It's the day before a holiday and (for once) there's not a ton of NYCFC news, so have at it.
Legally JD is a bourbon. It meets all the regulatory qualifications for that designation. The company, however, prefers not to label it as a bourbon.Legally not a bourbon, but Jack Daniels is the only one I can handle.
Cheap maraschinos should pretty much go in the trash regardless. Luxardos are fantastic though.There is ONE way you should be making an Old Fashioned. Take some maraschino cherries and some oranges...and throw that bullshit in the trash. No. Muddling.
Get yourself a mixing glass. Throw in a bar spoon of white sugar. A bar spoon of brown sugar. A splash of water. Mix that up a bit to get the sugar to dissolve a bit. Add three dashes Angostura bitter, one dash of orange bitters and 2oz of a high quality bourbon OR rye. Mix without ice. Add ice to the mixing glass and stir for 20 seconds to get a nice dilution going. Strain over a fresh, large cube in a tumbler. Cut a small slice of orange peel and pinch it over the glass to release the oils. Drop the peel in the glass.
Drink it up and realize that you're been drinking wrong your entire life!
Both.Handle flavor-wise or tolerance-wise?
Yeah booze laws are pretty crazy and all over the place. I believe that bourbon must be at 51% distilled corn, aged in NEW oak barrels and aged for a minimum amount of time (which I forget).Old Fashions? Isn't that what Don Draper drinks?
Anyway, I could have sworn I read an article years ago that by law bourbon has to be made a certain way and since Jack Daniels makes their bourbon then strains it through a charcoal filtering system they can't legally call it a bourbon. Live and learn I guess.
Both.
Wikipedia says no specific aging requirement, which differs from my head, which says three years.Yeah booze laws are pretty crazy and all over the place. I believe that bourbon must be at 51% distilled corn, aged in NEW oak barrels and aged for a minimum amount of time (which I forget).
I'm partial to Makers Mark.
I believe that bourbon must be at 51% distilled corn, aged in NEW oak barrels and aged for a minimum amount of time (which I forget).
Wikipedia says no specific aging requirement, which differs from my head, which says three years.
At the moment I have some Laphroaig I'm enjoying but really I'm a Glenmorangie fan. The Laphroaig is really good but it's very peaty and for me a bit much. I do like it but it's just not my thing. The Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban though is quite smooth and just darn tasty. And yes, "darn tasty" is an Official Scotch Taste Ranking™.My favorite whiskey without question is Jack Daniels Single Barrel.
Blanton's and Basil Hayden's before any of those.Is there anything in particular I should go out of my way to try?
One time I did a couple of those split bottles of Wild Turkey on a flight to Atlanta and my face went numb. Makers Mark? Knob Creek?
Definitely not Old Panther
Damn you for making me read the CFR during my vacation.I will chime in with some lawyerly guidance. ATF is the agency that regulates labeling/advertising of alcohol. The pertinent definition (in the Code of Federal Regulations) at 27 C.F.R. § 5.22 is as follows:
Standards of identity for the several classes and types of distilled spirits set forth in this section shall be as follows (see also § 5.35, class and type):
(a) (a) Class 1; neutral spirits or alcohol [vodka and grain alcohol] [...]
(b) Class 2; whisky. “Whisky” is an alcoholic distillate from a fermented mash of grain produced at less than 190° proof in such manner that the distillate possesses the taste, aroma, and characteristics generally attributed to whisky, stored in oak containers (except that corn whisky need not be so stored), and bottled at not less than 80° proof, and also includes mixtures of such distillates for which no specific standards of identity are prescribed.
(1)(i) “Bourbon whisky”, “rye whisky”, “wheat whisky”, “malt whisky”, or “rye malt whisky” is whisky produced at not exceeding 160° proof from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain, respectively, and stored at not more than 125° proof in charred new oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies of the same type.
(ii) “Corn whisky” [...]
(iii) Whiskies conforming to the standards prescribed in paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section, which have been stored in the type of oak containers prescribed, for a period of 2 years or more shall be further designated as “straight”; for example, “straight bourbon whisky”, “straight corn whisky”, and whisky conforming to the standards prescribed in paragraph (b)(1)(i) of this section, except that it was produced from a fermented mash of less than 51 percent of any one type of grain, and stored for a period of 2 years or more in charred new oak containers shall be designated merely as “straight whisky”. No other whiskies may be designated “straight”. “Straight whisky” includes mixtures of straight whiskies of the same type produced in the same State.
(2) “Whisky distilled from bourbon (rye, wheat, malt, or rye malt) mash” is whisky produced in the United States at not exceeding 160° proof from a fermented mash of not less than 51 percent corn, rye, wheat, malted barley, or malted rye grain, respectively, and stored in used oak containers; and also includes mixtures of such whiskies of the same type. Whisky conforming to the standard of identity for corn whisky must be designated corn whisky.
I am partial Basil Hayden's. It's fantastic. A little spicier finish as it has more rye than usual.
Another favorite is Blanton's Single Barrel. Very smooth, almost vanilla like finish... mmmmm Gonna pour me a wee dram getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner tonight.