As summer rolls to a close, the kids head back to school and the pennant races heat up, September is the gateway to my favorite season of the year: autumn. College football kicked off last weekend, pro football this weekend, and we all know that with fall comes the new 2014 releases by our favorite distilleries.
September is also National Bourbon Heritage Month, and I can think of no better place to celebrate this year than in the Bluegrass State itself. So this year, my wife and I are headed back to Kentucky (the third time this year!) for the Kentucky Bourbon Festival in a couple of weeks. I could not be more excited. We have our tickets to some events, and I look forward to blogging about it all when I get back.
So please, pour three fingers of your favorite, and join me in celebrating this country’s best spirit – to bourbon!
Eric Felten, on The Daily Beast website today, writes an article about the popularity of “sourced” whiskey in the craft-whiskey industry. Worth a read – and consideration – when buying that next mystery $50 bottle of bourbon…
1) As this summer has gotten busier and busier, I have not been good about posting regularly. I’m still sampling new bourbons, still reading about developments in the whiskey world and what not, but I’m not writing about it enough.
2) Despite the name “Baseball and Bourbon,” I hardly ever write about baseball! I named the blog Baseball and Bourbon because I planned on reviewing two of the things I enjoy the most: baseball parks and bourbons. However, I discovered two key facts early on – it’s difficult to visit new parks regularly, and it’s way more fun (and easy) to try new bourbons. This year alone, I have been able to visit one new park (Nationals Park), but will have gone on three separate trips to Kentucky for bourbon related events.
Both of these things will change now.
Not going to more baseball parks – time and money can prohibit that pretty severely. But introducing more baseball content. Reviews of baseball books, baseball movies, write-ups of parks I’ve visited in the past and just more baseball chatter will be a priority. My hometown Detroit Tigers are (again) serious contenders for the title, and I keep pretty well plugged in to baseball. Time to put it to type.
Secondly, I will include more bourbon reviews, but also, talk more at length about whiskey bars I visit, industry trends, and other whiskeys, especially ryes,
So let the fun begin!
Last night, after what has proven to be a particularly trying week in many regards, my wife and I sat down and opened a bottle that she had picked up a few weeks back out of curiosity.
Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Ezra B 12 Year Old Bourbon
OK, call this a spoiler alert, but I LOVED this bourbon. Ezra B (Brooks) 12 Year is a Heaven Hill distillery product, and while Heaven Hill makes some bourbons I have liked (Evan Williams, Elijah Craig) and some I haven’t, none have ever tasted quite like this.
While the Ezra B 12 Year is the classier bottle of the Ezra Brooks line, with its wax cap and ribboned label, it’s not obscenely priced. A little harder to find here in Detroit, it was still available at a store, and not only through third party sellers. We opened the bottle and poured a healthy amount into our glasses…
…wow, what a fantastic nose. Ezra B is 99 proof, but the nose didn’t burn of alcohol at all. Amazingly, it was a sweet, rich nose, with notes of vanilla, caramel, raisin, rum, pecans and wood. Not charred wood, mind you, but soft wood, like a new baseball bat. It was warm and inviting.
The taste was outstanding. First of all, Ezra B 12 Year is a thick mouth feel – like a melting butter. But unlike most thicker tasting bourbons, Ezra B isn’t full of those mouth-puckering tannins some people (not I) love. Instead, it’s incredibly smooth with a layered taste. It opens with a rich sweetness – raisin and ripe banana, toffee and caramel, before giving way to a warming but not overpowering spice.
The finish is soft and medium, and almost seems to come in waves, but not of spice or rye, but rather, that wonderful citrus taste.
Summer has finally come to Michigan, with heat, humidity and thunderstorms. What better time to continue with the blog about the Pappy For Your Pappy dinner and Kentucky trip?
