uRTNnLcjUCmv-wTltaqzSmQdv2I2QWJOBByTe1AkgFS1Q1HvAkNxs38UZ2tAMkhzseFfcCj8V7JWWt_5CST5U_1Khg7QNd4Lnb1497lRRT8wXp_LCnzBdDnN/s1600/GirlAsVine.jpg" width="236" /></a><br />
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So, alcohol is two things right off the bat: the original impetus for civilization, and the escape valve for the social strictures that civilization entails. As "mother" of civilization, alcohol conflates with the grain and grape that are the staff of life and there are a series of symbols of alcohol as mother's breast and mother's milk. As escape valve, alcohol is symbolic of the ecstatic escape of orgasm. But, as William James described, it's more than simply ecstatic escape; it's the gateway to the numinous and the miraculous. I'm tempted to treat these two very different symbols independently - but I believe they interrelate as both are about conflating women's bodies with alcohol in various ways.<br />
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This isn't a new idea, by the way. The idea for this came directly from Adrienne Mayor's academic article <b><i>"Libation Titillation: Wine Goblets and Women's Breasts</i></b>" in <b>Studies in Popular Culture XVI</b>:2 April 1994. <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/MayorGoblets.pdf" target="_blank">https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/MayorGoblets.pdf</a><br />
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I came across this fascinating paper in a very modern and personal way. I'm a fan of Adrienne Mayor's books<br />
<b>The First Fossil Hunters: Dinosaurs, Mammoths, and Myth in Greek and Roman Times</b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/First-Fossil-Hunters-Dinosaurs-Mammoths/dp/0691150133" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/First-Fossil-Hunters-Dinosaurs-Mammoths/dp/0691150133</a><br />
and<br />
<b>The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poison-King-Legend-Mithradates-Deadliest/dp/0691150265/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Poison-King-Legend-Mithradates-Deadliest/dp/0691150265/</a><br />
and I'm currently reading her fascinating new book<br />
<b>The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Amazons-Legends-Warrior-across-Ancient/dp/0691147205/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Amazons-Legends-Warrior-across-Ancient/dp/0691147205/</a></div>
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Finding fresh insight in ancient sources is a specialty of Adrienne Mayor's. I followed her alter ego "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/mithradates" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mithradates Eupator</a>" on Facebook and interacting with her there, I found myself in conversation with her a number of times and mentioned my post about the way women were depicted in American whiskey advertising:</div>
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<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/05/women-in-american-whiskey-advertising.html" target="_blank">http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/05/women-in-american-whiskey-advertising.html</a><br />
She forwarded me a link to <b><i>"<a href="https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/MayorGoblets.pdf" rel="" target="_blank">Libation Titillation: Wine Goblets and Women's Breasts</a></i></b>" which opened me to the wider topic of the connection between women's sexuality and alcohol through a focused examination of the connection between the shape of glassware and women's breasts.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"> Wineglass As A Woman's Breast</span></h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYTYlvQ2Slykmh2dxLGutJ6OVauhDIPxh8ZNWwMn0vtXrXNtrBIJIV46j2rYcH9WsjaRxiLnF3iWLntEWkjJ1gu4X94b6XUIdbcW_6Hj9bXQCuQZQfN8GGU22vtKg3S4G-D8N6TQqwCSF/s1600/MadamePompadorGlass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYTYlvQ2Slykmh2dxLGutJ6OVauhDIPxh8ZNWwMn0vtXrXNtrBIJIV46j2rYcH9WsjaRxiLnF3iWLntEWkjJ1gu4X94b6XUIdbcW_6Hj9bXQCuQZQfN8GGU22vtKg3S4G-D8N6TQqwCSF/s1600/MadamePompadorGlass.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from a blog post at:<br />
<a href="http://flairliquidchef.blogspot.com/2014/05/breast-shape-became-shape-of-champagne.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://flairliquidchef.blogspot.com/2014/05/breast-shape-became-shape-of-champagne.html</a></td></tr>
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The idea that wine or beer is a nourishing thing flowing from female breasts has a long lineage. The usual driving metaphor is in the form of breast shaped glassware. Champagne coupe glasses look like women's breasts. There is a legend that they were created as a representation of Marie Antoinette's breasts. The story is so widely disseminated that <b>Snopes </b>takes the time to debunk it:<br />
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<i>"The Champagne coupe is often claimed to have been modeled on the shape of the breast of a French aristocrat, often cited as Marie Antoinette or Madame de Pompadour."</i></div>
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<i>"<b>FALSE</b>"<br />"None of the "famed beauty's breast" tales hold up. Champagne was invented in the 17th century when a Benedictine monk discovered a way to trap bubbles of carbon dioxide in wine. As for the glass, it was designed and made in England especially for champagne around 1663, a chronology that rules out du Barry, du Pompadour, Josephine, and Marie Antoinette, all of whom were born long after the coupe came into existence. As for de Poitiers, she died a century before either the glass or the beverage was invented. And if she existed at all, Helen of Troy antedated both champagne and the champagne glass by about two millennia.</i><br />
<a href="http://www.snopes.com/business/origins/champagne.asp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.snopes.com/business/origins/champagne.asp</a><br />
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Indeed, the story that the champagne coupe is modeled on Marie Antoinette's breasts is common, and durable, with specific evidence in a number of dimensions.<br />
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But the story isn't that simple. Adrienne Mayor notes that Pliny the Elder describes a drinking vessel modeled from Helen of Troy's breast:<br />
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<i>"According to Pliny the Elder, writing during the reign of Nero in the first century A.D., tourists visiting the island of Rhodes could admire an exquisite electrumcalix (chalice or wine-cup) in the local temple of Athena. This celebrated silver and gold cup was said to have been a gift from Helen herself. The vessel's real claim to fame, however, was not its precious metal or its antiquity, but the popular belief that the goblet had been fashioned to perfectly represent Helen's fabled breast (Pliny 23.81)</i>"<br />
"Libation Titillation: Wine Goblets and Women's Breasts" - Studies in Popular Culture XVI:2 April 1994 <a href="http://pcasacas.org.seanic11.net/SiPC/16.2/Mayor.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://pcasacas.org.seanic11.net/SiPC/16.2/Mayor.pdf</a><br />
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The ancient Greeks, indeed had drinking vessels modeled on women's breasts: the "Mastos" cups.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbe5A78Ll6WxpXB987bIuWWDHP1t9zFvbCdXRHt0VH_H8U5NXpb6oEzLRr1nCffuHBOGAO6aJ6gVhWYI0QLz0LThS0KT_OO3jgitOD-ErwYpBtoWIDQHX_uSzCCv6EOMdga6yZ4c1i4DFQ/s1600/MastosCup2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbe5A78Ll6WxpXB987bIuWWDHP1t9zFvbCdXRHt0VH_H8U5NXpb6oEzLRr1nCffuHBOGAO6aJ6gVhWYI0QLz0LThS0KT_OO3jgitOD-ErwYpBtoWIDQHX_uSzCCv6EOMdga6yZ4c1i4DFQ/s1600/MastosCup2.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="http://www.eater.com/authors/clairecarusillo" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Claire Carusillo</a>, in her Dec 10, 2014 post on Eater wrote:<br />
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"<i>The connection between the breast and spirits was evident in classical Greek antiquity. For one, there's the mastos, an ancient Greek wine vessel shaped conically like a woman's breast, nipple and all, which popped up as early as the fifth century BCE. With its double handles and black-figure drawings depicting myths, it was usually incorporated into rites involving deities whose roles had to do with fertility or breastfeeding, including the worship of the thirsty god-bro Hercules himself."</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInm2eqSV67QjNaQ39KH5e3lIMB57AbyqxutrKn4ZerK8AyvFpTwT76IwgLr_lnXqYaMHYbTcns3-229GNLoQNJZjpn6pMBfZXRZqdO8MvhPQflFEGlmP1MME1knKoABPKT2kcqXfnSVX8/s1600/MastosCup1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInm2eqSV67QjNaQ39KH5e3lIMB57AbyqxutrKn4ZerK8AyvFpTwT76IwgLr_lnXqYaMHYbTcns3-229GNLoQNJZjpn6pMBfZXRZqdO8MvhPQflFEGlmP1MME1knKoABPKT2kcqXfnSVX8/s1600/MastosCup1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
"<i>But vessel worship wasn't always tied to fertility; sometimes it came from a place of straight-up lust. Helen of Troy has an outsized role in the history of libations: Homer credits her as the first person to suggest serving wine before a meal, and she soothed an entire troop of Trojan War-addled veterans with a signature opium cocktail in the fourth book of the Odyssey. But the woman didn't just pass out goblets; she was purportedly also the model for one. According to Pliny the Elder's Natural History, written in the first century CE, Helen lent the dimensions of her breast to a goblet on display for pilgrims at the Temple of Athena at Lindus on Rhodes."</i><br />
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<i></i> <i>"..Still, it's easy in our culture to keep imagining women as containers, as objects, their bodies as fountains from which men can draw strength, power, and physical fulfillment. "</i><br />
<a href="http://www.eater.com/2014/12/10/7339903/breast-champagne-coupe-marie-antoinette" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.eater.com/2014/12/10/7339903/breast-champagne-coupe-marie-antoinette</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2TmCkurUlLiHh8KdDMpS9O52k2hvxghyphenhyphenEMZTIRkk6d_PYW6eMV_jgbwI71pKWvuIaFlrXGBhONNogfJt0WuNgvBI_Mj0JJI9p6Orhyphenhyphen9_bmpmigbD5Kv_3ErThuGN7dU6J6aRaZminV25/s1600/MarieAntoinetteCupFac1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi2TmCkurUlLiHh8KdDMpS9O52k2hvxghyphenhyphenEMZTIRkk6d_PYW6eMV_jgbwI71pKWvuIaFlrXGBhONNogfJt0WuNgvBI_Mj0JJI9p6Orhyphenhyphen9_bmpmigbD5Kv_3ErThuGN7dU6J6aRaZminV25/s1600/MarieAntoinetteCupFac1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Marie Antoinette's Sèvres “Etruscan” style breast cup c, 1788<br />at the Musée national de Céramique-Sèvres</span></td></tr>
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As for the Marie Antoinette connection, it's not a total fantasy either. Louis XVI gave her The Laiterie at Rambouillet (a dairy farm estate) in 1787 and they chose an Etruscan themed china service which included four mastos-type cups (right). There isn't any specific reason to think that they were modeled on Marie Antoinette's breasts per-se - but the fact remains that Marie Antoinette actually owned cups explicitly modeled on a woman's breast - with pearly pink nipples and all.<br />
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If Marie Antoinette had modeled a glass on her breast it would have been an explicit classical reference to Helen of Troy. Such a classical connection continues to this day. As recently as October of 2014 we were treated to a celebrated beauty making a champagne glass modeled on her breast's shape:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNojmiBEUAiwyjO_u9hfd9hsGpanCirJTzntkM2EA2hWjbR8ccrVJcSHPKYOMzUvf_snoQv8GBo6Z7IT1YX6L55uNM8ImG6xDGPNrd1jt5j_Y5QdlxOubeBYPf9JXCNXyReLsNEWkYKc7/s1600/katemoss-copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNojmiBEUAiwyjO_u9hfd9hsGpanCirJTzntkM2EA2hWjbR8ccrVJcSHPKYOMzUvf_snoQv8GBo6Z7IT1YX6L55uNM8ImG6xDGPNrd1jt5j_Y5QdlxOubeBYPf9JXCNXyReLsNEWkYKc7/s1600/katemoss-copy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
