Hello fellow BWDC members! In the spirit (haha get it!) of the most recent RA video and discussing something other than politics, I wanted to talk about a hobby that I’ve gotten into for the past couple of years and that is whiskey tasting. For full disclosure, (so no one calls my mom) I do not drink whiskey to get drunk, I drink because I enjoy the flavors and complexities different whiskies have. This means I only have one glass whenever I’m drinking a whiskey (sometimes 2 if the whiskey was exceptionally good). Now that that is out of the way, I’d like to talk a little bit about how I came to this expensive hobby.
A couple of years ago, my father and I watched this documentary about bourbon called “Neat”. One could say this documentary was…”neat” (I don’t get out much in case people were wondering). This had started our journey into a wild world of unknown unknowns in which we were fully ready to embark on. A couple months later, we went to the Buffalo Trace distillery in Kentucky and learned a lot about bourbon and whiskey in general. For those of you who aren’t familiar with bourbon, bourbon is a type of whiskey. Think of it this way: all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. On this tour, we learned more specifically about bourbon and all the rules that govern the making of bourbon. Maybe I’ll talk more about that in a later blog post. After this tour, my dad and I then decided we needed to keep tasting different whiskies so that we could understand what this world was all about. And now here I am, 2 years later enjoying all different types of whiskey.
The reason I enjoy drinking whiskey is the differences in the flavors of every whiskey there is on Earth. While there are whiskies that have similar flavors, they are still a little different; and I enjoy trying to figure out what those differences are and see what I like. And even within the same brand, you can have different flavors. There’s just an infinite amount of possibilities of flavors when it comes to whiskey.
My favorite type of whiskey right now is bourbon, but I’ve recently been getting into the Irish Whiskies and Scotch. With Scotch, I’ve been drinking the lighter flavors, not heavy on the smokiness. Still not digging the Earth, dirt flavors you get with the peat. If I try a new whiskey, I normally drink it neat so that I can get some of the initial flavor profiles. But I do enjoy a whiskey on the rocks. I recently purchased a device that makes the clear ice balls, so I’ll throw one of those in a glass and sip on the whiskey. Another beautiful thing about whiskey is that there is no right way to enjoy them. You can drink them neat, on the rocks, in a cocktail, whatever your heart desires. I find that if I want a cocktail, I tend to use a rye whiskey or a heavy rye mash bill bourbon. I find that those tend to balance out the sweetness that a cocktail usually has.
Well, there is my hobby that I’ve been enjoying for a couple of years. I’d like to post about this every once in a while, and have people comment their thoughts and experiences when it comes whiskey in general. I’ll dig into different topics and such about it because there is so much to talk about when it comes to the wide world of whiskey. Also, please comment your favorite whiskies so I can try them out!
In fear of sounding like a Karen, please be responsible if you are ever drinking whiskey. Again, I don’t drink whiskey to get drunk; I like to enjoy it with my friends and family and because I enjoy the flavors, so please be responsible.
If you would like to learn more about whiskey in general, I’ve been following a YouTube channel called “The Whiskey Tribe”. Really great guys who know a lot about whiskey.
Welcome and enjoy the wide world of whiskey!
9 replies on “A Whiskey Blog”
Excellent article about something interesting that you can do with the freedoms we enjoy. You might not have seen my Happy Hour post, but this fits it perfectly. Look forward to more posts from you, and more similar posts like this 🙂
Plenty of small distilleries around for those who enjoy something a little different: https://www.theforestdistillery.com/
I agree with your post, I think a BWDC member happy hour is in order! Could help to simmer our sour attitudes and remind ourselves there are people out there who also think and most importantly, ENJOY life like we do. We really do have a lot of fun, people should post about all the fun they’re having! And I write this currently drinking an old fashioned using a rye whiskey!
Not much of a drinker, but know a bit about scotch and bourbon. Tasted and enjoyed a single barrel bourbon called Blanton’s one with a horse on its stopper. Smoooooth. Have a Makers Mark I was given. Prefer the Blanton’s.
Blanton’s is really good, and also hard to find here in Cincinnati. If you liked that lot, you should also try Eagle Rare. Both are distilled by Buffalo Trace. I also just got my hands on some Maker Mark cask strength just yesterday and tasted it last night around a bonfire with my wife. Exactly how bourbon should be enjoyed!
Believe it or not, I found one in northern Kentucky in a small liquor store on the top shelf all dusty. I recognized the bottle top. We got one in a Cincinnati Kroger. Got both of those about 2 years ago. Got a third the same year by getting on the list to get on at a Krogers. We were told that they mainly come in on packs of 4 at a time mainly around Christmas. Try going to a Krogers with a liquor store and ask about getting on the list. We gave one of those away for a Christmas gift. Another we have to my wife’s nephew when he bought her old house.
Nice topic. I’m a whiskey fan as well. Bourbon is my go to libation. Hard to beat two fingers of Jim Beam. Elijah Craig is my favorite right now.
I do like to try new whiskeys as I come across them. Cost allowing. Got a hold of some 18 year old Glenfiddich and absolutely loved it but can’t afford to get it more than once a year.
My son showed me a video a little while back you may find interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-rjtG_CHzU
I sure would enjoy meeting this guy.
I just tried some Elijah Craig Barrel Proof this past weekend for the first time with some friends. That was a really great bourbon, highly recommend if you find it. The guest on the video is one of the guys in the The Whiskey Tribe, Daniel! Would enjoy to meet him and his co-host on the channel.
An excellent topic to discuss. As you can see from my avatar, I do like the peatier efforts from Islay. Neat was a very enjoyable documentary. There is a more recent effort called Scotch – the Golden Dram from 2018 and another called Whisky – The Islay edition that center on the process and the peat.
Some really good stuff out there and it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get very food bourbon and whiskey at very reasonable prices. It is all about individual tastes.
I’ll have to check those out. I’ve dipped my toe in the Scotch world with some Monkey Shoulder. It is enjoyable, I feel like I can get more flavors rather than just the peat taste. I’m sure as I try more I’ll get more into Scotch. And you’re right it doesn’t have to be expensive at all. I do enjoy sipping on some Old Grandad Bottled in Bond, only $20 and highly accessible where I’m from!