micahsaul

I don’t remember when I started drinking whiskey. It was likely in 2001, during the first of my punk rock, dirty apartment, sleeping on the floor, sharing a small apartment with entirely too many fucking people phase. I know for a fact that it was certainly then or before, as I remember many nights during those six months spent kicking back glass after glass of Jameson or Macallan with my best friend Zane.

Well, seven years have passed, I’ve lived through two more of those phases, and Zane has passed away… but the love of whiskey remains, though it has changed form. I used to be an Irish man (not an Irishman, but a man who drinks Irish whiskey). Of course, that meant bottle upon bottle of Jameson, that particular tipple being the only Irish that deserves the name. I’d drink the occasional glass of Scotch, usually Macallan 18 year when we felt like splurging, but Irish was my drink. The reasons for this British Isles-centric taste were simple: 1) Scotch was expensive (excepting the shitty plastic jug scotch, but that stuff is glorified paint thinner, f’real) and 2) Bourbon was gross. Jack Daniels and Jim Beam, the only American whiskeys I’d tassted at that point, had about the appeal of an old southern man’s dirty bath water… and this is exactly what it tasted like. Ok, so in the later phases of my hipster lifestyle, I began to drink Ancient Age and Kessler’s, but this is merely because it was cheap, plentiful, and ironic.

Thus, my current love affair with Bourbon seems a tad incongruous. How did the lowest of the low become the highest of the high? In this case, I can remember exactly how it happened. And again, it is thanks to Zane. See, in 2003 I dropped out college for the second time, to travel across the country with Zane to go pick apples on an orchard on the New Hampshire/ Maine border. While living in his family’s old farmhouse, Zane introduced me to the most glorious liquid I had imbibed up to that point: Maker’s Mark. Here was an American Whiskey worthy of the name. Instead of Colonel Sanders’ bathtub, it tasted like a sunset as seen from the hills above Monticello. It tasted like what I’ve since learned the South to be: hospitable, beautiful, warm, inviting, dignified with a rustic edge. I was in love.

I’ve had many Bourbons since then, and have recently gotten into the small batch craft whiskeys. Often higher in alcohol, they are also head and shoulders above the cheaper, larger batch bourbons most people know in terms of flavor. If Jack Daniels is Budweiser (and Kessler and Ancient Age are PBR), these are the Fat Tires, the Chimays, the Red Hooks. They’re certainly pricier than Jim Beam, but quality doesn’t come cheap. Here are my favorites:

Black Maple Hill 21 Yr. (95 Proof) - First discovered this one at Alembic, in San Francisco. I asked for a Bourbon that would kick me in the teeth with a velvet boot and it does just that, coming in strong with a very full bodied flavor and a sharp tang that subsides and warms as it goes down your throat. According to the bartender at Whiskey Thieves, it’s been discontinued, which is just about the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. Made by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, Ltd, who also make the excellent Rowan’s Creek.

Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey (90 Proof) - Found out about them through Metafilter years ago. I stole their recipe for Mint Juleps, which has since become my signature drink. Only recently tried the whiskey, when it became available at Safeway. Similar to Maker’s in many respects, it’s smooth as silk with some slightly fruity and peppery notes. Made by the Buffalo Trace Distillery, who also make unemployed-Micah’s standby, Ancient Age (it’s hard to beat $4 for a pint of tolerable whiskey).

Bookers (125 Proof) - This is the stuff. If Bourbon could be a schoolyard bully, it would be Bookers. A barrel proof whiskey, it is not watered down after distilling and aging like most other alcohols; what comes out of the barrel is what goes into the bottle. Despite the very high alcohol content, this is a nuanced Bourbon, with a strong, smoky, oaky flavor. Perhaps the best way to enjoy it is to take a small amount onto your tongue and just let it evaporate there. The flavor spreads across your palate and warms your entire mouth and throat. It’s part of Jim Beam’s small batch collection, which also includes the very fine Knob Creek and Basil Hayden’s.

All of the whiskey’s mentioned are available at BevMo, and I highly recommend giving them a try. After a long day of work, be it physical labor on an apple orchard in New England or hours in front of a computer screen at a tech company in downtown SF, nothing is quite as nice as a good book, some good music, maybe a good friend or two, and a glass of damn good bourbon. Cheers, y’all.

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