As the august New York Post reported on October 9th, 2014:<br />
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<i>"These cups runneth over!<br /><br />On Wednesday night, iconic model <a href="http://www.pagesix.com/tag/kate-moss">Kate Moss</a> celebrated her 25 years in the fashion industry with an intimate party at posh London restaurant 34, with a guest list that included Rita Ora and Sadie Frost. But in lieu of ordinary Champagne flutes, revelers sipped bubbly from glasses molded from Moss’ left breast.<br /><br />The project began in August, when Moss’ breast was first fitted for the coupe. British artist Jane McAdam Freud designed the glasses, which were inspired by Marie Antoinette — legend has it that the first Champagne coupe in the 18th century was modeled from the royal’s left bosom."</i><a href="http://nypost.com/2014/10/09/sip-champagne-in-a-glass-molded-from-kate-moss-breast/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://nypost.com/2014/10/09/sip-champagne-in-a-glass-molded-from-kate-moss-breast/</a><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijeLoJCqsEEgUcV6ixLId1r-faZffwuA3nln43NC_j-aqOa3y4XsG3Mlhgx0h_pCg_eRV1fYD56m8U7ALrioZOzjQhiFz3N_ef8qOGT6t53Y4Wb_nyPU427uPA3mfU-74p9h79YQpDyz6q/s1600/MastosCupOnBabyLakesHip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijeLoJCqsEEgUcV6ixLId1r-faZffwuA3nln43NC_j-aqOa3y4XsG3Mlhgx0h_pCg_eRV1fYD56m8U7ALrioZOzjQhiFz3N_ef8qOGT6t53Y4Wb_nyPU427uPA3mfU-74p9h79YQpDyz6q/s1600/MastosCupOnBabyLakesHip.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvSZIW-ih6ri1vTnVF2OA54eW9w-6cbk_5V4vgvI1vzv-ySOhXBdVEs3RkqeBS5zOcNN_6x_338vpun5Hxxi2fpMXAtfmQPfPpXKZiqoNNgcA4GV77SlAvF_PrrvyreFirvYmcxCI5OGj/s1600/TapBreastsHolloweenCostume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>Baby Lake, stripper at NYC's Latin Quarter 1951 costume<br />
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The mastos cup concept is an idea that just doesn't die. Check out this publicity still of New York City stripper Baby Lake, who danced at the famed club "The Latin Quarter" in this 1951 publicity still. Her breasts are covered by grotesque masks that are sipping from mastos cups mounted on her hips. I'm tempted to speculate on the symbolism of not having the mastos cups on her actual breasts (which would be the rational thing), but I don't have a clue..<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zfBigx-WGl3UuSXnf1_9h62nG6cAkS3ZgpgIkXZiQNsKtjem8hNJlxklj7zGpeVdvDSRE-6HkX3BECFL8-a5M1TOlfTS7ICDo96BZRPdHWz_IvIybILiufRGe8Ba3uESnp6Y0Z_PKZua/s1600/MorlantGrapeBreastMilk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6zfBigx-WGl3UuSXnf1_9h62nG6cAkS3ZgpgIkXZiQNsKtjem8hNJlxklj7zGpeVdvDSRE-6HkX3BECFL8-a5M1TOlfTS7ICDo96BZRPdHWz_IvIybILiufRGe8Ba3uESnp6Y0Z_PKZua/s1600/MorlantGrapeBreastMilk.jpg" width="472" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Morlant de la Marne Champagne poster - 1940s</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ee4cfk5VyoW3mFodbFyw7uvw9Q8xkU8QA8LhSC1XU5ANEuPQO5WxHWTJucMMaH4TbRzN2oQwcOxiFiUUMgA9QP-GcuS3jrwq4rJfQWhxl64AYD6mX21SKse2XS3SYyC3ji086aOimf0z/s1600/BailiesBreastAnalogy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ee4cfk5VyoW3mFodbFyw7uvw9Q8xkU8QA8LhSC1XU5ANEuPQO5WxHWTJucMMaH4TbRzN2oQwcOxiFiUUMgA9QP-GcuS3jrwq4rJfQWhxl64AYD6mX21SKse2XS3SYyC3ji086aOimf0z/s1600/BailiesBreastAnalogy.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Bailey's Irish Cream Ad - 1990s - <br />"The Milk Of Ireland"</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvSZIW-ih6ri1vTnVF2OA54eW9w-6cbk_5V4vgvI1vzv-ySOhXBdVEs3RkqeBS5zOcNN_6x_338vpun5Hxxi2fpMXAtfmQPfPpXKZiqoNNgcA4GV77SlAvF_PrrvyreFirvYmcxCI5OGj/s1600/TapBreastsHolloweenCostume.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvSZIW-ih6ri1vTnVF2OA54eW9w-6cbk_5V4vgvI1vzv-ySOhXBdVEs3RkqeBS5zOcNN_6x_338vpun5Hxxi2fpMXAtfmQPfPpXKZiqoNNgcA4GV77SlAvF_PrrvyreFirvYmcxCI5OGj/s1600/TapBreastsHolloweenCostume.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a>The connection between breast and alcohol is broader and deeper than just the cup. As Adrienne Mayor noted, there are numerous visual metaphors connecting alcohol with breasts in sources ranging from antiquity to the modern day. A quick look at advertising confirms this. This Morland champagne poster circa 1930 (right) makes the metaphor explicit. The champagne is literally the milk from the breasts of a female spirit of the vine. The more recent Bailey's Irish Cream magazine ad (1990s, below) is more subtle (and given the actual cream content, perhaps more literal) but still squarely in the theme as the tag line makes clear: "The Milk of Ireland".<br />
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The terminal state for the mastos drinking vessel as breast metaphor might be found in this Halloween costume (right) which plays on the "wearable beer consumption" theme by converting the (female) wearer's breasts into beer spigots. The point is clear. As in the Morlant Champagne poster, alcohol comes from an objectified human or metaphoric breast.<br />
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Another rich vein of the conflation between breast and alcohol is the trope of the beer wench. Iconic of Munich's Octoberfest and brands such as St. Pauli Girl, the beer wench carries overflowing steins at bust level while wearing a bodice bulging gown. The bodice and decolletage is underscored, physically, by a bloom of beer steins in each hand. The connection is inescapable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55V9dXaeYhSUpcxCYHbLinvgwCSwrIn03982erMdHPcNC3ijw9d8bu4S2W1Qehu_vm9o1aa_k15QIFFTeVwcP3cBFtk9ABLEZyvCk0CiTdfUkRF1ju21s7i0lsymX3gFsG2OR6-xUL2Il/s1600/BeerBreastStPauliGirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55V9dXaeYhSUpcxCYHbLinvgwCSwrIn03982erMdHPcNC3ijw9d8bu4S2W1Qehu_vm9o1aa_k15QIFFTeVwcP3cBFtk9ABLEZyvCk0CiTdfUkRF1ju21s7i0lsymX3gFsG2OR6-xUL2Il/s1600/BeerBreastStPauliGirl.jpg" width="282" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The St. Pauli Girl's bust line <br />is directly in line with beer steins.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYAbaiUeyXDcpcQ1evCrHMRIlZxnoTeLCLAEdZJaDAbpeWRM722ktbSXjWSeQBZ2R-R8rvlGBIfwNY3jAzGQ7p62I3HCAesu-E5y3vXE_PMeN6n43BbBHkow3PqL8m2cnFtUm5FQL_qJG/s1600/BeerBreastBeerWench.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIYAbaiUeyXDcpcQ1evCrHMRIlZxnoTeLCLAEdZJaDAbpeWRM722ktbSXjWSeQBZ2R-R8rvlGBIfwNY3jAzGQ7p62I3HCAesu-E5y3vXE_PMeN6n43BbBHkow3PqL8m2cnFtUm5FQL_qJG/s1600/BeerBreastBeerWench.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Octoberfest waitress in action.</span></td></tr>
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<i><br /></i> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GWUmzkDIYjAT_1YE0cGHw3DeclpuHxaRGrD6fe8z86BD_MOeQ1b8ZfXaHAaSESiax48ZwE5CiqLK9KQLgO23aNSyS_JmkS7L-L4059rjlEEoHtvOUJ2eqYRfgxd4vOU73aaso9MQ9SfP/s1600/BeerBreastSchneiderReach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1GWUmzkDIYjAT_1YE0cGHw3DeclpuHxaRGrD6fe8z86BD_MOeQ1b8ZfXaHAaSESiax48ZwE5CiqLK9KQLgO23aNSyS_JmkS7L-L4059rjlEEoHtvOUJ2eqYRfgxd4vOU73aaso9MQ9SfP/s1600/BeerBreastSchneiderReach.jpg" width="400" />.</a><br />
And, just in case the point could be missed, this ad for Schneider (right), makes it explicit. It's a famed example of subliminal advertising, which plays with the age old conflation of breast, glass, and beer. Do I need to spell it out for you?<br />
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"> Alcohol as Gateway to Ecstasy</span></h3>
The other face of alcohol, beyond the mothering staff of life, is the metaphor of female sexuality as the euphoric release of inebriation. The roots of this conflation go back at least as far as the trope of alcohol as life giving milk. In fact, they go back demonstrably much farther. The dawn of literate civilization occurred in Sumeria over 5000 years ago. And, apparently, the conflation of the ecstasy of inebriation with that of sexual release was already established:<br />
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<i>"We know from sources such as the <a href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/P249253">Code of Hammurapi</a> that Sumerian beer was, in fact, consumed in taverns which were often run by women. These taverns were places of amusement, of prostitution, and of crime.<a href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002_fnn.html#fn57">[57]</a> To consume alcoholic drinks such as beer fits the picture of such an environment. It also meets modern expectations of what the intoxicating effect of alcohol might be good for, since ancient beer was consumed in great amounts on the occasion of feasts. <b>Some depictions of erotic scenes also suggest that there was a habit of drinking beer during sexual intercourse.</b>"</i><br />
<a href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html</a><br />
(emphasis my own)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64qV1Yqw6135ry7Wf9RMy0pB-rvLWUI1YbakWRzevq06l3_2sCuRPdIiYc6c7fuO9P573NEDPDYfa7BdjNlB16qr2BT23r1Aw6ktSMSIv9qOS_BqU5rAkeGazVrRAg813wzd_aw3WCBb6/s1600/SumerianSeal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg64qV1Yqw6135ry7Wf9RMy0pB-rvLWUI1YbakWRzevq06l3_2sCuRPdIiYc6c7fuO9P573NEDPDYfa7BdjNlB16qr2BT23r1Aw6ktSMSIv9qOS_BqU5rAkeGazVrRAg813wzd_aw3WCBb6/s1600/SumerianSeal.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: small; text-align: -webkit-left;"> Impression of a Sumerian cylinder seal from the Early Dynastic IIIa period (ca. 2600 BC; see Woolley 1934, pl. 200, no. 102 [BM 121545]). People drinking beer are depicted in the upper row with straws in a beer jar. </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html" target="_blank">http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002.html</a></i></span></td></tr>
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The connection of orgasmic sex and alcohol is, thus, explicit from the dawn of written civilization. As an example of the described erotic depiction of drinking beer during the act of intercourse, here is an ancient Babylonian plaque:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuDxLgRHUcg1CozqMvEhyQUUIk4AFD7RMJK407Il_vEu6s5Q-lZJfxlHR-MhT1PIxHcW9qJg20eQ8baAQpsJxBksQ4tijAJJZ2YQE8giRDHUpdHV4S6Kf2AHdTy1F8scxCBpom2WpweKE/s1600/Babylonian+erotica_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfuDxLgRHUcg1CozqMvEhyQUUIk4AFD7RMJK407Il_vEu6s5Q-lZJfxlHR-MhT1PIxHcW9qJg20eQ8baAQpsJxBksQ4tijAJJZ2YQE8giRDHUpdHV4S6Kf2AHdTy1F8scxCBpom2WpweKE/s1600/Babylonian+erotica_02.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ancient Babylonian plaque from The Israel Museum depicting sex while drinking beer with a straw in a beer jar in the Sumerian fashion.</span></td></tr>
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We see examples of this conflation of sex and alcohol in virtually every subsequent era and artistic tradition. For example, here is an ancient Greek lesbian scene from the 6th century BC in which one of the lovers holds a wine drinking vessel:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDzoCzPZ-oUoUOQuJ9-Jx-QVHk6cL_r8JBdHeAKro8XLTjDPtOzpJ9f7fLRuEHtNUsdg3s6sxiw3gzC7PpIarkIQvQc32IJQmly76ByCLNUrZOlMK3_AkxyDdYcm02RD18XHaHQJJmXnV/s1600/LesbianBlackAtticwareWLibationCup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDzoCzPZ-oUoUOQuJ9-Jx-QVHk6cL_r8JBdHeAKro8XLTjDPtOzpJ9f7fLRuEHtNUsdg3s6sxiw3gzC7PpIarkIQvQc32IJQmly76ByCLNUrZOlMK3_AkxyDdYcm02RD18XHaHQJJmXnV/s1600/LesbianBlackAtticwareWLibationCup.jpg" width="512" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Lesbian erotic scene on a kylix cup.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Note that the standing figure is holding a kylix drinking vessel.</span></td></tr>
