Category — Bourbon

Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon is part of Four Roses’ core lineup of whiskeys that also includes the Small Batch and Yellow Label bourbons.  The “single barrel” designation means that the bourbon is pulled from single casks and bottled, rather than being a blended product from several barrels. Each bottle is hand-marked by the distiller to indicate the specific warehouse, cask and shelf where the bourbon was aged.

Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon is golden amber with a nose of peppery spice, fruit, citrus and oaky vanilla.  On the palate, the citrus notes are more prominent, with some orange coming through, plus some cherry flavors, caramel and more wood.  At 50% ABV, the whiskey packs a punch, but much of the alcohol hides behind the spice and never overwhelms the palate.  It finishes long and warm, with more peppery spice and some burnt wood notes that add a bit of bitterness.

While I typically make my Manhattans and Old Fashioneds with rye, I mixed up a couple drinks with the Four Roses.  The Single Barrel held its own, creating a couple of spicy, complex cocktails worth tasting.

Overall, Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon is quite good, and at about $35, it’s a pretty decent value.  The higher ABV may prove too intense for some—it’s nothing a bit of water can’t tame—but veteran bourbon drinkers will likely appreciate the punch.

Stats:
- 50% Alcohol by Volume
- $35

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In March, I spoke with Maker’s Mark Master Distiller Kevin Smith about the launch of the new Maker’s 46 bourbon.  Skip forward a few months, and Maker’s 46 has officially launched, hitting store shelves July 1st.  The release of Maker’s 46 marks two important points: 1) this is the first new Maker’s Mark product ever, and 2) I can finally stop nursing the sample I received in March.

Maker’s 46 starts out as regular Maker’s Mark bourbon, but at the point when the whiskey is typically bottled, it’s instead put into a holding tank while aged, seasoned oak staves are inserted into the original barrel.  The bourbon is then poured back into the barrel, now fitted with oak staves, and left to age for two to three more months until it reaches the flavor that Smith and President Bill Samuels set out to achieve when creating the Maker’s 46 flavor profile.

The profile they wanted was one of warmth and spiciness, but with the traditional bourbon sweetness and forward finish.  I’d say they hit what they aimed for, as Maker’s 46 is just that – spicy, with more of a bite than the original, but with all the characteristics of the original that Maker’s Mark fans expect.

Maker’s 46 is 94 proof, a slight increase from Maker’s Mark, which clocks in at 90 proof.  On the nose, it’s warm and toasty with some baking spices—like cinnamon and nutmeg—that remind me of the holidays.  Vanilla and caramel are also noticeable.  On the palate, Maker’s 46 is spicy and biting, in a good way, and still soft enough to hold on the tongue.  The toasted oak notes are very apparent, but they work within the whiskey, rather than dominate the flavor.  The signature Maker’s forward finish remains, but adds some spiciness as the flavor lingers on the tongue.

All in all, Maker’s 46 is quite good, and while it starts its life as original Maker’s Mark, it’s certainly different enough to warrant this new product.  The toasty spiciness will appeal to drinkers seeking a more aggressive bourbon, but the vanilla and caramel notes, along with that forward finish, should secure the allegiance of fans of the original.

Stats:
- 47% Alcohol by Volume
- $35

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After a call with Maker’s Mark President Bill Samuels in February, and receiving a sample in March, today I spoke with Master Distiller Kevin Smith about the new Maker’s Mark bourbon, called Maker’s 46, that will hit store shelves in July.

This is the first genuinely new product (Maker’s has experimented with different proofs and ages in the past) released by Maker’s since its first bottling in 1958.  According to Smith, he and Bill Samuels had a vision in mind when setting out to create their new bourbon, so rather than find a winner by trial and error, they put down a desired flavor profile on paper and got to work.

The new flavor profile is meant to appeal to drinkers who enjoy spicy ryes and aged bourbons, which typically boast a more aggressive bite than Maker’s.  Smith and Samuels envisioned a bourbon with a toasty warmth and spiciness, but they wanted the traditional bourbon sweetness and forward finish to remain.  So rather than starting from scratch, they started with a flavor they know well – Maker’s Mark.

Maker’s 46 begins its life as regular Maker’s Mark, but at the point when the bourbon is typically bottled, it’s instead placed into a holding tank, and 10 oak staves are inserted into the empty barrel.  Then, the bourbon is poured back into its original barrel, now fitted with oak staves, and left to age for two to three more months until it reaches the flavor that Smith and Samuels set out to achieve.

The oak staves were created by Brad Boswell, a self-proclaimed “wood chef.”  He started with aged, seasoned French white oak, and seared the staves at a high heat, trapping the vanilla and spice notes inside the wood.  Kevin Smith was quick to note that Boswell played a huge role in choosing and modifying the staves to give Maker’s 46 its desired flavor.

So how does it taste?  Quite good, actually.  On the nose, Maker’s 46 is warm and toasty with some holiday baking spices – cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg – as well as vanilla and caramel.  The bourbon is noticeably spicier, but still soft enough to hold on the palate, and the toasted oak notes are apparent without totally dominating the flavor.  The signature forward finish remains, and there’s a pleasant, lingering spiciness on the tongue.

Maker’s 46 clocks in at 94 proof and will retail for $10 more per bottle than regular Maker’s Mark.  Look for it on store shelves this July, and check out the video below for more on Maker’s 46.

Recently 30 booze experts tasted 1,024 premium spirits for the San Francisco World Spirits Competition.  Entries represented 58 countries and six continents.  Some winners are noted below.

Premium Awards

Distillery of the Year – Glenmorangie Distillery
Importer of the Year – Moët Hennessy USA
Best in Show, White – Trago Silver Tequila ($40)
Best in Show, Whisky – Isle of Jura Prophecy ($70)
Best in Show, Brandy – Père Magloire 20 Year Old Calvados ($100)
Best in Show, Liqueur – Grand Marnier 100th Anniversary ($135)

“Best of” Awards

Vodka – Chase ($40)
Flavored Vodka – Rain Organics Cucumber Lime ($21)
Gin – Beefeater 24 ($30)
Rum – Vizcaya VXOP Solera  ($38)
Extra-Aged Rum – Pusser’s 15 Year Old ($55)
Cachaça – Leblon ($30)
Reposado Tequila – Trago Reposado ($45)
Añejo Tequila – El Jimador Añejo ($30) and Mujer Bonita Añejo ($25) – TIE
Mescal – El Zacatecano Añejo Mescal ($42)
Bourbon – Elijah Craig Single Barrel ($40)
Canadian Whiskey – Seagrams VO ($23)
Irish Whiskey – Bushmills 1608 ($100)
Blended Scotch – The Grand Bark Equinoxe ($55)
Single Malt Scotch – Ardbed Single Malt ($85)
Armagnac – Comte de Lauvia 21 Year Old ($35)
Pisco – Pisco O Torontel ($35)
Cream Liqueur – Godiva White Chocolate ($30)

More info here – www.sfspiritscomp.com

With just a few days remaining before Valentine’s Day, I suppose it’s time to sort through some of these Valentine’s-themed emails.  There are lots of cocktail recipes in the mix, a testament that no matter your date status for the big day, you can always cozy up to a nice cocktail.

A couple drinks to kick things off –

Cupid’s Arrow

1 ½ parts Maker’s Mark
¼ part DeKuyper Crème de Cacao
¼ part DeKuyper Hazelnut Liqueur
Cream or half and half
Bar of chocolate for garnish

Shake Maker’s Mark, Crème de Cacao and Hazelnut Liqueur with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, and top with a thin layer of cream or half and half. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Aphrodite’s Ambrosia

1 part Maker’s Mark
¼ part Apricot Liqueur
6 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Proseco

Stir Maker’s Mark, Apricot Liquor and bitters with ice. Strain into a champagne flute, and top with cold Proseco.

And if drinks don’t excite you on Valentine’s Day, consider opting for a Naked Lady instead.

I delete a lot of emails.  Mail touting something irrelevant to this blog’s focus, like a book about the evils of drinking, goes straight into the trash.  Pitches about obnoxious new products, like yet another flavored vodka (“now infused with unicorn tears!”), gets a glance before being buried.  But a pitch titled “The world’s first beer, bourbon and BBQ cocktail” gets my rapt attention.  It’s not too often that three tenants of my diet are mixed into one drink.

Tom Fischer of BourbonBlog.com, along with Louisville mixologist Stephen Dennison, created the cocktail, which will be premiered at this weekend’s Beer, Bourbon and BBQ Festival in New York.

The cocktail blends a smoky barbeque water with Maker’s Mark and Evan Williams Honey Reserve, and is then topped off with some Hefeweizen foam.  I can’t vouch for the drink, having never tried it, but it’s certainly interesting.  Those attending this weekend’s festival in Manhattan can sample the cocktail at la.venue, where Tom will be playing bartender from 3:30 to 4:15 on Saturday, January 30.  Otherwise, just check out the recipe and video below.

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Cocktail

1 1/4 ounces Maker’s Mark Bourbon
1 ounce Evan Williams Honey Reserve
1 ounce BBQ water
Hefeweizen beer
1 Orange

To make BBQ water, combine a 19 ounce bottle of Jack Daniel’s Honey Smokehouse Barbecue Sauce with an equal portion of hot water in a mixing bowl. Whisk until incorporated, and let cool. Shake Maker’s Mark, Evan Williams Honey Reserve, BBQ water and a squeeze from a quarter of an orange with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Dry shake 1/4 bottle of Hefeweizen beer, and garnish top of cocktail with beer foam.

