Here is an interesting article from the New Haven Register (August 18,1880) about how bourbon was made. It discuss both sweet mash and sour mash methods. It also lists a couple of laws I had never heard of before including the maximum amount of time for sweet mash fermenting and sour mash fermenting. I’ve transcribed the article, and back in 1880, it seems run on sentences were common.
When you publish a website, you often leave yourself open to public scrutiny, which often leads to “Fan Mail”, as I like to call it. Most of the time I ignore it, but sometimes I feel compelled to reply. This is one of those occasions. Now, the topic is High Fructose Corn Syrup, again, but it has become a kind of crusade for me to bring logic into this odd, enduring, little topic. I basically stated my case, and left it for people to take it or leave it. Basically, an “opinion”, on a blog no less! But, it seems people still like to chastise me for it, so here is my scientifically accurate response.
With the walls of protectionism beaten down, the worlds largest consumer is once again allowed to clink glasses with the Green Fairy. As most people know, absinthe was banned in the United States for almost a century. The recent efforts of a small group of dedicated people, including Ted Breaux and Gwydion Stone, have knocked the walls down. But, with the long time absence, and the inherent curiosity factor of the population, a rush of new products have hit the market, identifying themselves as absinthe. Mata Hari Absinthe has peeked a few eyebrows, partially because it lacks the French-Swiss pedigree. What’s the deal?
When it comes to spirits, there are the established brands and the wannabe brands. How a brand becomes established is usually a combination of things, such as marketing, history and product quality. But, I firmly believe that any business, not just the spirits industry, boils down to the people behind the product. Wannabe brands spend gads of money promoting an “image” but usually don’t have a solid core of people behind the product. Established brands uphold a reputation. After my brief trip to the Woodford Distillery, my impression is that Woodford has great people and is more than just a bourbon distiller.
Bourbon is a whiskey with a long history of tradition and craftsmanship. Very few spirits, let alone other whiskies, have bourbons well defined production specifications. The laws, on bourbon production, create a very flavourful spirit, but with such well defined specifications some companies loose interest in creativity. Not Woodford Reserve, and their Master Distiller Chris Morris. For the past few years they have been releasing a series of uniquely crafted bourbons, and occasionally stepping slightly outside the bourbon envelope, to produce truly unique products called the Master's Collection. This year, they’ve release Woodford Reserve 1838 Sweet Mash Bourbon.
For the next few days I will be down in Kentucky as a guest of the Woodford Reserve Distillery. A mixed group of writers and journalists will be checking out the new Woodford Reserve Master's Collection release. We are also going to be checking out some serious food and spending an afternoon at the Keeneland Raceway and Horse park. There will be lots to write about when I return, so stay tuned.
Welcome to the cocktail blog confessional. It's Mixology Monday time and Stevi over at Two At The Most and has picked the theme of "guilty pleasures". We're going to stick to drink related guilty pleasures today, so don't expect anything too insightful. But, there are lots of drink related guilty pleasures that I enjoy, quietly, in secluded spaces.
I've checked out two new Canadian whiskies. The first is the new Forty Creek Double Barrel Reserve, the second is Wiser's Small Batch Whisky. Both are better than most Canadian whiskies. They both move in the direction of more flavourful spirits, while retaining the classic Canadian characteristics (smooth, friendly, easy going).
I've decided to improve the interactivity of the Art of Drink. The first step is to allow people to register, which will improve commenting and access to future features of the site. It will also help me determine who reads this site. Now, I understand that information usually isn't free, so I'm going to provide some incentive to register.
If you decide to register, I will automatically enter you into a draw for one of three prizes. Anyone who has already register is automatically entered already.
The value of the prize, with shipping, is about $50 each. I guarantee you will like the prize. You must be of legal drink age in your country / state / province to qualify. I may add more prizes, or if a company wants to provide branded loot to be included with the prizes, please feel free to contact me.
Deadline for entry is December 10th, 2008. Winners will be announced December 12th, 2008.
The Registration line starts here.
Improvements
1. If you are a regular commenter you will get "Trusted User" status which will allow your comments to be posted immediately. Currently, I screen the comments due to the malevolent forces of the Internet. Spammers to be specific.
2. Future access to new features. Being a blog is great, but becoming stagnant is bad. New features and plugins are constantly being made available and these types of improvements will hopefully keep people coming back.
3. Who reads the Art of Drink? When you register, there are a few simple questions I'd like you to answer. Hopefully this info will help me write articles that appeal to the demographics of this site. If I find out everyone is 22 year old college girls, then I just might have to become a girly drink and shooter site.
