An online speakeasy of potent potables and other pabulam.

FIRST OFF: If you haven’t heard by now, legendary bar man Murray Stenson (left, photo courtesy John Keatley) is having heart issues. You can go to MurrayAID.org to find out more information. Locally, the Passenger will be having a benefit for him on November 5th, 5 PM to close. 10% of revenues and 100% of all tips will go towards his medical bills as Murray, like many folks in the industry, does not have health insurance.

I’ll leave the political comments off of the blog, but I will say one thing: the next day is the election, so you can go to the Passenger, booze it up, go to work late the next day and tell your boss “I was voting”. I can’t do that, because I voted early, but if you also vote early, you’ll have the sticker to prove it!

I’m just saying.

(And a special hint: both Brown brothers are supposed to be behind the bar, along with JP Featherston and Alex Bookless, so really, get your butt in there and drink yo’ face off. IT’S FOR CHARITY!)

Second, in the spirit of giving, the Passenger hosted our five year anniversary party a couple of weeks ago. We raised a couple of hundred bucks for our charities (the Museum of the American Cocktail and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) and had an overall great time. Many thanks to our sponsors: The Passenger, Chartreuse and Edinburgh Gin, Whisked Bakery, Diep 9 genever, Catoctin Creek, and Chairman’s Reserve Rum.

Now my drink came in second to Marshall’s in voting, but since Hurricane Sandy is about to give our area a punch to the nose, it seems appropriately named and timed for me to give you my drink.

Dark Storms Travelling Slowly
2 ounces Chairman’s Reserve Rum (gold)
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce allspice dram
2 dashes Bittermens Hellfire Habanero Shrub
Shake ingredients together and pour into a highball glass unstrained. Top with two parts ginger beer, one part soda water. Garnish with a wheel of lime.

(Also see this news article for the origins of the acronym I used.)

Yes, it says “whiskey” here but they insist it’s “whisky”.

Third, also in the spirit of giving, thanks to Joe at Taylor Strategy I was sent a sample of George Dickel rye whisky. (No “e”! Except on the sample bottle. Oops!)

The aroma out of the bottle was nice. Kind of sweet. I poured some into a glass and tried it straight.

It’s … different than a lot of ryes I’ve had. My very first taste, I liked it at first, then the after taste I did not care for. However, my second and third tastes I liked a lot better, and got the impression it has a different over all “build” to the taste than a lot of ryes have. I haven’t played with it in a cocktail yet but I’ll probably make a Manhattan and/or a Sazerac at some point this weekend OH MY GOODNESS I FORGOT TO STOCK UP ON VERMOUTH BEFORE THE FRANKENSTORM I HOPE THERE IS STILL SOME TOMORROW AT THE STORE!

(Any rumors that I might have also done a “Gangnam Style” tasting, dancing around in my house with no pants on and listening to the song while drinking Dickel rye out of the sample bottle, may be completely and utterly true.)

So I’m off to finish preparing for Sandy’s vengeful wrath upon DC. Have a great weekend everyone! And hopefully see you November 5th!

So, it’s rare that I get a liquor package and immediately review it, but hey, that’s how it worked out tonight.

Johnny Walker was hinting that they had something new and asked for my address. I supplied it, and last night got a notification of a new package. Woohoo! I picked it up after work today (since last night I was in bed when I got the message).

That box is 2.5 Mutineers in size!

Well, I was surprised how big the box was! Clearly I wasn’t just getting a bottle of Double Black and being told “have at it, son.” No, there was something going on here.

And oh look! A letter addressed to me!

That was a lot of bubblewrap.

I fought my way through the bubblewrap. It was a noble effort, as there was a lot of it, and tape too!

People don’t understand how much WORK and EFFORT and BLOOD and TEARS go into opening these boxes. I ALMOST WORKED AND PUT OUT EFFORT. Tape made me ALMOST CRY. I had BLOOD almost spill from stabbing myself with a knife.

I’m just kidding, of course. I’m not allowed to use knives. I used a ballpoint pen, because I was too lazy to find my keys.

But man that’s a shiny case! Let’s open it!

Hey look, a fifth of Johnny Black!

Ooooo, a bottle of Johnny Black!

But that’s odd, because they’re advertising something new. I wonder, just wonder, what might be on the other side of that box. DARE I LIFT THE CARDBOARD AND CHECK?

I dare!

Another fifth! And coasters and a USB key and glasses!

There’s a fifth of the Double Black, and it’s in a dark tinted bottle. There’s also two highball glasses, because lord knows I need more of those, coasters because I care about my table (note: I do not), and a USB key I will probably insert into something that’s not a computer while drunk.

BUT SEANMIKE! WHAT…OF THE WHISKEY?!

