About

Critical tasting is tough work.

Why "coopered"? Coopered means "put in a wooden barrel or tub". I just love a spirit that has taken on the essence of the wood. That's the common denominator here. I enjoy drinking spirits that have that vanilla wood sugar and that tannin bite. I'll never forget when I had old Appleton Estate rum (after only having had Bacardi white). It was a shocking revelation what the wood can do.
 

The word "tot" refers to the Naval purser's (or prusser's) job of doling out carefully measured units of rum - (1/8th of a pint per day). The measure was known as a "tot". The word has since come to mean about 50ml, otherwise known as a jigger, pony, or shot. Technically a tot, as 1/8 pint is 59.14ml. A jigger or shot is usually 50ml. So, technically, a "tot" is nice heavy shot. That's as it should be...
 

About me:  I'm Josh Feldman.  I work in IT at a Mid-town Manhattan cultural institution.  My background includes education and marketing.  I've been a whisky enthusiast since the late 1980s and came later to bourbon and other distillates.  I'm not an expert. I'm simply an articulate drinker. I find when I write out my tasting notes I taste more deeply and take a deeper notice of what's going on between me and the glass. Drawing what you see while at the eyepiece of a telescope or microscope is much the same thing. So these are my tasting notes. Please enjoy them and feel free to comment on them. I appreciate the feedback. 

 Get in touch via e-mail at joshfeldman(at)cooperedtot.com