whiskey – Page 2 – Jim's Drams

Milk Street Distillery

Visiting Milk Street Distillery in northwestern New Jersey.

This past weekend, I had a chance to visit Milk Street Distillery. The distillery is named for Milk Street, the quiet street it is on. Milk Street is located in the small town of Branchville, in the northwest corner of New Jersey.

The exterior of the 125 year old building fits right in with the surroundings.

Passing through the entryway, you are greeted by seating on an enclosed porch, and an inviting wooden bar.

Gorgeous wooden bar offering drink service for the enclosed porch and tastings

Beyond the bar, you will find a nice waiting area outside the doors to the distillery floor, and a merchandise display including bottled goods, accessories, and books.

The State of New Jersey has strict liquor license laws, and only allows local distilleries to sell product in conjunction with a tour. Self-guided tours are permissable, and many locations settle for handing out a pamphlet and pointing the way.

Milk Street goes a step above, and offers guided tours for no charge (some distilleries charge for guided tours or do not offer them at all). Tastings are available after the tour for a reasonable charge.

Upon walking through the doors from the waiting area, one of the first things you see is JimTom, the distillery cat. Distilleries use grain, and grain attracts rodents. Many distilleries employ a distillery cat to help protect their raw ingredients. IMHO, a good distillery cat is the mark of a good distillery, and JimTom is one of the best.

JimTom the distillery cat takes a quick break from his mousing duties

Our tour was conducted by Gordon Geerhart, who co-owns the operation with his older brother Mike. Gordon gave one of the best tours I’ve ever taken, and I’ve taken many. He provided a lot of good information, and found the perfect balance between not over-simplifying and not being overly technical.

Right inside the entry way, you will see the smaller of two stills, Little Boy. This is used for test runs and recipe formulation.

“Little Boy” – The smaller of two stills is used for recipe formulation

It wasn’t until we moved further back to the larger still that the signifcance of the name dawned on my. Fat Man is used for larger production runs that will be hand bottled and then used behind the bar or sold to take home.

“Fat Man” – The larger of the two stills is used for production runs.

Clear spirits include two different vodkas (one from rice, and one from corn), a rum made from a combination of molasses and evaporated cane juice, and an unaged rye.

On the brown side, they have three offerings:
– An aged rye made from a 100% rye bill – this is very smooth, and offers a tyipcal rye spice profile with maybe a touch more sweetness than some.
– A malt whiskey – here we find a slightly nutty aroma and of course a malty sweetness. The flavor is soft and mild, similar, in my opinion, to a typical lowland single malt.
– “War Penny Bourbon” – I’ll offer a more in depth review of this one soon, but for now I’ll say that a portion of the mash bill is smoked with cherry wood, offering a unique flavor profile.

All of their whiskeys are smooth and delicious. There are a lot of entries in the craft distilling market, and the Geerhart brothers are one team who are getting it right in every detail, from a quality product to an an enjoyable experience.

Craft Distilleries

Why you should consider visiting a local craft distillery near you.

For a long time, if you wanted to create alcoholic beverages on a small scale in the United States, you were limited to beer or wine. Microbreweries were popping up and gaining popularity everywhere, and small, local wineries were a great way to spend a pleasant afternoon.

Distilled spirits, however, remained the province of large operations. The minimum licensing fee for distillery operations was prohibitively high for a small start-up.

Then, about a decade or so ago, many states began paving the way for the entrepreneur to enter the distilling business. Soon, craft distilleries began showing up around the country.

I’ve visited and toured over 20 of these operations, and spoken to many owners. The typical time from the first planning stages to opening the doors as a licensed operation tends to be 2-3 years, at least in my home state and surrounding states.

After that kind of time and investment, there is a need to put product on the shelves and start generating some revenue. The last thing you want to do is make your first product something that won’t be ready for another year or more.

Because of that, most of them begin operations with clear spirits, such as vodka, gin, and white rum. There’s a saying among craft distillers, “Vodka pays the bills.” If they succeed, and get a steady cash flow going, a lot of them will eventually branch out into “brown” or aged spirits such as aged rum and whiskey.

Some in the whiskey community are concerned that these small operations will rush immature product to market, hoping to make a quick profit, and not counting on repeat business. In my experience, that is not the case.

Most of the craft distillers I have visited that are producing whiskey take pride in their product. They are not about to release a sub-standard offering. They already have a good business going in clear spirits, and have the time and money to wait until the stuff in the barrels is ready before putting it on the shelves.

Some of the best whiskeys that I have had, even bourbons (remember, bourbon doesn’t have to come from Kentucky), have been from small, local distilleries. Touring these facilities can be a very entertaining and educational experience. Most of these people are passionate about their craft, and are happy to discuss it with visitors who show an interest. Tours generally include a tasting (for a modest fee) and many have a bar where you can order a cocktail made with their spirits.