Oh yeah that, heh heh.

Well, I can’t taste inside, I need a beer, and I need a cigar, and I need to chat with folks. So I carried everything outside, poured a finger or so of each into a glass – the Black into my UVA glass (on the left) and the Double Black in a work glass (on the right). I sniffed each. The Double Black has a more distinct aroma, but for some reason it smells like someone is dumping out their perfume into the night, so it’s hard to tell.

TASTING AND JUDGMENT

Scotch Scotch Scotch, yum yum yum

I don’t feel like I need to talk too much about the taste of Johnny Walker Black. If you haven’t tried it – well, why not? It’s practically ubiquitous and not that expensive. Seriously. Do I need to hold your hand? Do you need mommy to tell you it’ll be okay? Just give it a shot next time you’re at a bar. Or buy a mini of it. It’s practically un-American if you haven’t had it.

But I sipped it anyways, warm and neat, and enjoyed the kind of spicy honey taste that turned hot right at the end. Yummy. Needs an ice cube.

Now, the Double Black. First taste I slip and gulp – just a wave of peaty and smokey, not bad though. Let’s try again.

There, I get a bit more of the honey taste I pick up from Black, but with more spice and smoke and a hint of peat – mostly getting overwhelmed by the stench of perfume OR WHATEVER THE HECK IT IS (seriously yo this is really making me mad). Therefore, we shall do our next tastings – UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CIGAR! A La Gloria Cubana Serie R #5, to be precise.

(I’m kind of wondering if the smell is my unlit Citronella candle, but man, it ain’t that strong smelling when it IS lit!)

A drink of water later, sipped the Black, and oh yeah – there’s that smoothness. Really, it’s not a bad whiskey! It’s not the most immediately recognizable in flavor, perhaps, but I’m cool with it.

The Double Black is a much more aggressive whiskey in that same taste (though they are both the same proof – 80). To me, it honestly tastes more like what a lot of people would think of single malts.

So – if you had your choice, which should you try?

Honestly, if you’re just getting into scotch, I’d say the Black – but then after trying it, give the Double Black a shot. You might be surprised at what you like!

Oh, come on, like I could resist that kind of article title.

Always have a palate rinser when tasting – Miller Lite

A while ago, I responded to an offer to try Crown Royal Black. It’s a new variation of Crown Royal, it lists on the back about being aged in charred oak and blended to a higher proof than regular Crown Royal – 90 proof rather than the usual 80.

A lot of cocktail folks, myself included, tend to decry Canadian whisky. (AUGH NO “E” MY SPELLCHECKER WILL HATE ME.) In fact, just today Robert Simonson wrote an article in the New York Times about how the industry is trying to redeem itself of the reputation as “the vodka of whiskey”. (If you’ve used up your free clicks on the Times site, you can read a version of it on his site.)

For me, though, I also have my family, and certain members of my family are big Crown Royal fans. I thought I should give it a shot – after all, I did doctor up a Crown & Coke recipe for my brother’s wedding. (You can find that in my previous MxMo post here.)

My plan was set: I would introduce the Crown Royal Black to my brother and my dad, and then I’d make I’d a drink with it commemorating the Steelers Super Bowl win. That was a plan doomed to failure if I’d remembered how the Steelers would probably play.

Sigh. At least I’m not a Redskins fan.

So I hesitated but I consider this a good thing because of the NYT article – and I did introduce it to them.

My first impression of it compared to “regular” Crown Royal was that, yes, this is more whisk(e)y-ish. It’s hotter, but it’s got more of a depth of flavor to it than regular CR which just comes off as sweet to me. My dad, tasting it straight, responded immediately with “Yum!”

In a Crown & Coke – well, you can’t tell the different, I’m afraid.

I poked around with some ideas for a drink. None of them really gelled, I’m afraid – perhaps mostly because I was trying to think of something with Strega or yellow Chartreuse to be “black and gold”. You can use the CR Black much more like you could American whiskeys because unlike the basic Crown Royal, it doesn’t immediately disappear in a cocktail, it can actually stand out.

It’s not the most subtle of spirits, but to be honest, it’s a step in the right direction for Canadian whiskys. (Whiskies? Gah. That looks worse.) At $2 a bottle more, I think it’s definitely worth the extra couple of bucks (come on, in Virginia if I remember correctly you’re talking about $24.95 or $26.95 – get the extra taste and proof), but what I’d be most curious about is how Diageo and Crown Royal push this. Can they make a Canadian whisky that balances sweet and spicy, and make it at a good price point?

Hmmm. I have a sudden urge to make an orange juice drink with this. (Runs into kitchen). Want an experiment?

