Old Tom

Booby - The bottle arrived in great shape.  We look forward to it immensely.  Thanks. Pat

Comments

[nick b]

Col.,

Gin? May I ask where from?

[turcopolier]

nick B

"Booby" is a private distiller of fine Bourbon. If he wishes to tell you more about that, he will do so. pl

[nick b]

Thank you, I had only heard of Gin referred to as 'Old Tom'. I'm not much of a Bourbon drinker, but perhaps Mr. Booby could change my mind. Thanks again.

[LeaNder]

I am not a fan of the high percentage stuff either nick b, and for whatever reason I was never a fan of Bourbon.

But I also remember I was once offered one that pleasantly surprised me.

For whatever reason, it reminds me of Salmon fresh from the sea in Seattle Washington. What you get as Salmon over here or for that matter in Europe is simply not comparable.

[The Twisted Genius]

Last time I drank bourbon was the night before my first jump at Fort Benning. I ended up low crawling along the floor of the barracks in the wee hours of the morning yelling "Sat Cong" at the top of my lungs. It was the Summer of '73 and I was to join Army ROTC in the Fall. The SGM at the Army ROTC element at RPI was a good friend of the Airborne School SGM and they arranged for orders to be published. That couldn't happen today.

[nick b]

LeaNder,

Oh, make no mistake, I enjoy my liquor. Perhaps a little too much. I overdid it so much with Jim Beam in college that I can't even stand the smell of bourbon anymore; even 25 years later. I do like Scotch whiskey though. Especially those from the Isle of Islay. Ardbeg is my new favorite.

[confusedponderer]

I have broadened my horizon as I migrated from Scotch to Bourbon, without general preference.

I like heavier and smokier Scotches, especially Laphroaigh. That in the summer? A mistake. With ice? A crime. Smothering all those flavours by cooling it down? A dreadful idea. In the winter it is a treat, so it stays in the cabinet for the summer.

IMO Bourbon lends itself better to be drunk with ice, indeed, is by strength made with that in mind, and is thus better for hot summer evenings like this one. I had nice experience with Dickel's Cascade Hollow: I shared it with a fellow Spritist and he came to a negative judgement after trying it pure. I had him him add ice and he revised his view. The ice made it 'right'.

It was 38 °C here today, and so this is a bourbon evening. I like it half ice, half bourbon, and that is why I prefer the Bourbons with more Rye in the mash, or Rye. So, right now it is some of my last Old Overholt (a decent Rye, but one which will just be emptied but not be replaced; for a similar price Bulleit Rye is far better).

IMO, a whiskey lover ignores Bourbon and Rye at his loss. And on a budget, though there is some hype, the prices are nowhere as crazy as with some Scotch. One can get great Bourbon for a price that would get you a good Scotch.

Having said that, I raise my glass to toast on a happy 4th of July for you all.

Cheers.

[Fred]

TTG,

I guess I better not offer up any of my stash of Tennessee's finest.

[no one]

I'm a blue collar horseman. So naturally, I love affordable Bourbons. Woodford Reserve is as good as it gets for me. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I like to mix with Coke or ice tea and plenty of ice.

I have been treated to the good stuff once or twice when sealing a horse trade and I can appreciate it, but can live without it for now. Still in the daily grind and requiring industrial grade lubricant.

Cheers!

[The Twisted Genius]

Fred,

Although I haven't crawled around yelling "Sat Cong" in a long, long time, your stash of Tennessee's finest would still be wasted on me. I'm perfectly satisfied with half way decent beers... stouts and ales preferably, not that yellow pissy stuff.

[Fred]

TTG,

I'm crushed! (Actually you just sip this stuff and pass it on.) See if you can find some Terrapin Hopsecutioner up your way. Goes great with BBQ.

[The Twisted Genius]

Fred,

Those Terrapin brews may be around here. I'll take a look. The craft brew scene is really picking up here. We have two new craft breweries in Stafford in the last year. The biggest news is Stone Brewery coming to Richmond. My younger son lives down there in the East End and works in the heart of the old Shockoe Bottom area. The planned Stone Brewery restaurant and biergarten will sit next to the James River and the new bike trail that my son will take to and from work every day. He can enjoy an "Arrogant Bastard" on the way home. I bought a bottle of that just for the unique bottle and, much to my surprise, I found it to be very good.

[LeaNder]

Love it nick,

Jim Beam, seriously? I had a very good friend who always had his bottle around. Come to think of it, never asked him if he was a Janis joplin fan. Maybe I did and he told me that's why.

Way too sweet, for my taste.

Is there a relation between Jim Beam and Bourbon?

