Comrades, with this short post I would like to remind you of the upcoming third meeting of the Distant Thunder Whisky Club, to be held at my house on the 9th of January. You will no doubt recall that the date for the meeting was arranged at the very entertaining second meeting held at the Baron’s castle.
This has been a highly successful year for the club, and I would like to begin next year with a great platform for future events. As such, I encourage maximum attendance. In this spirit, I will be inviting two guests who I will propose as future members of the Club, pending the approval of the wider membership group.
As I reflect back on the past year, I cannot but help to think about the great things we have achieved. The triumphs and the tragedies. I would like to thank the hosts of our first two Club nights (both here and here), as without their support the D.T.W.C. would not have been such a success. We should also thank those who have contributed to the blog. You’ll note that based upon these criteria, the Baron is by far the most active supporter of the club, and I think that we should recognise this by voting him Thunderer of the Year. An annual award I am going to propose at the upcoming meeting.
The Agenda for the evening will be roughly similar to previous events (arrive → booze → dinner → booze → booze → depart). However, you will all be pleased to hear that I have obtained a gavel*, so that we can encourage some formalities at the meeting (such as the passing of motions [non-bowel], the acceptance of the previous minutes and more generally, the banging of hammers when we are drunk). I am sorry to report that my home is somewhat smaller than the Baron’s, and consequently, I do not have a spa** nor some of the wide open spaces to which he was able to provide, but I will do my best. One positive I am able to report though is that due to the success of previous meetings, we are quite financial at the moment, and I intend to purchase very high quality whisky for this meeting (if you have any suggestions, please let me know via the comments section below).
Please remind the members of the M.T.W.C. of the upcoming event. Mrs Colonel has planned a fun filled evening for them to attend (though not as good as ours).
* note: gavel may actually be a children’s toy stolen from my one-year-old son
** rather fortunately, this means there will be no ‘man-soup’ as there was at the last meeting
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Bitter: Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whisky
Now one could say Australia's exposure to bourbon is limited and in fact is not much better than that of tequila. What we see here in the local bottle-o is simply good marketing of sellable successful brands irrespective of quality. I mean seriously who in Australia drinks Fosters? It is a nasty brew generally only sold internationally. Yet I am sure it is the same for all the mid shelf bourbons, what we see here is a far cry from the US and half of what we have probably is not even considered drinkable in it's home.
In saying all that I am still keen on running the bourbon gauntlet because so much of bourbon is the catalyst for Scotch whisky (as a generalisation re: casks).
So what's the bitter The Baron asks. The Baron thinks of it this way...without the bitter the sweet just is not so sweet. For every average bourbon I try, just makes me more determined to find that one memorable one. You need to dram through the range, The Baron says, in order to know what you like. Someone whom says "this is great" does not mean it is great for you. Some may like the one legged amputee and praise her tricks, but then for others they will say it's just not cricket without the bat and balls.
When I say The Bitter it is not like dating a crack whore whereby you know your going to get some but it's just not going to be pretty. No that is The Sour. Never mistake The Sour with The Bitter. The bitter is the things that come along and just let you know "yes there are better things to dram on."
Bulleit Bourbon is The Bitter for The Baron. Again like all bourbons The Baron has tried, apart from Jack Daniel's, the flavour really is only lightly varied in depth, sweetness, flavour and or colour from any other bourbon on the shelf here in Australia.
Tasting notes as always for bourbon is short and somewhat uninspiring. Too much said and not enough to say.
Colour is mid dark.
To taste much like Wild Turkey...rich, sweet, oak(ish), but with an extra iron on the tongue element to it (possibly this is the rye content). Alcohol flavour is strong and dry(ish). Apparently the brand promotes 'smokiness' but I fail to find it even remotely (grasping at straws again as a point of difference).
Finish is warming but short and saturates the gums much longer than in the throat.
What can The Baron say as a rating? 4 out of 7. It is one of the more expensive mid shelf Bourbons and so it should stand out more and not less.
Easy drinking and pleasant like most Bourbons but I would not say outstanding in any way. I have to say even though a Bourbon does make a good mixer with cola or in a cocktail it is much more interesting sipped straight.
Appreciate The Bitter because without The Bitter, The Sweet just is not so Sweet.
The morning after...
I have been trying a technique (no not tantric) to see what else I can gauge from bourbon and have found this to work. Leave just a wee drop in the glass and let it dry out overnight. What is left is an intensified smell of those key elements that are it's primary flavours. In the case of Bulleit Bourbon, the morning after finds it is close to sweet hickory wood chips much more than oak. As a reference point I find Makers Mark to retain an intense dry grass essence on similar experimentation. Note this technique does not seem to work with Scotch but rather only with bourbon.
The Baron
Friday, December 4, 2009
Hear ye hear ye al ye wee drammers!
This year we have seen some excellent banter across the site but on tally, only 30% of the D.T.W.C. has actually reviewed a whisky and posted for all to heckle.
As part of Dramcember it is ones duty to do one of two things. Achieve both and receive godly flavours for your effort (note: NOT flavours for sailors like El Capitan in the recent past).
Duty 1: To Review a whiskey of choice, with photo (note: not El Capitan doing flavours for sailors) and post to the site.
Duty 2: To make an effort as part of Dramcember to try at least 1 whisky you have never tried before and notify fellow members what that was (note: El Capitan getting a sailor to drink a whisky prior to your flavours is not classed as trying a whisky).
In the words handed down many a century rubbed black with the Woolery Tartan:
Dramcember Dramcember
It is a time to remember!
Dramcember Dramcember
Let's dram one together!
Dramcember Dramcember
Not a choice but a duty!
Dramcember Dramcember
Distant thunder and booty!
Baron von Woolery
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