June 2010 'Independence Day - Almost' (24th)

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Ok so its 10 days early, but we are celebrating the 4th of July with a tasting of America's finest whiskies.

This is your chance to tell us what you would like to see and taste from distilleries large and small in the US.

Please also let us know if you have any bottles the society might be interested in opening for this tasting.

Thanks Y'all

[jcskinner]

I'm more curious about their whiskeys than their bourbons, although I won't complain if I get to try some new bourbons that aren't sold here.
But really the microdistilling thing has taken off in the States more than anywhere, and I'd be very in favour of promoting the artisan.
There are small distilleries making whiskey from Oregon to New York and in many other states too. Not easy to source here, of course. But we've got time to track them down.

[DavidH]

I don't know nothin' about nothin' but I am curious to try the all-rye Old Potrero.

[Fionnán]

Old Potrero's made in San Francisco across the bridge from my school and probably wouldnt be too difficult for me to get ahold of at all. I'll be in Dublin by June so i can always bring it over with me

[jcskinner]

Any aged rye would be a treat, but OP does seem to get a tremendously good press.
Despite myself, I'd be intrigued to try their recreations of early American whiskeys too. I know it's only marketing guff, but they're still intriguing experiments, and there is a little validity to the claims they make.
I hear good things about Stranahan's in Colorado too. Located next to a microbrewery I think. They've won some awards recently.
Along similar lines, Tuthilltown in New York do a range of whiskeys, including a couple of ryes and four grain bourbon. One of the ryes is allegedly a recreation of the whiskey used in the original Manhattan cocktail. More guff, of course, but they're an artisan operation and the products, though young, are very interesting.
I have a bottle of McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt, which I picked up at its only European retail outlet, McCarthy's in Amsterdam last Autumn, which the society can have if they want for this tasting. I tasted it in Holland and it's like a very young, feisty, fiery Islay. Tons of smoke, which normally I'm not that impressed by. But it was good stuff.
I've had a couple of corn whiskeys in the past, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend the experience except as a learning one.
And I never appreciated the cloying vanillan quality that comes from the Lincoln County Process in Tennessee whiskey, but that's just me.
Bourbons easily warrant a night all to themselves, perhaps. But it all comes down to what we can source and what people would like to try.

[Fionnán]

in terms of bourbon, i've always been a fan of bulleit bourbon and woodford reserve if the society is interested in either. Tuthiltown whiskeys are sold here readily enough but they're pretty outrageously priced for the quality

[jcskinner]

That's the bind with young distilleries or indeed old, small distilleries sometimes.
They have to get product to market early to bring in revenue. Certainly, I've seen even new spirit being sold by start up distilleries in Europe for eyebrow-raising sums of cash.
But do tell us more. Have you ever tried any of the Tuthilltowns? What were they like in your experience?

[Fionnán]

I really like their manhattan rye whiskey. like you said yourself, corn whisky's a curious experience but its pretty greasy stuff. they also have a whisky marked as a single malt but i have no idea how they make it as they dont use pot stills in the first place, they use these strange ex-calvados type stills that still work in batches.

[jcskinner]

Calvados stills? That's a bit exotic alright. I never knew that.
I had a bottle of Mellow Corn once that tasted like a mouthful of whiskey-flavoured oil. Platte Valley was better, I thought.
In terms of different grains, rye would the the big American one for me. But I'd be really curious to try Berheim's wheat whiskey too.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Just to give you an idea of the limited choice of American whiskies in Ireland, this would be considered a good selection... also shows what we can get here...

http://www.drinkstore.ie/store/category ... E%29Y/USA/

So Fionnain how many bottles can you carry!!!! legally of course>>>

And there is also the Duty Free selection !?*#

[TheWhiskeyBro]

I'd love to try the award winning Sazerac Rye 18yo, something from Michtners or possibly even a Willett Kentucky Bourbon... need to bow to those who have actually tasted some of these

[JohnM]

Old Protrero is very good, I think. Lots of anise. Rittenhouse Rye is very cheap, except in Ireland. It's supposed to be very good, as is their 25-year-old version.