As I mentioned in my earlier blog, I was feeling pretty ill the first day of our Kentucky trip, and by the time we left Four Roses, I was becoming very concerned: would this stomach bug keep me from the Pappy tasting and dinner at Buffalo Trace? I didn’t want to think about it, but the truth was, it was a real possibility. My wife and I discussed, and decided to keep on moving, make a trip to a few of Kentucky’s finer liquor stores in search of new hooch, then head to Wild Turkey to take in the sights and tastes.
This plan was doomed from the start. We drove to Lexington, to shop at the massive Liquor Barn store, and were able to procure a few spirits not available here in the mitten state (as well as a case of the outstanding Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale). We then backtracked to the Wild Turkey distillery, hoping to catch a mid-afternoon tour…
Bourbon Aisle at the Liquor BarnWishbone at Wild Turkey
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. We had just missed one tour, and would have to wait an hour for the next one. In my state, that did not seem like a great idea – certainly not with a delicious dinner and some Pappy Van Winkle waiting for me! Luckily, the Wild Turkey visitor center has a nice set of displays dedicated to the history of the drink, as well as the legacy of Master Distillers Jimmy and Eddie Russell. We wandered around the nice grounds and looked at the displays, until finally it was time to try to get a little rest and hope to feel better for the big event.
And in large part – it worked! I may have still been a little queasy, but when the time came to head to Buffalo Trace Distillery and have a dinner and tasting with the Van Winkles, I seemed to shake it off. I’ve been to the beautiful Buffalo Trace distillery before, so we decided to skip the tour this time, for restful purposes.
Buffalo Trace Distillery
Now, one thing I’d really like to mention is how nice, personable and kindly every person we have ever met affiliated with Buffalo Trace has been. This year was no exception. As I mentioned before, the tickets for this year’s Pappy dinner were a popular item, and I’m sure they have more than had their hands full with it. But, just as last year, every person was sweet and wonderful, even remembering the names of my family members that had purchased us the tickets before check-in.
We made our way over to the Elmer T. Lee Clubhouse to find our seat, and have a cocktail before dinner. Just as last year, the room was adorned beautifully, with candles in Pappy Van Winkle bottles on every table, the tasting glasses out and poured, and tables numbered.
A Well Dressed Table
One of the great parts of a dinner like this is sitting and talking with other bourbon enthusiasts, and we certainly had a great time with that. Our table had wonderfully nice and interesting people, and we were pleased to find out we were sitting with Tim Beckelhimer and Larry Parece, who run The Bourbon Guys blog (http://www.thebourbonguys.com/). Over a lovely dinner of salad, asparagus and steak, we talked about what brought all of us to bourbon, what is available where we live (a father and daughter at the table came in from Louisiana and North Carolina, respectively), and our fondness for that rarest of drinks, Pappy Van Winkle.
Julian and Preston Van Winkle took the microphone, and led us through the tasting of each of this years tasting selections: the 12 year Family Reserve and the 15, 20 and 23 year bourbons. As always, they were amazing…with one exception.
The 20 Year Pappy Van Winkle, which no less than Preston Van Winkle referred to as “the one that put us on the map,” tasted…very weak. Like 40 proof week. Had someone snuck a sample and replaced the precious drink with water? We will never know…
But the other four were, of course, fantastic. Even the 23 was a little smoother than when I had last tasted it. Then they open up the floor for questions. It was very similar to last year (Any tips to finding Pappy? How does my state get more?), with a few new ones. One person asked the difference between Weller and Van Winkle, which both use an identical recipe. Julian explained that it was a matter of selection (all Van Winkles are sampled and chosen by the father and son team, and are stored uniquely in the middle of the barrelhouse), where as Weller takes the rest, and then blends their final product. There was talk about the theft (no one was ever arrested, and Julian suggested that no one would be, after police interest ironically dried up post-election)and the history of Van Winkle, Stitzel-Weller.
Julian and Preston Van Winkle
After the Q and A, the Van Winkles retreated back to the Buffalo Trace Visitor Center, where they were on hand to sign items, and answer questions. I said hello, and then we headed for the hotel. We had another big day ahead of us.
