Michael Collins Single Malt Irish Whiskey

The real big fellow.  You'll hearing from his lawyer, Zorak.

If you were to take a taste of Michael Collins Single Malt without being told what it was you were drinking, you would think that you had been handed a pretty nice glass of scotch.  There whiskey is lightly peated giving you a somewhat sweet and spicy dram, with a hint of smoke.  I have had this bottle for quite a few years now, and the distillery now labels the single malt as being aged 10 years.  I expect that my bottle is a few years younger than that, in the 6 year range.

I mildly recommend it. Butt it is a tad pricey at the $40 range.

Watershed Vodka

What is the watershed?  If you have been following the blog for a while, you know that the watershed is where people used to beat their kids back in ye-olden-times before Wal-Mart existed.

To the vodka.  Clean, crisp with citrus notes.  It is a good vodka.  I'm a whiskey guy, so that's about as high a praise as I can give.

In honor of their location in Grandview, and the fact that I've been getting the same haircut in the same barber shop for 20 years, I give you the....

Howards Barber Shop Martini

1/4 oz Cocchi Vermouth Americano

2 oz Watershed Vodka

Lemon Twist (rim the glass with the lemon oil before dropping in)

For the old time Ohio State Alumni who may run across this.  I know that Howards was in UA for-damn-near-ever.  OSU bought their building and basically told them that they could stay for the length of their lease, but there would be a fence blocking their parking lot.  OH-FU.  They promptly moved to 5th and Grandview.

A Father's Day Cocktail

Cape Hatteras Cocktail

1 1/2oz Wild Turkey 81
1/2 oz Wild Turkey 101
3/4 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1 btl tonic water

2 springs rosemary, 1 reserved
6 thin slices ginger root

This recipe did not come with specific instructions, but I've been doing this long enough to figure it out.

Muddle rosemary, ginger and syrup.  Add lemon juice and bourbon, shake, strain, top with tonic and garnish with a rosemary sprig.

I have been receiving quite a bit of correspondence lately from reps for different brands asking to feature cocktails on the blog.  These recipes usually include an offer to send samples, which is why I have been blogging all of these years.  Free hooch.  This round of cocktails are in honor of father's day.  Below is my variation on the Cape Hatteras.  This one's for you Dad.

Stop Crying Before I Give You Something To Cry About Cocktail

2 oz Wild Turkey Kentucky Select
1/4 oz Liber & Co Tonic Syrup
1/2 oz Snap Liqueur
Top with sparkling French Lemonade

Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve15

Today is national bourbon day, for me, any day that ends in a "y" is a bourbon day.  It does give me an excuse to break out a one of the better bourbons.

I was at my weekly Friday wine/beer tasting a few months ago when the liquor guy told me he had something special stashed away for me.  I asked what and he told me "Pappy 15."  For some dumb reason I actually asked how much, which came to the reply of "Does it matter?"  No it didn't, but for the record it was around $70, which was quite the deal in my opinion.

This is reportedly the first 100% Buffalo Trace produced Van Winkle.  It was previously produced by Stitzel-Weller.  This bad boy is 107 proof.  It has a lot of the usual adjectives, wood, cinnamon, maple, dark fruit. vanilla, spice.  I like it when it's slightly diluted.  It's more bold than my bottle of Pappy 23, which I still prefer.  Damn good stuff.  If you ever have the chance to grab a Van Winkle product.  Pounce on it.

Widmer Brothers Kill Devil Brown Ale

I should start by saying that Ron Matusalem did not provide the barrels for the Kill Devil.

This is a pretty cool beer.  It is "Aged in Puerto Rican rum barrels, and brewed with Sweet Barbados and Blackstrap molasses, palm sugar, and Calypso hops, Kill Devil’s flavor and name were inspired by the ingredients used by Caribbean distillers.”

It is a really smooth and tasty beer.  It is somewhat similar to Kentucky Bourbon Ale; both beers have integrated the flavors from the barrel, but you don't really taste the spirit that was originally aged in the barrel.  I like my barrel aged beers to have a bit of a kick, so I undid their hard work by throwing a shot of Ron Matusalem into my final pour from the pounder.  That's more like it.

Either way it's a damn tasty beer.