Wild Turkey Forgiven

The latest expansion from Wild Turkey blends their two iconic styles, Bourbon and Rye American whiskies, into one quite near perfect drinking package.

An apparent accident, Forgiven came out of the accidental combination of 6 year old Bourbon (the youngest age in any of the Wild Turkey range) and 4 year old high proof Rye. The mash bill leans heavily (78% to 22%) toward the Bourbon, but the higher proof of the Rye, combined with its youthful vigour, delivers an extremely pleasant balance of creamy vanilla and oak at the opening and a spicy cloves and cinnamon at the close. Perfect on its own in a glass, or on a rock. Intoxicating in a Manhattan.

The liquid comes in a reappropriated Rare bottle, adding nice weight and a real premium feel.

It smells and tastes a lot like Christmas, and you could do worse than pick up one of the limited edition for around $90 to savour over the holidays.

Get amongst.

 

MixMarch #2: The Saratoga Cocktail

The Saratoga cocktail is the sweeter cousin of one of my favourite drinks in the whole, wide world; The Manhattan. I first found the recipe reading through David Wondrich’s fantastic investigation of the drinks and times of Jerry Thomas, Imbibe!

The springs at Saratoga made it one of the escapes from New York in the days of Jerry Thomas, and it’s probably no surprise that a drink named for a resort is appreciably sweeter than its urban relation. This is achieved by swapping out half of the rye whiskey normally present in the drink for cognac or brandy at a push.

The Saratoga Cocktail.

3omls Rye Whiskey, 30mls Cognac, 30mls Sweet Vermouth, a couple of dashes of bitters. Combine over ice in a tin and stir until cold and sufficiently diluted. Strain up, garnish with the peel of an orange and a healthy dose of disgust for urban mores.

Best served with a newspaper and a back massage.

Basil Hayden’s Small Batch Bourbon

I was lucky enough to get my hands a bottle of Basil Hayden’s small batch Bourbon over the weekend. The tasting notes explain that this little gem crosses the boundary between Rye and straight Bourbon, and that at 40% ABV it is perfect pretty much anyway you want to take it. The Intoxicologist has a cocktail that uses this fine spirit mixed with only Champagne. I’ll try it out this week and let you know what I think.

The product itself is incredibly smooth and has hints of honey and mint. I tried it out on its own, over ice, as an old fashioned and in a version of a Sazerac. It takes on the oils of orange beautifully and mellows everything it comes in contact with. I’ll bet it makes a tasty Julep.

The history of the brand lies with Basil Hayden, a Maryland Catholic who settled in Nelson County, Kentucky in 1785. By 1792 he had developed a special mash of corn and rye grains that bridged the mellow Bourbons and peppery straight rye styles. It is this mash that the Beam Global small batch spirit means to replicate. 

The bottle itself is gorgeous, with the over the fold label, copper band and bH logotype. 

If you’re a lover of good Bourbon, this one is a beauty. Pricing around $70 a bottle and available at Elizabeth Bay Cellars, and online here. I’ve see in around a few other places as well, and any outlet of Jim Beam should be able to order it, even if they don’t have any in stock.

The Old Fashioned

On May 13, 1806, The Balance and Colombia Repository printed the first known definition of the word “cocktail”

`Cocktail, then, is a stimulating liquor, composed of spirits of any kind, sugar, water and bitters it is vulgarly called a bittered sling`

This somewhat unsavoury sounding mix is what we today call the Old Fashioned. 

Like almost all things alcohol related, there are disputes as to who coined the name instead of it just remaining ‘Cocktail,’ the members of the Pendennis Club claimed for some time in their blustery Colonel Sanders way that the name belonged to a Bourbon Cocktail made in the club. David Wondrich, who looks not dissimilar to a member of the Pendennis Club, discounted this theory by uncovering a wealth of examples of the use of the word prior to the Club’s foundation in 1880.

But I digress.

The Old Fashioned Cocktail

Take a sugar cube* and douse it in three or four belts from a bottle of Angostura Bitters, slide this into the bottom of an Old Fashioned glass. I use at least 60 of good quality Bourbon in my version, Maker’s Mark would be a fine choice. Add a little of the Bourbon, with a couple of pieces of ice and start stirring. Keep adding a little more Bourbon, a little more ice and perhaps around 15 mls water. 

The result is an amazingly balanced, rich and seductive elixir. 

*I prefer to use a cube of sugar as the time it takes to get it to dissolve is around the same time it take to mellow this drink to a superior level.

Variations.

This cocktail is amazingly adaptable, you can change out the spirit for a Rye Whiskey, Brandy, Cognac or Rum.

At Toko on Crown St they do a Old Fashioned with Junipero Gin and there is a fashionable trend for Tequila Old Fashioneds around the world right now.

Once you’ve tried a variety of spirits, perhaps making a move on to changing out the bitters. Peychaud’s, Fee Brothers Peach or Orange Bitters, even Aperol or Campari. I’ll post an article later in the week about the process of homemaking bitters as well, to really change things up.

This really is a drink for the ages, we’ll be putting this up against the Trans-Galactic GargleBlaster when we make it to the restaurant at the end of time.