If you’re lucky enough to live near one of these places (or even not-so-near; many are worth a bit of a drive), I encourage you to visit their website and plan a visit.

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What is Bourbon?

There are a lot of misconceptions about what is and is not Bourbon. Let’s try to clear them up.

Most people have heard of bourbon, and have at least an idea of what it is, but there are a lot of misconceptions out there. Let’s try to clear some of them up.

Bourbon is a type of whiskey. I’ve heard people say “I don’t drink whiskey, I drink bourbon” as if it is a completely separate product. Bourbon is a very specific style of whiskey, with exact requirements, but it is still a whiskey.

In short, bourbon must be:
⦁ Made in the United States
⦁ Aged in new charred oak containers
⦁ Made from at least 51% corn
⦁ Distilled no higher than 160 proof (80% alcohol by volume)
⦁ Placed in aging containers at no higher than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume)
⦁ Bottled at no lower than 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume)
⦁ Contain no added colors or flavors

Perhaps the most common misunderstanding is that bourbon has to come from Kentucky. While Kentucky does produce most (over 95%) of the bourbon made, it can actually come from anywhere in the United States. It cannot, however, be made outside the U.S. – In 1964, Congress recognized bourbon as “a distinctive product of the United States”.

Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak containers. The container cannot have been previously used for any purpose, not even aging other bourbon. Because the containers cannot be reused for additional bourbon, there is a steady supply of used bourbon barrels. These can been used for aging other products ranging from other whiskies, to beer, maple syrup, and even coffee beans, all of which pick up some of the flavor from the bourbon that has been absorbed into the wood.

Sometimes the word “American” is mistakenly added to the previous requirement, but officially, the oak can come from anywhere. Also note that “barrel” is not specified, although barrels are almost always what is used.

Another frequent mistake is that bourbon must be aged for a minimum amount of time. Most commonly, it is thought that it must be aged at least two years. The fact is that there is no minumum age requirement. If it is aged at least two years, it can be labeled as “straight” bourbon. If it is aged at least 4 years, it does not need to contain an age statement on the label.

Combining the two previous requirements, Jimmy Russell, head distiller at Wild Turkey, famously said that you can take an oak bucket, char the inside, fill it from the still, walk it over to the bottling line, and call it bourbon. It would have to state that it is aged less than a day, but it would be bourbon. And if you wanted to do it again, you would have to get a new bucket.

The “mash” for bourbon must be at least 51% corn, though 65%-75% is most common. The remainder can be any other cereal grain. A portion of malted barley is almost used, as this grain contains the highest amount of the enzyme responsible for converting starches to fermentable sugars.

A “finishing” or “flavoring” grain is usual added. Rye introduces a hint of the spicy flavor notes found in rye whiskey, while wheat produces a more mild flavor. Adding both, along with barley, results in what is often labeled “Four grain bourbon”. Some craft distillers are experimenting with other grains as well. I’ve seen bourbons with oat, millet, sorghum, and even quinoa, and even a “five grain” bourbon, a classic four grain with oat added to the mix.

Bourbon must be distilled to no higher than 160 proof, which is 80% alcohol by volume. This preserves a great deal of the characteristic of the grains that were used to make the mash. Some other whiskies can be distilled as high as 190 proof. Above that, almost all of the grain character is lost, resulting in what is called “neutral grain spirit”.

It must then be placed in the aging containers at no higher than 125 proof. This further helps to preserve the flavor of the grains used, as well as control what flavors are and are not extracted from the wood.

Like most distilled spirits in the U.S., bourbon must be bottled at a minimum of 80 proof, though it can be higher, sometimes as high as “barrel strength”, or “cask strength” meaning that it is placed in the bottles at the same proof that it came out of the barrels. If it is bottled at exactly 100 proof, and meets certain other requirements, it can be labeled as “Bottled in Bond”, but that’s a story for another day.

And lastly, bourbon can not contain any added color or flavor. This seems straight forward, but there is actually a debate going on in the bourbon world right now around this requirement. We’ll talk about that in a future post, I promise.

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Scotch? For St. Patrick’s Day?

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just for Irish whiskey. Why the right Scotch might be an appropriate choice.

St. Patrick’s day is right around the corner, but before you reach for that bottle of Irish whiskey, perhaps you should pause for a moment.

But what does Scotch whisky have to do with St. Patrick? Plenty. St. Patrick was actually a native of Scotland, taken to Ireland at the age of 14. Legend holds that he introduced the art of distilling to Scotland in the 5th Century, via the Kintyre Peninsula.