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The ancient Greeks regularly depicted erotic scenes - particularly on drinking vessels. The name for the flat Greek drinking cup was "kylix". A google search of the two words "kylix" and "erotic" yields this cornucopia of visual support for this hypothesis. Here is a link to that search. Be careful here - there is a lot of explicit content: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=kylix+erotic&rlz=1C1IRFF_enUS513US513&espv=2&biw=1345&bih=839&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=o5X7VNCAKIH2yQS2uoL4AQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">"Kylix" plus "Erotic"</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQR43-Fh6qQgpHi1N2lLF3LAOnMnFyk7hujAD0TB2TO3eE2uFZXFE1sztY8XJA5_pB_yd3ztnahsYIPbEHzH0SVzq2RR1lSX8sO3ef7nLDAH3WxSo4dDCfTNfuLO0uul0O3Etyc4fgzB4P/s1600/PompeiiMosaicWineErotica.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQR43-Fh6qQgpHi1N2lLF3LAOnMnFyk7hujAD0TB2TO3eE2uFZXFE1sztY8XJA5_pB_yd3ztnahsYIPbEHzH0SVzq2RR1lSX8sO3ef7nLDAH3WxSo4dDCfTNfuLO0uul0O3Etyc4fgzB4P/s1600/PompeiiMosaicWineErotica.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wall Fresco from Pompeii - conflating erotic activity with consumption of wine.</span></td></tr>
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Here is first century AD erotic scene from a wall fresco at Pompeii in which lovers are shown at a banquet kissing and embracing while a woman drinks wine.<br />
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<h3>
Woman as the Spirit in the Glass</h3>
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In each one of the examples above, sex is conflated with drinking alcohol through a depiction of a drinking vessel. This conflation became more explicit in the last century with depictions of females inside alcohol drinking vessels. In her essay, Adrienne Mayor references two: artist Leo Putz 1902 painting in the Hartford Atheneum, "Woman in a Glass", and the cartoon of the stocking wearing nude at the top of the jokes section in Playboy magazine:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78iR6lnwPp7kv8N64MWdBCAf2H4p07ok8lWVQHsu3dpcLZFo9KGS6P9KQ6Fvi1RmM6YINBEOZL3MozpZPkeWDCzu2NBDWlszX-_Vtnp8j8zY9p_IFzuB1TBeG3SU0PrwHQN0_vtFTHiNu/s1600/LeoPutz-WomanInAGlass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78iR6lnwPp7kv8N64MWdBCAf2H4p07ok8lWVQHsu3dpcLZFo9KGS6P9KQ6Fvi1RmM6YINBEOZL3MozpZPkeWDCzu2NBDWlszX-_Vtnp8j8zY9p_IFzuB1TBeG3SU0PrwHQN0_vtFTHiNu/s1600/LeoPutz-WomanInAGlass.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="font-size: medium; text-align: start;">
<b>Woman in a Glass</b> by Leo Putz 1902: </div>
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<a href="http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=72319" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=72319</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNq1xmrNZzo2TAWtfYUyyqYo8Mgz95jIg8KpFoXhZic8oKGpi97srTg2plwH9WSbTxVH03wzS8tY9vj-jioDoj6n_jTBF-zPMtOq6qW3gTAypqyWn9GHU-nU-MFp5Yxt38VYXL1pwrp10/s1600/GirlInGlassPlayboyCartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaNq1xmrNZzo2TAWtfYUyyqYo8Mgz95jIg8KpFoXhZic8oKGpi97srTg2plwH9WSbTxVH03wzS8tY9vj-jioDoj6n_jTBF-zPMtOq6qW3gTAypqyWn9GHU-nU-MFp5Yxt38VYXL1pwrp10/s1600/GirlInGlassPlayboyCartoon.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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<i>"...the minature busty brunette in black stockings who often cavorts around and inside a champagne glass on the "Playboy Party Jokes" page. This synecdochical feish, in which woman-as-breast-shaped goblet, had long served as an expression of the breast / drinking vessel dynamic in both high and low culture."</i><br />
"Libation Titillation: Wine Goblets and Women's Breasts" - Studies in Popular Culture XVI:2 April 1994 <a href="http://pcasacas.org.seanic11.net/SiPC/16.2/Mayor.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://pcasacas.org.seanic11.net/SiPC/16.2/Mayor.pdf</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFBrvwONpvsvxEPYxY5FTSIWsu_BUNYK3vLubqzjHT0mEqulSc7MIe-U8OPyb1MItWLd7frtUXcZzXbkXYIW2kR0dJvYdaelX8meBzZGJK_RwsAGkFnwSEEhLMKHfCmqUOf6BiFUh__PZ/s1600/GirlInGlassDomaineSteMichelle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFFBrvwONpvsvxEPYxY5FTSIWsu_BUNYK3vLubqzjHT0mEqulSc7MIe-U8OPyb1MItWLd7frtUXcZzXbkXYIW2kR0dJvYdaelX8meBzZGJK_RwsAGkFnwSEEhLMKHfCmqUOf6BiFUh__PZ/s1600/GirlInGlassDomaineSteMichelle.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Domaine Ste. Michelle Champage c 1930 </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmMoMVfjao1Z2x2oBWH-EJRCE0fDvU3eiIAJWRMxJjO5h1Y7JnEBwKUQmhT0jx5OrgIp3lj4A4ZVcezxdmdW3xtoreQOV_wzwrOPzN_AYTONP306yNWKB0QfrkWy3abQvmYERSBt9lRqE/s1600/GirlInGlassVlan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmMoMVfjao1Z2x2oBWH-EJRCE0fDvU3eiIAJWRMxJjO5h1Y7JnEBwKUQmhT0jx5OrgIp3lj4A4ZVcezxdmdW3xtoreQOV_wzwrOPzN_AYTONP306yNWKB0QfrkWy3abQvmYERSBt9lRqE/s1600/GirlInGlassVlan.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Vlan du Berni Belgian Apertif poster c 1920</span></td></tr>
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The woman in the glass theme has a long standing and robust place in popular culture - appearing in advertisements for alcoholic beverages from the early 20th century all the way to the current day, and appearing as a visual trope of licentious excess on both film and stage, as well as in burlesque.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4EEsEwGRkWXXIINDAUHhjsIa6x1Gxc02eGk7chSFvWPPKExDJSjMcsX7dQQKZn4tygtsU0rYo99HTJ6HF96wAIQB42zUQnSzePPcGmtpL-1Q_Nk84HeMiUHZtfG45fRa6G67nExjyvp0/s1600/GirlInGlassAlbertoVargasPinup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4EEsEwGRkWXXIINDAUHhjsIa6x1Gxc02eGk7chSFvWPPKExDJSjMcsX7dQQKZn4tygtsU0rYo99HTJ6HF96wAIQB42zUQnSzePPcGmtpL-1Q_Nk84HeMiUHZtfG45fRa6G67nExjyvp0/s1600/GirlInGlassAlbertoVargasPinup.jpg" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Alberto Vargas pinup art - 1940s</span><br />
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Alberto Vargas, a leading pinup artist of the period, put a lingerie clad redhead in a martini glass in an image that quickly became iconic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OcONLf_6ea6w7WAisDs-leFrjjwh7t3RpYyAws6C6r7wco4XKjMRPqSFdoDM-jtb2Qtwes9pM1gcbLKD0MOXmr3KaKcIcaeSEU19YKRcm5ofkwWeuqAACAQtpndkULh32NQqJiIL98Rh/s1600/GirlInGlassShirleyMacLaine&RobertMichumWhatAWayToGo1964.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-OcONLf_6ea6w7WAisDs-leFrjjwh7t3RpYyAws6C6r7wco4XKjMRPqSFdoDM-jtb2Qtwes9pM1gcbLKD0MOXmr3KaKcIcaeSEU19YKRcm5ofkwWeuqAACAQtpndkULh32NQqJiIL98Rh/s400/GirlInGlassShirleyMacLaine&RobertMichumWhatAWayToGo1964.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;">Shirley Maclaine and Robert Mitchum in </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;"><b>What a Way to Go!</b> (1964)</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNsA7G2DaJCZLX_H43fy8YTOkgPmzPFiX5wnEZgFhjwcfzc-zyw_iRwltlOyn9cgDXnNQlHjPqs9q-bqW-SAdwRu0P3Pyq4NvO1WJGIcAizENgtWJkOvqp8a_-9C_IdCyg8NSJYdeA-MY/s1600/GirlsInGlass1960sGoGoDancers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglNsA7G2DaJCZLX_H43fy8YTOkgPmzPFiX5wnEZgFhjwcfzc-zyw_iRwltlOyn9cgDXnNQlHjPqs9q-bqW-SAdwRu0P3Pyq4NvO1WJGIcAizENgtWJkOvqp8a_-9C_IdCyg8NSJYdeA-MY/s400/GirlsInGlass1960sGoGoDancers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: normal;">New Year's party dancers - 1960s</span></td></tr>
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The champagne coupe became a platform for burlesque dance in the Mad Men era and appeared in numerous popular culture images both high and low. The popular 1964 Arthur P. Jacobs black comedy "What a Way to Go!", which starred top performers of the period (Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke) featured a bedroom scene in which MacLaine and Mitchum get it on in a giant coupe that looks suspiciously like the one taken at a lavish private New Year's party at the same time.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxRsLhyMkIeeFI2M8RBlfjlATCaLaVOGKX7gamgYS5-xX3_EBpZrlm4JmOd77AbvDpeir6Ln_6oD_RsPtQ2TobjY5nazdx_cJ3t62woQSQHqBqDmcSCMM_Je3Wlljl29BL8fjlK6C1SRk/s1600/GirlInGlassRita1971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBxRsLhyMkIeeFI2M8RBlfjlATCaLaVOGKX7gamgYS5-xX3_EBpZrlm4JmOd77AbvDpeir6Ln_6oD_RsPtQ2TobjY5nazdx_cJ3t62woQSQHqBqDmcSCMM_Je3Wlljl29BL8fjlK6C1SRk/s400/GirlInGlassRita1971.jpg" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: normal;">"Rita"-1971 PR still. NY</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGhGM0MCuSmkvlJM-nSbE2JxH5iBzKTnabeEzNg_urZxFPwP6KfwFtGQHhbJ_GL8DSAHHa4QrP3zn36exz6WftppY_Lg9-AqT4L8auAXqq9OHJTsJ5lLBm-WvyPUrX871h6NrNM2PS0w-/s1600/GirlInGlassVitaSanTeese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhGhGM0MCuSmkvlJM-nSbE2JxH5iBzKTnabeEzNg_urZxFPwP6KfwFtGQHhbJ_GL8DSAHHa4QrP3zn36exz6WftppY_Lg9-AqT4L8auAXqq9OHJTsJ5lLBm-WvyPUrX871h6NrNM2PS0w-/s1600/GirlInGlassVitaSanTeese.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: normal;">Top American stripper Dita Von Teese's signature</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: normal;">burlesque act - in a coupe glass.</span></div>
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The champagne coupe or martini glass burlesque act features in the waning fortunes of the form in the 70s, as well as its resurgence in the 1990s through the current day. I came across the 1971 cut sheet for a performer named "Rita" in a glass. Other details are lacking. Not so for Dita Von Teese - probably America's top stripper for a quarter century and often credited with bringing burlesque back as an art form. Her signature act features her cavorting wet in a large coupe glass. Her act is big and mainstream enough that liquor brand Cointreau created a cocktail and an ad campaign around her act, complete with a tour in 2009. And Von Teese isn't the only one. Rachel Saint James has been performing a similar act in Australia for over a decade.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU_ewh0DBk_v5EkThF47typJQoU_2wfesE2t8EaEXJiz8b3BwWlMu3haTyq6hGBApBhVK19Zeq4N-WiVr58UW4yKpt3wx6voT4v9-2Y_fWW_OeRhhMDW_ldP4VWu_thrPRlf7JoICehY1/s1600/GirlInGlass_DitaVonTeese_Cointreau_Ad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGU_ewh0DBk_v5EkThF47typJQoU_2wfesE2t8EaEXJiz8b3BwWlMu3haTyq6hGBApBhVK19Zeq4N-WiVr58UW4yKpt3wx6voT4v9-2Y_fWW_OeRhhMDW_ldP4VWu_thrPRlf7JoICehY1/s1600/GirlInGlass_DitaVonTeese_Cointreau_Ad.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Von Teese's Cointreau ad - 2009</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyljhgCKCHO2GlOZxJvC5-hpkN8BZunOhp3J8q4_mM86aD2lSMbcbayS8ZuIVFTu5PvDJDaKWczZoQbvFFcGyNuB3hv13fE3HdCzl9VbxotzCT6eRkcA85VrllvbChdVStjUCZXWTKkNj2/s1600/GirlInGlass_RacheelStJames_Burlesque.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyljhgCKCHO2GlOZxJvC5-hpkN8BZunOhp3J8q4_mM86aD2lSMbcbayS8ZuIVFTu5PvDJDaKWczZoQbvFFcGyNuB3hv13fE3HdCzl9VbxotzCT6eRkcA85VrllvbChdVStjUCZXWTKkNj2/s1600/GirlInGlass_RacheelStJames_Burlesque.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Rachel St James</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgeIqSdgQBr029HdStaPaT0iLm0lu1YRdctCRivHVdRRZlhPmGCHA2AAQyfI0-hiyz9YHdL9RADU9WouZwMCB14gdgwt0G8cLj6V41KdBDfKIsxKB0ERWNZKDhG3j3Wf4nMySOJ2trrWdd/s1600/BeerBreastBudweiser.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgeIqSdgQBr029HdStaPaT0iLm0lu1YRdctCRivHVdRRZlhPmGCHA2AAQyfI0-hiyz9YHdL9RADU9WouZwMCB14gdgwt0G8cLj6V41KdBDfKIsxKB0ERWNZKDhG3j3Wf4nMySOJ2trrWdd/s1600/BeerBreastBudweiser.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a>The theme of the woman in the glass is a conflation of a sexualized female image with an icon of alcohol. This conflation has been used in other contexts than just the glass too. For example, check out the 2012 Budweiser ad, at right. The woman is one with the bottle in a direct visual conflation of her sexuality with the alcoholic product: objectification in purest sense.<br />