[JohnM]

There's also this one - http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-11216.aspx

And here's the range of American whiskeys at The Whisky Exchange - http://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/C-33.aspx

[IainB]

Here's what I can make available:

Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof
Elijah Craig 12yo Bourbon - From the older distillery - I forget the details but it's now made somewhere else
McCarthy's Single Malt - Something different

Let me know if you want any of these.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Hi there, I have obtained these bottles for the June tasting....

Blantons Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Eagle Rare 10yo Kentucky Straight Bourbon

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Note to organiser,

Any thoughts on what whiskies you are considering for this tasting?

Would love to hear some thoughts on what your planning, also Fionnan earlier in this thread offered to bring some whiskey from the states...

[rathbeggan]

Hi folks,

I'm the organiser. Sorry I've been tardy about posting on the tasting.

A lot of people in Ireland aren't familiar with US whiskey, so I was going to include a couple of mainstream whiskies (both these are spelt "whisky", funnily enough), which I can provide:

Maker's Mark Red Seal
George Dickel No 12 (brown label rather than black)

The suggestions below were all great. I was going to go for a rye and was thinking of Rip Van Winkle, but if IainB has the Rittenhouse that would be good too.

I've never tried the Old Portero and would love to have a go if someone has a bottle. I'd also love to try the McCarthy which jcskinner and IainB have both kindly offered.

That means we need one or two more out of Blanton's, Eagle Rare and Elijah Craig from whiskeybro and IainB.

As a wrap up at the end, I was thinking of some US whiskey cocktails - I've made Whiskey Sours but would like to try Mint Juleps or Manhattans or a Bronx. Would that offend any purists? I could use the Dickel or Maker's Mark for that , which which allow me to drop one of those for another more specialist bottle. Would we have to clear any cocktail making with the hotel?

Any views on the above? It would be useful to meet those of you who have offered bottles, say in the week or so before the tasting, so I/we could do some notes before hand.

So, in summary my proposal is ...

1 Dickel
2 Maker's Mark (either 1 or 2 might be used for cocktails)
3 Rittenhouse
4 McCarthy
5 Old Portero (if available)
6 One or two from Blanton's/Eagle Rare/Elijah Craig
and cocktails to finish

Looking forward to comments!

Regards,
L

[IainB]

You can take it that the Elijah Craig 12 and the Rittenhouse Rye 100 proof will be available.

[jcskinner]

You can have the McCarthy's, no problem.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

And the Blanton's, Eagle Rare are both available also... cheers

[DavidH]

Regarding cocktails, I am certainly curious to know what a Whiskey Sour or Manhattan, say, tastes like. I'd suggest keeping the logistics as simple as possible with pre-measured quantities, for example, and perhaps not bothering with anything that needs to be muddled. It takes time to distribute samples to a full room so something that can be made quickly in the appropriate volume would be a help.

[jcskinner]

Regarding cocktails, I am certainly curious to know what a Whiskey Sour or Manhattan, say, tastes like.

Perhaps order one in a bar sometime?
Not trying to be funny, but...

It takes time to distribute samples to a full room so something that can be made quickly in the appropriate volume would be a help.

Which is why I'd suggest sticking with straight whiskey samples.

[DavidH]

Perhaps order one in a bar sometime?

Heh, yes. It still wouldn't come with a commentary on popularity, variations, history etc, though.

If the presenter wants to illustrate a point about how whiskey is typically enjoyed in the US then I think it's quite educational and a fun twist on the usual format.

I don't mind either way. Happy to listen to whatever the presenter wants to tell me.

[jcskinner]

Cool, if people are happy to assist in the set-up.
I'm just aware that it does take a lot of work to set the room up for a tasting as it is.
I'd certainly be keen to at least hear about some popular whiskey cocktails in a US context.
Perhaps whiskey cocktails could be a night of its own at some point?

[Michael Foggarty]

Im around on the 24th so could assist with the cocktails essentially you could make up a whisky sour and hand it out in under 5 mins, the Julep takes a little longer, but instead of the muddling, infusing the mint into the whisky the day before, the only problem is the crushed ice required.

Id suggest making a whisky sour at home its is easy, just take a lemon and cut it into wedges.
Shake about 3 or 4 wedges with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 measure of whisky with cubes of ice and serve over ice in tumbler, now you can go down the egg white road to add foam to the drink, but health and safety issues these days!