Several Almost Empties: Sazerac 18, Elmer T Lee

OK.  This has been sitting in draft for over a week.  More almost empties to come.

Sazerac 18: This is the 2009 bottling, which is considered inferior to the 2010.  The 2010 must be something because this is quite nice.  It has a nice strong grain flavor, with a bit of vanilla sweetness, both in your initial sip and the finish.  A+.

Elmer T Lee: This bourbon comes highly recommended.  Frankly, I don't see what's the big deal.  It's smooth, which is damning with faint praise.  At least it's cheap.  C

The Wry World of Sports Congratulates Danny Noonan for Winning the 2011 US Open



This keen observation brought to you by S1T.

Wry World Of Sports: Jim Tressel Claims Another Victim

The Bowl Championship Series announced today that they have stripped USC of their 2004 National Championship.  This sanction was handed down after it was discovered by Sports Illustrated's ace reporter, George "Old News" Dohrman, that Ohio State coach Jim Tressel knew that USC runningback Reggie Bush's parents were given a luxury home by a sports agent.

"Not only did Tressel turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of his own players, he also turned a blind eye to the misdeeds of other teams.  He spread his doctrine of "La, la, la, I can't hear you." around the nation.  Wait until you hear what he knew about Cam Newton, OJ Mayo, Craig James, and Shoeless Joe Jackson.  It's just a shame that he had to drag down a man of high moral character, like Pete Carroll, down with him."

Two Parts Rye's official summer beer of 2011: Wittekerke

It's hot, it's humid, you  just got done playing softball, or mowing the lawn, and your balls are sticking to your leg.  (If they are sticking to both, seek help from a medical professional.)  You need a nice lite, summer pounder.  This is it.  It's a thinner blue moon and I love it.  It's from Belgium, and I still love it!.  I've done my research and the name has something to do with Captain Kirk.

I present to you, the next coach of THE Ohio State University

Folks, we don't need the anti-Tressel.  Tressel was one of the greats.  But he came up short in one area.  I give you, the one man, who could out Tressel-Tressel.

Jim Beam Devil's Cut

Well, the rapture was scheduled for this evening, and here I sit, drinking.  Chances are, if you read this blog, you're still here too.  There may have been an exception made for World-Wide-Kev, which is a shame, because he pitches for my softball team and we have a game tomorrow.

I thought that I was going to make it out, but I sealed my fate when I purchased a bottle of Devil's Cut yesterday.  For those of you who are uninitiated in whiskey slang.  The whiskey that evaporates during the aging process is called the angel's share.  The Beam folks have found a way to pull out the whiskey that is absorbed into the barrel, and they blend it with normal Jim Beam.  It all sounds like a bunch of marketing jiggety-pokety-whosie-whatsie-hommina-hommina-bull-shit.™

It turns out that this is indeed a better Beam.  Not leaps and bound better, but it's pretty good.  It has a bit more oak, and a bit more spice.

So, did anyone get raptured?



 

I took a Bulleit for you. Bulleit Rye

This pains me, because I am a fan of Bulleit Bourbon.  And this whiskey is a decent sipper.  It's spicey and hot when you drink it neat.

But I buy a $25 rye for a Manhattan.  Bulleit Rye brings out a bizarre celery flavor when mixed with vermouth.  I've tried serveral different vermouth and bitters combinations.  In the end.  It's only drinkable if I mix in Jim Beam Rye or a strong bourbon like Knob Creek.

So there you have it.  I took a Bulleit for you.  You're welcome.

You can't take it (all) with you

No.  I'm not dying.  I'm getting the Casa de Rye ready to sell.  We're looking to upgrade our space; and to quote Mrs. Rye.  "You can't move all of this stuff.  You'll need to do some more drinking."  To her credit, she did not do an immediate, "I can't believe that I just said that face."

Expect more drink reviews.  Most of them will be via tweets.  I decided a few months ago, that if I don't have anything funny to say, or at least a funny picture, it's not getting a blog post.

If you live in the Central Ohio area, and are thinking about getting a palatial Clintonville home.  There's one coming on the market this year.