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A fall 2013 campaign for Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin champagne combines all the aspects of this conflation of sexualized woman with alcohol: the woman in the glass as well as the woman conflated with the bottle (this time the bottle also has connotations of the male sexual organ which we will see more of shortly). The ad campaign was a co-branding with a luxury brand of shoes and handbags: Charlottle Olympia, so the conflation was an attempted 3 way: booze, shoes, and female sexuality. This shows that these tropes and type of sexual objectification are completely mainstream even in the current day.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupZZeyjimNhiggW6Vpn0POmvb3qR-9L-YM1_3L7yBzz36htRhoPe6mK3UrSD2Z9j2OXk-0BpniihxeNI4laEjqHkO6lRWauim3S1hVJafGDzWejPqHaZtnxInNS0x8OWvihNcpVh52APi/s1600/charlotte+olympia+collection.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgupZZeyjimNhiggW6Vpn0POmvb3qR-9L-YM1_3L7yBzz36htRhoPe6mK3UrSD2Z9j2OXk-0BpniihxeNI4laEjqHkO6lRWauim3S1hVJafGDzWejPqHaZtnxInNS0x8OWvihNcpVh52APi/s1600/charlotte+olympia+collection.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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<h3>
End of the Line? Conflating Alcohol with the Vagina</h3>
Given the trend in modern culture towards greater directness, explicitness, and the desire to shock, it is, perhaps, unsurprising that a visual trope has emerged that has taken the conflation of female sexuality and alcohol one step further. In these images, both in contemporary print advertising, fine art photography, and in various other forms of erotica, alcohol is conflated directly with the vagina itself. It appeared to start with an ad poster for French wine in the 60s, where the letter "V" in the word "Vin" was made to simultaneously represent the female organ. It's a little unclear to me which artist first put a glass of wine itself in that location - so I'm just going to show you a bunch of the more prominent examples and maybe someone can enlighten me further in the comments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqfPtZWzP1NNwqQi8M5OK_kPD3hpVQVwIp4KAluKnrQaowodKJz78jS6EQWn021i74HQLtLKLJjhUmjxbhcCQrtL6QqlD7bUE_ASlYF6SEbLehoxhWjbTsScT6G_RuIjZgBSQ2gC5eqOA/s1600/VagWinePoster-V.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYqfPtZWzP1NNwqQi8M5OK_kPD3hpVQVwIp4KAluKnrQaowodKJz78jS6EQWn021i74HQLtLKLJjhUmjxbhcCQrtL6QqlD7bUE_ASlYF6SEbLehoxhWjbTsScT6G_RuIjZgBSQ2gC5eqOA/s1600/VagWinePoster-V.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">1960s Promotional Poster</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUfVVGnO6hwmLLEqDtF86mxnGIOA-01fYxChydfDLt7y88sXeD6tmMKEzfF3KEAQmMxuH5nH2ktxT0oiSgvXSpUE9kdZ9MlnQ_rIL5XddaOYl32AhFAu5fg13qyBtWX8LmovjtjZSGJVw/s1600/VagWineGlassMendoz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUfVVGnO6hwmLLEqDtF86mxnGIOA-01fYxChydfDLt7y88sXeD6tmMKEzfF3KEAQmMxuH5nH2ktxT0oiSgvXSpUE9kdZ9MlnQ_rIL5XddaOYl32AhFAu5fg13qyBtWX8LmovjtjZSGJVw/s1600/VagWineGlassMendoz.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Chema Madoz fine art photograph - 2006</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDZrST3pH-ICKmfW8MzWR-jfG6CFKJMJYT5_G7WQHu8_zLC3dxIE0-L6TucyUfFRTIc-CHvPyQHhacSJdlsn4ygPqF8iEsl9b15fndYiO8I80keR73HK9FfNP6kjjZfAZNjYX3za3DR8L/s1600/VagGlassEmptyCervicalCancer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDZrST3pH-ICKmfW8MzWR-jfG6CFKJMJYT5_G7WQHu8_zLC3dxIE0-L6TucyUfFRTIc-CHvPyQHhacSJdlsn4ygPqF8iEsl9b15fndYiO8I80keR73HK9FfNP6kjjZfAZNjYX3za3DR8L/s1600/VagGlassEmptyCervicalCancer.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "ヒラギノ角ゴ pro w3" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , , "meiryo" , "ms pゴシック" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Julynacom print ad - 2012<br />Fundraising the the fight against cervical cancer</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nswLbIRYdhyeSGFIG_0YyVAUIpk8TmQixbBYLFPg4IXbJ0JQ4waCA390xeJyoO5ODkN4sMgjWyKuLpDBL3dClO2lgH9NK8ShsNEpclsxAo3RUgAMgk_4eUiIN7yMNpsHgTREXU1vfxht/s1600/VagGlassDominicRousePhoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_nswLbIRYdhyeSGFIG_0YyVAUIpk8TmQixbBYLFPg4IXbJ0JQ4waCA390xeJyoO5ODkN4sMgjWyKuLpDBL3dClO2lgH9NK8ShsNEpclsxAo3RUgAMgk_4eUiIN7yMNpsHgTREXU1vfxht/s1600/VagGlassDominicRousePhoto.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "ヒラギノ角ゴ pro w3" , "hiragino kaku gothic pro" , , "meiryo" , "ms pゴシック" , "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dominic Rouse - fine art photograph 2008</span></span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaKBG-uX1blaY2vbIcKA0VmyQVnywCVEjwUO5h28dM4nmU5Lr6mY0P3dMFC_6M4IQHvAdPLrD4D9qJOyLjCczm6ls7OZjQIPxJYalE_xtoxhEqMIfh0EcMK3n-JkXfM3WvIkUhyphenhyphenJ1umEG/s1600/VagGlassWinePour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKaKBG-uX1blaY2vbIcKA0VmyQVnywCVEjwUO5h28dM4nmU5Lr6mY0P3dMFC_6M4IQHvAdPLrD4D9qJOyLjCczm6ls7OZjQIPxJYalE_xtoxhEqMIfh0EcMK3n-JkXfM3WvIkUhyphenhyphenJ1umEG/s1600/VagGlassWinePour.jpg" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRUVurEDwUVqAk9uW1mMI0CNwFD5jAEjdAPPw95z8wlOCJr7dlhqPbcl-xt-oiaX4x6GNVJHDjQFB7ilfyq_Pl6fX4pJlOzFueO7quK1aPSBD_Y0qNSq9MJQwXvvSuPSqntJQFhbuxiLy/s1600/VagGlassAlexandraPriviteraOnDreamsTime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeRUVurEDwUVqAk9uW1mMI0CNwFD5jAEjdAPPw95z8wlOCJr7dlhqPbcl-xt-oiaX4x6GNVJHDjQFB7ilfyq_Pl6fX4pJlOzFueO7quK1aPSBD_Y0qNSq9MJQwXvvSuPSqntJQFhbuxiLy/s1600/VagGlassAlexandraPriviteraOnDreamsTime.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;">Biss V. by Alexandra Privitera</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wLWr8CspomUFGeQz2gPdZ4lbjyK-prxD8iIRC-Gicl6FaZ5xKi3ke6Gx4hNdfwUcQ_lB5L3LPgey3YRU5A3WlUbNSkNT4i0Rz74D7Wrhb82WDv6HBlkO8o1HK_Ermr7mMMqA5M5heXaJ/s1600/VagGlassMartiniDreamstime.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wLWr8CspomUFGeQz2gPdZ4lbjyK-prxD8iIRC-Gicl6FaZ5xKi3ke6Gx4hNdfwUcQ_lB5L3LPgey3YRU5A3WlUbNSkNT4i0Rz74D7Wrhb82WDv6HBlkO8o1HK_Ermr7mMMqA5M5heXaJ/s1600/VagGlassMartiniDreamstime.jpg" /></a><br />
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This final example a 2008 cartoon posted to Toonpool - but apparently seen nowhere else (<a href="http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Vine_14968" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/Vine_14968</a>) has the unusual attribute of taking the wine metaphor all the way with the bottle as male member, grapes as testes, and the wine filling up the woman's vagina. It's an oddly satisfying visual literal metaphor after all that innuendo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: small;">"Vine" by Karry, June 19th 2008</span></td></tr>
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Why is Lady Liberty depicted as a female? Or Brittania? Or blind Justice with her scales? In the allegorical world of classical and medieval thinking aspects of the world are represented by figures which represent what philosophers and artists (particularly male philosophers and artists) feel are their essence. The ancient Greeks thought that wine had a male god, Dionysus; the Romans had Bacchus, but the overwhelming consensus across the broader culture is that alcohol is female, both nurturing and titillating. This is partly reflected in deities, such as Egypt's goddess of beer, Tenenet, Sumeria's goddes of beer, Nin-Kasi. But even in cultures where the alcohol deity was male, you'll find sex linked with wine and women's bodies objectified into aspects of alcohol consumption. Emerging from the fruit and grain that are the staff of life, as original impetus for the agricultural revolution that birthed our civilization itself, to the narcotic that provides escape from the cage of social and cultural constructions it engendered, alcohol is repeatedly conflated with the female body in both nourishing and sexual aspects time and again across vast reaches of time and space. This symbol and this objectification is clearly still alive after all this time, and ongoing - for better or for worse. In so far as women still struggle for rights and are objectified sexually in our society, these tropes are problematic in that they contribute to an ongoing pattern of reducing women, sexually, to impersonal idealized images.NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-2022607875990149722015-03-01T22:25:00.001-05:002015-03-02T10:26:50.424-05:00Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey Comes To The USA<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The<a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/09/four-top-world-grain-whiskys-head-to.html" target="_blank"> rising trend of drinkable grain whisky</a> now sees a new Irish entry, joining <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/09/four-top-world-grain-whiskys-head-to.html" target="_blank">Cooley's Greenore</a> expressions (6, 8, 15, and 18 year old). It's Teeling Single Grain Irish whiskey, just under 6 years old, but boasting solid complexity and drinkability for such a young grain whiskey. The explanation involves a flavored barrel maturation story - which is quite a common trend these days, but the Devil is in the details. The payoff here is that this is worth drinking. <i>(Grain whiskey, a traditional part of blended Scotch and Irish whiskies, is distilled from un-malted grains, typically corn, wheat, barley. Distillation typically happens on column stills, often in an industrial setting, with distillation taken to very high proofs - usually in the mid 90% abv. The resulting spirit is very light and sweet. Grain whiskey suffered a stigma until recently when luxury expressions such as <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/04/compass-box-hedonism-review-coconut.html" target="_blank">Compass Box Hedonism</a>, <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/09/four-top-world-grain-whiskys-head-to.html" target="_blank">Nikka Coffey Grain, Greenore</a>, and recently Haig Club appeared)</i>.<br />
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There's deep kinship between Teeling Single Grain and Cooley's Greenore single grain whiskey. It starts with the mash bill: 95% corn and the rest malted barley. There's also the distillery: Cooley. Cooley is the distillery that John Teeling converted to whiskey from potato schnapps from 1985 to 1987 by adding column stills. Teeling's Cooley was the first Irish whiskey distillery in Irish hands in generations and marked the resurgence of Irish whiskey's innovation and local pride. Fascinating expressions include double distilled (as opposed to the usual triple distilled) and <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2012/04/connemara-turf-mor-shatters-boundaries.html" target="_blank">richly peated Irish </a>expressions. Cooley was breaking the mold and pushing the envelope. Beam International ended up buying Cooley in 2012 for $95 million. (Beam has since been purchased by Suntory International.) <br />
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But the Teelings didn't take the money and get out of the game. John Teeling's sons Jack and Stephen have started a new distillery project in Dublin (the first in a century). They have just distilled their first run. But while the distillery part gets up to speed and the whiskey ages, they are selling stocks secured under contract from Beam's Cooley as part of the Cooley sale. Teeling sells a small batch blended Irish whiskey, a single malt, and a 21 year old single malt, as well as this new single grain - which will launch in the USA this week for msrp $49.95 a bottle. So this is the same distillate as Greenore - but the similarities end there. The barrel maturation story is different from inception, with Greenore maturing in ex-Bourbon barrels and Teeling Single Grain maturing entirely in ex-California Cabernet wine barrels for just a bit under 6 years. <br />
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In Oliver Klimek's landmark Malt Maniacs epistle of 2012 called "<a href="http://www.maltmaniacs.net/E-pistles/Malt-Maniacs-2012-04-Complexity-In-Whisky.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Complexity in Whisky - Lost and Found</a>" he describes how production method changes in the past quarter century have robbed modern whiskies of complexity compared to whiskies from decades in the 70s and prior. Whisky makers have compensated with wood management, strong flavors, vattings, and using wine and other spirit barrels:<br />