Two weeks ago, as I posted here, I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a fantastic gift from my family: tickets for my wife and I to travel to Kentucky and go to an event titled “Pappy For Your Pappy.” The event is exactly what the title insinuates – over Father’s Day weekend, it is a dinner at Buffalo Trace Distillery where Julian and PrestonVan Winkle join those lucky diners in the Elmer T. Lee Clubhouse to sample Pappy Van Winkle through the meal.
With a birthday so close to Father’s Day, my sister and mother presented us with tickets as a birthday gift last year, and we enjoyed the event so much that we relished the opportunity to go back. That said, the Pappy craze, not close to slowing up, made it such a hot ticket that this year, one had to enter a raffle just to get the opportunity to buy tickets! My sister was fortunate enough to be drawn, and so they presented us the tickets as a gift and sent us on our way.
Last year, we spent the time exploring distilleries and the local area. We toured Woodford Reserve (which I will recap in the future here), and Lexington Kentucky, and spent a lovely evening staying at Shaker Village. This year, with the event on Friday (as opposed to Saturday), we revised our plans a bit: we headed down Thursday evening, staying in Harrodsburg (at the lovely Beaumont Inn), and made plans to visit the distilleries at Four Roses, Wild Turkey, Willett, and Buffalo Trace, as well as *gulp* zip line in caverns under Louisville.
There was only one problem – my stomach disagreed. I awoke Friday with a case of stomach flu that turned my mood as dour as the cloudy, rainy weather. But it didn’t dissuade us from trooping forward – we headed over to Four Roses to tour the beautiful facility.
Four Roses Distillery Visitor Center
And beautiful it is – the uniqueness of a Spanish Mission style set of buildings against the rolling Kentucky backdrop certainly makes you feel just a little out of place. As you might imagine, there are roses everywhere, and so we parked our car and headed on inside.
Visitor Center and Gift Shop at Four Roses Distillery
Bourbon is huge business here in Kentucky, and the distilleries all know it – the gift shops in every place I’ve visited rival those of any National Park or recognizable tourist site, and Four Roses is no exception. Their Gift Shop is large and full of every product you might want, including bottles of their yellow label, Small Batch and Single Barrel products. Like most other distilleries, there were no available bottles of the more rare and sought after specialty pours, like cask proof, anniversary editions, etc. But it was a pleasant place to spend an hour while awaiting our tour (there is also a nice pavilion outside).
The tour itself starts with a video explaining the history of Four Roses, and to those who know, it is a unique history indeed: Four Roses was arguably the most popular bourbon in America for many decades (interesting fact – the large advertisement behind the kissing sailor/nurse Times Square V-J day photo? Four Roses!). In 1943, it was purchased by the Canadian Seagrams company, and in the mid-1950s Seagrams shifted the bourbon sales to emerging markets in Japan and post war Europe, while abandoning Four Roses bourbon altogether in the United States. Unfortunately, though, they continued the name Four Roses, but changed the product to a low quality, blended neutral grain whiskey. I was unaware of that history myself until I gave my father a bottle of Single Barrel Four Roses last year for Father’s Day. He enjoys a good whiskey, but is not particularly a drinker, and one day mentioned to a friend that I had brought him a bottle. His friend scoffed and suggested I was trying to kill him with a bottle of rotgut! My father had to inform him that those days of horrible product are passed.
Visitor Center, Gift Shop and Tasting Room at Four Roses
In 1995, Four Roses brought in Jim Rutledge as Master Distiller and, in the early 2000’s, thanks to some sales and acquisitions, Seagram sold Four Roses to Japanese company Kirin, who have restored the reputation and quality of the Four Roses label and returned product to American shelves (while eliminating the offensive rotgut).
The tour then started in earnest, where our guide explained that Four Roses uses two main mash bills, and utilize five different proprietary yeasts.
Crossed with five different proprietary yeast strains:
V – delicate fruitiness
K – slightly spicy character
O – rich fruitiness
Q – floral essence
F – herbal
making a total of ten different casked bourbons. Four Roses uses single story barrel houses (at a different location). After the film and walk through, we started the tour.
The tour group outside the Four Roses DistilleryIn front of Four Roses DistilleryControl Room of Four Roses DistilleryThe proprietary yeasts at workFermentationMash fermenting to become Four Roses Bourbon
The tour itself takes about 45 minutes, and is a good glimpse inside a medium sized Bourbon producer. The barrels are filled and stored offsite, so it really is only distilling taking place here, and while they certainly take it seriously, it isn’t as ‘craft’ as Grand Traverse was, nor as large as Wild Turkey.
Four Roses Copper Still at workUp close and personal in a copper still
After walking through the fermenting, distilling and preparation processes – they fill up tanker trucks to deliver to the store houses an hour away – we headed inside for the best part: tasting! There, we enjoyed all three available bottlings, thanked our guide, and moved on down the road to Wild Turkey. Stomach bug be damned, there was bourbon to taste!
In our next post – it’s Wild Turkey, and dinner with the Van Winkles!
I am in Kentucky once more, my wife and I lucky enough to be going to the “Pappy for your Pappy” dinner and tasting event with Preston and Julian Van Winkle at Buffalo Trace Distillery. This is our second year, and we are mixing in a little bit more of the Bourbon Trail this year, with visits planned to Four Roses and Wild Turkey, as well as a few other stops.
I will be posting a few items as we go, and a recap next week… Let the good times roll!
It’s been a little quiet around here at Baseball and Bourbon, although not for a lack of activity. In the last month, I’ve taken a few short trips, and have a few more coming up. A visit to Maryland and Washington DC last month allowed me to both hunt down some bourbons and ryes that I hadn’t been able to find in Michigan, and take in a ballgame at Nationals Park in DC. Next week, I’ve been lucky enough to (thanks to my sister and mother) procure tickets to the Pappy For Your Pappy event at Buffalo Trace for the second year. Lot’s of exciting things to write about! But more immediately, my wife and I spent last weekend in Northern Michigan for the wedding of our friends Brandon and Julie. In between the fudge on Mackinac Island and some para-sailing, we had a chance to visit the Grand Traverse Distillery in Traverse City!
Dan in front of barrels of Grand Traverse Whiskey
I’ve sampled the wares of the Grand Traverse Distillery several times, including making their bourbon my Bourbon of the Week in August of 2013. I’m also fond of their Cherry Flavored Whiskey as a fun mixer. So when we decided to visit Traverse City, Michigan as part of our trip, a stop in seemed in order.
The tasting room at the Grand Traverse Distillery
The first thing that will surprise you on visit is that the Distillery has a less than picturesque location. That is to say it’s in the middle of an industrial park on the outskirts of Traverse City, in a less-than-glamorous warehouse looking building. I was afraid I had taken us to the wrong location, but upon walking in, knew that I had been correct. Through the front doors is a lobby/gift shop/tasting room, with a bartender on call to mix a cocktail, give you distillery information and ring up your purchase or tour. My wife and I each had a cocktail (mine whiskey, hers gin), and we awaited the start of our tour! Now, one thing of note right away is that Grand Traverse DOES actually produce their own bourbon (as opposed to sourcing it). There are very few distillers in Michigan who can say that (if any?), so as you step into the modest size warehouse their still is all the more impressive. Not only is the Grand Traverse Distillery distilling their own spirits, they use almost exclusively locally sourced grains to do it – their corn, wheat, rye, and obviously cherries, are all locally sourced, The entire area is small enough to take it all in visually in a few minutes, but the step by step walk-through tour is much more in depth. Our guide showed us where the grains are delivered, the fermenting process, and their copper still, where they make a variety of different products (whiskey, vodka, gin, and hope to introduce a rum soon).
Grand Traverse fermenters…then, on to the copper still!There is goodness cooking in there!
When explaining their bourbon, it was pointed out that all of their barrels use a number 4 char, and, the average barrel age is about 3 years (although there are some they are holding on to for later release). The barrels are all stored in the warehouse, which is only moderately temperature controlled (some heat in winter), but they do not rotate or move barrels between sealing and opening.
