A foray into Bourbon

Bourbon is a multi-billion dollar industry and is growing quickly. The distillers near where I live are putting up rickhouses about as fast as new homes. There must be something to this, right? Time to explore.

I’ve been a beer drinker for a very long time. From the earliest days splitting a 6-pack with my best friend in his grandma’s garage, to today. The only change is that I’ve moved away from Miller Lite to something with a bit more flavor. I’ve also got a different goal these days and it has less to do with putting large amounts of alcohol in my belly and more about enjoying the flavor of somebody’s work.

My only issue these days is that good beer often causes me some, umm, tummy troubles. Yeah, that’s not a good thing. So, what alternatives are there? I’ve explored wine and have a decent grasp of it, but what about whiskey?

I’ve mixed quite a few cocktails in my day. The booze is just part of the mix and the flavors meld together. Mixed drinks are wonderful and there is certainly room for being creative in that sphere. Would you drink some of the booze used in them strait? How about a nice shot of coconut rum? Do you care about the subtle flavors of Captain Morgan? Methinks, no.

How about Bourbon? Sure you can mix it into a cocktail, with the Kentucky Mule being my favorite, but what about it alone? Strait. Poured from bottle to glass and glass to your lips for a sip? Savoring the flavor notes in the whiskey, as you would a fine wine or beer. What’s that all about?

My dad and my brother in law are sippers from way back. They know the distillers and brands. They know that a particular distiller might use the same mash recipe for a couple of different brands or labels, but will tap older and newer barrels to create a blend that is just right for that brand. They know the players involved in the industry and the rich history of Kentucky Bourbon.

I’m not like them. I’ve not spent the time to learn these things. This hobby is not yet mine, but…perhaps it is time. Become a Bourbon snob? No, well, perhaps maybe just a bit.

My first tastes of Bourbon were decades ago with Jim Beam. This is the 4 year white label stuff. I drank it as shots, so like Miller Lite, the goal was the alcohol, not the flavor. Over the years, that’s what I considered Bourbon and was love and hate with it.

Then one Christmas, my dad got out some of the good stuff. He poured a bit of it into a glass, and poured some Jim Beam into another glass. He suggested I taste them and compare. I’m glad I did the good stuff first, because while it was full of alcohol heat, it had some smokiness and vanilla and perhaps caramel flavors. The Beam was pretty much strait harsh heat, with kind of a smoke aftertaste. I can say that I still didn’t care much for sipping Bourbon at that time, but I did learn a bit about it. I finished off them off over ice, which diluted them. I wasn’t a fan.

During a trip to WDW a few years ago, I decided to try a Kentucky Mule. Normally, it is made of Bourbon, lime juice, and ginger beer and served over ice. The WDW version is:

Kentucky Mule
Buffalo Trace Kentucky Straight Bourbon, fresh Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar topped with Ginger Beer

It was so good that I had to have another one, and like I said, it has become my favorite Bourbon cocktail.

I wanted to make them at home. I don’t stock Bourbon at home, so a trip to the store was required. I was at Costco and decided to peruse the attached liquor store (Kentucky requires hard liquor and wine to be separate from groceries). In addition to some very nice Riesling and Moscato wines, I ran across this:

10 Year Bulleit Bourbon.

It was good, and made for a nice Mule. It wasn’t cheap, though at $35 for 750ml. This stuff was meant for sipping, not mixing. So on the next trip to Costco:

Standard Bulleit

That’s a very large bottle for just a little more money than the 10 year. By large, I mean 1.75 liters compared to 750 ml. This became my house Bourbon, mainly because it was cheap. It makes a good mule, and mixes with coke nicely.

You can see, I’ve put some hurt on those two bottles. To be truthful, that’s the second large bottle I bought and I’m getting close to perhaps buying another. For $38, yeah that will do.

I enjoyed the Bulleit for about a year, but it was time to broaden the horizons a bit. I picked up an Elijah Craig because I wanted something that was a known good sipping Bourbon. I’d had it before and it was smooth with some nice subtle flavors.

It is a bit spendy, but well worth it.

Elijah Craig Small Batch has a nice smokiness, with several wonderful flavors behind it. I’m saving it for special occasions.

I spoke with my brother in law, who is a manager at a liquor store and mentioned that I enjoyed the Bulleit and he paused and delicately said, “I’m not a huge fan. Something about it just seems off.” I said, “Well, ok, what would you suggest?”

He pointed out several that he enjoys, including his current house Bourbon. I looked at each of them, and settled on four bottles to try.

Yep, its empty.

The first was Henry Mckenna. My brother in law said he bought a bottle because it was cheap and might make a good mixer Bourbon. At $14 for 750ml, I was sold. He also mentioned that he was surprised at how good it was and that it was a decent sipper.

I can confirm all of the above. I liked it well enough that I finished the bottle. Is it super awesome great? No, but for $14 it will do nicely. It does mix well and was decent over ice.

Next came one that a friend of mind told me about. It is a favorite of a friend of his, to the point that he only orders it when at a bar.

Larceny?

Larceny. Yeah, that’s a gimmicky name. I could joke that it lives up to its name, and buying this stuff was highway robbery. However, I’ll put it down as decent and at a decent price of about $20. Nice smoke flavor and not a lot of alcohol burn. When this bottle is gone, I doubt I’ll buy another. Better than Jim Beam? You betcha!

*Update Feb 1, 2019* I wrote the above from my memory, which can be faulty at times. I gave it another go and I quite enjoyed it as a sipping bourbon and as a mixer. As with many things, go try it out and decide for yourself.

Next comes a bottle that I’ll not use for mixing.

Buffalo Trace, single barrel

My brother in law works a decent sized chain of liquor stores, and he pointed out one that the store picked out for themselves from Buffalo Trace. This bottle came from a single barrel of Bourbon. This is unusual, because usually Bourbon is blended with other barrels to make sure the product going in the bottle is consistent to the brand. This is one of those one-of-a-kind type things. There were a limited number of bottles filled from this barrel.

I like this one. Buffalo Trace is some good stuff. I’ve only either sipped it or had it over ice. I’ll need to spend a little more time with it to pick out the exact flavors.

Finally, just because so many of my online friends are into it, I had to get one of these:

Leadslingers

Ok. This is a cultural thing with some of the communities I rub shoulders with. I’ve got friends who are current or former military. I’ve got others who are into guns like I am. In our culture, this is an icon. It is produced by veterans, and they spend a portion of the proceeds for good causes.

I fully expected this stuff to be…well, not great. I figured it was more marketing than good quality. My people tend to get caught up in things as a cultural rallying point. We buy Black Rifle Coffee, and we buy Leadslingers. Both are veteran owned. Often times these things don’t live up to the hype.

Boy was I wrong. This stuff is smoooooth, with some nice flavors along with it. It was great sipping strait, over ice, and mixed as a mule and with coke. It was dangerously good and my first experience with it pushed me a little past my normal one or two and done for the night. I had….a few. I’ll be buying some more of this stuff and it will always have a place on my shelf.

My only gripe with it is that they called it Bourbon, and yet it isn’t made in Kentucky. Let’s call it Bourbon-style and let it go.

So, that’s my first dive into Bourbon. I’ve not gotten into the specific flavors in each one. I’m not yet a snob, but give me time. There is a palete to develop. I do plan on getting some Four Roses, Woodford Reserve, Maker’s Mark, and several more to try. My dad is a fan of W. L. Weller, mainly because there is a family link to it. I should get some.

I plan on doing the full Bourbon Trail one day, just perhaps not all in the same day. The have tastings at each of them.