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<i>"And of course there also are the ever-popular cask finishes. If done right, they really can
enhance a whisky, like adding a few bells and whistles to a chamber concerto. But when
things go wrong they are like the roaring saxophone playing in the string quartet."</i><br />
<a href="http://www.maltmaniacs.net/E-pistles/Malt-Maniacs-2012-04-Complexity-In-Whisky.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.maltmaniacs.net/E-pistles/Malt-Maniacs-2012-04-Complexity-In-Whisky.pdf</a><br />
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Klimek's hypothesis explains the wide spread of flavored barrel finishes and maturation. Examples include Bill Lumsden's Glenmorangie and Ardbeg expressions, Jim McEwan's effusively creative Bruichladdichs, Lincoln Henderson's Angel's Envy, Rachel Barrie's Bowmores etc... Teeling Single Grain isn't a wine finished whiskey. It's matured in ex-wine barrels all the way. It's a prime example of introducing other flavors into a simple spirit through the use of flavored barrels. <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/03/irish-revival.html" target="_blank">Teeling's Blended Irish Whiskey</a> was finished in ex-rum casks. The interesting wrinkle here is that this is a single grain whiskey getting the flavored barrel maturation treatment. That's a fairly new thing - as single grain bottlings are still a pretty fresh segment. But creative maturation schemes like this can be hit or miss. Particularly with wine barrels. The proof is in the glass. So I took a wee sample and here are my notes...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbx6hMNuO1C8BOnNPrEBpOnb04QtUDhpJSB7bY-t1PXjTD9spi7Dp9QTGwZfoe3jWuPwGPFQ2jjTkbYavZUQANCeEso35A1nySE3FUtdkEKsUWTC3MPsMDVhI0P29IIw-ZQYiV-wdX2dz/s1600/20150226_133002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbx6hMNuO1C8BOnNPrEBpOnb04QtUDhpJSB7bY-t1PXjTD9spi7Dp9QTGwZfoe3jWuPwGPFQ2jjTkbYavZUQANCeEso35A1nySE3FUtdkEKsUWTC3MPsMDVhI0P29IIw-ZQYiV-wdX2dz/s640/20150226_133002.jpg" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWOfphXf5Xui595yQPQC9V6fH6c7qvjFcXtrjhSvU_h-yj7USxLL9w-Xo1hMTsFuvgW-qesM2HpX5ehtIKfCXo_TQlq88UHoe9M5lMSXxQKCjcA7WoaPIclYX7vCo459eoyMQYAeUOGq0/s640/20150226_132328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 18.7199993133545px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Stephen Teeling presents</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://whiskycast.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">WhiskyCast's</a> Mark Gillespie noses Teeling Single Grain</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXqKA4RmcyPfao8_3Kdkev2uVne3e4b3yHBsswakhQjbJOLMTVUc9kUI1phnkT-BXKghap6ZtobBGJRJb1jZ1ps8CUKx7zZIQTLdjHf-870hZYzvK-LTxhSTGcMw8vz3wjpil89wtoGuN/s1600/IMG_20150226_155415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> </div>
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Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey - 46% abv</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWOfphXf5Xui595yQPQC9V6fH6c7qvjFcXtrjhSvU_h-yj7USxLL9w-Xo1hMTsFuvgW-qesM2HpX5ehtIKfCXo_TQlq88UHoe9M5lMSXxQKCjcA7WoaPIclYX7vCo459eoyMQYAeUOGq0/s640/20150226_132328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 18.7199993133545px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGWOfphXf5Xui595yQPQC9V6fH6c7qvjFcXtrjhSvU_h-yj7USxLL9w-Xo1hMTsFuvgW-qesM2HpX5ehtIKfCXo_TQlq88UHoe9M5lMSXxQKCjcA7WoaPIclYX7vCo459eoyMQYAeUOGq0/s640/20150226_132328.jpg" height="400" width="224" /></a>Color dark gold with coppery glints.<br />
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Nose: vanilla custard, burnt sugar, grapefruit citrus and a hint of dark chocolate with candied orange peel (my friend Temma Ehrenfeld's note). Linseed oil.<br />
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Palate: Sweet opening with vanilla frosting and honey. The sting of medicinal grain. Then complexity on the expansion with some nutty rancio, dark grape, red fruits and a drying of the palate with oak tannin, musk, and a clean herbal note as you head to the finish. There are gentle wafts of bubble gum and mint.<br />
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Surprising complexity for a 5 year old grain whiskey. This is engaging stuff that challenges your expectations of what young grain whiskey can be. It's light and sweet like you'd expect, but there's more richness and complexity too. It's doesn't have the tartness you might expect from wine barrel maturation. </div>
<div>
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Someone with a palate is doing some good things over at Teeling. This is a company to watch.<br />
<br />
(20cc Sample secretly taken from a launch event at Rye House in Manhattan, with Teeling Single Grain presented by Stephen Teeling. Event arranged by Baddish Group.) </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxffeyzmY7Cqz68QV_fCsxHqfZ24vhWKOqs6Q8NYDAyUc5PyTGmeuvYR6xz12WXphiHep5I35o4zA6IeHnD8gkDz58NsQKYQoBLVxv0gezFWgEefBiEr4VvMFi02lVGeCAS73zNt4fAsLX/s1600/IMG_20150226_155143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxffeyzmY7Cqz68QV_fCsxHqfZ24vhWKOqs6Q8NYDAyUc5PyTGmeuvYR6xz12WXphiHep5I35o4zA6IeHnD8gkDz58NsQKYQoBLVxv0gezFWgEefBiEr4VvMFi02lVGeCAS73zNt4fAsLX/s640/IMG_20150226_155143.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Stephen Teeling presenting Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey at Rye House in Manhattan.</span></td></tr>
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</h3>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GMAw3wu1rSCwWvX8JjsvOJO7Yejdm8aAfCGhSzAKSWLcepDYeXTc6FNwG-WCB3QzzAY7ZwySBjV95JubdPf0l1FLV2WXCwQE6-ca0nuS20RzF9GFIzXv7-GLlp20zSFcRt6CXei7pAcS/s1600/RebelYellAd1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GMAw3wu1rSCwWvX8JjsvOJO7Yejdm8aAfCGhSzAKSWLcepDYeXTc6FNwG-WCB3QzzAY7ZwySBjV95JubdPf0l1FLV2WXCwQE6-ca0nuS20RzF9GFIzXv7-GLlp20zSFcRt6CXei7pAcS/s1600/RebelYellAd1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Late 1960s Rebel Yell magazine ad.: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">a romantic vision of the ante-bellum South.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>(thanks Herb Allen, for finding this)</i></span></td></tr>
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Rebel Yell is a wheated mash bill Bourbon originally sold only in the South - to personify the South. It was light and sweet and beautiful and sort of an inside secret of the South. I want to write about the history, but I can't do better than Michael Veach's (Posted 04-05-2004 on straightbourbon.com) - </div>
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<i>"Alex Farnsley worked at W.L.Weller and Sons with Julian Van Winkle in the late 1800's/early 1900's. They purchased the company about 1910 and George Weller became the President, with Van Winkle and Farnsley as Vice President and Treasurer. Farnsley also became President of the Bank of St. Helens (in what is now Shively) about the same time. Prohibition saw the retirement of Weller and the last family tie to the company."</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fKhXd54qkTlGzhvGhk7Kqv5ULEtjCXcRK4Ge5dH71CzhrBCcmuq4yw0cVytXhZDHBRIkXaPo3E0LICDjIZ0HQBkLtHHRfWw20syK8UL2yvBYGBzIAwALzZG5s8ItuacMbobTLvQPAOWF/s1600/Charles_R._Farnsley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9fKhXd54qkTlGzhvGhk7Kqv5ULEtjCXcRK4Ge5dH71CzhrBCcmuq4yw0cVytXhZDHBRIkXaPo3E0LICDjIZ0HQBkLtHHRfWw20syK8UL2yvBYGBzIAwALzZG5s8ItuacMbobTLvQPAOWF/s1600/Charles_R._Farnsley.jpg" height="320" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Charlie Farnsley, <br />mayor of Louisville 1948-53<br />Congressman, KY's 3rd 1965-67<br />Creator of Rebel Yell<br />(Photo from wikipedia)</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>In the 1940's Charlie Farnsley became Mayor of Louisville. At the same time he started bottling a few whiskies for his own use and to give as gifts. He created the brands "Rebel Yell" and "Lost Cause". There is a label book at the U.D. Archive with a 1948 label for Rebel Yell. It is white with a cannon shooting a cannon ball. Lost Cause did not have a graphic design and was even more plain than the Rebel Yell label."</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
<i></i></div>
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<i>"In the 1960's to honor the cenntenial of the Civil War, Stitzel-Weller took the label to the public, but only below the Mason-Dixon line. It was a 5yo 90 proof wheated bourbon at that time."</i></div>
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<i></i><br />
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<i>"United Distillers decided to take the brand world wide and amde it available anywhere in the U.S. I thought this was a mistake - A better selling point in London or Paris or Sidney would have been "What can you get here that you can't get in New York City or Boston?". They also lowered the proof to 80 proof. It became part of the brand sale to Heaven Hill and Bufallo Trace in the late 1990's and was in turn sold to David Sherman."</i></div>
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<i>Mike Veach</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Mike Veach is author of <b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kentucky-Bourbon-Whiskey-American-Heritage/dp/0813141656" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage</a></b></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgkQy0UD_PreWTfTs1hOg2XR4indw1bRTNsfgTvRbs8eZ4D62wX5Gny1sen5SLJ2mpMkRwuEmyybjPgJ6l25mOfTb5oPK4kymOjW51GFUEicKad-MyaTuuYCsUH6fp8Y5DUD3eLwCQ_CA/s1600/RebelYellSW200OBvSRevteveLeukanech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgkQy0UD_PreWTfTs1hOg2XR4indw1bRTNsfgTvRbs8eZ4D62wX5Gny1sen5SLJ2mpMkRwuEmyybjPgJ6l25mOfTb5oPK4kymOjW51GFUEicKad-MyaTuuYCsUH6fp8Y5DUD3eLwCQ_CA/s1600/RebelYellSW200OBvSRevteveLeukanech.jpg" height="560" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: large;">Steve Leukanech's late 70s 200ml example.</span></td></tr>
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From the 1960s when it began until sometime in the 1990s Rebel Yell was a product of Stitzel-Weller distillery located in the Louisville suburb of Shively. United Distillers closed Stitzel-Weller in 1992 and transitioned production of Rebel Yell to their new Bernheim distillery subsequently - and then <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/25/business/company-news-diageo-to-sell-liquor-brands-to-heaven-hill-and-others.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">sold the brand to David Sherman Corp (which subsequently became Luxco) and distillery (Berhnheim) to Heaven Hill in 1999</a>. I've written about Stitzel-Weller before in connection with their flagship expression <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/02/stitzel-weller-old-fitzgerald-bondeded.html" target="_blank">Old Fitzgerald</a> and the anchor expression <a href="http://www.cooperedtot.com/2014/04/the-tragedy-of-old-cabin-still.html" target="_blank">Cabin Still</a> and they have been love letters. This is no different. Stitzel Weller Rebel Yell is a thing of stunning beauty. It's a lot like S-W Cabin Still, slightly lighter and sweeter than the dark tannin complexity of classic S-W Old Fitz. It was a 6 year old age stated Bourbon for most of the 70s and early 80s - the heyday. Full tasting notes will follow at bottom. A number of commentators over the years have commented on the irony that a gentle and sweet Bourbon would have the fierce name "Rebel Yell" but the actual sound of the rebel yell was not the fierce, angry, deep yell you might imagine. It was a high pitched coyote sounding cry. There's something plaintive and haunted about it. As evidence, I present this famous clip of Confederate veterans doing the rebel yell in 1938. Granted they are old men - but you can see the pride they take in performing the yell. I have little doubt they are doing it properly. They would know. They had been there.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/s6jSqt39vFM/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/s6jSqt39vFM?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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1938 footage of Civil War Confederate veterans performing the Rebel Yell.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1jHm-4riqdTvvrm2fH4twpgP6Bm-CD2C0gNYRbk87KHw4KT7Oc4i465vEY6JpdBwhjdnSx14dr7ypkoVQvDelwRZkwQUkESRNySOXtDqxYwUjHnuG51H7O0BLeWskp1BuZwlL6B5xyjQ/s1600/idol__RebelYell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1jHm-4riqdTvvrm2fH4twpgP6Bm-CD2C0gNYRbk87KHw4KT7Oc4i465vEY6JpdBwhjdnSx14dr7ypkoVQvDelwRZkwQUkESRNySOXtDqxYwUjHnuG51H7O0BLeWskp1BuZwlL6B5xyjQ/s1600/idol__RebelYell.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a>One story is that Keith Richards, legendary guitarist of the Rolling Stones, loved Rebel Yell. According to wikipedia's article about Billy Idol's song "Rebel Yell": </div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
