WHISKEY CULTURE
July 2020 | Issue 03
WALK THROUGH THE LEGENDARY DISTILLERY BUFFALO TRACE PLUS: THE STAVE IN FRANKFORT, KY CHATTANOOGA WHISKEY WHISKEY ART AT BUFFALO RIVER ART GALLERYÂ THE LEGEND OF THE CHARRED BARREL WHISKEY CULTURE, LLC
TABLE OF CONTENTS 01
02
A letter from the editor
Distillery Spotlight: Buffalo Trace Distillery
Chattanooga Whiskey
06
08
11
Places to Visit: The Stave
12 Will's Cocktail Corner: Old Fashioned
Community Spotlight: Buffalo River Art Gallery
13 The Legend of The Charred Barrel
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Over & Under: Four Roses Small Batch Select & Jefferson's Ocean Aged
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Sneak Peek for July '20 Issue #4
Editor's Note We are incredibly thankful for the passion of our whiskey community. Thank you for sharing and building the community through our collective passion!
Welcome to the third edition of the Whiskey Culture Magazine Thank you all so much for your love and support. We have some fun things coming down the pipeline. We are currently looking to begin doing barrel picks in the second half of the year, the podcast is resuming, we're adding a cocktail section to our website, and we will begin video content by summer's end. We appreciate all of you so much and your passion for whiskey and your engagement with our content. We've got a budding whiskey community on Facebook growing (click here to join) and we're just shy of growing to 30,000 followers. This has been all because of you and your love for all things whiskey. If we didn't have people reading, there wouldn't be much point in us continuing to write. Cheers,
Greg Sinadinos
Whiskey Culture is a labor of love. Greg started his whiskey journey in Tallahassee, Florida where he tried his first allocated bottle of bourbon on one of his friends' 21st birthday. A multi-month bottle hunt followed, and when he finally found the bottle, his passion for tracking down and trying unique and rare whiskies was born. Today, he lives in Tampa, FL and travels to Kentucky frequently to write about his experiences exploring the culture that surrounds whiskey.
President of Whiskey Culture
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www.WhiskeyCulture.com
BUFFALO TRACE DISTILLERY FRANKFORT, KY Buffalo Trace is an absolute legend in the whiskey community. There's no doubt about that. But, that legend is one that's been earned through a long and historic relationship with whiskey, not one that was built through a marketing campaign. Even the name "Buffalo Trace" has historical context harkening back to the pioneer days. However, Buffalo Trace's roots started as a three story stone warehouse on the Kentucky River. After that, in 1870, Colonel E.H. Taylor purchased the warehouse and dubbed it OFC (Old Fashioned Copper) Distillery, then that distillery was purchased by George T. Stagg in 1878. In 1921 its name officially changed to the George T. Stagg Distillery. In 1984, they produced the world's first single barrel bourbon, Blanton's. The distillery was purchased in Sazerac in 1992, and in 1999, the distillery had been completely overhauled and was renamed "Buffalo Trace" after the ancient buffalo traces that led through the wilderness and to the Kentucky River.
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Driving through Frankfurt was beautiful. It's a picturesque rural town full of quaint shops and mom & pop restaurants. For all the size of the Buffalo Trace distillery, it's tucked away. Nestled in a hilled thicket of trees. You can smell the cooking mash in the air before you see the distillery, speaking to the sheer size of their operation and the amount of whiskey they produce. You're immediately greeted by ancient red brick rickhouses. You can see the barrels aging in the open windows, exposed to the elements to influence the flavor of the whiskey resting within.
When you start the distillery tour, its like walking though a glitch in time. There is a nearly seamless integration of the historic foundation upon which the distillery is built, and modern means of production layered upon it in unintrusive ways so as to not detract from the aesthetic. There is a short video you watch on the history of the distillery, and then, you're led into one of the aging warehouses. It was incredible seeing the place where so much of that delicious and highlyallocated juice resting. We saw OFC barrels and Weller barrels aging right in front of us. It's one thing to see it in a bottle, its another to see over one hundred of those bottles worth of whiskey aging in person.
The bottling plant seemed incredibly small for the sheer scale of Buffalo Trace's operation. However, when you sit and watch you understand how incredibly efficient each of the members of their bottling line is. Everything is done by hand with textbook speed and precision. Each person dutifully and skillfully completing their individual task to make the entire line run smoothly. We were fortunate enough to be there on Blanton's bottling day. In the 10 minutes or so we spent in the line, we saw hundreds upon hundreds of bottles of Blanton's filled, labeled, packed, and boxed. It was surreal seeing case upon case of such a highly sought-after whiskey sitting right there.
