This isn’t bourbon! What is going on? This can’t be life! Yes, we bought this on purpose. No, we didn’t grab this thinking it was Bulleit Bourbon, which we really like and has almost the exact same bottle. We actually bought this rye for one specific reason (hint: it will likely appear here in the next couple of days).
Bulleit Rye has a golden amber color and smells a bit of vanilla with a hint of citrus. Its taste starts with a bang of pepper, but the spiciness never overpowers. It actually smooths out a bit before moving into a floral linger. We’re admittedly rye novices, but Bulleit’s 95% rye (and 5% malted barley) mash seems like a very high rye content. So it’s not surprising that this whiskey wouldn’t be very complex (compared to say, Bulleit Bourbon, since at this point, bourbon is our main basis for comparison). The note it hits is a very good one, though. It’s not as sweet as bourbon, though it does remind us a little of the tobacco flavor in Eagle Rare bourbon.
We’re looking forward to trying more rye whiskeys. Feel free to leave us suggestions in the comments.
Artwork by Matt Talbert
Happy weekending!
I have a new nephew today! Raise a glass! Thanks to Basil Hayden’s,* we had the resources and inspiration to create this cocktail.
The Arrival
2 oz. bourbon
¾ oz. Cointreau
½ oz. Apple Drinking Vinegar
¼ oz. kumquat simple syrup
Combine all ingredients with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with an apple slice.
This cocktail is light and slightly sour. The Basil Hayden’s bourbon adds a subtle pepperiness that is great with the apple vinegar and citrus flavors. I was a little worried that its lightness would be overwhelmed by the apple vinegar, but I think in these proportions it works really well.
*Even though yesterday’s nightcap was on Basil Hayden’s, we will always review products honestly. Contrary to popular belief, free drinks don’t automatically taste better.
We reviewed Basil Hayden’s bourbon during this blog’s infancy, and we’ve been meaning to post an updated review for some time. We keep getting sidetracked by the desire to introduce ourselves and readers to different whiskeys, though. Luckily, we received a sample bottle to review.* Basil Hayden’s is a bourbon we drink frequently at home. I have even begun saving the “bH” belt that the Basil bottle wears like Rasheed Wallace.
As we noted in our first review, Basil Hayden’s is a gold color, with a lightness that connotes its scent and taste. Its nose is mostly vanilla with a touch of caramel and herbaceousness. Its flavor is a smooth blend of vanilla, spice, and citrus flavors. Rachel noted that she tasted crisp apple. It also has a slight peppery spice that comes from the high-rye mash. At 80 proof, Basil Hayden’s has a relatively low ABV, which makes it very easy to sip neat or on the rocks. Unlike other low proof bourbons, it also holds up well when mixed in cocktails.
*Even though yesterday’s nightcap was on Basil Hayden’s, we will always review products honestly. Contrary to popular belief, free drinks don’t automatically taste better.
“How solemn and beautiful is the thought, that the earliest pioneer of civilization, the van leader of civilization, is never the steamboat, never the railway, never the newspaper, never the Sabbath-school, never the missionary—but always whiskey!” - Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
I’ve had a deep love of strawberry rhubarb recipes since I was little, so when I saw Saveur feature a strawberry rhubarb smash not too long ago, I knew we had to give it a try. I noticed this next bit rhymed, so I went full-on nerd with it.
This is an excellent summer cocktail,
And it just so happens to be bright pink.
Don’t let the lovely color fool you, though,
this is not a frilly drink.
Rhubarb Simple Syrup
3 stalks rhubarb
½ vanilla bean
1 cup sugar
3 cups water
Clean the rhubarb, trim the ends, and slice each stalk into half-inch pieces. Add all ingredients except for the vanilla bean into a sauce pan. Scrape the inside of half of a vanilla bean into the pan, then add the pod as well. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool and strain through a sieve as many times as necessary to eliminate all vanilla and rhubarb debris.
Strawberry Rhubarb Smash
½ lemon
5 mint leaves
1 oz. rhubarb simple syrup
1½ oz. bourbon
2½ strawberries
Slice the half lemon into three pieces. Add lemon, four mint leaves, and one and a half strawberries to a mixing glass. Muddle them together, then add the rhubarb simple syrup, bourbon, and ice. Shake and strain into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with the remaining mint and strawberry.
This smash is a nice balance of berry sweetness with the sour lemon and tart rhubarb. We used FEW bourbon to add an earthy note because this drink reminded me so much of the farm produce I grew up with. The mint contributes a refreshing aroma to top off this chilly cocktail.
Apparently this is a real (short) film. Does anyone know anything about it?
Happy weekending!
