Make It Count

     As I successfully continue my goal to lose weight this new year, I have decided to only drink alcohol on the weekends.  Between my trip to Kentucky's Bourbon Trail in October and New Year's Day, I really had no inhibitions in terms of indulging in food and drink.  But it wasn't the healthiest of lifestyles, so I decided to make a lot of dietary changes (such as eliminating fast food lunches, and bringing salad every day to the office), and to only allow myself alcohol on the weekends.

     These restrictions bring up a dilemma: if I only have two nights a week to enjoy a cocktail (or two), then I should really drink something that makes me happy!  Life is too short to waste on mediocre liquor.  So, below are some of my impressions of some drinks I have "sampled" since the beginning of the year.  

E.H. Taylor Single Barrel Bottled In Bond Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey

      Full Disclosure:  I last drank this immediately before my alcohol restrictions.  I was holed up with my family just before New Year's, and, well, as you can see, now the bottle is half empty.  This is good whiskey:  solid flavor, sweet enough, it has the right amount of bite, and at 100 proof, it gives you what you need when you're holed up with your family in a small town with nothing to do for four days.  It is recommended!

Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey - Single Barrel Select

     My mother purchased this as a present for my 42nd birthday.  I am a big fan of Buffalo Trace Distillery, and it is my opinion that the Buffalo Trace Bourbon is good.  I just usually am not wild for it.  However, this bottle was a single barrel variety.  Perhaps it is the placebo effect, but something elevated these flavors above the standard Buffalo Trace Profile.  While I like the E.H. Taylor more, a pour of this neat isn't a waste of a drink during these weight loss restrictions!  It is quite enjoyable.

My Barrel Aged Creole Cocktail

     As I have previously written about here and here, I have barrel-aged a Creole Cocktail of sorts.  This is a take off of a Manhattan.  Click the links for the recipe.  This is all I have left.  It is very good:  the barrel-aging deepens the bourbon flavor, and mellows and strengthens it.  The cherry heering sweetens, and the benedictine adds layers of complexity and changing flavors.   It can be served either straight up or on the rocks.  I had a major clear ice chunk I used in a double-rocks glass so I utilized that.  Excellent drink, to be pondered.

Stagg Jr.

     This was the other bottle I received on my birthday from Mom.  I had never had this before, until I tried it in mid-December.  I tried it neat, and it was way too powerful.  It is 130 proof / 65% alcohol.  My esophagus was screaming for a Nexium with each sip.  So, when I revisited it here in January, I drank it after having a pour of my Creole Cocktail above.  (There was no way I was going to let that big beautiful clear ice cube go to waste.)  The Stagg Jr. was delicious.  The flavor opened the slower I drank it, as the ice provided the needed dilution to allow the caramels, spice, and chocolate flavors to be appreciated.  It was a delicious drink.  With the high alcohol content, unfortunately, one ounce of this bourbon is around 1.5 times the calories of an 80 proof bourbon.  Still, I am highly recommending this.

Blanton's

     Blanton's bills itself as the original single barrel bourbon.  It has gotten so popular, and in some places across the country, so difficult to purchase, that one wonders if it is that good or simply over-hyped?  While the hype may be excessive, it is that good.  In fact, the best part of visiting the Buffalo Trace Distillery was being able to purchase this bourbon right there!  It is smooth, rich, inviting, strong, sweet, balanced, aged, etc.  It has all the characteristics a bourbon should have, without any of the flavors that turn-off my palate.  This drink is always a winner.  It should never be mixed, unless you are making one bad-ass high end cocktail because you're a mad-genius (like Will Farrell's character using his skills to pick up dates at a funeral in Wedding Crashers).

Orphan Barrel's Forged Oak

     My wife got me this for a present over the holidays.  It is aged 15 years.  The story goes that the bourbon was produced at the New Bernheim Distillery and stored for 15 years at the Stitzel-Weller rickhouses.  These rickhouses are where the famed Pappy Van Winkle barrels were stored before operations moved to Buffalo Trace Distillery.  Now you should know, seldom should you trust a bourbon's backstory.  Judge it by the taste.  I really like this bourbon.  The oak wasn't overpowering.  The flavors blended very nicely.  It was well rounded, like Blanton's, but had a warmer taste, with a deeper oak flavor (but not overpowering or too oak-y).  I'd purchase this in a minute, even at its $65 a bottle price.  Interestingly, I have read some reviews online regarding this (to see if others were as hyped about it as I was), and some people totally panned it, saying it was one dimensional, and its only redeeming feature was the nose.   This certainly wasn't the case with the bottle I'm drinking.  Other reviewers online also agree with me that this is a fantastic drink, at any price.

Templeton Rye (Aged 4 years)

     I hadn't had a bottle of Templeton in almost two years.  I remembered it as a decent rye.  My more recent ryes that I have purchased and have been drinking are Angel's Envy, Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, Rittenhouse, Old Overholt, Dickel, and Michter's.  When I last had Templeton Rye, I don't recall an age statement on the bottle.  Later, they changed to 4, 6, and 10 year varieties.  The "legend" is that this was Al Capone's drink of choice, originally made in Templeton, Iowa.  Today's spirit is distilled by spirits giant MGP in Indiana, and bottled in Iowa.  Apparently there was a class action suit, and the company no longer can claim it uses a prohibition recipe.  See Wikipedia for more information.

     Back to the drink:  not so good.  I don't know if something has changed (either the spirit or my palate), but this was nowhere as good as I remember it two years ago.  The spice was flat.  There was no excitement that I want from a rye.  It was bland and one-dimensional.  Major disappointment!  This was a fail, a waste of a drink in the era of weight loss.  As such, this bottle will need to be used on people who specifically ask for it, or in a mixed drink. I may consider barrel-aging it in a rye cocktail of sorts in a small batch.  But on its own, it was a major let-down.  

Russell's Reserve Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey Single Barrel

     This is the real deal rye.  It is rich, full bodied, bold, spicy, warm, and all the delicious things you want in a rye.  Drinking this will relax you and make you happy.  At 104 proof, it packs a punch, but it isn't astringent.  I believe this is my favorite straight rye, and I like it even more than the E.H Taylor Rye (which is good, but not as balanced as this).  I have heard that certain barrels are better than others, so I hope you purchase a delicious one!

     So those are all the whiskey drinks I have been consuming.  I haven't mentioned yet that I did treat myself to one martini made from 3.5 parts Beefeater Gin to 1 part Cinzano Extra Dry Vermouth.  I used this recipe to barrel-age another batch of martinis (which are marinating as I type....it likely will be ready very soon).  I wanted to make sure that the drink and proportions tasted good prior to dumping a bunch of alcohol into my barrel.  Let me tell you:  a cold martini is delicious and refreshing.  It is a light, welcoming change to the palate after drinking week after week of bourbon and rye, plus it makes you appreciate the whiskey even more when you come back to it.

     What have you been drinking?  Is there something you liked, or didn't like?  Share your thoughts in the comments below.    Do you disagree with any of my takes?  Tell me what you think!   Lastly, please follow me on Twitter by clicking here, to get my latest thoughts on drink and medicine.  Until next post...stay thirsty (until the weekend)!