With that in mind, a whisky from that region would certainly be appropriate for March 17th. Once a booming whisky city, Campbletown has precious few distilleries left, yet remains an official (but often overlooked) region.

The Glengyle Distillery closed almost a centruy ago, but re-opened in 2004. After several limited “preview” releases, the signature Kilkerran 12 Year Old was finally available in 2016.

Upon pouring, this whisky gives an impression of having a lot of body, almost appearing thick.

Oak dominates the nose, along with a hint of peat, and some sherry notes that one would more likely expect from a Speyside. Cherries come through, and linger after everything else has passed.

On the palate, it has a full-bodied mouthfeel that confirms the first visual impression – this is a viscous whisky. Fruity and citrus flavors dominate, along with the smoke hinted at on the nose, similar to a peated Highland. However, the oily body and lingering salinity confirm that this is indeed a Campbletown malt.

The finish is long, warm, and pleasant. If you’ve never had a Campbletown before, this would be a worthy place to start.

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Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to try a new whiskey.

Saint Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and many people will be reaching for a bottle of Irish whiskey (remember, there’s an E in Ireland, so there’s an E in the whiskey).

Ireland is crucial in the history of whiskey. In fact, the word whiskey itself comes from Gaelic. Romans called distilled spirits aqua vitae, “water of life”. When they introduced distillation to Ireland, the Gaelic translation was uisge beatha (pronounced ooska bah). Over many years, this became “usky” and then finally “whiskey”.

If you’re not normally a whiskey drinker (or have a friend or signifacant other who you’re trying to introduce to whiskey), this is a perfect occasssion to give it a try. Irish whiskeys tend to be smooth and mildly flavored. In other words, a perfect “beginner’s” whiskey.

And if you’re an experienced whiskey drinker, this is a great opportunity to expand your horizons. Sure, you could reach for the familiar, popular bottle of Jameson’s or Bushmill’s. But why not try something new?

If you’re sticking to a budget, a bottle of Paddy’s could be an interesting change of pace, and will certainly set your party apart from the others. If you’re willing and able to spend a few dollars more, premium Irish whiskeys like Knappogue Castle and Red Breast are worth the price. Normally a Scotch drinker? Give Connemara Peated Irish Whiskey a try.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! And as they say on the Emerald Isle, “sláinte mhaith” – good health! (It’s pronounced slancha va, or you can just say sláinte, which is “health”)

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Glenmorangie Allta

Tasting Glenmorangie Allta, the 10th expression in the Private Edition line.

Glenmorangie has never been shy about exploring ways to bring different flavors to their whiskies. Many consider them leaders in the area of cask finishes. A side by side tasting of their 4 core expressions is certainly a great introduction to the subject.

In their Prestige Expression “Signet”, they use a dark roasted “chocolate” malt, better known as the basis of porters and stouts, to introduce new dimensions of flavor.

For the Allta, they used another technique more commonly found in the brewing industry, yeast. In this case, a unique strain of wild yeast found growing nearby on their Cadboll barley. As those familiar with beer brewing know, different strains of yeast can have a profound effect on flavour.

They combined this never before identified Saccharomyces diaemath with that same local Cadboll barley to produce a unique new make spirit, which was then aged in third fill ex-bourbon casks to reduce the impact of the wood and highlight the nature of the spirit itself.

On the nose, the wild yeast asserts itself with notes of fresh baked bread and biscuits. The first hint of aroma is not unike walking into a bakery on Sunday morning. A bit of heat comes through from the 51.2% ABV bottling, and just a hint of that distinctive Glenmoranige citrus.

On the palate, it can be a bit hot, but those wonderful notes of baked goods continue to shine through. Citrus is a little more prominent than it was on the nose.

Just a few drops of water cut through the heat very quickly and allow the distinctive flavors to shine through, making this a most enjoyable dram.

This release demonstrates that the choice of yeast, usually an afterthought in distilling, actually does make a diffence in spirits, even aged spirits.

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To “E” or not to “E”

To “E” or not to “E” – A look at when to spell it whisky and when to spell it whiskey.

You have probably seen the word spelled “whisky” and also “whiskey”. Which is correct, and what is the difference?

The answer is that both are correct, really. It depends on which country you are in, and where the liquid comes from.

In Ireland and The United States, the more common spelling is whiskey. In Scotland, Canada, and Japan, whisky is the more accepted form. The easy way to remember it is, if there’s an E in the country, there’s an E in the whiskey.

In writing about whisky, the accepted form is to use the appropriate spelling for that country when discussing a specific product, and whichever version you like when speaking in general terms. I’ve seen whisk(e)y, whiskEy, and whisky/whiskey, but I think those can be a bit cumbersome.

For this site, I will use the whisky spelling, unless I am specifically talking about a product from the U.S. or Ireland.

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