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When the tour is over, you're taken up to a bar to sample some whiskey and learn some whiskey tasting techniques. Each of the Buffalo Trace tour guides is highly knowledgeable in the art of whiskey tasting and more than willing to share their knowledge and preferences with you upon request. You get to taste Wheatly vodka, Buffalo Trace, and Eagle Rare. If you have trouble findig some of these in your state, it's a great way to try some very hyped bourbons. One of the tasting samples is a "buffalo trace root beer float." They take Buffalo Trace bourbon cream and mix it with root beer 50/50 in a small cup. I will admit, for such a simple cocktail it's absolutely delicious. If you're around Frankfort, heading to Buffalo Trace is completely worth the time.
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Above The Buffalo Trace "Vault" where they display every bottle of whiskey you've always wanted but never been able to find.
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Chattanooga Whiskey A TRUE TENNESSEE BOURBON In 2015, Chattanooga Whiskey began crafting the malt-forward straight bourbon that became their Tennessee High Malt. For a younger company, they've carved out a niche not just with their unique whiskey, but with their place in Chattanooga's history. Vote Whiskey In 1917, the "Bone Dry Act" brought alcohol production in Tennessee to a full stop. By 2009, it had been re-opened to 41 counties throughout the state. However, Chattanooga didn't fall within one of those counties. In 2011, Tim Piersant and Joe Ledbetter put together an initiative to put Chattanooga whiskey on the map with their "vote whiskey" movement. The response was massive, and was the foundation for the HB 102 "whiskey bill" to pass with 57-31 votes in favor in May of 2013.
Tennessee High Malt Bourbon Whiskey Mash Bill: - Yellow Corn - Malted Rye - Caramel Malted Barley - Honey Malted Barley Aged in toasted and charred oak and finished in a 4,000 gallon charred oak solera barrel. . Both the 91 proof and the 111 proof are nose forward with malt and a balance of sweetness and savory notes such as vanilla, caramel, tobacco, and leather. The 91 proof has a balanced palate of malty earthiness and classical sweetness, while the 111 displays a more robust palate of delicious vanilla and a smooth dry finish.
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PLACES TO VISIT
THE STAVE Frankfort, KY After our second day of tours on our more recent trip, we were looking for a place with a large variety of pours and a good plate of grub. We were turned on to a place called The Stave by our friends over at Woodford and Buffalo Trace. We happened to be close by so we figured we'd swing in and see what the hype was about. What we got was a pure slice of down home Kentucky. The outside wrap-around porch has ample space to support larger parties, and the event deck out back is great for events. Walking in, the inside space is small and homey. The smell of spices and pie floating from the open concept kitchen lingers in the air. We were lucky enough to get a spot at the bar, as it had been a rainy day and it wasn't too busy.
When we sat down and looked at the menu, it was full of souther comfort foods and scrumptious staples like homemade biscuits, hot chicken, and fruit pies with ice cream. The staff was super friendly and took the time to really chat with us in our time there. We shared cocktail recipes and sampled some of their surprisingly extensive whiskey list. They were also very knowledgable about distilleries, the whiskey trail, and more than willing to share insider tips for the remainder of our trip. They actually led us to the Whiskey Museum in Louisville which was an absolute delight. We loaded with appetizers, entrees, and desserts and went to town on some bourbon.
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Their wall of whiskey is surprising considering the tuckedaway nature of the venue. There were staple favorites as well as allocated bottles and limited releases giving patrons a great selection to choose from. The bartenders also mixed a mean cocktail, which we really appreciated. Sometimes you find a place that has a good selection but the actual execution of the cocktails leaves something to be desired. That is absolutely not the case here at The Stave. If you're looking for some harder to finds to try in the off season, there's a good chance you'll run into your fair share sitting on The Stave's walls.
While the appetizers and the hot chicken sandwich were good, the fruit pies and chocolate walnut bread pudding with bourbon sauce were absolutely out of this world. The pies are made in house fresh. The crust is flaky and the pie itself was a nice balance of sweet and tart taken over the edge with the scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Listen, I'm a massive bread pudding fan. I can't resist a good slice of it anywhere I go. However, this bread pudding was ridiculously good. The earthiness of the walnut was great with the sweetness of the chocolate, and the bourbon sauce gave just enough pop as a nice note rather than overtaking the dish.