Once per month cocktail aficionados band together to create a booze-soaked collection of drink recipes for Mixology Monday.  This month’s host is Frederic of Cocktail Virgin Slut, who chose tea as the theme.  From Frederic –

Tea has played a historical role in cocktails for centuries. Perhaps the best documented early example was its inclusion in punches as part of the spice role to round out the spirit, sugar, water, and citrus line up…Find or concoct a drink recipe that uses tea or tisane (an herbal “tea” which lacks tea leaves) as an ingredient. This can be hot tea, cold tea, tea syrups, or infusions, and use it in a cocktail, punch, or other drink type.

After first attempting to pair a smoky añejo tequila with allspice-infused black tea, some bitters and an orange garnish, I moved onto green tea, and went the route of tea syrup.  To make my green tea simple syrup, I used a 1:1 ratio of Chinese green tea to sugar, boiling and stirring my way to a syrupy mixture that, quite honestly, tasted pretty decent on its own.  I then set about to pair my new green tea simple syrup with some booze.

I first associated green tea with lemon, which made me think of a whiskey sour, which in turn brought me to a Maple Leaf, a drink composed of bourbon, lemon juice and maple syrup.  Of late, I’ve been enjoying Urban Moonshine’s maple bitters in my Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, so I thought I’d give it a try in the whiskey cocktail laying itself out before me.

I wound up with the following drink, which I dubbed the Bourbon Tease.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces bourbon (I used Wild Turkey 101)
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 dashes maple bitters
1 bar spoon green tea syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.

The inclusion of maple bitters added a depth of flavor to this whiskey sour variant, and the sweet, herbal quality of the green tea syrup kept the tart lemon juice in check.  All in all, it made for a pretty tasty cocktail.

Rye whiskey is back, and in a big way.  The recently released 2010 edition of the Whisky Bible, the prominent whiskey book by Jim Murray, has named Kentucky’s 18-year-old Sazerac Rye  as the finest whiskey on the market.  It edged out Scotland’s second-place Ardbeg Supernova—which has dominated the awards for several years—and a relative newcomer to the mix, third-place Amret Fusion from Bangalore, India.

Jim Murray described Sazerac’s 18-year-old Rye as “reaching previously unknown heights,” and mentions that by being named the world’s top whiskey, Sazerac 18 has “set the bar for rye whiskey, and it will be fascinating in forthcoming years to see what is bottled to at least match it.”

Regarding Amret Fusion, Murray said, “It makes no matter where in the world a whisky is made. If it is magnificent, then it stands a chance of being recognized in the Whisky Bible Awards. Amrut has been bottling astonishing whisky for a few years now. But this particular bottling just made my hairs stand on end. It is hard to find a whisky with better balance. India has unquestionably arrived as a whisky nation.”

While many rare, expensive whiskies comprise the winners, there are several inexpensive, household names representing various categories.  For example, Johnny Walker Black Label was named best blended scotch aged 5-12 years, and Jim Beam Rye was awarded best rye aged 10 years or younger.

The full list of winners includes Murray’s top-rated whiskies from a pool of nearly 4,000 bottles.

With Thanksgiving nearly upon us and a slew of other holidays on the horizon, it’s time to pull out cocktails that you don’t make any other time of the year.  Drinks with ingredients like pumpkin puree and vanilla liqueur are acceptable and downright tasty during the judgment-free holidays, when festiveness trumps sensibility.

The below cocktail recipes utilize some seasonal flavors as families everywhere gear up for the holidays with a drink in hand.

Pumpkin Egg Nog

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Appleton Estate Reserve Rum
1/2 ounce Navan vanilla liqueur
1 ounce egg nog
1 ounce pumpkin purée
4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 bar spoon real maple syrup

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Optionally, add a topper of whipped cream.

Apple Pie Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 ounce white rum
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1 teaspoon Applejack brandy
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grenadine

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Maple Leaf

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces bourbon
1/2 ounce real maple syrup
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass.

Apple Pie Martini

Ingredients:

2 ounces apple cider
1.5 ounces Navan vanilla liqueur
1 ounce vodka
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1 pinch cinnamon

Shake all ingredients with ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

No drink quite embodies the Kentucky Derby like the Mint Julep, the classic concoction of bourbon, sugar and mint served in an iconic copper cup.  But another cocktail, simply known as The Derby, was created to commemorate the Kentucky Derby.  The below drink recipe is taken from The Bartender’s Guide by Trader Vic.

Ingredients:

1 ounce bourbon
1/2 ounce sweet vermouth
1/2 ounce orange curacao
3/4 ounce fresh lime juice

Directions:

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lime.