Happy Repeal Day?!

Posted on by Scotch N Sniff

Good day whisky lovers!!!

Last night was an incredible time at the legendary Jack Rose Dining Saloon in DC where the entire bar celebrated the repeal of prohibition a short 84 years ago! The entire ordeal of prohibition (and really the current secondary whisk(e)y market) is a great demonstration of the futility of laws against free will but that philosophical conversation should be saved for another time. 😉

Jack Rose was looking as incredible as ever even with a Christmas tree obstructing the bottle view. It only looks empty because being the NERD that I am, I love being first to events like this. Getting to soak the atmosphere in from pin drop quiet to across the table yelling about the effects of wood on the spirit of whiskey absolutely cracks me up inside.

Here is the motley crew that I was seated with tonight. Two friends and a handful of friends-of-friends that were all here to drink whiskey and learn new things. Lucky for us, the wealth of knowledge in JR surprises me EVERY TIME. I mean, yes, I carry around a lot of whiskey information in my head but holy moly do some people carry even more!

(Being a scotch lover, I couldn’t help but order a scotch egg appetizer. It wasn’t as good as haggis covered goodness I had at The Classroom in Nairn, but it wasn’t bad considering haggis is banned in the states.)

My buddy Sean really wanted to try a Willett flight so he could figure out which Willett he’d like to find and buy so I suggested that he talk to the owner, Bill Thomas, who is a rabid Willett fan. So we did!

Bill, who introduced himself as “just an employee” dropped giant knowledge bombs on us about the history of Willett, single barrel picks, and even some details about the preprohibition whiskey that he had acquired for the night. It was humbling to hang with another enthusiast who is just as excited about whiskey but with ten times the knowledge!

I had this boring flight above so I could answer the questions that I get all the time on instagram about the Basil Hayden Dark Rye and the Joseph Magnus Cigar Malt Blend. The Van Winkle 12 Lot B was on sale and ironically, I’d never tried it… so I got that too!

The Basil Hayden Dark Rye actually contains a portion of port wine in it and that seems to translate into a cough syrup-y thick mess of sweetness shrouded in a touch of rye. Some of the folks who’d never had whisky in this capacity loved it. It was just too sweet for my palate. It was like a speysider on sugar steroids even with the rye spice finish. The Van Winkle 12 Lot B was a pleasant noser but is so far from the 15 and 23 mark that it was hard to take it seriously. The fact that it fetches more than four times it’s SRP on the secondary is mind boggling.

Our Whiskey Somm made some great suggestions and did a great job of helping folks pick the directions of their flights. I was impressed with all of his suggestions but one… but it’s amazing that our palates were even that closely aligned when it came to picking whiskies for the noobs in the group. The best recommendation he made was the try the Monticello PreProhibition Maryland Rye…

I surprised a few of the friends at the table when I told them to look for the smell of cream when they nosed it… I wasn’t trying to autosuggest flavors but it was so rich in cream on the nose and the palate that I was blown away. Something about a hundred year old whiskey being so vibrant was so impossible and so amazing at the same time.

The exact notes I typed into my phone read: “Notes of cream on the nose. The rye is subtle and veiled behind strong caramel. The palate is incredibly soft. Holy soft vanilla hiding behind the lightest spices. It’s still creamy. The rye spices bring up the rear in a light and inoffensive way. A second sip and that candied sugar center is ridiculous. The finish lingers for dayyyyyys.”

The raw sugar and cream blend kept making me think of how awesome coffee would be if it could have its bitterness balanced by this incredible hooch. *drool*. At $40 a pour, it’s pricey but it’s worth it to try at least once in your life!

There was ONE more bottle that got brought to the table by Bill but we’ll save my feelings on it for another blog post. Let’s just say the current version of this companies offerings and their offerings from 30 years ago are miles apart. Which is great if you were alive to enjoy the better version 30 years ago…

So Slainte! Cheers! Kanpai!

Have a great day and remember… prohibition is bad, mmmmkay.

BACKROOM Bourbon review

Posted on by Scotch N Sniff

This blend of Bourbon straight whiskeys from District Distilling Co. seems to have popped up out of nowhere. One day I walk into my local liquor store and see the regular old faces, the next day I see this bright orange label staring back at me. I try to support local people whenever I have the chance and I noticed that this company is basically right down the street from where I live. So I think, let’s give it a go!

