I don’t like young whiskey. At best you get an interesting tropical banana flavor, and at worst your tongue feels like someone put a match out on it. That’s what I’d tell people before drinking the Colorado Whiskey. Distillery 291 has caused me to enjoy the flavor of an exciting young whiskey, rather than wish it had spent more time in the barrel. If I had to complain, I’d want a bigger finish, but that has already been addressed by the release of their Barrel Proof Colorado Rye.
Give Brown-Forman credit for releasing a limited edition whiskey that’s reasonably priced in an era where others are getting away with robbery. It’s tough to argue with a $30 price tag for a liter of bottled-in-bond bourbon from the same folks who produce Old Forester.
A few weeks ago some of my bourbon drinking friends and I were sitting around discussing our favorite drink. I know, shocking right? We started talking about what each of our favorites was. Some preferred wheated, one liked high rye, I like a lot of barrel proofs, etc. Then we started to discuss our favorites in the specific categories that we preferred. This gave me an idea that would be perfect for a Bourbon & Banter post, A Blind Barrel Proof Tasting! What a great idea I thought, it also gave me another excuse to host a few drinking buddies over and let them give their thoughts and share the experience as well. After all, bourbon is always better when shared with friends.
The whiskey bubble, in addition to fostering alternative universes of stupidity, has also inspired significantly more people to sharply focus on whiskey’s history and craftsmanship. Fred Minnick has emerged as a central educational figure, publishing essential books like Bourbon Curious and Bourbon: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of an American Whiskey.
He is constantly tasting, engaging the community and writing. Minnick thinks the next spirits category to take off could very well be rum and, whether he’s correct or not, you’ll be glad you read this book.
It all started innocently enough. You and a few friends took a trip to Kentucky to visit the Bourbon Trail and on the way back you decided to stock up on a few bottles of bourbon that you couldn’t buy locally. It was only six bottles. Six bottles that you were able to easily slip into the kitchen cabinet where you stored your mostly used bottles of vodka, tequila, and Captain Morgan. It all fit easily. Nothing to worry about.
Six months later you find yourself lining up bottles of bourbon on top of your counter, pushed to the back, trying to keep them out of the way of daily kitchen duties. What was once six easily hidden bottles of bourbon has morphed into a budding collection of roughly 15 bottles with various fill levels. The countertop storage provides quick and easy access to your booze but others who come by for a visit are a bit concerned at the ever increasing line-up of whiskey competing for counter space. No problem. You’ll just go buy yourself an Ikea bookshelf to hold your bourbon so it’s “out of the way”. Nothing to worry about.