SMF

Squire wrote:Pursue the matter avidly and you may be filled with knowledge.

And, quite, possibly, a hangover

It was under the impression that the Lincoln County Process disqualified TW from being labelled bourbon, so I've learned something today. One thing I do wish is that more people would see how the term "whiskey/whisky" is the big umbrella under which everything else - bourbon, Tennessee, rye, scotch, etc. - falls. Thus we shouldn't be offering our guests "bourbon or whiskey" or "whiskey or scotch."

Up until a year ago there was no legal definition of Tennessee Whisky (the Feds define Bourbon) when the TN legislature passed a law doing just that and using Jack Daniels as the model.

I thought of this post as I got to experience a 48 year old scotch last week. 1962 Tullibardine.

Fantastic scotch.

Highly recommended if you can find it.

Did you know that bourbon was actually a mistake? Serendipity!

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101585860

Rather than doing some research the author of that piece just regurgitated press releases from Campari's PR department.

Time lines are off as well. The popularity of Bourbon became widespread with the development of steamboats from about 1810 forward which allowed for efficient transport up the rivers which were the cargo highways of the day. Whisky was made in Kentucky and stored by merchants on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and shipped from their warehouses at Limestone Landing in Bourbon County, KY. The barrels were head stamped from the point of disembarkation and demand grew for that whisky from Bourbon County, Kentucky. By the 1820s newspaper ads in New Orleans and other port cities were advertizing Bourbon Whisky for sale.

The use of toasted or charred barrels for aging spirits was widespread in the Cognac region of France for at least 400 years before the establishment of Colonies in what would become the United States. What was serendipitous though were the vast forests of virgin oak trees found in the New World which allowed Kentucky distillers to acquire new charred barrels cheaply as opposed to aging in reuse barrels as is common in Scotland, Ireland and other distilling centers.

Indeed, the principal flavoring difference and other distinguishing characteristics between Bourbon and whisky made in other countries is the use of new charred barrels.

The Wild Turkey brand and the distillery which makes it have been owned by Europeans since 1980.

Actually, Squire, the author is the president of Campari. I'll defer to your expertise regarding timelines. Cheers.

Revisionist European claptrap.

Ahh, Campari! My absolute favourite drink, as effete as it might seem to those posting in a thread about sippin' whiskey? (Is that right, BTW, do you Yanks use the Irish spelling for bourbon, rye, sourmash and whathaveyou?) Campari is exactly what it should be as an aperitif; something that contributes positively to the total experience of a meal. Since it is no longer sold by the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, I can either transport it illegally across the border from nearby New Brunswick, or I can make it. Anyone who would like to experiment with gin (anything but Bombay Sapphire vomit be upon its name), grenadine and angostura bitters will soon figure out a very good simulacrum.

Now, with respect to sippin' whiskey. I was brought up, as it were, on scotch whisky. I decided I liked the smoky peaty flavours (Laphroaig and Knockando!) and soon discovered that Jamieson's Irish whiskey does that job very nicely at a cheaper price. I have discovered some virtues in Canadian rye, and I'll agree with everyone else that Crown Royal is the least obnoxious. But if you want it mixed you're getting Canadian Club.

Totally OT, but the damned NSLC has also stopped selling ouzo. A 1.65litre Smirnoff and 5ml of pure anise extract does the job almost perfectly. The only difference, should it matter, is that it won't go milky when you add water as there isn't enough oil in the extract. Spend all day dissolving sugar in it and you get Sambuca. My other half likes the aniseed, and I have had to learn the ins and outs of anise, anisado, anisette, Pernod, Galliano, Ricard, pastis, Sambuca, ouzo, arak etc. Now I simply make it from vodka. I'm a heathen in more than one way!

Chris

Chris those citizens of Les Etats-Unis who are proud of being called yanks or yankees live primarily East of the Mississippi and North of the Ohio rivers. In the Deep South the sobriquet is still considered derogatory. The exception is Florida which has a surprising large percentage of yankees within it's boundaries, particularly during the Winter months.