"At a televised performance of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VH1_Storytellers">VH1 Storytellers</a> Billy Idol said that he had attended an event where <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Jagger">Mick Jagger</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Richards">Keith Richards</a>, and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Wood">Ronnie Wood</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rolling_Stones">The Rolling Stones</a> were taking swigs from a bottle of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Yell_(whiskey)">"Rebel Yell"</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourbon_whiskey">bourbon whiskey</a>. He was not familiar with the brand, but he liked the name and decided to write a "Rebel Yell" song."</div>
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<span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 17.9200000762939px; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Yell_%28song%29" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Yell_%28song%29</a></span></span></div>
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One of the later verses goes like this:</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
"I'd sell my soul for you babe<br />
For money to burn with you<br />
I'd give you all, and have none, babe <br />
Just, just, justa, justa to have you here by me <br />
Because <br />
In the midnight hour she cried- "more, more, more"<br />
With a rebel yell she cried- "more, more, more"<br />
In the midnight hour babe "more, more, more" <br />
With a rebel yell "more, more, more" <br />
Billy Idol<b> "Rebel Yell"</b></div>
<br />
It's not articulate - but it conflates the topics of delirium, lust, desire, and disregard for financial responsibility that are at the heart of rock 'n roll and of Bourbon-mania.<br />
<br />
<div>
When Stitzel Weller's brands were being sold off by United Distillers<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/25/business/company-news-diageo-to-sell-liquor-brands-to-heaven-hill-and-others.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> in 1999</a> Rebel Yell's proof had been dropped 80 (40% abv.) and the age already reduced from 6 years old to a NAS 4 years old in the decade before. Rebel Yell ended up with David Sherman Corporation of St. Louis (the company was renamed Luxco in 2006 in honor of former CEO of DSC, Paul Lux, who died the previous year). Luxco contracted for it to be made by Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill's version of the wheater wasn't the same. How could it be? But it's overly simplistic to simply compare the two expressions and find the new one wanting. It's unfair to take the apex of American Bourbon making that was Stitzel-Weller in its prime and compare it with anything else - let alone something that sells for less than $20. Luxco's Rebel Yell can often be found for in the neighborhood of $15. Make no mistake, modern Rebel Yell isn't the masterpiece that came out of Pappy & Farnsley's distillery. But the new stuff has a thread in common with what came before: the wheated mash bill. Wheat adds a sweetness and a grape quality that in the new stuff comes across like marc or young cognac.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztvks3U-WC2VWeqrWMOroDdaTMI3pau3qcKhGDFGYJlVF5X88b3DbsY9Kdz_MtAftyavp4-wbW71qdZKLBVnqArcP3umEuISyzb3iMtWYWsZwZ7vd-6pSi-iPedRz76IA2ruQhcPVT-cP/s1600/IMG_20150210_025811.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztvks3U-WC2VWeqrWMOroDdaTMI3pau3qcKhGDFGYJlVF5X88b3DbsY9Kdz_MtAftyavp4-wbW71qdZKLBVnqArcP3umEuISyzb3iMtWYWsZwZ7vd-6pSi-iPedRz76IA2ruQhcPVT-cP/s640/IMG_20150210_025811.jpg" /></a></div>
<div>
<h3>
Rebel Yell - new label 80 proof (40% abv.) NAS, but apparently 4 years old Luxco (sourced from Heaven Hill, wheat mash)</h3>
Color: gold<br />
<br />
Nose: vanilla, sawn oak, woodshop, solvent and glue, mineral dust, cut flower sap (marigold stems).<br />
<br />
Palate: a hot and sweet entry with flavors of dilute vanilla extract, sugar, applejack, and solvent. Fruity and spicy on the expansion with raisin and spice. The solvent, raisin and spice puts me in the mind of VS cognac. There's plenty of young kiln dried oak which carries some plywood notes. This aspect of the wood puts me in the mind of young small barrel craft bourbon. The finish is short, but sweet with plenty of char. Repeated sips and lots of air amp up the raisins and the vanilla.<br />
<br />
This is a young wheater and tastes it. My first impression was negative, but as I get further down into the bottle I'm finding it charming in its brash youth. This drinks like Craft whiskey. For the money you can do plenty worse. Just don't expect this to drink like regular rye-mash inexpensive Bourbon such as Heaven Hill BiB or black (it's hotter. sharper, and fruitier). The wheat really makes this different, and the youth makes this taste different from the more mature wheaters you know (like Weller, Larceny, or Maker's Mark). The defining signatures that mark this difference are raisins (think marc) and a starkness to the oak that reads like small barrel Craft. The bottle opens up over the course of weeks which takes the edge off the solvent, sharp and hot notes which detract early on. It becomes sweet, open, and lightly fruited in a way that is not at all unpleasant.<br />
<br />
**<br />
(This bottle was provided by Pia of Common Ground PR for Rebel Yell / Luxco on the occasion of the release of their new bottle design)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSnok28hATrADjjioUYF3T_-ZQEQC-HetUQSY7CPIo-3hnxGBSGhNfCWjyq7EzcQgTrX6lheybRMscqYaOUFBajhXhyphenhyphendGGFKmNUwMKB_0A8J_kX0FoCV0wv3q0VlphMiwzRdBuFq-za2f/s1600/IMG_20150210_145126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSnok28hATrADjjioUYF3T_-ZQEQC-HetUQSY7CPIo-3hnxGBSGhNfCWjyq7EzcQgTrX6lheybRMscqYaOUFBajhXhyphenhyphendGGFKmNUwMKB_0A8J_kX0FoCV0wv3q0VlphMiwzRdBuFq-za2f/s640/IMG_20150210_145126.jpg" /></a><br />
<h3>
Rebel Yell, 1970s 1/10th pint 90 proof (45% abv) 6 year old age statement Stizel-Weller labelled "Exclusively for the Deep South".</h3>
Color: Dark coppery amber<br />
<br />
Nose: Big black greasy vanilla pods. Malt. Malted milk balls candy. Sandalwood oak. Caramelized brown sugar and apple Brown Betty. Magic.<br />
<br />
Palate: Sweet and spicy on opening. Vanilla extract, root beer, cherry, red hots, caramelized cinnamon loaded apple upside down cake. Then a big swing of tannin loaded oak redolent of big dark furniture in a fancy lawyer's office. This trends into bitterness in the finish with herbal bitters, dark oak, and then a returning note of root beer candy. At the fade out you're left with good herbal bitters - like Dr. Adam Emegirab's Orinoco Bitters. <br />
<br />
This is all utterly characteristic Stitzel-Weller goodness straight out of the Old Fitzgerald playbook. It's beautiful. It's candy and spice, heat and oak richness. It's big and dark and brown: a flavor bomb. I can't be objective about this stuff. It's the classic Stitzel-Weller flavor signature and it's beautiful beyond words and all the more precious for being lost and gone.<br />
<br />
*****<br />
<br />
(bottle is a mini originally from the incomparable collection of American whiskey minis of Rotem Ben Shitrit: <a href="http://just-mini-bourbons.com/" target="_blank">http://just-mini-bourbons.com/</a>)<br />
<br />
(These were tasted blind - with the assistance of Temma Ehrenfeld - with the original tasting notes dictated while blindfolded. Suffice it to say, I was able to identify them correctly, repeatedly, blind).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_KHMH8RBapiyNuOnJbf_8ilX3p9aS9jWRrFe9_EeT77_gzDWIWRcgLLGjy9Qxtpp3Sq2_Wnuiy8yUiHTcsW9Rtfua_KsTBstn_OHzgsIhYyrRVneOTt3ME8Fa1GvLWJXMLOm4Eo2CPBW/s1600/HerbAllenRY88.obv..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_KHMH8RBapiyNuOnJbf_8ilX3p9aS9jWRrFe9_EeT77_gzDWIWRcgLLGjy9Qxtpp3Sq2_Wnuiy8yUiHTcsW9Rtfua_KsTBstn_OHzgsIhYyrRVneOTt3ME8Fa1GvLWJXMLOm4Eo2CPBW/s1600/HerbAllenRY88.obv..jpg" height="640" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Herb Allen's faux tax stamped</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> 88 glass marked bottle.</span></td></tr>
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Where are the points of intersection between these two versions of Rebel Yell? They are wheat mash and oak. This is the old recipe made in a different way: younger, lower proof, with different oak (I'm guessing kiln dried as opposed to air cured). These are profound differences. Yet, for all that, there's a fruity sweetness that they share in common. <br />
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<div>
<b>Is your bottle of Rebel Yell Stitzel-Weller or Heaven Hill?</b> Stitzel-Weller closed in 1991-92 and David Sherman Corporation bought the brand in 1999. What if you have a bottle from within that transitional period? Bourbon brands transitioned to different distilleries in different ways. Stitzel-Weller had a ton of whiskey aging in it's rickhouses when it closed and the S-W expressions continued to be bottled with S-W juice for a number of years afterwards. But by the late 90s things definitely did transition. One way to tell with Rebel Yell is to look at the UPC code (and if there's no UPC code the bottle pre-dates the 1990s which shows it's S-W juice). 88508 UPCs generally indicate Stitzel-Weller. Later bottlings have 88076 or 88352 codes which generally indicate Heaven Hill. Another way to try to gauge is to look at the color. The S-W stuff is generally much darker than the Heaven Hill stuff. (More on this in a follow-up post to come).</div>
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Every time I think about Stitzel-Weller's closing and the trading away of its brands I can't help but feel it's a parable about America. Ultimately Stitzel-Weller went out of business because it was a niche distiller, undiversified and holding fast to an uncompromising notion of excellence at a time when Bourbon was fading in popularity. It was truly excellent. The new Rebel Yell is something of a parable for American whiskey's rebirth - with whiskey bought bulk from a distiller that isn't the brand's producer. But the whiskey itself still tells an American story, high and thin like the rebel's yell itself.<br />
<br /></div>
NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-34437380354002477372014-12-27T01:18:00.000-05:002014-12-29T16:02:09.852-05:00Limestone Branch, Yellowstone Bourbon's Resurrection, and Craft Whiskey's Evolution to the Mainstream<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiy3VgOzdAMyWks2D1cslgu-hXO41ALFtOA82Yrbp8lT1tZX0nyt_rB93tMxmFWNbFnNwTIbF8nvUUCBDsi5-eAjnRzg3KFJieXXWr-R8muUkjuVuOJwRo6CJTslPVJoIfhSnqcv1aKoEI/s1600/IMG_20141227_124545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiy3VgOzdAMyWks2D1cslgu-hXO41ALFtOA82Yrbp8lT1tZX0nyt_rB93tMxmFWNbFnNwTIbF8nvUUCBDsi5-eAjnRzg3KFJieXXWr-R8muUkjuVuOJwRo6CJTslPVJoIfhSnqcv1aKoEI/s1600/IMG_20141227_124545.jpg" height="640" width="448" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>A pair of 1970s Yellowstone 6 year old 86 proof minis <br />for the Italian market. Distilled at Glenmore Distillery.</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Everyone agrees that change must be coming to Craft whiskey, but what form will it take? Craft whiskey in the USA is full of effusive creativity: wild mash bills, whiskey sold underaged (or just white), and localvore flavor variations. Infused and flavored whiskeys are on the table, and so is volatility and the potential for change. Whiskey geeks love to discuss what's going to happen to Craft. "<i>The good ones will succeed, maybe with some mature stuff eventually, while the crappy ones will go belly up</i>" ... is how a lot of these discussions go. But the recent lesson of top Craft distillery Balcones - with the creative force and brand creator Chip Tate unseated from the company and a group of investors proceeding to develop Balcones' distillery as a larger scale more corporate entity while Chip goes off to start a new distillery suggests a different path of evolution for Craft whiskey; one pretty familiar in the Craft Beer arena: corporatization. Is this really happening?<br />
<br />
Well, another example of the movement from Craft to corporate in American whiskey is the interesting case of <a href="http://limestonebranch.com/" target="_blank">Limestone Branch</a> which is turning 180 degrees from white dog Craft to classic Bourbon via a merger - news of which broke on December 2nd 2014 via Chuck Cowdery's Blog that liquor brand producer/marketer <a href="http://www.luxco.com/Featuredbrands" target="_blank">Luxco </a>was buying a 50% stake in the small Lebanon, Kentucky craft distiller. Luxco is a company that has bought brands and then bottles bulk sourced liquors labeled with those brand names. Their best known products include straight alcohol brand Everclear and, in the whiskey end of things, Rebel Yell (once the light bodied wheated mash bill Southern market exclusive specialty product of Stitzel-Weller), and Ezra Brooks. They also have the venerable brand "Yellowstone" which once was one of the bigger selling Bourbons in the pre-glut era; one with a very long history that stretches well back into the 19th century. Yellowstone is still sold now with juice Luxco sources bulk - at a low price and quality level. But from 1935-1991, though, Yellowstone was made at the Glenmore Distillery (where Kentucky Tavern was made too) and had a sterling reputation. Glenmore stopped distilling in 1993 (but still operates as a bottler and a rickhouse). <br />
<br />
Partnering with Limestone branch is a big step for Luxco. It marks their entry into Bourbon distilling. It's also presages an ambition rebranding effort. Luxco is going to try to have resurrect a fallen brand back into something special. The partnership marks a big change for Limestone Branch too. They have been making variations on sugarjack and this marks <b>their</b> entry into Bourbon distilling too.<br />
<br />
Chuck reported:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>After Prohibition, Yellowstone moved to a new location in Shively, south of Louisville. It was solely under the Dant family's control but Beam family members were employed there as distillers. In 1944, the brand and distillery were sold to Glenmore. It was a massive facility that made bourbon until 1991. In 1993, after Glenmore was sold to what became Diageo, Yellowstone was sold to Luxco where it became an unpalatable bottom-shelf brand made by one or more unnamed Kentucky distilleries.<br /><br />A column still, additional pot still, automated bottling line, and barrel house will be added at Limestone Branch, which plans to begin distilling the original recipe for Yellowstone (their uncle had a copy) in early 2015.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/12/luxco-limestone-branch-partnership-will.html" target="_blank">http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2014/12/luxco-limestone-branch-partnership-will.html</a></blockquote>
<br />
Cowdery has provided more of the back story of Yellowstone in previous posts on his blog back in 2009, by the way. It's a story that goes back to the roots of the industrial revolution in Bourbon distilling in the 19th century and includes some of the biggest names in Bourbon. Period.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"The Yellowstone whiskey brand was created by the wholesale firm of Taylor & Williams shortly after the national park was established in 1872. Taylor was D. H. Taylor, who started the firm in Louisville about 1865. J. T. Williams joined the company in 1877. They were wholesalers and bought whiskey from various distilleries.<br /> Sometime in the 1880s they contracted with J. B. Dant to make Yellowstone bourbon for them. Dant had a (then) new distillery in Nelson County, Kentucky, at Gethsemane Station. It was called Cold Springs Distillery. </i><i>In about 1903, Taylor & Williams merged with the Cold Springs Distillery. Dant became president and the distillery was renamed Yellowstone, as that brand had become very successful.</i><i>"</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2009/12/history-of-yellowstone-part-one-of-two.html" target="_blank"><i>http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2009/12/history-of-y</i>ellowstone-part-one-of-two.html</a><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhHVPPOuoNzIjsJHYCnMCnP5WeinCDlhi_RD_oW4sKV0fbBHXHbeCXcEuhVLUistHS5zvaowNbDNhraIkCKsfQdlPHA4dCY5r6cjlt-CTUnQd2kFANewpXlXTOkiivInwishPHqQ43VXp/s1600/Yellowstone1890s.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyhHVPPOuoNzIjsJHYCnMCnP5WeinCDlhi_RD_oW4sKV0fbBHXHbeCXcEuhVLUistHS5zvaowNbDNhraIkCKsfQdlPHA4dCY5r6cjlt-CTUnQd2kFANewpXlXTOkiivInwishPHqQ43VXp/s1600/Yellowstone1890s.jpeg" height="640" width="489" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ad for "Taylor & Williams, Inc.'s Yellowstone - first years of the 20th century</b><br /><a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/07/3581223/limestone-branch-partners-with.html" target="_blank">http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/07/3581223/limestone-branch-partners-with.html</a></span></td></tr>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"After prohibition, J. B. Dant and his sons built a new distillery in the Louisville suburb of Shively to make the revived Yellowstone bourbon. Various Beams and Dants were involved in that operation too. Another Louisville-based whiskey maker, Glenmore, bought Yellowstone, brand and distillery, in 1944.<br /> <br />Yellowstone was a significant brand in its heyday, but as a mass or popular price brand, it suffered brutal share losses during bourbon’s sharp decline in the 1970s."</i></blockquote>
<a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2009/12/history-of-yellowstone-part-two-of-two.html" target="_blank">http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2009/12/history-of-yellowstone-part-two-of-two.html </a><br />
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKSSw564mS5xExXD6eXfG72yiKmNe4MDyiW7Sh1o3P7768gKS_mBPUj5OJTqvvF4bDFr0tHixlko8GvMrtJajkHGDQgepfSwokUeaBACQUqKpGK05hsi0v5TNXeWlUeg-5krI4a1nf15D/s1600/Yellowstone_1948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQKSSw564mS5xExXD6eXfG72yiKmNe4MDyiW7Sh1o3P7768gKS_mBPUj5OJTqvvF4bDFr0tHixlko8GvMrtJajkHGDQgepfSwokUeaBACQUqKpGK05hsi0v5TNXeWlUeg-5krI4a1nf15D/s1600/Yellowstone_1948.jpg" height="640" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>1948 Magazine Ad for Yellowstone Bourbon</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Glenmore - the Louisville era</b></span><br />
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Dants and Beams made Yellowstone both before and after Prohibition. You don't get more blue blood in Bourbon history than the names "Dant" and "Beam". And Yellowstone was a leading and classic distillery and brand. (Tasting notes below). That name "Beam" is the thread that binds this history to Limestone Branch.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, Limestone Branch, a new young Craft distilling operation has been, up until now, all about making moonshine and sugar jack - a lot of it flavored. This is iconoclastic stuff - very much <b>not</b> in keeping with the nature of a classic like Yellowstone. But, yet, at Limestone Branch there are Beams making whiskey. Chuck Cowdery, who reported as early as 2012 found a lot to like:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The brothers Beam make everything themselves with help from their father, who worked at Cummins-Collins in Athertonville, among other distilleries. They grew some of their own corn on the distillery grounds. They make a very clean spirit, with good flavor, and little harshness or burn. They're double-distilling. Their doubler is a 150-gallon handmade copper Hoga.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2012/05/limestone-branch-distillery-lebanon.html" target="_blank">http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/2012/05/limestone-branch-distillery-lebanon.html</a></blockquote>
We don't just have to take Cowdery's word for it that they are doing good work. Eric Burke (@arok) who did a detailed distillery visit recently with pictures of the charantais-type still and tasting notes of one of the flavored sugar shines they sell on his blog Boubonguy.com:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>This is a tasty liqueur. Tastes exactly like a baked apple pie that has been allowed to cool. Even the mouthfeel is correct since the liquid in an apple pie gets nicely thick and syrupy.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.bourbonguy.com/blog/2014/10/14/a-visit-to-limestone-branch-distillery" target="_blank">http://www.bourbonguy.com/blog/2014/10/14/a-visit-to-limestone-branch-distillery</a></blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqp6M_IDhA9aRWtA3RV_55_Rj2sDtUgmEwz-ekmPIOSNl8mMB3e9F-Jg_o6YYB9SAeM-LTDaCbin4nRkhS2e3-u-qtmDqyFoMLe09ORS_Wh3UpU3X1yHbUeZJOaFT_Aitcjdje-6hMsRX/s1600/StephenBeam.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdqp6M_IDhA9aRWtA3RV_55_Rj2sDtUgmEwz-ekmPIOSNl8mMB3e9F-Jg_o6YYB9SAeM-LTDaCbin4nRkhS2e3-u-qtmDqyFoMLe09ORS_Wh3UpU3X1yHbUeZJOaFT_Aitcjdje-6hMsRX/s1600/StephenBeam.jpeg" height="427" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Stephen Beam and the line-up -<br /> from an article announcing the merger in the Lexingon Herald-Leader:</b><br /><a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/07/3581223/limestone-branch-partners-with.html" target="_blank">http://www.kentucky.com/2014/12/07/3581223/limestone-branch-partners-with.html</a></span></td></tr>
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The focus on moonshine and sugar jack (i.e. white rum) at Limestone Branch a nod to the illicit local hill traditions and a play at the new trends in flavored whiskies. It's classic "Craft whiskey" in the new distillery vein which is all about youth and added flavors and playful mash bills. Here it's moonshine white dog with an interesting mash bill (here it's half moonshine sugarjack, and half white corn whiskey). <br />
<br />
White dog in Craft is partly about the survival of small distilleries that need cash flow and need to sell unaged whiskies first when they start distilling. Part of it is related to local traditions and the localvore market - thus Limestone Branch's big seller "Moonpie Moonshine" - where the flavors are as illicit and ironically downscale as the American South itself. There's probably a reason that the Moonpie marshmallow cookie sandwich logo graces the Limestone Branch distillery and that it's the very first product listed on the company's web site:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://limestonebranch.com/moonpie-moonshine" target="_blank">http://limestonebranch.com/moonpie-moonshine</a><br />