Grand Traverse Bourbon barrel, charred at a #4Barreled up
After a 45 minute tour including a question and answer, we retreated back to the tasting room to sample some of the Grand Traverse spirits. I thoroughly enjoyed the Ole George Rye, and while I still find the Grand Traverse Bourbon a bit rough and tumble, it is still a good quality. It is a higher rye content than I like in my bourbon, but for those who like spicier notes, it’s a solid choice. They are opening a new tasting room in downtown Traverse City, to match ones they have in other cities around Michigan. The tour was very enjoyable, and well worth the time and money. Good job Grand Traverse Distillery – keep doing it well!
Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Russell’s Reserve 10 Year
Now, the Russell’s Reserve 10 Year came highly recommended by my co-worker, friend and fellow bourbon enthusiast Josh McAllister, who mentioned how he had sampled it not too long ago and it immediately became one of his favorites. I know Josh to have good taste, so it made my short list as well, and soon enough, an opportunity to sample it came up. The company I work for often has a few international interns at any given time, and we were lucky enough to have Cecile, who came to us from France, in our department. On her last day a few weeks ago, we decided to have a toast to bid her Bon Voyage at our weekly meeting. Spies were dispatched to find her drink of choice, and it was reported back that she was a fan of Wild Turkey. Perfect.
The Russell alluded to in the name Russell’s Reserve is none other than legendary Master Distiller Jimmy Russell (as well as his son, Associate Distiller Eddie Russell), the man behind Wild Turkey. Jimmy Russell is a legend, and I was fortunate enough to hear him speak at the Bourbon Classic this year in January. So Russell’s Reserve, which claims to be Jimmy’s hand picked small batch, should truly be the representation of his son and his combined 85 years of experience. The website also mentions that they cut it with water less than other bourbons before barreling, and that “Russell’s Reserve is matured in barrels with the deepest #4 char, or “alligator” char, ensuring the maximum flavor and colour is developed during aging.”
So I bought a bottle and, as our weekly meeting wrapped up, poured glasses for those hearty souls to toast the outgoing Cecile, off to new adventures!
Russell’s Reserve 10 day at Dan’s work
My take: Wow. There is everything to love about this bourbon. The availability (here in Michigan, I’ve seen RR at local Meijer stores – I’ve seen Blanton’s and Elmer T Lee there too – so it’s not too hard to find), the price point (between $28-$33 here in Michigan), the bottle (classy) and cetainly not the taste.
The nose was warm and inviting, with notes of caramel and vanilla. Enough sweet cinnamon showed through to make me anticipate a ‘popping’ taste (more on that in a second), and the age and char showed through with a deep, distinct air of toasted oak.
The taste was also warm, but I didn’t get the jarring taste of burned wood that I anticipated, nor a spicy ‘bite,’ but rather, a smooth soft woodiness mixed with a slight sweet vanilla and caramel taste. I will reinforce the word ‘smooth,’ because I was taken aback with just how smooth this was, not too thick a mouth feel, but not thin in anyway. Alongside the oak and vanilla, there were the sparkles of cinnamon, but minus the roughness that sometimes follows it.
The finish was clean and soft, if a little short. I was impressed all the way around and, if Wild Turkey or Mr. Russell ever put out a barrel strength, I would sincerely love to try it. It’s not a perfect 10, but for what it is it’s an A in my book.
It’s been a rough week over here at Baseball and Bourbon: I had my wisdom teeth out. I won’t embellish, it didn’t go as poorly – or painfully – as some people had warned me. But it wasn’t exactly fun either. Most saddening was the fact that I was advised not to drink bourbon while my jaw recovered. The one saving grace was that it gave me the perfect excuse to rest and watch the NCAA tournament all weekend. So with a congrats to the Dayton Flyers, as well as Michigan and Michigan State, this week’s review is of a new favorite of mine.
Dan’s Bourbon of the Week: Stagg Jr.
