Log Date
A whiskey adventure for you and me.
Writing on the coaster
“My first pick? That’d be seven-year-old W.L. Weller. It’s very close to ours, sweet and a lot of caramel. If you can’t get that, try Maker’s 46. It’s a little more interesting, with that extra French-oak aging that they use. Third would be Four Roses, the single-barrel. And if that’s not available, then I’m gonna go drink vodka.”
Quote of the night
He didn’t have a lab, just some litmus paper and a hydrometer to get the proof right. He believed all you need to make fine bourbon are Mother Nature and Father Time.
— Julian Van Winkle (on grandfather Pappy’s approach to crafting quality bourbon)
Writing on the coaster
“As the whiskey ages, it evaporates volume through the wood—10 percent the first year and 4 to 5 percent each subsequent year, an attrition known as the angels’ share. On a twenty-three-year-old barrel, the angels’ share is about fifty gallons out of the original fifty-three, which partly explains Van Winkle 23’s heart-stopping expense. ‘When it comes to our bourbon, the angels are very greedy,’ Van Winkle observes.”
(Source: gardenandgun.com)
Quote of the night
We make fine bourbon. At a profit if we can, at a loss if we must, but always fine bourbon.
— Pappy Van Winkle
Old-fashioned Hyperlink
This is some bourbon (prices vary based on age: “from $40 for the 10-year to $250 for the 23-year”). The secret, according to Erikson, is that the recipe “substitutes wheat for the rye that most bourbon contains (alongside corn and malted barley), creating a softer, sweeter profile.”
Old-fashioned Hyperlink
A map of where to find coveted bottles of Pappy Van Winkle nationwide this holiday season.
Moving pictures
Buffalo Trace, son. They bottle Pappy here, and I love them for it (Also Blanton’s, Eagle Rare (eh), and Sazerac Rye, just to name a few).
Frankfort, KY. 2011.
Holga/120 (unedited).
Old-fashioned Hyperlink
Are you going to tell me Pappy Van Winkle is your favorite bourbon like every other chef?
I can’t tell you that it’s not. There’s Pappy Van Winkle, then there’s everything else. If you give me a choice, I’ll drink the 15-year-old over anything else in the world. Some folks want to romanticize 20– or 25-year-old, how profound it is. But it’s a wonderful bourbon.
Writing on the coaster
[Start with an excellent bottle of bourbon, sure, but make it worthwhile. HERE you’ll find some clever tsotchkes & knickknacks that will become indispensable to the whiskey enthusiast.]
Considered nowadays to be the whiskey tasting standard, this nosing copita came about only in the past decade. It’s since traveled from the whisky labs (real) of Scotland and on to bar rooms across America, and has been heralded by whiskey scientists (also real), experts, and connoisseurs alike.
I can’t detail for you how the shape or nose of the glass affects the volatility of the flavors of the liquid or whatnot — but I will tell you sipping whiskey from these glasses keeps me well aware that I am drinking a fine bourbon and that I ought to savor it.
BUY.
Gifting occasions: Father’s day, your college dormmates’ wedding reception, to your roommate(/yourself by extension)