Barrels? We don't need no stinking barrels. Part 3: Our honor defend, we'll fight to the end for OYO?

OK.  We have a white whiskey that admits that it's a white whiskey (scroll down two posts.).  A white whiskey perfuming itself up to be gin (one post down).  And now we got a white whiskey claiming to be vodka?

The first time that I tasted this vodka, I thought that it was a nice mash bill for a whiskey.  I'm quite happy that I'm going to get my wish.  The wheat whiskey is due out this month. 

This is not the "vodka" for your typical cranberry and spread legs cocktail.  You should drink it neat and appreciate it.  It's made from 100% Ohio winter wheat.  Which was only 2 pts worse then Kentucky winter wheat this year.  This is what happens if you don't triple distill the life and joy out of... well, life. 

Barrels? We don't need no stinking barrels. Part 2: Don't forget to "Cup the Bols"

Welcome back to our incredibly exciting series on white whiskey.  You might be asking yourself, what's genever?  Well, it's what gin used to be before the English took all the fun out of it.  You might also be asking yourself what this has to do with white whiskey.  We'll plagiarize their website for an explanation.

The heart of Bols Genever is a whiskey-like triple distillate made of corn, wheat and rye, which the Dutch called malt-wine.  This flavor-rich distillate is carefully blended with a juniper-berry distillate...

In other words, it's moonshine and juniper.  Shockingly, it's quite good with tonic.  Just make sure to add a squeeze of lime or lemon.  Or a dash of Fee's grapefruit bitters.

The "Cup the Bols" cocktail.

1 part Bols Genevere
1 part Rye Whiskey
1/2 part Sweet Vermouth
1/2 part Grand Marnier

Add ice.  Stir and drink.

Barrels? We don't need no stinking barrels. Part 1: Buffalo Trace White Dog

This will be part one of an exciting three part series on white whiskey.  Ironically, this is the only one of the three that calls itself whiskey.

White whiskey is what you get when you don't put your distillate in a barrel, AKA moonshine.  The Buffalo Trace white dog is 125 proof.  Drinking it neat gives a hell of a burn.  It's got some corn, grain and yeast flavor.  With, like I said, a hell of a burn at the end.  Let's add water.

Well, that brings out some sweetness.  And.... not much else.

So, does that dog hunt?  If by hunt, you mean get you drunk.  Then yes.  If you mean taste good.  Not really.  There's a reason that god made the oak tree; it was for coopering barrels for bourbon.  This was made for the person who just has to know what it tastes like right out of the still.  It is sold in 375 ml bottles at the same price as a 750 ml bottle of the bourbon.  Tricky bastards.

Wry Slamma Jamma: Yabba Dabba Done!

Bruce Pearl was fired today.  I think that he's a hell of a coach, but dude.

I shouldn't have given Aaron Craft my world famous brontosaurus ribs!

The Tyrconnell Single Malt

We continue our St Pattie's day tradition of enjoying a fine Irish Whiskey at home, while all of the amateurs clog the bars.

This was a Christmas gift from Cousin David.  Thank you.

Web Tasting Notes: 

Colour: Golden Yellow

Nose: Full and fruity aroma with a citrus – spiciness taste

Taste: Well structured with honey notes hanging from the nose. A tang of oranges and lemons, a strong malt presence that balances well with the oily sweetness

Finish: A long finish with the malt becoming more dominant to the end without the soft fruits and honey, which helped make up the middle.

Alcohol content: 40%

Serving Suggestions: The Tyrconnell can be served neat in a tumbler, or with a little water to taste.

My Take:  Avoid water.  It does not take much to make this whiskey to taste too thin.  I agree that it is oily.  I think that it tastes salty and spicy, with a sweet leather finish.  This is a sipper.  The kind of whiskey that you sit back and enjoy.  Take some time to philosiphize about the universe, wondering where in the world is World-Wide-Kev?

Grade: B

Wry Slamma Jamma: 2011 NCAA Tournament Prediction

I got Ohio State over BYU in the final; the ultimate match-up of good vs evil.  Ohio State will win.  Why?