The staff at The Stave were super kind. They absolutely took their time to get to know us, share their insight, chat extensively about whiskey, serve us delicious food, and send us on our way with warm wishes. If you're looking for a place with great pours, deliciously elevated comfort foods, and a great slice of southern hospitality, definitely put The Stave on your list of places to visit during your next Bourbon Trail run.
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Community Spotlight Buffalo River Art Gallery GILBERT, ARKANSAS April '20 | 8
The whiskey community is a beautiful thing. It is full of eccentric, wonderful, passionate people. This passion manifests itself in multiple ways. Some amass huge collections of whiskey like one would collect baseball cards. Others, like Jamie Craddock, use their creativity and talent to share their passion in a unique medium. Welcome to Buffalo River Art Gallery nestled in Gilbert, Arkansas, where one talented artist is using her talent to create truly unique and beautiful tributes to our favorite alcoholic beverage. Jamie and I met up in a whiskey group online,
where she shared a beautiful picture of a Maker's Mark bottle she had created. It struck me immediately. From the vintage newspaper to the individual lines of color that captured the raw colors and essence of the bottle. We connected up and she was more than happy to share her whiskey experiences and art with us in our first ever community spotlight. Q: Why don't you tell us a Little about you and your gallery? A: I've been a professional artist for over 4 years. Art is a second, no, third career for me. It's always been important, but it took me a while to have time for it to be priority.
I opened Buffalo River Art Gallery on Memorial Day weekend 2019. The gallery is located in a beautiful historic little town on the Buffalo National River. The gallery itself is a restored 1920s house and we currently house art from 13 different artists. Q: How'd you get started with art in the first place? A: I was always artistic as a child, and growing up on a farm with only a single television channel, I had to be creative to keep myself entertained. It was my favorite hobby, even through high school. I began seriously creating art again after many years and careers later after he death of my first husband. It is a very true statement that art has the power to help us heal.
Q: What made you start doing whiskey Related Art? A: I'm a big fan of a great cocktail at the end of a long day. I had completed a wine related series, and while drinking an old fashioned on the porch, the thought of a classic cocktail series came to me. I decided to paint them on the pages of a vintage dictionary using the words on the page as a fun part of the painting. For instance, the definition of "old fashioned" is in the background of the old fashioned painting. I decided to challenge myself with painting a bottle and the Blanton's painting was the result. What I am learning through creating these and sharing them with the community is that people all seem to have a whiskey "favorite." Q: What is your favorite whiskey piece that you've done? A: That's a great question, and a hard one to answer. Right now, my favorite piece is the Maker's Mark bottle. It was a challenge to represent an iconic bottle correctly and I love the way it turned out. Q: What is your favorite whiskey and why? A: Another good question, and I think it depends on the situation and my mood. If I'm making an old fashioned, I'll probably go for Bulleit Rye. For sipping, I'm partial to Maker's or Buffalo Trace. For general mixing, I'm enjoying Heritage Distilling Company's Brown Sugar Bourbon, and I love that they can deliver to your door!
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To learn more about Buffalo River Art Gallery CLICK HERE April '20 | 10
There has been a lot of banter about Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. We sat down to try it and see if the hype was worth the price of admission. There is a surprisingly sweet nose on the pour, especially considering the proof. Vanilla and caramel cream are prominent. Strong notes of lightly charred oak peak through with classic notes of oak and leather. Surprisingly little sweetness based on the nose. It drinks much lower, and the heat doesn't come through until the middle of the palate. For $60-70, it is a good bottle if you're looking for something savory. However, if a sweeter bourbon is what you like, it may not be for you.
OVER
UNDER Review
$50 Chattanooga Whiskey is a budding distillery who has recently moved from MGP to their own aged juice. How does it stack against the roughly $45 sticker price? Surprisingly balanced on the nose with very little ethanol considering it's less than 3 years and sitting above 110. Sweet vanilla and savory tanned leather meld together nicely. The palate is delicate and balanced with notes of toasted wood and tobacco peaking through between vanilla and rose hip. It drinks more like a 100 proof when it comes to the heat. Very little Kentucky hug. The youth of the bourbon doesn't show itself until the finish, where notes of the ethanol come through but not overabundantly. Definitely worth the money!