But yes, I can easily understand the utter disgust you can develop for one special thing. My mother never allowed me to buy the type of chocolate spread you can put on your sandwich. Since she did not control me much otherwise, I once bought myself a jar. The problem I had, was thus: if I only ate a little of it, where best to store the jar? Wasn't she some type of clairvoyant in matters like these? In the end I decided the best thing to do was to eat the whole jar and then put it very, very deep in the trash can.

I can tell you, took ages to not get sick from only seeing one of the bottles. No more complaints about jam after that.

[nick b]

LeaNder,

Jim Beam is Kentucky Bourbon whiskey. I may have this backwards, but I believe all Bourbon can be classified as Kentucky whiskey, but not all Kentucky whiskey is Bourbon. There are actual rules/laws for what can be called Bourbon. I know one is that it has to come from the US to be 'real' Bourbon. I believe some of the others have to do with percentage of corn in the mash, aging in charred oak barrels, and what proof it is. Jack Daniels, calls itself Kentucky whiskey, but I believe meets the criteria to also be called Bourbon. Go figure.

[Charles I]

20 years dry May 18 this year but goddamn I do miss the taste of fine liquor.

[confusedponderer]

nick b,
Ardbeg is one of my favourites also. I am disappointed that they have given in to the hype and made this new nordic themed subvariants. They do not so much improve on the basic that I feel it's worth the money. My other Island favs are, naturally, Lagavulin, and especially Laphroaigh.

Highland Park is a fine one.

If you're into peat, you may like Longrow, which is heavily peated but otherwise more of a highlander. Also, there's an interesting Irish oddity around, Connemara peated, another "designer Whiskey", but a charming one for a change.

[confusedponderer]

LeaNder
As for Jim Beam, IMO all the stuff they make with their name on it tends to be inimpressive. Their 12 year old is nice and smooth though, but IMO still lacks substance (i.e. rye).

IMO the average Jim Beams so bland because they're for mixing where real taste would be found detrimental. I advise against Jim Beam Devil's Cut (as in 'Angel Share'), that's just washed out residual from the barrel, blended with ordinary Jim Beam. Some more wood, but that's not worth the extra, much less the hype IMO.

Be that as it may, they DO make huge qualtities, and in different distilleries, which means they have a lot of interesting kegs that are different than the rest of the pack. The range of whiskeys they make includes some nice ones - Old Grand Dad (cheap, but good), Basil Hayden, Bookers, Bakers, which all have more rye and are thus stronger in their flavour. You may like to try them out.

I am unimpressed by all the Jack Daniel's stuff. Tenessees I really like are from Geore Dickel. Rich, mellow stuff.

Decent all around Whiskeys come from Bulleit. Their Bourbon is as good as their Rye (which I favour). Other goodies are the Blanton stuff, the Woodford stuff and Elijah Craig (12 yeares, which is uncommon).

Come to speak of Rye, that is another interesting subspecies of US liquor. Try out some. At the low end there is Jim Beam Rye, which is substantially better than their Bourbon. For contrast you should IMO also try out an all corn Whiskey (Mellow Corn, Platte Valley or Old Overholt (the only spirit legally produced throughout prohibition time, as 'medicinical alcohole', which was by itself a reason to try it out), just to get an idea of the two poles.

One I yet have to try is "1776", which supposedly will be sweeter, since it has grain in the mash. I'm curious. I look forward to try out Sazerac and Old Montero, but they're hard to get in Germany.

For me, there clearly is still a wide field for further empirical enquiry ^^

[LeaNder]

thanks, nick, i think I mixed up Jim Beam and Southern Comfort. the latter was the horribly sweet liquor.

It's long ago that I had these lectures about Whiskey. Irish vs Scotch, Bourbon versus the former.

[nick b]

CP,

I prefer Lagavulin above all others. Where I live the liquor stores are all state run. For some reason Lagavulin is about a third more expensive here than anywhere else. I enjoy Laphroaig as well, and the state stores ran a sale on it for a long time which I took advantage of. That sale seems to be over and Ardbeg is now a deal, so that's what's in the house these days. I usually just buy the 10yo stuff. The only other offering of theirs I have tried is the Uigeadail, and that was like drinking a campfire. I didn't enjoy it much.

I'll keep my eyes open for your suggestions, but as you pointed out, it is summer. I'm more likely to being looking for the next ice cold, Portuguese, Vinu Verde.

[nick b]

LeaNder,

Southern Comfort is only suitable for a nasty little concoction called an 'Alabama Slammer'. I would drink those when I was much younger, and only if someone else was buying.

[confusedponderer]

nick b,
Laphroaig 10 is great. The quarter cask is nice also, and somewhat livelier and sharper than the 10. I like it. The 18 is a treat.

What makes Lagavulin so attractive IMO is the harmonic balance between sheery, wood, peat and sea flavours.