Evil will always beat good because good is dumb.

Vine Talk

From time to time, I get an e-mail asking to check out something new on the booze scene.  Usually, I ignore any e-mail that doesn't involve a free bottle of liquor being sent to my house.  Hint.

I received a trailer for a new show called Vine Talk, featuring Stanley Tucci.  He's a fine actor, but I don't know if that gives him the chops to wax on about wine.  Other than the obvious access that money brings to the table.  I was ready to ignore it, then suddenly, I saw something special in the video.



Bed Bath & Beyond 2005.  Delicious.

At least I know that they saved money on coasters and invested it in the wine.



Wry Slamma Jamma: Bo Ryan is an Alien



I have been quiet lately.  But I have not deserted my post.  I am watching you, you alien basketball fiends.



Legends and Leaders renamed Tiger's Blood and Adonis DNA

Many felt that the Big 10 was being egotistical when the conference named its divisions Legends and Leaders.  In an effort to bring some modesty to the conference, Commissioner Jim Delaney has hired Charlie Sheen as a consultant.

"Charlie brings the kind of down home midwestern values that our conference likes to represent.  Let's face it, his dumb-ass show is the kind of brainless crap that midwesterners just suck up.  Plus, his hatred of Alcoholics Anonymous went over really well in Wisconsin."

When asked what other qualities brought the two titans together, Delaney pointed out the obvious.  "Joe Paterno also has Tiger's blood and Adonis DNA, so it was a natural fit."

Watershed Gin

Watershed Distillery is one of two distilleries producing spirits in Columbus.  Its an interesting name.  At first, I thought that the watershed is where you beat your kids back in the pioneer days; you know, back before there were Wal-Marts.  Turns out that was the woodshed.  A watershed is a strip of land between two rivers.  The distillery is located between the Scioto and the mighty Olentangy, so that works.  They are most likely going after the "watershed moment", which is the moment when everything changes.

That's all fine and dandy, but you probably are wondering if the gin is any good.  It is.  You get your typical juniper flavor that you would expect from a London dry.  It has a hint of citrus, and I think that it has a lot of cucumber.  Good stuff.

Slane Castle and White Castle

On occassion, I do like to offer up a food pairing to go with the drink that I am reviewing.  The obvious choice for this Irish estate made whiskey with a burger made from a famous American estate.

Web stuff: This unique Whiskey blend has been distilled by the nearby Cooley Distillery, which won the European and World Distiller of the Year at the 2008 International Wine and Spirit Competition. It is a well balanced blend of malt and grain Irish Whiskey which has been aged and matured for at least four years in American oak barrels that previously matured Bourbon. In the traditional Irish style, the malt whiskey is distilled in copper pot stills and no peated malt is used. Both the malt content and the type of wood used for maturation give this product its sweetness and depth of character.

My two cents:  The aging in bourbon barrels adds a lot of sweetness and oak that differentiates it from Bushmill's and Jameson.  It does help me to forget that I am eating White Castle, which should only be consumed when you are drunk.


Grade: B-

The Kraken Rum

This product was received for review just in time, as the bottle that I had purchased for myself was almost empty.  That bottle was pretty much drained during last years Super Bowl by the $6 Million Dollar Man.  (Been a long time since I referenced my friends.)  This was an impressive feat, considering that he was having a kidney stone attack during the game.  For the uninitiated, The $6MMm man is a a walking, talking pile of replacement parts.  His left kidney has been replaced by a catalytic converter froma 1984 Chevy Monte Carlo.  His right kidney consists of a cheese cloth wrapped around a coffee press.  I'm guessing that it was a pretty big stone.

The Kraken is a spiced rum.  The natural thing to do is to compare it to the captain.  It's not as sweet, but it is spicier and more tannic.  Lets face it.  The captain is the Carson Palmer of rum; coasting on an unearned reputation, and at this point, we're not sure what team he's playing for.

Kraken & Cola.

Two shots of the Kraken
Ice
Top with cane sugar sweetened Cola (I'm using Coca Cola from Mexico)
Lime Wedge