Here’s a short but sweet post: you have to get your hands on a bottle of Johnnie Walker’s new addition to their limited Blender’s Batch series. It’s a 10 year old Scotch blended with triple grain American oak. The result is a finished product that barely tastes like Scotch. It is incredibly smooth, there is not…
Tag: Liquor
Drinking History: 10 Years Ago Today, Absinthe Re-Legalized in the USA
Happy Absinthe Day! 10 years ago today, absinthe was re-legalized in the United States after being banned for nearly 100 years. Less than a week removed from my History of Liquor course at Brookdale, I feel inclined to mention how needless the ban was in the first place. How hysteria, propaganda, and ignorance led to the…
Another History of Liquor Lecture
On March 2nd, I will be giving a lecture on the history of liquor at Brookdale Community College for the third time. To my happiness, it has been very well received so far, even calls for a sequel. I try to cover as much as I can. Such an extensive topic can not be condensed into…
Christmas 2016 Product Review: Not Your Father’s Root Beer
Imagine: there was a nationwide shortage of this stuff last year. Things have since calmed down. My friend Brett and I went to at least five different liquor stores when it first came out just trying to find a six-pack, and our efforts were to no avail. All I kept hearing is how amazing Not Your…
Christmas 2016 Product Review: Torani Bacon Syrup
There is bacon everything on the market. I love the smokey pork product as much as anyone, but how much is too much? Months ago, I was introduced to something called Bacon Syrup. While I was very skeptical at first, an initial whiff of the liquid produced by Torani had me going,”Wow!”. It truly smelled…
Christmas 2016: Four Kinds of Egg Nog at “Nog Fest”
At our historical society’s Christmas party this weekend, we held a mini “Nog Fest”. Joanne had been raving about Mr. Boston for months, while I wanted to submit my favorite, Pennsylvania Dutch. However, when it came time to shop for this party, my go-to was out of stock. So, I had to settle for Zackariah Harris,…
Christmas 2016 Product Review: Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin
I admit it’s not for everyone. If you’re looking for a “different” kind of gin to play around with or to get the gin lover in your life for Christmas, then Opihr might be the one. What we have here is a London dry gin that looks for a flavor profile which is more oriental…
Opening a 40 Year Old Bottle of Drambuie
Leave it to me to go to an estate sale and come home with a bottle of booze. It was hidden behind the opened front door as I walked into the house. A case of old liquor, including a few brands I had never heard of. And there it was: a bottle of Drambuie from…
The Westfield Trader Joe’s is Reopening!
It was a date that lived in infamy. During a snowstorm in January of this past year, the Trader Joe’s in Westfield, New Jersey suffered structural damage. The roof collapsed and the walls caved in. No one was harmed, but it was still a real tragedy. TJ’s, as they are affectionately known as, is my…
Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Nog for Your Christmas Party
Whether you just want a little holiday buzz or need liquid courage to tolerate your relatives, who doesn’t love a good Egg Nog on Christmas? I’ve never actually had the traditional product, liquor aside, because the thought of downing cold, un-cooked eggs was never appealing. However, there are a good bunch of recipes that do…
Product Review: Jim Beam “Jacob’s Ghost” White Whiskey
It’s going to look great on the shelf and be a source of intrigue and questions as long as it has a place on your bar. “Ghost whiskey? Hmm what’s that?” Well, that’s a good question. According to the label, this spirit (pun-intended) is actually not “un-aged white dog” (it sure tastes like it), but aged for…
Product Review: Calico Jack 94 Proof Black Spiced Rum
I’ve never been much of a rum guy. Sure, there’s cheap white rum in the house but only for mixing into Sangrias. I jumped on the Kraken bandwagon a while ago for like five minutes but it still was not enough to get me to actually buy a bottle. Having recently been into making Dark and Stormies,…
