You might be wondering, where have I been?
This year, Kate and I welcomed our son into the world. He is a giggly little redhead and is the most important thing in the world to us.
I stepped away from the hospitality industry to be a stay-at-home dad. We are very fortunate he is a healthy and happy baby, but his addition has been a crazy change of pace for both of us. I don’t mean the dirty diapers and long nights and exhaustion and pukes and unintelligible babbling.
That is roughly the same as one might find working at a bar after midnight.
It’s the irrational fear that a Cheerio now brings or how you look at corners and sockets in any room, especially now that he is a small boy and almost walking. And did you know about honey? I mean, what the hell?
I will eventually return to the bar and restaurant world. In the meantime, I have been consulting on the side and trying to shoot puppet videos (now with a captive live audience). You know, to keep from getting too rusty.
Let me know if you want to have a cup of coffee sometime. I am around, and I will probably bring a baby.
Oregon Spirit Distillers BIB Wheat Whiskey
Mashbill: 74% wheat, 18% rye, and 8% barley mash
Taste and Aroma: Candy, cooking herbs, vanilla, fresh bread, apple caramel, white pepper, and a subtle rye spice.
This was the wrong sample to try totally blind on. There was no way I was going to accurately pick out the nuances of a winter wheat whiskey. It’s been half a decade since I intentionally tried one to learn about it. That said, this was a fun exercise, and was great to taste next to a bourbon and rye, something I really recommend doing at some point.
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Courage & Conviction Double Cask Reserve American Single Malt
Mashbill: 100% malted barley
Taste and Aroma: Toasted marshmallow, chocolate, stone fruit (apricot and cherries), black tea, butterscotch, ginger, and spice.
Being aged in ex-bourbon and European red wine casks is an interesting touch. The ABV was a little high at first for my taste, but I liked the amount of heat by my second sip. I enjoyed this whisky, definitely not as an everyday whisky, but worth a nice change up!
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Eden Mills St Andrews “The Guard Bridge”
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky Aged in Bourbon, New American Oak, and Oloroso Sherry casks.
Taste and Aroma: Grassy florals, barley, poached stone fruits, warm gingerbread spice, lightly peated. Later reviews that I read mentioned notes of gin botanicals, which I can totally get.
The burst of alcohol on my first sip caught me off guard because of how delicate the nose felt to me, making me believe there is some part of this that could benefit from a little more aging. But overall, this was an enjoyable scotch.
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Two Stacks “The First Cut” Signature Blend
Blend: A combination of single grain, pot still, double-distilled malt, and peated malt whiskeys, each aged in distinct cask types.
Taste and Aroma: Brown sugar, honey, unripe tropical fruit, black tea, pepper, green apple, and straw. It has a long, warm finish.
As an Irish whiskey blend, this has a lot going on. It really sent me down memory lane when I could drink with abandon. I enjoyed sipping this, but I am even more excited to learn that this also comes in a can! I am going to be looking for that.
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Mary Dowling Tequila Barrel Finished Bourbon
Mashbill: 70% Corn, 25% Malted Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Taste and Aroma: Sweet corn, cinnamon, white pepper, tropical fruit, and wood.
I struggled to find flavors one might expect given the different barrels used to make this. It’s aged for three years in new American oak, then more than a year in tequila barrels that first held sherry. I tried smelling this next to an aged tequila once I learned about it, and got almost none of that.
That said, I enjoy the mystery and subtlety of this whiskey.
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Frey Ranch Bottled-in-Bond Straight Rye Whiskey
Mashbill: 100% Winter Rye
Taste and Aroma: Classic, full-bodied rye with some chocolate, burnt wood, and a touch of orange zest. Buttery with black pepper and ginger spice.
When you see “winter rye” in whiskey tasting notes, it signifies a rich and complex flavor because it is such a hardy grain. Its intense spice and botanical notes are distinct from milder rye varieties. I knew that at one point.
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First West Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Age: Blend of 5, 6, and 7yr old bourbons.
Mashbill: Undisclosed
Taste and Aroma: Sweet and fruity (candy bar and raisins) with a bit of tobacco, damp wood, and oak. Sweet and woodsy finish, with subtle spice and tobacco.
The ABV was a little overpowering for me at first, but with a little water to open it up, it became very enjoyable. I am embarrassed to admit how much of a wimp I am drinking now.
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Kujira Kykojin Okinawa Whisky
Mashbill: Made from long-grain Indica rice, not barley.
Taste and Aroma: Barley, stewed pear, cinnamon. brown sugar, bourbon-like cedar, white pepper. One review said slight minerality and sake-like tingle.
This was interesting. Even though I absolutely botched the barley flavor, I am proud that I recognized its similarity to shochu/sake, which was due to the rice. And that I was able to pick up some corn, which would have been influenced by the ex-bourbon barrels.
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