Now, I have no been lucky enough yet to get my hands (and taste buds) on a pour of George T. Stagg, try as I may. I’ve been able to hunt down glasses, if not bottles, of almost all of the other Buffalo Trace Antique Collection, but the GTS eludes me.
That said, I was fortunate enough, when in Kentucky, to get my hands on a bottle of Stagg Jr, the newer offering from the BTAC. Aged 8-9 years (unlike the 15+ GTS is bottled at), but coming from the exact same mash bill, ‘unfiltered’ and ‘uncut,’ it pours at a barrel strength. My bottle shows a 136.6 proof, or 68.3% alcohol. Potent.
What I really note about the Stagg Jr was how my opinion changed over three months, and three different tastings. I first had the Stagg Jr. in December at a bourbon event at the Wine Garden in St. Clair Shores. There I found it too brash and even harsh. Two months later I tried it again at a local whiskey bar, and found that I enjoyed it much more, and found it much more complex. Last week, for review purposes, I tried it again, and came to trust my second, rather than first impression.
The nose: Make no mistake, like any barrel proof, that first sniff will be a burn. Give it a minute to breathe, and you will note a burned-sugar-toffee, vanilla, charred oak and some spiciness. The sweet notes – vanilla and toffee – strengthen as it site, too.
The taste: Again, let’s not kid – that barrel proof is a kicker. It has a thicker mouth taste than I expected, but I could taste very strong influence of charred oak and rye spiciness. A hint of brown sugar, but the sweetness gave way to the spicier hints of cinnamon, pepper and oak. It didn’t knock me back, but I found it smoother than anticipated, without ice.
The finish: It has a burn, a good solid one. Notes of spice hold out along with the taste of wood and subtle sugar sweetness. A little dry, as though there were tannins, on the throat.
My take: Personally, I like Stagg Jr. Looking around online, it seems the biggest drawback Stagg Jr has is not being George T Stagg. Maybe I will feel that way when I’ve had the GTS, but for now, I find this to be a nice, strong drink.
Hello, and happy Pi day! Not that one needs a reason to celebrate pies, or to cook with bourbon, but just in case you are interested in doing just that, I’ve got a recipe for you. It comes from the fine website Doughmesstic, with a few changes suggested by my wife Jen.
Last year, my work celebrated Pi day with a pie-potluck of sorts, where people brought in pies of all shapes and sizes, including quiches, breakfast specialties and some desert items. That’s when Jen first made this Bourbon pie, and even included bourbon whipped topping.
I won’t lie, it was a bit of a wake up at 8 in the morning…
But that said, at the end of the day, I took home TWO empty pie tins, and regretted we had not made a third just for our own consumption.
So make the pie with the recipe below, and enjoy!
Happy Pi Day – Dirty Bourbon Pie
Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar (powdered sugar)
1/4 tsp. salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon bourbon (I prefer Woodford Reserve for this)
Combine flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor (if possible) and combine with ‘pulse’ mode
Take the butter pieces and lay over dry ingredients. Once more, ‘pulse’ to allow butter to cut in. It will be in varied sizes – that’s ok.
Break up the yolk and stir it in, slowly, ‘pulsing’ with each small addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses–about 10 seconds each–until the dough, whisk will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.*
Add bourbon.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.
To press the dough into the pan: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked.
Don’t be too heavy-handed–press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.*
*italicized text from Doughmesstic website
Filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons Vanilla Sugar (or regular sugar – vanilla sugar can be difficult to find)
1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup Melted Butter
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1/2 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
3 Tablespoons Bourbon (I prefer Elijah Craig for this)
1 Tbsp Vanilla
Combine flour and sugar, then add beaten eggs. Pour over melted butter and stir to incorporate. Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Pour into frozen pie crust, and bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes, until a nice crust forms on top and appears set. Do not overbake. Also, be careful of burning crust – if it appears to be getting too brown, wrap it in foil and continue to bake the remaining time.
Jen’s Bourbon Whipped Topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp Bourbon
Baseball and Bourbon 