Friday, July 24, 2009

Bourbon: Older is better!

I'm sipping some bourbon tonight, as I am wont to do.

When I mix, as is often the case these days, I mix rye-flavored bourbon and straight rye with (diet) ginger ale, and wheat-flavored bourbon with (diet) cola. But, I often sip my whiskey "neat" -- no ice, nada, nothing but a glass -- before blending.

I opened from my 'bunker' a bottle of Old Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond (BIB) from (via bottle markings and strip-stamp seal) circa 1984 two nights ago. It is fabulous. So much so, that I am hesitant to mix it with ginger ale. So, today I went and bought some more modern OHHBIB (bottled c. 2004). Thus, these are the same whiskey, 20 years apart. Before mixing the latter bottle tonight, of course, I tasted it neat. Two things stood out:

  • 1) Heaven Hill does a remarkable job of straight-lining their taste profile over decades. This is obviously the same whiskey;
  • 2) the older bottle, almost certainly barreled at a lower proof (in c. 1980) than the modern bottle (barreled approx. 2000), has a richer, more refined finish. It is marginally better whiskey, though both are perfect for the way in which I use them -- as mixer.

Thus, confirmed again a thesis I have argued during my several years of bourbon appreciation: if a specific brand spans a significant number of years till today, older versions of it are better.

There are a multitude of exceptional-quality, and exceptional-value bourbons today -- my friend Chuck Cowdery, who literally wrote the book on bourbon ("Bourbon, Straight"), would claim today is bourbon's 'golden age' -- but bourbons which have a pedigree spanning, say, decades, were better before than they are now.

The good news is that they ain't bad now!

Rushed and ugly

NRO's Rich Lowry debates himself about whether or not it would be better for critics if the House of Representatives passes a health-care bill before their August recess, or not.

Pass a bill, I argue. To use one of Lowry's phrases, the passage of the particular form of health-care 'reform' that essentially is health-care overhaul that Democrats propose, they must do it "rushed and ugly" -- like the stimulus. If folks have a chance to learn what's in it, they will overwhelmingly reject it. The failure of the stimulus -- passed under similar circumstances to little avail, so far -- has made the public wary of such shenanigans. Still, it's the Dems' only hope...

New school year started

Sorry about the slow posting, but a new school year began this week -- if only for teachers -- and I've been swamped trying to both keep up with the new house and getting ready for a new classroom.

Hoping (not promising, though!) to do better...