The Whiskies I'm Drinking Right Now

Of course, not all at once, but here is what I'm enjoying right now. To be completely honest, I've been on more of a single malt scotch and Canadian whisky run recently although I love my bourbon. Here is what is getting consumed in my liquor cabinet right now. This is not a complete listing of my whiskies, just the ones that I'm into for the moment.

Irish Whiskey
Michael Collin's Single Malt- All I can say is WOW. I really enjoy this with just a single cube of ice while I'm waiting for the bbq to heat up. I get a lot of honeysuckle out of this whiskey which just seems to match perfectly with a warm spring evening.

Kilbeggan- I want to thank Siobhan over at Imbibe Magazine for this recommendation. A beautiful example of a blended Irish whiskey for an exceptional price.

Redbreast Pot Still 12 year- Delicious stuff, I'm rationing this out pretty slowly as I'm afraid I'll run through it too quickly.

Canadian Whisky

Canadian Club- Much better than I remember it being. Perfect for mixing.

Canadian Club 12- More complex than the standard CC offering, I've started using this for some Manhattans.

Canadian Club 30 year- What can I say? One of the world's greatest spirits.

Crown Royal Special Reserve- As far as I'm concerned, this is the best offering from Crown Royal. Delicious.

Blended Scotch

Black Bottle- All the single malts of Islay in a blend? Consider me sold.

Dewars 12 year- An excellent blended scotch, especially considering the price. I'd really like to get my hands on a bottle of Aberfeldy, the single malt at the heart of Dewars to see what its like on its own.

Johnnie Walker Blue Label- I don't drink it often, but its terrific. And no, I won't share. This is my private stash.

Single Malts

Suntory Yamazaki 18- I'm truly amazed by the quality of this single malt. It has me ready to explore Japanese single malts much more in depth. One of my favorite drams.

Arran Single Barrel Bourbon Cask Finish- A very appealing dram from Scotland's newest distillery. I'm excited about Arran's future.

The entire Ardbeg line (except Supernova)- I have tried and tried but have yet to get my hands on the Supernova. As it is, Ardbeg is my favorite distillery in Scotland and top to bottom, I love all of their offerings.

Caol Ila 12 year- Another of my favorites, rather light for an Islay malt, but I just love the pepperiness on the palate. I love a bit of Caol Ila with food.

Laphroaig- Not for the faint of heart, a dram of Laphroaig is a perfect way to warm up after one of Portland's gray drizzly days. I'm dying to try their 25 year old release.

Ardmore 30 year- Amazing. Thats all I can say. I was worried that the wood might be too overpowering after 30 years, but this is simply one of the best spirits around. Worth every penny of its $450 price tag. Well balanced, complex and with a wonderfully creamy mouthfeel, I feel lucky to have this in the house.

The Dalmore 1263 King Alexander- A very sherried single malt. this is a rich unctuous dram thats perfect for an after dinner celebration. Don't be put off by its $200 price tag, you get what you pay for with this dram.

Highland Park 12 and 18- Highland Park is one of my favorite distilleries in Scotland. Have they ever produced even an average dram? Beautiful well balanced single malts.

Springbank 15- Another of my absolute favorites, this is an incredible single malt.

American Bourbons and Whiskies

George Dickel- Tennessee's best, this is a great session whiskey. Full of vanilla and caramel.

Hirsch 20 year- A special whiskey best savored with just a touch of water to open it up.

Buffalo Trace- Basically my house bourbon. I'm never out of Trace. Ever.

Four Roses- Another of my favorite bourbons, I'm particularly fond of their single barrel offering.

Bulleit bourbon- I love the rye content of this bourbon, it provides a wonderful spiciness that is very food friendly.

Rittenhouse rye- The 100 proof bottled in bond is my absolute favorite whiskey for making Manhattans. I've always got Rittenhouse in stock.

Stranahan's Colorado Whiskey- What happens when you cross a single malt with bourbon? Stranahan's I guess. Possibly the most unique American whiskey on the market. I absolutely love Stranahan's.

I know this may look like quite a lot of whiskies for me to be enjoying right now, but remember, I am a working bartender, so I regularly sample new whiskies not only for my own edification but also to help my guests find the right spirit for them. I'm also a whiskey afficionado. If I could only choose one spirit to drink for the rest of my life, it would be whiskey. All spirits have their charms, but for me, whiskey reigns supreme.

Project updates

The above picture is bacon fat left over from the bacon bourbon that I finally finished today. I'm looking forward to mixing this with a couple of different things tomorrow.

I smoked about 2 cups of light brown sugar, the smoking took all the moisture out of the sugar and it caked up. I ended up taking the smoked sugar and doing a 2-1 simple syrup. Its currently getting a pecan infusion and I'll strain that off tomorrow. I'm looking at this as an ingredient for my homage to the Screen Door's Praline Bacon.

The smoked maple syrup is amazing. I don't want to say too much about this yet, as I have some cool plans in store for it.

The peach vinegar really reduced, its a dark syrup now. I'm thinking of adding it to some aquavit and tonic to see how it does.

I'm smoking everything in sight today

Updates once its done, but I'm currently smoking some Fauchon Peach Vinegar, Maple Syrup, Light Brown Sugar and Cabana Cachaca as well as some Chinese 5 Spice pork chops for dinner. I have no idea what I'm going to get, or how succesful any of this will be, but half the fun is in trying right?

On a different note, I'm bacon obsessed. Really. The best bacon in Portland Oregon is the praline bacon served at the Screeen Door on East Burnside. I want to use my bacon bourbon in a cocktail that is an homage to the praline bacon at Screen Door. My thoughts are to either use a smoked brown sugar simple syrup infused with pecans, or to smoke maple syrup and infuse pecans. I think that the restaurant uses brown sugar, but sometimes flavors don't quite move as easily from food to cocktails. Anyway, the idea behind the brown sugar and maple syrup being smoked is obvious.

As for the peach vinegar, I thought it might make an interesting component for a drink. I have not spent any more time developing that idea.

As for the cachaca, orginally I just wanted to do a smoked rum and coke. But then I realized that I prefer Mexican coke, with cane sugar, so I thought cachaca would be an interesting addition, and the smoke might add an interesting note. I hope I don't evaporate it all ( a real possibility I think).

Weekend Update- Blood Orange Saffron Bitters, Bacon Bourbon and Chinese Apothecary Bitters

Well, I'm flying out to spend the week on Salt Lake City tomorrow. I don't think I could be more underwhelmed by a business trip. I already hate business trips as a general rule, but spending a week at the Salt Lake airport, eating in chain restaurants and dying for caffeine and a decent drink. Anyway, the thought of living a monk-like existence spurred me to focus on some of my projects.

First, my Blood Orange-Saffron Bitters (pictured above) looked and smelled fantastic. I put them into an American oak barrel for a little aging, just to add some more depth and complexity. I think I'll pull them out when I get back.

Second, I think I've perfected my bacon infusing technique after a conversation with Phil Ward of Death and Co. I started a Bacon Bourbon (I used Bulleit because I liked the flavor profile with bacon), which should be ready in a couple of weeks. I want to do a homage to the wonderful Praline Bacon served by the Screen Door here in town. I'm thinking Bacon Bourbon and a Demerara Pecan simple syrup and maybe some bitters and I might have a cocktail.

I checked on my Apothecary Bitters as well. I should really quit calling them a bitters until I taste them, but they look good but I just want to give it a little more time to allow a little more extraction. Sven the seahorse is still as hard as a rock. Somehow, I thought Sven would be a little more pliable by now.

I tried feni this weekend. Kazkar feni to be exact. Made in India, feni is either produced from Cashew apples (as Kazkar is) or Coconuts. Think really funky cacahca and you might be close to the taste. The bouquet smells of old sweat socks, but the product itself mixes nicely and I thought it worked incredibly well subbing for cachaca in a caipirinha. I'll get a review up soon, when I have some time to mix it and play with it a little more. Fun stuff though.