Knob Creek 9 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

Named after a little creek that ran by Abraham Lincoln’s childhood home, Knob Creek was created by Booker Noe, grandson of James Beam and sixth generation Master Distiller. Booker wanted to create a Super-Premium bourbon in the pre-prohibition style.

Knob Creek is a traditional bourbon with approx 70% corn and equal parts wheat and rye.  It is aged for 9 years in 4-charred oak barrels and made in small batches.  This process provides a sweet … Read more

Baker’s 7 Year Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

Baker’s Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey is aged for seven years in new oak barrels. It is a small batch bourbon made from the favorite recipe of Baker Beam, Grandnephew of Jim Beam.

Appearance: clear, medium amber with bronze hues and viscous legs

Nose: clean, medium with mellow notes of corn, grain, butterscotch, vanilla, oak with a touch of cream

Palate:  Dry, well integrated alcohol with a slight drying quality, medium notes of corn, grain, cinnamon, … Read more

Dancing Pines Bourbon Whiskey Review

This bourbon hails from a small craft distillery in Loveland Colorado – the brainchild of a wife-husband-husband’s father combo!  Dancing Pines is one of many new craft distilleries that have been popping up across America that have embraced the modern American whiskey renaissance with it’s bourbon whiskey.   Yes, Dancing Pines does produce a bourbon. We like to point that out as many people think that bourbon can only come from Kentucky.  Bourbon can come from … Read more

Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey Review

Appearance: clean, medium minus tawny golden color with thick legs

Nose:  clean with a medium intensity of corn, kernel, maple syrup, brown sugar, floral and muted oak 

Palate: dry, integrated but spicy alcohol, medium notes of corn, kernel, sourdough, maple syrup, cinnamon, pepper and soft oak.  Medium finish with notes of kernel and sourdough

Rating:  Average to good.  Basic bourbon that sees limited time in oak so the wood influence is muted.  This allows the … Read more

Water Cocktails

One of the hottest trends this year has been Water Cocktails!  You may ask, what is a water cocktail?  I had that same question when I first heard the term.  My first thoughts were fancy new mineral waters or water bars set up ala oxygen bars (if you have been to Vegas, you know what I am talking about).  Instead, water cocktails involve the use of water as an infusion for cocktails or as a … Read more

Happy National Coffee Day

It’s time to get your buzz on and for once we don’t mean with booze (but, honestly, coffee and booze are a pretty good combo). September 29th is National Coffee Day so it’s time to get caffeinated!

In honor of National Coffee Day, we have been scouring our minds and the web for some fun coffee facts!

The top coffee drinkers in the world are the Americans, French and Germans. According to Yahoo Answers, the … Read more

The Life of a Spirits Judge

Recently, I had the honor of judging not one but two events. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the opportunities and learned so much. The first of the events was judging a United States Bartender Guild, known as USBG, Pisco Sour competition sponsored by Gran Sierpe Pisco at the Manhattan Cocktail Classic. The second was judging a number of spirits categories at the International Wine and Spirits Competition just outside of London. The two … Read more

Judgment of Paris – Literary Monday

For any of you movie buffs, the 1976 battle between French wines and their upstart American counterparts entitled the “Judgment of Paris” was chronicled in the highly fictionalized movie Bottleshock.  While Bottleshock was certainly entertaining and spotlighted the super cute Chris Pine, it didn’t exactly stick to the story. If you are interested in how the tale actually unfolded, pick up George Tabor’s Judgment of Paris.

Before reading Judgment of Paris, I assumed that most … Read more

A Taste of Bourbon

Each September marks Bourbon Heritage Month.  While there are other spirits with connections to America – think colonial rum and apple brandy – no spirit is as quintessentially American as bourbon.  Bourbon is an amber colored whiskey that must be made from a mash consisting of a majority of corn, matured in charred American oak barrels and bottled at no less than 80 proof. 

Bourbon is often associated with Kentucky but bourbon can be made … Read more

The Artisan Soda Workshop – Literary Monday

Long live soda!  Or, maybe I should say long live elixirs, potions and concoctions.  Long before Coca Cola and Pepsi ruled the “soda scene”, there were local pharmacists, soda jerks and soda fountains that were slinging their wares.  And, many people acted as their own alchemists at home brewing up concoctions.  Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Andrew Lynn in the The Artisan Soda Workshop harkens back to these days.  Ms. Lynn does a terrific job of … Read more