Processed with Snapseed.
BACKROOM Bourbon

C: The color is vivid orange, like the label, with bright spots around the edges. There is sediment in my glass, which looks like barrel char, but the bottle doesn’t state whether it’s non-chill filtered, chill filtered or filtered period.

N: Surprisingly enough, even at 48.5% abv, I can still stick my nose straight into the glass and smell nothing but sweet fig, toffee and caramel goodness. Not quite sure of what the mash bill is for the bottle, the company is going to email us with a response, but it definitely smells like it has a high corn ratio and definitely some spice richness from rye. We’ll have to update this post as soon as we hear back. Continuing to nose, I get black licorice, not something that I normally find while nosing whisk(e)y but this one sticks out. A little bit of toasted oak and then more of the vanilla sweet stuff. The nose is a little short and one-sided and maybe needs some time or water to open it up.

Processed with Snapseed.
BACKROOM Bourbon

P: Initial taste is a soft-ish floral vanilla sweetness and spice, slow to build in the mouth. Second sip reveals a little tobacco mixed with light brown sugar. The mouth feel is light and a soft creaminess develops as it coats my palate. All of the flavor, spice and warmth seem to be lingering right at the front of my mouth, leaving the mid-palate and back of my mouth as if I haven’t sipped anything. Peculiar.

F: Short. Stronger oak replaces the sweetness and licorice type spice. A little burn continues under the front of my tongue, but again, silence in the background. A little bit of water added to the glass reveals more minty characteristics and brings out oaky woodiness a little more, without the wood-sour aspect that water can sometimes do.

Processed with Snapseed.
BACKROOM Bourbon a blend of straight bourbon whiskeys

The website says that this bourbon is perfect on ice or in your favorite cocktail. I would completely agree with that. It has a strong enough flavor to withstand vermouth, lemon juice or even mint. I purchased this bottle for $45 and if I had a decision to purchase this bottle of “local” bourbon or some other $45 bourbon, I would buy this Backroom Bourbon again. I can’t wait to try something that District Distilling Co. distills on their own though, that’ll be the true test.

[Scotch]

One Eight Distillery: Untitled Whiskey No. 1 review

Posted on by Scotch N Sniff

One Eight Distillery

One Eight Distillery: Untitled Whiskey No. 1

A little bit of history about the distillery, One Eight Distillery is a newcomer to the beverage scene in DC located in the rough parts of Ivy City. A mostly industrial and very poor part of the city, has seen some resurgence through gentrification and some brave new businesses. One Eight’s first foray into aged whiskey is called “Untitled Whiskey No. 1” and it comes from 9 year old rye distilled by the MGPI distillery in Indiana, which has been around since 1847 by way of various owners. There are many companies that have used the hooch created by MGPI, High West, Willett and Templeton Rye to name a few tasty ones. One Eight Distillery then takes that 9-year rye and ages it for another 3 months in 30-year-old Oloroso Sherry casks. Then they bottle it up and slap a label on it. How is it, you ask?

Color:

A reddish tint to a very medium grade honey. You could very easily pick up the bottle and think it was a very thin maple syrup

Nose:

It has a prominent blast of rye spice right up front. Vanilla and caramel creep up lightly behind the spice, along with sweet tobacco. The addition of water brought out a beautiful caramel and vanilla flower perfume and reduced the spice notes.

Palate:

The rye spice fills the mouth and is then met with dried orange peel, slightly peppery and cooling menthol tobacco. A very hearty whiskey at a very well controlled 52.5%. The sweetness no doubt brought into play by the Sherry cask finishing. The addition of water didn’t really make a positive difference to the whiskey. It seemed to water it down and thin its flavor.

Finish:

After tasting while nosing, I can feel that my lips are sticky and noticeably sweet. It doesn’t have a sweet finish but rather a sustained mellow sweetness. The rye spice continues for a good while. The combination of the sweetness, spice and heat make a pretty darn good whiskey. I’ve tried a lot of the beers, breads, and booze that have come out of DC and claimed the district as their home but this has to be the best representative I’ve had. The interesting rye spice and Sherry finish make this a bottle to look out for if you ever see it at your local stores.

Scotch Out.

Slainte Mhath!