"spirits, whiskey" news and stories

Do not come between a Southern gent and his bourbon.

We learned this lesson at a recent NYC party when we observed a Mississippi native seize a bottle of Knob Creek, shake its last drops angrily into a cup and grab a bottle of pricey, small-batch Woodford Reserve only to be outraged to find this also nearly gone. "I knew I should have hidden the good stuff from these people!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the guests he'd invited to his home.

The cause of this maniacal outburst from a mild-mannered gent? Bourbon, and the thought of mixing it with store-bought gingerale. A wide-eyed belle from Jersey had ordered up a whiskey-and-ginger. Since only his finest was left, he delivered the bourbon abomination with a sigh, grumbling about "corn syrup on beautiful whiskey" in a thick accent en route.

Making a whiskey-n-ginger with the best bourbon in the house is where we -- who have certainly enjoyed a Jameson 'n ginger or (hic!) three -- would draw the line. But what does Chris Morris, master distiller at Woodford Reserve (the official whiskey of Derby Day) think?

Slashfood: "A party guest wants to combine supermarket gingerale with your excellent bourbon. Do you flip out?

Morris: "To be quite honest, I think whisky and gingerale is a great drink. Woodford Reserve has hints of ginger and a nice little citrus note and goes well with gingerale, a classic highball. Our response to anybody who thinks it's an insult is the question, 'Well, do you enjoy it?' If the answer is 'yes,' it's perfectly all right. We want make a great first impression, so if that person is a gingerale highball drinker, what better way than with Woodford Reserve in place of your regular bourbon?"

Hmm. Very interesting. What do y'all think:

The Luxury Institute has released its annual Luxury Brand Status Index (did you know that even luxury brands have their own status index?) for the wine and spirits category. The index is based on surveys of the wealthy, sampling more than 1,200 American consumers with an average weighted income of $342,000 and an average weighted net worth of $2.9 million. Here are the top-rated brands in each category:

Champagne and sparkling wine: Dom Perignon
Cognac: Courvoisier
Gin: Hendricks
Liqueur: Grand Marnier
Rum: 10 Cane
Scotch: Macallan
Table wine: Opus One
Tequila: Patron
Vodka: Grey Goose
Whiskey: Woodford Reserve

I've already expressed my unyielding love for the mint julep here on Slashfood. So I'm happy to announce that this years Tales of the Cocktail competition is based on none other than my beloved julep.

What's in it for you, bartenders? How about cash money and the honor of having your julep selected as the official cocktail of the 2009 Tales Of The Cocktail festival and published in the official recipe book by Mud Puddle books.

According to noted cocktail historian and one of the judges of the this competition, David Wondrich, bartenders should consider these definitions when creating their juleps:

- A Julep can be based on spirits, wine (or fortified wine) or a combination of the two.
- It must be made in a tall (10-14 oz) glass with cracked or shaved ice.
- It may contain citrus or other fruit juice, but only in a proportion not to exceed 1/8 of the total volume of liquid (not including ice).
- It must include fresh mint.
- It must contain sugar or some other sweetener.

For full rules and guidlines plus the entry form, follow this link to Cocktailtimes.com.

Oh, and if you haven't circled your calenders yet, this years Tales Of The Cocktail will be July 8 - 12th

There's a stigma attached to those who extol the virtues of proper glassware. But the fact is -- they're right. The vessel used for your drink will affect not only the liquid that's poured inside, but also the way it hits your tongue, and the flavor your taste buds register.

I used to blow this off as overly fastidious, fancy schmancy posturing. I hated getting pints of beer or glasses of soda because it always tasted flat to me. I preferred that crisp bite out of the bottle -- glass be damned!

But then I experienced the differences for myself. While visiting a winery a number of years ago, my friends and I sat in on a glassware class. A myriad of shapes and sizes were placed in front of us, and we tried white, red, and sparkling wine in the different glasses. Each tasted different as it was moved from the standard white glass, to the wider red, to the narrow flute. We were shocked, and we vowed to always try to have the right glass for the right wine, because what's the point of paying more for a good wine, if you can't experience its full flavor?

But it's not just a matter of wine. Recently, I was making dinner and decided to open a bottle of craft beer that I had loved at my favorite pub a few months prior. I popped off the cap, took a drink, and curled my lip -- it not only tasted nothing like I remembered, but I hated it. I thought back and remembered that I drank the beer at the end of the night. Did I have bad, delusional drunken taste buds? I read the side of the bottle, which suggested a specific stemmed glass. I found something close, poured it in, and it became the beer I remembered -- rich, full, and wonderful. Me, the bottle lover, had found a beverage that tasted much, much better out of the bottle.

Now this doesn't mean that you need to have a specific glass for every different type of beer or booze. Get the right glasses, or something very close, for your favorite beverages, and stick to standards for the rest.

Think about it -- why splurge on a great scotch, wine, beer, or other beverage if you're just going to throw it into any old glass?

Read on to see a rundown of the glasses that make each beverage pop, and consider this not only a great guide for your own collection, but an excellent gift for the liquor, wine, or beer fiend on your gift list.

When I was a kid, my family went on a trip to Scotland. Given my mother's deep appreciation for single malt scotch, a fair amount of my time in Edinburgh was spent wandering around with my sisters while my parents tried out some of the local tipples. Years later, when I went back on my own, my shallow financial resources kept me from following in my parents' footsteps, but I was able to try out some of the blended scotches. In addition to helping me make friends, the experience gave me a deep respect for Bell's blended scotch; unfortunately, I've never seen it for sale in the states.

Over the years, however, I've drank more than my share of single malt scotch and have found a few favorites and a few that I despise. Glen Garioch, for example, is so awful that I wouldn't even use it to clean out a wound.

While blended scotches generally are reasonably priced, I've found that, by and large, they are a little too harsh for my taste. Moreover, by the time you get up into the blends that don't taste like paint thinner, you're probably paying more than you would for a decent single malt. A fine case in point is Johnny Walker Blue, which is outrageous at $175 for a fifth.

Laphroaig is a fairly reasonable single malt. At $30 for a fifth, it is on the low end of the scale, yet still offers a delicious Islay flavor. On a particularly cool note, Laphroaig also has the "Friends of Laphroaig" society; to become a member, one need only send in a piece of the metal foil that surrounds the top of a bottle. In return, one gets a "lease" of one square foot of the island of Islay, rent for which is a dram of scotch, payable if you come to the distillery. Even if you don't show up, they send you a certificate and Christmas cards.

On a cheaper scale, Bowmore is an Islay single malt that costs a mere $17 a bottle. Similarly, Auchentoshan is a lowland single malt that also costs $17. Both are decent, tasty tipples that are almost ridiculously underpriced. Auchentoshan has a mellower, softer flavor, while Bowmore is a little peatier and more intense.

Finally, for those whose tastes tend more toward the Irish end of things, Powers Irish whiskey is nicely priced in the $20 range. It is a smooth, flavorful spirit that makes an outstanding Irish coffee. Of course, Jameson's or Bushmill's addicts will find this a tough sell, but it is definitely worth a try!