Here whisky is spelled with or without an 'e' depending on who makes it. I attribute the misspelling (adding an e) to early ad copywriters from the 1830s onward who were perhaps not well educated. That or they were Irish.

drmoss_ca wrote: Now, with respect to sippin' whiskey. I was brought up, as it were, on scotch whisky. I decided I liked the smoky peaty flavours (Laphroaig and Knockando!) and soon discovered that Jamieson's Irish whiskey does that job very nicely at a cheaper price.

About a year ago a friend introduced me to Talisker, which I found to be excellent. I also enjoyed Macallan 18 year.

My other half likes the aniseed, and I have had to learn the ins and outs of anise, anisado, anisette, Pernod, Galliano, Ricard, pastis, Sambuca, ouzo, arak etc. Now I simply make it from vodka.

I am not fond of black licorice/anise flavor at all. My wife and her brother absolutely love it. Ugh.

I'm keen to try "Byrrh" from France. I understand that it is being imported to the United States but I have been 100% unsuccessful in obtaining any. Have you had it? What does it taste like?

Cheers-
Dave

I'm interested in trying one of the commercial moonshines. What's good and what's not? Any tips?

With moonshine, Gary, I'm not sure "good" is a consideration.

The reason I asked this question is because yesterday on the Today show they had a segment about a family whose business for a number of years has been commercial manufacture and sale of moonshine. It appeared to be an upscale product with several varieties and grades, and it got my attention because I have never experienced it.I'm thinking of going into one of the popular liquor stores and checking out their inventory.

Gary most of the so called Moonshine out there is basically cheap bulk vodka from one of the major industrial producers repackaged (sometimes in a hokey mason jar) and sold at a markup. The Feds don't have defined requirements for moonshine like they do for Bourbon or Rye whisky so the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will approve labels for a wide range of products in the made up moonshine category. Nothing wrong with them from a quality standpoint (they won't kill 'ya or make you blind for instance) but being unaged they are an unfinished product that should sell for less than whisky, not more.

Some of the major producers, Heaven Hill, Buffalo Trace, Four Roses, George Dickel and Jack Daniels sell unaged versions of their regular product so if I was curious to try that type thing I would look to the proven producers. Oddly, their unaged stuff sells for the same or more than their fully aged product.

Squire, et al.,
Difficult to lurk here and NOT learn something interesting nearly every day.
Thank you all!

Squire, that explains a lot. Thanks. I suspect the family enterprise I saw is doing exactly what you have said, rebranding something that is not acually moonshine.

brothers wrote:Squire, that explains a lot. Thanks. I suspect the family enterprise I saw is doing exactly what you have said, rebranding something that is not acually moonshine.

I think I saw the same bit that you did ... judging from their equipment (a fractional column still) I would guess they're distilling a neutral spirit. The reporter doing the bit made some comments on the corn mash ... so as far as i can tell they're making 'shine. But you never know.

I know someone who makes moonshine ... and I like it. It does have a distinctive flavor which appears to be a result of using corn and white sugar (sort of a cidery flavor, which according to my home brewing books is a byproduct of yeast utilizing white table sugar as food). The few commercial versions of 'shine I've tried from the liquor store were pretty disgusting.

Interestingly, if you google stills and related equipment there appears to be quite the market. For example if you take a look at http://www.hillbillystills.com you will find some not-so-cheap pot and fractional stills. It's rather interesting. And supposedly there is a groundswell of "micro distilleries" similar to the microbrewery madness of the early and mid 1990s.

There are a ground swell of micro distillerys, close to 400 at last count and the number is climbing, all of whom posses the appropriate State and Federal distilling licenses.

As for the hillbilly still type sites be mindful it is illegal to posses unlicensed distilling equipment and certainly illegal to use it. Mere possession is indicative of intent to use.

Squire wrote:As for the hillbilly still type sites be mindful it is illegal to posses unlicensed distilling equipment and certainly illegal to use it. Mere possession is indicative of intent to use.

I hope you had a chance to look at that site ... they make some very nice (and expensive) distilling equipment. Their 50 gallon "micro distillery rig" is something like $12,000.00 ... so we're not talking about some recycled pots, copper tube, and car radiators here. It would appear to me that their intended market would be those interested in getting licensed to mass-produce (albeit on a small scale).

Their intended market are the gullible.