Bulleit Rye - The Miracle on 84th Street

April 18, 2013

Bulleit Rye - The Miracle on 84th Street

We know you love listening to us talk. Who could blame you? But the real whiskey experts in a city like New York are the bartenders. They hear us laugh. They watch us cry. They know just the right dram for our victories and defeats, our celebrations and lamentations. So today marks the first installment of our new series: 


Favorite Bartenders' Favorite Beasts

Today's heros are Tristan Colton of the legendary Upper West Side watering hole Prohibition and his hooch of choice: Bulleit Rye.

Ph.D, M.D., J.D., 7th Degree Black Belt, Six Sigma, Gold Medal, Nobel Prize-Winning Mixologist Tristan Colton



Pro


Pro is our kind of place.  They have a sexy red pool table in the back next to a private bar, martinis the size of small lakes, exceptional tuna tacos, and free live music every night.  On Fridays and Saturdays they have rock & roll cover bands and the place goes absolutely nuts.  (Don't miss the insanely kick-ass 90's tribute band The Pagers who are playing next Saturday 4/27).  The waitresses and bartenders can't be beat and the scene is laid-back and friendly.  It's a real neighborhood place where you'll make new friends and find yourself turning into a regular.



Whiskey

Tristan keeps a well-chosen head stash of bottles.  His current favorite: Bulleit Small Batch 95 Rye.

In Tristan's own words:

"Rye has only reemerged as a major whiskey contender in the last year or two. It was the country's leading liquor back before the Prohibition days, but then it sort of fell out of popularity to give way to bourbon and scotch. But for whatever reason, rye seems to be the new major trend in whiskey, so I've been having lots of fun drinking it.

I've been a big Bulleit Bourbon fan for years, so I was excited right away when they produced a rye, and it certainly met my expectations.

To be considered a rye, the whiskey has to include 51% of it's major grain. Bulleit Rye is a monster 95% rye, with just a touch of malted barley, which sets it a bit apart from other whiskeys. It's distilled in Indiana, but uses grains from all over and it's aged in charred white oak barrels for up to seven years.

I think what I like most about it is that it's just so well balanced. It has cherry, vanilla, oak, combined with cinnamon, black pepper, leather, and tabacco. You definitely get some sweet floral notes in the aroma, but it gives way to some serious spice, which I love. I usually just sip or even shoot it, but I've also created some great specialty cocktails because it mixes so well. It also makes for a pretty stellar Manhattan or Old Fashioned.

Overall, Bulleit Rye is a delicious whiskey, smooth enough to not be overpowering, but with the perfect gunpowder kick you'd expect from Bulleit."

Tasting Notes

Nose:  Tristan is right on the mark picking up on the strong vanilla and cherry flavors, followed by leather, tobacco, and oak.  

Body:  We get a pleasant bite here, the mellow burn that you expect from a rye.  Then we pick up on some sweet fruity notes.  Peaches?  Tangerines?  The bite is quick and then there's a late smoothness that comes with the fruit.  The butteriness, leather, and florals continue.

Finish:  The fire fades very quickly into a nice finish.  Here is the smoke, like burning wet birch where you can smell the bubbles and crackles of the wood.  Allspice, cloves, and cinnamon.  This is definitely a whiskey drinker's whiskey.  As with most rye it's not for the faint of heart.  But once you develop the taste for it, it's highly addictive.

The Miracle on 84th Street

Intrigued by this talk of specialty cocktails, we persuaded Tristan to mix up his favorite whiskey concoction. Low-and-behold we discovered The Miracle on 84th Street, a sweet and delicious rye cocktail of Tristan's own creation.  

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Bulleit Rye
1 oz Pama Pomegranate Liqueur
.5 oz Agave Syrup
.25 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram

Instructions:
Shake all ingredients together over ice.  Strain and serve up.  Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon.  

A miracle it is.  It's both spicy and sweet and would serve equally well as a winter warmer or a refresher on a summer day.  The warmth and smoke of the rye powers up the fruity elements for a result that's tasty by not overly sweet.  Be careful, we could see several of these going down all too easily and going straight to your head.

Thanks to Tristan and the gang at Prohibition.  Be sure to visit if you're in the neighborhood.  Good whiskey, good people, and good music are hard to beat.

Cheers!


/smokybeast





Review: Colonel E.H. Taylor Straight Rye - Tea is Boring, Let's Fight Over Whiskey!

April 11, 2013

Review: Colonel E.H. Taylor Straight Rye - Tea is Boring, Let's Fight Over Whiskey!

Tea is Boring

Returning from last week's jaunt to Paris, we find ourselves back in the good old US of A.

Reflecting on Americans values, we think most would agree that tea doesn't float our boats nearly as much as booze.  And speaking of which, did it ever strike you as odd that our big symbolic national rebellion against the British was the Boston Tea Party?  Sure, sure "no taxation without representation" yada yada...  But even in grade school, back when your faithful SmokyBeast authors were but young prepubescent whisky snobs, we found it hard to picture a bunch of rough-and-tumble pioneer Americans getting huffy and puffy over Earl Grey.  It seems very... well very British doesn't it?

