Binny's 'World of Whiskey'

I recently spent the evening at Binnys south loop (Chicago) store for their 'World of Whiskey' event. This was the day before "Whiskyfest", which takes place in the Hyatt Regency in downtown Chicago, and is an annual gathering of the whiskey industry hosted by Malt Advocate magazine. Basically, since everyone in the industry is already in town, Binnys conducts a mini version of "Whiskyfest" in their store. First of all, the Binnys south loop store is a ridiculous liquor store. It has bar in the store! A really nice bar, with large windows in the background to view the Chicago skyline. Anyway, it was a really fun evening. I got to try about 14 different whiskeys that I had never tried before. Also, I got to meet some whiskey industry celebrities. Below is a picture of me and John Hansell, Editor of Malt Advocate Magazine, and founder of 'Whiskyfest'.

I also had the privilege of meeting Jimmy Russell, Master Distiller for Wild Turkey. Jimmy is a legend in the industry, and the namesake for Russell's Reserve bourbon, a very fine whiskey.

Additionally, I spent some quality time with Dan Tullio and Tish Harcus of Canadian Club. They were both featured prominently in the television show "Modern Marvels" on the History Channel. It's always odd to meet someone after you have seen them on TV, but they were very fun, and Tish was kind enough to take a picture of me and John Hansell when I shoved my camera at her.
I also spent some time with George Stranahan, founder of Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey. I got to ask some questions about barrel aging with a guy who actually makes and ages whiskey. That was very cool.

I have told my story about 'World of Whiskey' to several people, and the accounting is similar to how I have told it in this blog entry. Usually by this point someone says:

"Wait a minute, you drank 14 whiskeys?"

Yes, and I drove home. But it's not like it sounds. First, these were small portions, half-shots in most cases. For the ones I didn't like, I didn't even finish the half-shot. Also, I used the full three hours of the event and spaced my tasting as far apart a possible, just visiting with people and walking around between drinks. Additionally, I had plenty of water, crackers and cheese between pours. I promise that I was not a menace to myself or anyone else.

In my next post, I will provide my notes for the whiskeys I tasted that night. See you then!

How do I drink it?

The most common question I get is in regards to how I actually drink whiskey. Generally I drink it neat (straight), or with one small ice cube. I will rarely drink it in a cocktail. I suppose the most popular whiskey cocktail would be "Jack and Coke". I don't really care for that. It's interesting, there are several well known whiskey based cocktails, such as the Manhattan, Old Fashioned and Whiskey Sour, but these are not very popular to the general drinking public. It seems that 90% of cocktails made these days are vodka based. My theory on this is that whiskey is already the most complex spirit in the world, with tremendous depth and variety in its flavor profile. Mixing it with soda or sweet bar mixes just doesn't work. People make cocktails with vodka because you have to do something to give the vodka some flavor. Think about it, who drinks vodka straight?

Anyway, like I said, the most I usually put in my whiskey is a little water. However, people assume that 'neat' is the way real whiskey 'connoisseurs' drink it. In fact, some of the machismo surrounding the issue can be annoying. Here is an interesting article addressing this topic. The truth is, the proper way to drink whiskey is whichever way tastes best for you. Most whiskey enthusiasts start out drinking it in cocktails, or in my case, with a tumbler full of ice. Gradually, as the palette develops, the desire for additional ingredients will naturally fade.

Even though I prefer my whiskey straight, there are occasions where it would be nice to drink it in a cocktail, so I have been trying different cocktails to see which one is right for me. I haven't had much luck in this search until recently when I tried bourbon and ginger-ale. My first attempt was 'Canada Dry and Jim Beam Black'. This was pretty good, but I didn't care for the aftertaste. My next attempt was 'Schweppes and Wild Turkey 101'. This was very good and without the funny aftertaste. My third attempt was 'Seagram's Ginger Ale and Very Old Barton bourbon'. This combination tasted like the first, including the aftertaste. I have concluded that this will require a more scientific approach, and I will begin to collect different Ginger Ales until I have enough to conduct a documented testing session. Stay tuned.

While we are on the subject of tasting, below is a pretty good video on the basics of whiskey tasting: