When I was in Louisville last summer for a work conference, I got to do a few bourbon tastings on the Urban Bourbon Trail. I think I might have blogged about it--been so long I can't remember, and I'm too lazy to go back and look. :)
I can never remember the differences between whiskey types. I found this glossary, which is very helpful for understanding some of the differences. I look at it now and find the "definitions" interesting, but I'm sure I won't remember the differences later. Sitting around the lunch table at work a couple weeks ago, we started talking about whiskey. One of the people there who is a die-hard scotch drinker did not want to believe that scotch is actually a whiskey. She said she doesn't drink whiskey because it is so low-class(!), so scotch can't be whiskey. We hated to break it to her, but scotch is a kind of whiskey...made with mostly barley (instead of corn or other mash). Her comment made a few of us want to cringe --I guess I am low-class (in her eyes at least). If drinking bourbon means I'm low class, I guess I'm fine with that.
Anyway, while I was in Louisville, I got to see menus full of bourbon brands- many of which I had never heard of before. I tried some new ones: Rowan's Creek, Pappy Van Winkle, Noah's Mill, Kentucky Vintage, and Old Forester Signature, and some old ones: Woodford Reserve, Maker's Mark, Knob Creek (Knob Creek is my least favorite of the three). I saw a few bourbons that had yummy descriptions (Buffalo Trace and Corner Creek). I wrote down their names, just in case I happened to find them on a drink menu or even at the liquor store some day. But I didn't really expect to find these bourbons in Washington state. At David's office holiday party this year, his boss, who knows I am a bourbon fan, was telling us about this new bourbon he bought that he really likes. "What is it called?" I said. "Buffalo Trace," he said. Huge audible inhale of breath by me, surprise on my face: "No Way! Where did you find it?" He said he found it at the liquor store, down on one of the lower shelves. He gave me a glass of the Buffalo Trace at the party, so I knew I would enjoy having more of it at home. I was so shocked. I don't go to the liquor store often, but we had to make a special trip to get a bottle of this. And then once we got to the liquor store, we saw another bourbon we wanted to try, so we came home with two different bottles on that trip.
This new bottle of Buffalo Trace led to a special bourbon tasting at my house over the holidays. David and I were the only attendees, but we had a good time. We tasted 4 different bourbons- two new ones, and two bottles that were already in our cabinet. We did this almost a month ago, so my memory has faded on the details, but I still remember the big impressions, which I will share with you below.
Woodford Reserve:
When I was in Louisville, I did a tasting with someone from my office. She prefers Irish Whiskey, but was willing to try some bourbon. After tasting 6 different kinds, she said that Woodford Reserve was her favorite and she would consider drinking it, although irish whiskey would still be her first choice.
I taste a bit of caramel in this- a mellow sweetness (not truly sweet, but you know what I mean). A really good nose.
Buffalo Trace:
This has really nice notes of vanilla.
The classic bourbon. I think this was the first bourbon whiskey I ever tried, and I really liked the brown sugar-ey undertones to it, so I've been drinking it ever since.
This bourbon did have the oak-ey flavor that it promised. It also had hints of caramel and vanilla.
All in all, I thought the Woodford Reserve and Maker's 46 smelled the most similar and the most yummy. I think the Buffalo Trace was more vanilla-ey than the others. And, truthfully, the classic Maker's Mark became a bit less shiny with this stellar company. Having tasted these four bourbons together, I don't think I'll buy Maker's Mark anymore (Sorry, Matt T.). I'd rather drink one of the other three. David said that his two favorites were the Woodford Reserve and the Buffalo Trace. He said both were about on the same level for him. I think my favorite is still Woodford Reserve, but I also like and enjoyed the Buffalo Trace and Maker's 46.
It was a fun little experiment-like a wine tasting, but more "low-class" :)
6 comments:
Love it! Invite us next time and we'll get a sitter. :)
hmmm, i'll have to try the Woodford Reserve! i'm not really a hard alcohol drinker, although i've recently started to appreciate Irish whiskey. so this looks like a good segue into bourbon territory!
Honey, I drink chelada's for goodness sake. There is no 'class' designation based on your cocktail of choice!
That cracked me up!
Liz! I personally do not like bourbon, but my husband loves it. He would concur that Woodford Reserve is one of the best - though he would love to have a tasting to verify ;)
I love that my bourbon post has received more traffic and interaction than any others in a very long time :) I see where I need to be going with this blog...just kidding. You'll still get a mix of the absurd, philosophical, and just plain mundane posts from me. It is just so fun to get people talking about something!
I was first introduced to bourbon when Brittany was on internship at the Memphis VA. One of the post-docs there had done his undergraduate work at the University of Kentucky, and we'd drink Knob Creek together.
He told me that he rushed his freshman year, and that on one of the first days, the freshman were pulled aside and told that part of the rush included a lot of party invitations. They were welcome to go to any and all of them, and that they were encouraged to bring their own drinks. One word of warning though, if any of them showed up with Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey, they would be beaten beyond recognition and left in a ditch.
That lesson stuck with him, and during his post-doc he would be stuck only drinking wine or beer because of the bourbon/whiskey selection at most of the bars in Memphis. (Coincidentally, he lives in Seattle now.)
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