There's a reason for this.  The fact is that most pre-Revolution Americans weren't actually paying a whole lot of cash in tea taxes.  That was a problem for the upper echelon: the city-dwellers, the import/export types that couldn't take a sack of flowers and stick it in some hot water on their own.  The majority of Americans, the farmers, didn't pay cash for tea.  They didn't pay cash for anything.  Because the currency of choice in Washington's time was... Drumroll please...  Rye whiskey.

Do You Take Hooch?

Yes the custom of the time was that farmers would take their extra crops, whatever wasn't used to feed family and village, and distill them into whiskey.  They'd learned the art of distillation from their rum and beer-bearing European immigrant relatives.  Rye whiskey became a common currency for barter amongst the colonialists.  It lasted forever, took up less space than grain, and well...  tasted delicious and got you drunk.  Seems like a no-brainer.  Can you imagine if all your financial transactions were conducted in booze?  It would make for a very interesting day. 

Brass Tacks

So tea party / schmea party, the real business came after the war.  Washington's generals had returned to their home turf.  Many became captains of industry.  One such hero of the Revolutionary War was Commodore Richard Taylor.  He was the father of two things:  The distillery that would eventually be called George T. Stagg and then Buffalo Trace, and also, less importantly, the 12th President of the United States, Zachary Taylor.  But never mind that, let's talk about the whiskey. 

After the US was won, Washington faced the challenge of forming a new government.  In order to do this, he needed cash.  His homeboy (and Treasury Secretary) Alex Hamilton had a bright idea: tax whiskey.  

The Whiskey Rebellion

Well low-and-behold Washington's old war buddies didn't like that very much.  In fact they were so PO'd, that they dusted off the muskets and decided that they'd take up arms against Old George, 'Father of Our Nation' or not.  It would be pretty much like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera heading off to beat up Joe Torre.
Well off they went, figuring that they'd called GW's bluff and he'd call off the tax and leave them be.  But for all his puffy pants and wooden teeth, Washington actually wasn't messing around.  He rounded up 13,000 troops, and rode right at the head of the militia to suppress his war-buddies-turned-booze-rebellers.

It turned out that it was the farmers who were bluffing.  When they saw Washington roll up with the Governors of Virginia and Maryland, and thousands of troops ready to throw down, they packed up and headed home.  And since then taxes have been as familiar to whiskey as hangovers and one-night stands.  As a matter of fact when Washington retired, he started his own distillery and *evidently* paid taxes on every barrel of rye he produced.

Fast forward two generations and another Taylor was at the helm of Buffalo Trace, Colonel E.H.  Today we drink a rye bearing his name, that supposedly follows the original family recipe.

Colonel E.H. Taylor Straight Rye




Tasting Notes

Nose: Rich BBQ, mesquite, smoked ham, sweet honeyed sauce.  Warm and mellow, very enticing aroma.  This is going to sound weird, but when you combine honey, smoked meat, and spice, altogether it smells like perfume.  Chanel  No 5.

Body:  Extremely smooth for this high-test hooch.  Sweet corn and rye.  Lovely buttery, smoky, and spicy.  A bit of raisins or prunes on the tail end.

Finish:  Short heat followed by very well balanced mellow aftertaste.  At 100 proof, we didn't even think about ice/water/chaser, and that's a rare statement.

The Review

For around $70-$80 for the whole line this was a very pleasant surprise.  A solid SmokyBeast "A-".  Anything this smooth at this proof is doing something right!  Maybe it's the spring weather, but we're feeling very 'git your boots on' at the moment.  The brusk cowboy / gun-toting patriot feel of rye whiskey is just the ticket.  It makes you want to breathe in deep, dig in your spurs, and drink something that makes your belly warm and your aim sharp.  Try this beast neat before you head for a splash of water.  You know you want to.

God bless America.  /SmokyBeast
Review: Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel  - A Brief History of Bourbon

April 4, 2013

Review: Elmer T. Lee Single Barrel - A Brief History of Bourbon





Louie Louie

When we left off in our story about whiskey, George Washington was stocking up on rye to warm his troops at Valley Forge in preparation for a long campaign against the British.  There was another part of this story, happening across the Atlantic, that would eventually lead to a lovely sauce called bourbon.

Louie
When you think of bourbon, you don't usually think about guys like Louie.  But you should.  Because bourbon was named after him.  Louie XVI was King of France from 1754 to 1793.  Yep, right at the same time GW and Paul Revere were lighting the lanterns and packing the muskets.  Louie turned out to be one of our greatest allies in the Revolutionary War.  No, he wasn't a huge American Idol fan, he just hated the British.  After all he'd just lost Louisiana and most of his West Indian colonies to Spain and England in the Seven Years' War.  He saw the American Revolution as a handy way to get some quick revenge.  He began secretly sending arms and supplies to Washington's army in 1776.  In 1778 he officially joined the fight by signing the Treaty of Alliance.  The rest is history.