It’s finally starting to warm up here in Boston, and we wanted to feature a cocktail that can sustain you through the upcoming months of warmer weather. Lucky for us Crepes of Wrath got the summer itch before we did, so we followed their lead on this one.
The Steadfast
2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. maraschino liqueur
4-5 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Shake all ingredients together with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass. Garnish with an orange twist and maraschino cherry.
This cocktail is a really lovely color. Even better, it is very easy to put together but the end result is so classy looking that it would make a great drink for social gatherings. This recipe could be easily adapted to pitcher quantities, as well.
We chose to use Wild Turkey 81 in this because we thought that since Luxardo is a light, fruity liqueur we would use a lighter bourbon that touts its utility for mixing. We were wrong. The low proof of this bourbon meant that the strong bitters and cherry flavor overtook the bourbon. We were left with the taste of bitters on our tongues and no other aftertaste. It was a little bit tiresome and not as nuanced of a cocktail as we were hoping for. If we had paid more attention, we would have noticed that Crepes of Wrath used a high proof bourbon. We are confident this drink would have been a much greater success if we had done the same.
Sometimes you’re at the liquor store, paying for the delicious treats you’ve already picked out, when a small bottle of something you’ve never tried before catches your eye from behind the register. That’s how we ended up with this 375ml bottle of Wild Turkey 81. Wild Turkey is one of those famous brands we feel like we should know, but we’re more familiar with the name than the actual bourbon. The 81 was kind of a weird place to start with Wild Turkey—released in 2011, this is one of the newest Wild Turkey products (if not the newest)—but sometimes that happens with impulse purchases.
The high-rye mash bill of Wild Turkey 81 gives a little bit of spice and pleasant heaviness to the taste. This Bird is a golden honey color. Rachel noticed a touch of cherry in its scent, while I smelled mostly vanilla and caramel. We agreed there’s almost zero vanilla flavor in the taste, but there is a hint of cherry and a little bit of citrus, especially in the linger. The relatively low 81 proof is both the strength and weakness of this bourbon, though. It makes the bourbon very smooth, but it also takes away a little of the fire we like when we drink whiskey.
Also, since the Wild Turkey website claims “it really shines in a mixed drink like a Manhattan or an Old Fashioned,” we had to test it out. Wild Turkey 81 does, in fact, make a very very delicious old fashioned. It was smooth and very drinkable, actually verging on too drinkable. The drawback was that it tasted very little of bourbon. Perhaps it would be a good choice for a whiskey novice.
A couple weeks ago when I was eyeballs deep in final papers, our friend Emily emailed me the recipe for chocolate hazelnut pie with the subject line “Make these with bourbon!!!” Now that the semester is over and I’ve had sufficient time to mull over my baking plan, I got to work. This recipe is from The Pie Spot as published by Design Sponge (and modified slightly by me).
Petite Bourbon Chocolate Hazelnut Pies
Ingredients
- 1 prepared unbaked 9″ pie shell, egg washed OR 12 mini pie shells in muffin tins, egg washed
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 oz butter, melted
- 1 cup corn syrup (I used agave nectar)
- 2 tsp. chocolate extract
- 2 Tbsp. bourbon
- 3 eggs, beaten
- ¾ cup chocolate chips
- 1 cup hazelnuts
Preparation
1. Heat oven to 350°.
2. In a large bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, and salt. Add melted butter to the dry ingredients and mix.
3. Add corn syrup (or agave nectar), extract, and bourbon and mix. Next add the eggs.
4. Add the chocolate and hazelnuts to the pie crust. Pour the mixture over the top and let the hazelnuts rise to the top.
5. Bake until the crust is golden brown and baked underneath, approximately 15–20 minutes for the small pies. Serve warm.
These pies are super delicious! It is kind of a lot of prep work to make the crust (if you choose to do that), cut it into muffin-sized rounds and fit it into the muffin tin holes. Plus, if you buy hazelnuts with the skins still on, you have to peel them. This, however, is actually quite fun if you follow the method explained here (Julia Child is amazed!). What the video doesn’t tell you is that this method produces purple foam. Purple foam! It’s really fun, if you like tedious fun (I do).
This recipe is a wonderful homage to my home state, Oregon, (The Pie Spot is in Portland) with its abundance of filberts (“hazelnuts” for you non-Oregonians). I personally think the bourbon adds a crucial hint of vanilla spice to the recipe that would be lacking otherwise. I used Woodford Reserve because it has the perfect proof for baking—high enough to let you know it’s there without overpowering. If you don’t want to make a big pie or mess around with a muffin tin, I think this would also make a fun tart.
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