Where Do I Begin?

At the beginning of last year I started another blog, a supplement as it were, to the Bourbon Intelligencer. I wanted The Life of a Whiskey Drinker to be a place where people could more easily ask questions and get answers about whiskey and all things spirits. To be sure, the project has been very successful thus far, as I have gained thousands of followers and the questions roll in daily from all over the world. Now I am not bragging at this fact, I don’t think I am entirely in a unique space, but rather I want to point an extremely fast growing interest in spirit consumption. This is no doubt highlighted best by the number one question I receive time and time again: “Where do I start?” And thus, I finally decided I would add a new section of my blog to address this very question. As the blog has developed it is no longer simply dedicated to beginners, but rather a place where everyone can feel welcome, no matter where you are starting. But this new addition will be strictly for those who want to know where to start. One of the most difficult things one faces when trying to jump into whiskey is where does one even begin? Hopefully this section will begin to define this clearly, with practical ways to keep you moving forward in your spirit education. Keep checking back as I build this section and feel free to make suggestions and comments in the comment box below.

Lesson 1: Just Drink It!

Simply put, you just need to go out and buy a 750 ml bottle of whiskey. What we are wanting at the beginning stages is to acquire the taste of the spirit – not the complexities – that time will come. So what you first need to do is bring the bottle home and drink it. Not all in one go, of course, and not even neat (a la: without water or ice). There are a few ways you can do this. While you’re out buying your first bottle pick up some ginger ale or some kind of citrus soda which holds more of a neutral, light flavor. I am not simply advocating your college mixed drink of Jack and Coke. I don’t suggest something like Coke and I would also not suggest a beverage made with corn syrup – I find the slightly off flavor of corn syrup deters from the experience. Another way to do this is by adding 1/1 water and whiskey. This is exactly how I started and eventually used less and less water until I could actually appreciate the spirit fully. Try a little bit once a day – and I guarantee, If you don’t have the acquired taste right off, by the time you reach the end of the first bottle (again, not in one go) you will be enjoying yourself immensely. Below I have listed what I believe to be benchmark spirits which are of good quality, but will not break the bank. Due to the expansive flavor profile of all most brown spirits, I have listed five categories which one should start with: Bourbon, Irish Whiskey, Single Malt (Scotch) Whisky, and Blended Scotch Whisky. Purchase two bottles, if you can, in two different categories so as to decide what you like first. This list is of course not exhaustive, but everything listed will get you walking in the right direction:

Bourbon: Buffalo Trace, Jim Beam Black, Elijah Craig 12, Four Roses Yellow Label, Wild Turkey 101

Irish Whiskey: Jameson Crested 10, Red Breast 12, Black Bush, Connemara 12

Single Malt Scotch: Old Pulteney 12, Glenlivet 12, Ardbeg 10 (know this is a peat heavy single malt), Cardhu 12

Blended Scotch Whisky: Black Bottle, Johnnie Walker Black, Pigs Nose, Isle of Sky, Smokehead

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Lesson 2: Judge a Book By Its Cover

As you can tell if you have read any of my posts, appearance (packaging and labeling) is an important part of my rating a spirit. And I will always tell people to judge a book by its cover. I will be first to admit that I have bought many books based on the cover. Sometimes that turns out well. Other times not. And I am not suggesting that you use the cover as the number one reason to purchase spirits, or as I should say, it shouldn’t be a reason at all. But if the product is good I will always insist that the label should be just as esthetically pleasing. Why? Because first impressions are important; and if a producer is not putting time and effort into their bottling and labeling for the consumer, what other corners may they be cutting? So what should one look for? Three things at least: A label with a pleasing design (obviously this is subjective to a degree). A label with plenty of information that helps you understand the product, not one that merely uses stereotypical selling adjectives and list all the awards they have received in the past two hundred years. And lastly, a pleasant bottle free of bells and whistles, and/or strange leather boxes – I’m looking at you Basil Hayden’s. Simply put I want a bottle that it practical and tasteful.

One thing you might notice in my reviews is the fact that I have left out something which one generally finds on a review: the color of the spirit. When I first began this blog I was using it as a category to rate spirits, but I slowly have moved away from it, unless to distinguish a change that the distiller deliberately made to the color (i.e. when the color has unnaturally been changed). To cut to the chase, when we ask the question about color, we see that when a spirit is a “golden amber + 1“ or “-2” it doesn’t have any bearing on the flavor profile (generally). Color can be filtered out, as with Jim Beam Jacobs Ghost, and color can be added with e150e (caramel coloring), as with many scotch whiskies. The very reason some producers use dark bottles is so that consumers won’t purchase their product based on such a superficial thing as color. There are many lightly colored Islays out there that pack one hell of a punch. A spirit having a dark or light color does not translate into a rich or light tasting spirit. So I choose not to talk about it. We have to remove ourselves from associating color with the intrinsic quality of the spirit.

Ultimately what am I getting at? Looks are superficial. We should take notice and appreciate of design and packing, rather than being succumbed by mass produced sameness, while taking note that we should always hold things in moderation to not become gaudy or kitschy. And color (or packaging) should never determine the intrinsic quality of what is in the inside.

 

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Lesson 3: Tools

Coming Soon!