Experimental Crown Royal Black Cocktail:
2 oz Crown Royal Black
2 oz orange juice
3-4 dashes orange bitters
Shake, pour straight into a high ball glass.

Thoughts? Does it deserve a name? Will Gabe make fun of me for using OJ?

Really, it all started, as so many things in my life do, with me running my mouth.

Me after the Super Bowl

You see, I figured that no matter who won the NFC, it wouldn’t matter – the AFC team was going to win the Super Bowl. And, of course, I thought that even more when my favorite team (the Pittsburgh Steelers) looked like they were going to make it. In fact, I was so confident I said I’d post about vodka – the oft-derided liquor of many cocktailians – if the NFC games that weekend mattered.

Well…damn.

I also received two bottles of Tito’s Vodka in the mail. I’d never had it before though I’d seen good things about it. A lot of people will argue that all vodkas taste the same, or that they should all be “flavorless”, but that’s really just not the case. I’d argue that some of that might have come from the Smirnoff and other advertising campaigns of the ’40s and on, where vodka was claimed to avoid leaving the smell of alcohol on your breath.

In fact, it’s the argument about the taste and texture of vodka that led to an article in The Atlantic about how the terroir of a vodka – in this case, Karlsson’s – gives it a unique taste. I haven’t had Karlsson’s yet, but at the time I would’ve bet that it wasn’t the only one.

There was a DVD about it, but I forgot to watch it.

I took the Tito’s liter down to my parents’ house with me as my mom is a big fan of vodka. She had usually drank Grey Goose, but lately was drinking Stoli in her Cosmos. We both tried the Tito’s and enjoyed it a lot – in fact, she liked it a lot more than what she had been using and, as of last time I checked she had stocked up on the Tito’s.

Woohoo for them! (As a matter of full disclosure, Tito’s sent me 1.75 liters without any asking from me, and the 750ml that I kept was even signed to me by Tito! Which was really cool.)

As I mention in the picture caption I didn’t watch the DVD that came with it because I am very lazy. Unlike some vodkas, they claim to microdistill their own liquor, and say that they get all their corn from the United States.

If that’s all I had, it’d be “Oh. Okay.” Most people wouldn’t be convinced, perhaps, that there are vodkas you should really get out and try. Heck, while I liked Tito’s, I’d probably be about the same way.

Then one night I was out at PS7, talking to some folks I know, or had just met, when I met some of the individuals involved with Blackleaf Vodka, a new vodka from the Cognac region of France that is just starting to reach into the American market. The distillers were there and brought a sample to some skeptical folks, mostly bartenders and one blogger (me).

Wow.

It was pretty darn good! In fact, one of the bartenders said he’d always been a whiskey guy, but this was a vodka that could change his mind.

I reached out to them for a quick interview on Blackleaf. Christian Hayford was good enough to give me a few answers on it.

Scofflaw’s Den: The bottle advertised as being from the heart of Cognac. Are the distillers from that area or did they choose it? If so, why did they choose Cognac, which is more known for its brandy?

Christian Hayford: The master distiller in charge of crafting Blackleaf is from Cognac, France. Their 120 yr old Cognac House, as time has passed, has become a Cognacs and Spirits House and in turn they now also apply their centuries old distillation techniques to vodka.

SD: Is the vodka distilled in a similar manner as to cognac, using pot stills?

CH: Yes. Unlike some of the more common column stills capable of multiple distillations in a single pass, we felt that a copper pot still would allow us more control over the final taste of the vodka.

SD: How did they get into the vodka business? What do they hope to bring to the table in an industry with so many labels already out there? Obviously, I’ve tasted it, so I know they have a good product, but what gave them the confidence that “hey, we can make a better vodka?”

CH: Similar to you, we also have an affinity towards spirits; chiefly vodka. Noticing the subtle differences between various vodkas on the market led us to question everything. In doing so we decided to start the journey of creating a less fluff, better tasting, higher quality vodka. We wanted to take it past distillation and filtration and thats how we ended up going down the path of creating an ultra premium vodka organically.

SD: What’s their favorite way of enjoying it?

CH: We can really appreciate the notes discovered when sipping Blackleaf ‘neat’ but ultimately we’re constantly trying to push the limits of vodka. As you’ll see with our upcoming signature drinks we enjoy putting opposing elements together to create beautiful results.

SD: It’s certified organic. Do they visit the farms that grow the wheat for it? How close are the farms to the distillery?

CH: The wheat that is used to create Blackleaf is grown on the same property as the distillery. Ensuring quality control and organic integrity from start to finish.

Well, folks, that’s enough for this post. Last I heard, Blackleaf wasn’t yet in the States, but if we get another chance to try it, we’ll let you know our thoughts on it, even if I have to twist Marshall’s arm to make him try it!