Louie's family was The House of Bourbon.  After the revoluion, a huge swath of southwestern Virginia territories across both sides of the Ohio River was named Bourbon County in appreciation of Louie's help during the war.  Seven years later, in 1792, the State of Kentucky was formed, and Bourbon County split off from Virginia to become northeastern Kentucky.  That large region was later cut up into many smaller ones, and the original territory became known as "Old Bourbon".

Git Us S'more O' That Old Bourbon

The main trading point in the country at this time was New Orleans.  Barrels of whiskey came from all over the country to New Orleans.  The barrels being made in Bourbon County, Kentucky had "Old Bourbon" stamped on the side.  They also had another unique feature.  They spent weeks or months slowly drifting down the Ohio River sitting in charred oak barrels.  By the time they got to The Big Easy, they were warm and mellow and very drinkable.  People started asking for this whisky by name. First "Old Bourbon" and then just "Bourbon".

What Is Bourbon?

To be called "Bourbon", whiskey must fill the following criteria:
  • Made from a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn
  • Aged in new, charred-oak barrels
  • Distilled to no more than 160 proof (80%)
  • Entered into the barrel for aging at no more than 125 proof (62.5%)
  • Bottled at 80 proof or more (40%)

Founding Fathers

There are a number of major players in the bourbon story, and we plan to give them all their due in coming reviews.  Baptist preacher Elijah Craig is credited with inventing the charred oak barrel.  Evan Williams opened the first legal commercial distillery.  Jacob Beam invented sour mash.  Robert Samuel's secret family recipe penned in 1783 is the longest continually running operation, today known as Maker's Mark.  Then there are generations of descendants, folks like Baker Beam, Booker Noe, Major Benjamin Blanton, Julian "Pappy" van Winkle, Basil Hayden, and Thompson Willett.

Buffalo Trace

Today we're going to follow one such line of bourbon making, and it begins right there on the river with oak barrels of "Old Bourbon" cruising their way down to New Orleans.  In 1792 Commodore Richard Taylor builds Riverside House, a residence and later a warehouse for bourbon as it is loaded onto riverboats.  The paths they use to wheel the barrels down to the river were carved by buffalo herds, aka the Buffalo Trace.

Elmer
Three generations later, Colonel E.H. Taylor founds the first commercial distillery at the Riverside House facility.  Ten years later Colonel Taylor sells the distillery to George T. Stagg.  Taylor stays along as the manager.  Around the turn of the century, Albert Blanton (later to become Colonel Blanton) joins the distillery at age 16 as an office boy.  By the start of prohibition, he is president of the distillery.  In 1949, Elmer T. Lee joins the distillery.

The Line

If these names sound familiar, it's because they all bear the labels of Buffalo Trace's
top-shelf single barrel bourbons.  Blanton's is one of our favorite bourbons that you can reliably find in bars.  They also make a range of Blanton's including a 'gold' 'silver' and 'barrel proof' which are getting more difficult to find.  Colonel E.H. Taylor is a top-shelf bottling of both bourbon and rye (review pending).  George T. Stagg was a powerhouse cask-strength bourbon that was so popular last year it's nearly impossible to find today.

Elmer T. Lee is still alive at 91 years old and is the man responsible for bringing single barrel bourbon into the market.  He created and launched most of the above products.  As a fitting tribute, Buffalo Trace launched a sweet, hand-picked single barrel line with Elmer's namesake.

Well enough history, how's it taste?




Tasting Notes

Nose:  Walnuts and pecans.  Like a top-shelf jar of mixed nuts.  Floral overtones here like lilacs and tulips.  Heavy leather, maybe some wood polish / lemon Pledge type aroma.  A nice balance of spirit, wood, and spice.

Body:  In an Islay scotch, we look for the balance of burn and smoke.  If it's well put-together, you know you're tasting a strong whisky, but the smoke takes away all the burn, so that you are left with the flavor of the booze without the fire in your throat.  Elmer does the same thing with sweetness.  You know you're tasting a strong bourbon, but the sweet molasses, honey, and lemon candy takes all the burn away.  The balance is awesome.

Finish:  All the elements come together.  A very nice warmth, some remnants of honey and citrus on the palate.  Some more of the lilacs around the corner of the mouth.

The Review

This isn't what we'd think of as a sophisticated whiskey.  There aren't layers upon layers of flavors revealing themselves.  There aren't complex elements that only come out after it opens up for ten minutes and you're on your second or third taste.  On the other hand we could absolutely drink Elmer's Single Barrel all day (and all night!).  It's a simple, delicious, and straightforward bourbon.  Elmer seems to know what he likes - a sweet, smooth, tasty, well-balanced whiskey that will make a lot of friends.  Another thing to keep in mind: this bottle cost $30.99 at Astor!  It's a tremendous value, and at that price earns a SmokyBeast "A-".  You just can't go wrong with this bourbon, for veteran beastmasters and first time whiskey drinkers alike.   It was a great place to start our historic journey into bourbon.  Stay tuned for more Kentucky heros coming soon!  /SmokyBeast