<br />
As Eric Burke reported:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>As you pull into the parking lot, the first thing you see on the side of the building is a large Moon Pie sign. One of the products they produce is a Moon Pie flavored moonshine that, my wife tells me, is scarily close to the real thing in flavor.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.bourbonguy.com/blog/2014/10/14/a-visit-to-limestone-branch-distillery" target="_blank">http://www.bourbonguy.com/blog/2014/10/14/a-visit-to-limestone-branch-distillery </a></blockquote>
The Moon Pie is junk food - but it's quintessentially Southern junk food. The production of a sweet white unaged moonshine version of this is the epitome of one aspect of American Craft distilling that's analogous to junk food - and it drives some purists apoplectic. But it's clearly a theme for Limestone Branch, which sells a bunch of flavored moonshines: Apple Cinnamon Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Blackberry, Cherry, Strawberry. Heck, there's even a barrel aged one - Precinct No. 6<br />
<a href="http://limestonebranch.com/spirits.html" target="_blank">http://limestonebranch.com/spirits.html</a><br />
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEZUNPSRqBMSc0d06OGPfHxQlAwyECiLmz4OmuuR43_SQ6uJJGUWQLza3HTQf9NFzOuL0ZufuymtLbXfJv7_VNGzLPEX-E92GhlkHE6N_jVprWpv7yYzB3ozuI9xzkpkPy_MAr6b_W-44/s1600/LisaRoperWicker_PumpkinPieFlavor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeEZUNPSRqBMSc0d06OGPfHxQlAwyECiLmz4OmuuR43_SQ6uJJGUWQLza3HTQf9NFzOuL0ZufuymtLbXfJv7_VNGzLPEX-E92GhlkHE6N_jVprWpv7yYzB3ozuI9xzkpkPy_MAr6b_W-44/s1600/LisaRoperWicker_PumpkinPieFlavor.jpg" height="430" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption"><div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Lisa Roper Wicker, who crafted the Moonpie Moonshine flavor adaptation,</b></span><br />
<b style="font-size: medium;">here mixes up the Pumpkin Pie Shine flavors.</b></div>
<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><i>From TripAdvisor where Limestone Branch is listed as the #1 attraction in Lebanon, KY: </i></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g39577-d2716718-Reviews-Limestone_Branch_Distillery-Lebanon_Kentucky.html" target="_blank"><i>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g39577-d2716718-Reviews-Limestone_Branch_Distillery-Lebanon_Kentucky.html</i></a></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So, how is an effusive Craft distiller like Limestone Branch going to digest the change in becoming the resurrection of Yellowstone for Luxco? That's the question. There have been threads on various fora about the prospects. Squire's comment on Straight Bourbon captures the tone:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>I'm pulling for them as well, this is the kind of partnership I can support. A new whisky based on the original Yellowstone recipe won't be the same of course but it is a great idea.</i>"</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?23182-Luxco-Limestone-Branch-partnership-and-Yellowstone-brand-revival" target="_blank"> http://www.straightbourbon.com/forums/showthread.php?23182-Luxco-Limestone-Branch-partnership-and-Yellowstone-brand-revival</a></blockquote>
So, granted that Limestone Branch's recreation will be a new thing. What did the old thing taste like?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9FiIt53gxUnKagKZ929ksF89EiS1uGQ_XHV7UQug6zZphVHfMH6bLrBYgmcWR9e4tVAZUban_3FPEkiM7lqaJMnKnLOkmmJZUEBFGnnwPVqJXUW7UrPZGlNAS2JnN7nGaJMnFDkGY8ny/s1600/IMG_20141227_124238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga9FiIt53gxUnKagKZ929ksF89EiS1uGQ_XHV7UQug6zZphVHfMH6bLrBYgmcWR9e4tVAZUban_3FPEkiM7lqaJMnKnLOkmmJZUEBFGnnwPVqJXUW7UrPZGlNAS2JnN7nGaJMnFDkGY8ny/s1600/IMG_20141227_124238.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
<h3>
Yellowstone 6 43% abv. 1970s dusty Italian market export.</h3>
Color: pale amber<br />
<br />
Nose: Sandalwood oak, vanilla, salted caramel, butter, light solvent, and jelly candies.<br />
<br />
Palate: Candy up front - sugar dusted fruity flavored hard candy and more of those jelly candies. Then, on the expansion, toffee, sweet cream, citrus, and lightly tanned leather. At the turn, leather and char take over with some nice tannin spice and a ton of vanilla on the finish. Nice vividness and intensity of flavor. Floral and sweet. But the finish is only medium long. Also, not a huge body. But it's a very pleasing set of flavors. I'd like to try this in a higher proof expression, but I can understand why this was a popular leading Bourbon. It's very tasty and accessible. It's also a classic Bourbon flavor profile you don't see any more: fruity candy. It's something special that's gone.<br />
<br />
****<br />
<br />
Limestone Branch is going to have to take a hard turn from its effusive shines back to tradition to get this right. I'll be watching with interest. Is this a bellwether event in the evolution of Craft? Time will tell. </div>
The Coopered Tothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08994039557547289926noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85713224217699544.post-59139726097577269402014-10-27T18:33:00.001-04:002014-10-27T19:11:08.147-04:00A Fascinating Transitional Bottle of Old Fitzgerald From the Dawn of the Repeal Era.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB_YtxLmA_G-I3hNfuQLUP4C52_J3vtJWrmJhkEnb8Goic6deCjfg1K2vvTMWaBEePL4zn8923fV7V9ufL7DzAgTdurPuty242kRcFC8MMaaUpgH3-wMm2_IJQsGSD2PsE6LTaS7waIk0/s1600/OldFitz34_1_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQB_YtxLmA_G-I3hNfuQLUP4C52_J3vtJWrmJhkEnb8Goic6deCjfg1K2vvTMWaBEePL4zn8923fV7V9ufL7DzAgTdurPuty242kRcFC8MMaaUpgH3-wMm2_IJQsGSD2PsE6LTaS7waIk0/s1600/OldFitz34_1_2.jpg" /></a></div>
When Prohibition ended, Pappy Van Winkle, and his partners A. Ph. Stitzel and Alex Farnsley incorporated Stitzel-Weller and began building the legendary distillery by that name which has aroused such passions. It was finished in 1935 and distillation began soon afterwards. But in that year between the end of Prohibition on December 5th 1933 and whenever in 1935 distillation commenced, Stitzel-Weller existed as a company selling medicinal whisky distilled prior to Prohibition from their concentration warehouses where whisky from all over ended up under the watchful eye of the bondsmen. <br />
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The bottle you see at right is a window into that particular moment in history. Pappy Van Winkle had purchased the Old Fitzgerald brand name from S. Charles Herbst. He had originally called the brand "John E. Fitzgerald", distilled in Frankfort, KY for exclusive markets like steamships and private clubs. It was the good stuff, named for the crooked bondsman who knew to pilfer the good stuff - a wicked inside joke. Pappy must have loved it because he approached Herbst to buy the brand during Prohibition a number of times according to Sally Van Winkle Campbell in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/But-Always-Fine-Bourbon-Fitzgerald-ebook/dp/B0090QV4HI" target="_blank">"But Always Fine Bourbon"</a>. She writes that Herbst demanded $25,000, but ended up finally selling it to the persistent Pappy for $10,000. According to the excellent <a href="http://www.bourbonenthusiast.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1629" target="_blank">timeline on the Bourbon Enthusiast forum</a> Pappy's W.L. Weller & Sons bought the brand from Herbst for $2,000 in 1922 and then paid Herbst another $2,000 in 1925.<br />
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So, in the year 1934, following Repeal, Pappy's W. L Weller of Louisville produced this first quart bottling of Old Fitzgerald. The whiskey inside was taken from medicinal pint bottles and rebottled into quarts. The back label explicitly says so:<br />
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<b>"100 Proof</b></div>
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<b>Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey</b></div>
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<b>Distilled Spring 1917 by </b></div>
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<b>Daviess County Distillery Co., Owensboro, Ky.</b></div>
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<b>Originally Bottled Fall 1933 by</b></div>
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<b>A. Ph. Stitzel, Inc., Louisville, Ky.</b></div>
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<b>Rebottled by</b></div>
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<b>Frankfort Distilleries, Inc. Louisville, Ky."</b></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Back Label</span></td></tr>
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Daviess County Distillery Co. was purchased by George E. Medley in 1901, according to Sam Cecil's book. His son, Thomas A. Medley took it over when he died in 1910. Thomas kept the company alive through Prohibition and distillation was moved to the Old Rock Springs Distilling Company after Repeal. The whiskey in this bottle is from the old Medley's production at Daviess County and as such is a real piece of history.</div>
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I had never seen anything like this. I put my question up on a number of forums. <a href="http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Chuck Cowdery</a> thought that it might have been a special bottling for share holders of the new Stitzel-Weller venture. Joe Hyman (the whisky auctioneer previously of Bonham's and now of Skinner's) and Scott Spaid, blogger of <a href="http://whiskeybent.net/" target="_blank">WhiskeyBent.net</a> both pointed out that quart sized rebottlings of medicinal whiskey were common in the first days of repeal. Hyman mentioned the quart bottles of Dillinger Rye that Bonhams had sold in Spring of 2013. Spaid pointed out quart bottles with 1933 BiB strips of Old McBrayer he had recently acquired (from the same originally owner as this bottle) - and also on Whisky Paradise: </div>
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<a href="http://www.whiskyparadise.com/dettaglio-whisky.asp?IDArticolo=3419" target="_blank">http://www.whiskyparadise.com/dettaglio-whisky.asp?IDArticolo=3419</a></div>
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FYI - <a href="https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2758B/lots/738" target="_blank">this bottle is going up for auction Wednesday 10/29/14 at Skinner's up in Boston</a>. Joe Hyman, the leading auctioneer of whisky in the USA left Bonhams when Bonhams cancelled the Fall NY whisky auction and moved to Skinner - as documented here"</div>
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<a href="http://www.skinnerinc.com/news/news/skinner-appoints-fine-spirits-consultant-joseph-hyman/" target="_blank">http://www.skinnerinc.com/news/news/skinner-appoints-fine-spirits-consultant-joseph-hyman/</a></div>
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In the absence of Bonham's, Skinner may be the best hope for a vibrant whisky auction business in the US. I urge everyone who used to enjoy Bonham's auctions to make the move to Skinner.</div>
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<a href="https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2758B/lots/738" target="_blank">https://www.skinnerinc.com/auctions/2758B/lots/738</a><br />
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Detail pics below show the BiB (Bottled in Bond) tax strip, age statement label (characteristic A. Ph. Stitzel red crescent), and the light shining through the whiskey so you can see it's good and clear.</div>
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(The consignor of this bottle chooses to remain anonymous). <br />
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NewYorkJoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01236276465833621198noreply@blogger.com0