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WILL'S COCKTAIL CORNER:
OLD FASHIONED Recipe & Photo By: Will Taylor (Nashville, TN)
Whiskey is about tradition as much as it is about innovation. One of the most traditional and widely enjoyed whiskey cocktails is the old fashioned. The first mention of the old fashioned was on May 13, 1806 in a New York newspaper called The Balance and Columbian Repository. The recipe, then named a "bitters sling, called for a muddling of whiskey, bitters, water, and sugar garnished with a choice of fruit. This classic cocktail is sure to please whiskey newcomers and veterans alike.
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Ingredients: 2 oz rye whiskey 1/2 oz simple syrup 3 dashes Angostura bitters 2 dashes orange bitters 1 orange peel 1. Combine simple syrup, bitter, and rye whiskey in a tall mixing glass. 2. Fill with ice and stir for 30 seconds. 3. Strain into a old fashioned glass over a large cube or sphere. 4. Squeeze and twist orange peel over the glass to release oils. 5. Rub the rim of the glass with the orange peel and then drop it into the glass. 6. Enjoy!
The Old Fashioned can be traced back to a newspaper in May of 1806. Then, it was called a "bitter sling."
"This is a classic cocktail for any occasion that is delicious and sure to please your guests" - Will Taylor
WHISKEY HISTORY
THE LEGEND OF THE CHARRED BARREL By: Greg Sinadinos
Charring a barrel before you store and age whiskey is absolutely crucial to the depth and complexity of the flavor profiles we've come to associate with it. However, it's a practice that, for all the catalogued history we have on the creation of whiskey, has no true known origin. Depending on who you ask, there are a myriad of different legends that attribute the use of charred barrels to a number of different people and/or events. We thought we would share some of these stories with you all to enjoy. ELIJAH CRAIG He was a well-known Baptist preacher in the late 1800s. He was also a well known Entrepreneur. He had a farm where he distilled spirits. The story goes that it caught fire one fateful night, and he was able to save some of the whiskey and open barrels. He still used the charred barrels to send whiskey down the river to his customers, and what came out was a totally new product full of additional flavors and color that spurred the use of charred barrels.
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18 CHAR CLEANING It was said there was a barrel shortage in the United States right at the time the whiskey trade started to boom. The demand for whiskey outpaced the supply of available unused barrels. Distillers began looking towards unusual sources to get barrels to store their whiskey in. It is said one of these sources was the fish industry. The barrels that transported preserved fish between locations were relatively undesirable because cleaning them out was an absolute pain. However, some distillers would clean them and then use fire to sanitize and burn the smell and taste out of the wood, and when people began bottling from these used barrels, people enjoyed the singed wood complexity. LOW QUALITY WOOD Another story goes that the demand for whiskey had some barrel makers churning barrels out quickly, focusing on quantity rather than quality. The barrels would have splinters, and distillers would burn the splinters out to help keep the wood from cracking and large chunks getting into the whiskey.
While the stories are fun, experts are divided on what actually happened. British Science Advisory & William Nicholson In the later half of the 1700s, British scientists were studying ways to preserve water for longer before it went stagnant on ships. They discovered that charring the barrels helped keep things sterile and allowed the water to stay good longer. However, the barrel charring also led to new flavors being taken on by the water. In the 1806, chemist William Nicholson published a blurb in a Chemistry Journal detailing the results of his study into the effects of char-sterilized barrels for purposes other than storing water. One thing he noted was that spirits dissolved some of the wood, and that the qualities that the whiskey took on were desirable for taste. It also protected the spirits via char sterilization, leading to more consistent products. As more companies began trying this method to improve consistency and flavor, it supposedly became a standard for the whiskey aging process to use charred barrels.
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August '20 | Issue 4
SNEAK PEEK
Distillery Spotlight Maker's Mark - A household name and a beautiful distillery.
Places to Visit On Swann in Tampa, FL is mixing up great cocktals.
Over & Under $50
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof takes on Heaven Hill Bottled-In-Bond
Mixologists What is the modern art of mixology, and what do they look for when crafting a cocktail?
Why "Bourbon?" Why do we call it "bourbon" and how did it shape the expansion of the US?
THANK YOU Without your readership our entire blog wouldn't be possible. Thank you so much for being a valued part of our culture.
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