What’s Tony Drinking? 11/16/21: 49 Samples, Bourbon, Mezcal, Calvados & Rum

So what did I drink this week? I don’t know! You see, I spent a good chunk of my time plowing through a box of spirits unidentified by brand — mostly whiskey, and a few rums — on behalf of the John Barleycorn Awards for which I’m a judge. Twice a year, a box containing 50 ml samples of 49 different spirits, no more, no less, arrives on my doorstep, and I and the other judges are usually given 2-3 weeks to sample, grade, and write a few pithy observations about each one. There are detailed instructions on how to judge, from which kind of glass you must use to the more obvious stuff (don’t slather yourself in cologne before tasting, don’t eat for 30 minutes pre-tasting, try to taste only one type of spirit at a time, etc.). I take my job seriously, which means I do not spit what I taste. I mean, this stuff ain’t wine. You’ve gotta know how it goes down! Does it kick like a mule on the finish or slide down like silk? Only one way to find out.

Anyway, my point is that I have no idea what I tasted aside from the type of spirit, the age (if there’s an age statement), and any flavorings, barrel finishes, etc. I can tell you that for the first time since I became a JBC Awards judge, I didn’t taste anything stupefyingly bad, but there also wasn’t anything mind-blowingly delicious, either. All I know is that I got through all 49, some better than others, with my health seemingly intact, and that I’ll be laying off the sauce for a few sleeps. I find out what I tasted, and how much or little I liked it, in a few weeks. Check back here for details!

Classic Manhattan photo courtesy Four Roses

I also drank plenty of identifiable booze this week. I kicked things off with a Four Roses bourbon Manhattan at the venerable Keens Steakhouse (formerly Keens Chophouse, back when the mutton chop was their specialty) with my old friend and PR deity Laura Baddish. She works with Four Roses, but she never tells me what to drink at our lunches. In this case, however, why not stay on-brand? It’s not like you have to put a gun to my head to make me drink Four Roses, which is a stellar bourbon and makes a nifty Manhattan. And I can verify firsthand that its sweet and soft fruity notes play very well with steak. After we parted, I realized that I’d forgotten to take a pic of the cocktail, so who knows if it really even happened? I therefore had to make another one for photographic purposes (pictured here), which I then gave to my wife to, you know, drink. Can’t let a good cocktail go to waste now, can you?

Los Siete Misterios mezcal has been around for a decade or so, but it didn’t really show up on my radar or in my glass until Chatham Imports, best known for owning Michter’s whiskeys, acquired it last year. It’s Chatham’s first venture into agave spirits, and it’s a damn good venture, too. From what I can tell, Los Siete Misterios (L7M for short) does things right — their mezcal is all un-aged and produced using traditional methods, without any artificial anything. I only knew about their flagship Doba Yej expression until I sauntered into Chatham’s offices, along with fellow boozy people Susannah Skiver Barton and Philip Duff, for a taste of a cool dozen different mezcals. Each one made from a different varietal of agave (or blends of more than one), and they’re all available in small to minuscule quantities. L7M founders Eduardo and Julio Mestres were on hand to walk us through the various expressions, along with Chatham president Joe Magliocco, his son and right hand man Matt, and a host of other Chatham who’s-whos. Each mezcal had its own distinctive flavor profile; my favorite was the butterscotch-heavy Mexicano, but the more savory Arroqueño and the fruity Pechuga weren’t far behind. I had to miss lunch afterward, which was a mixed blessing — a meal with Joe Magliocco can be both a life-changing and a life-shortening event, given both the quality and quantity of food the man serves up.

My work wasn’t yet done for the day. I had to interview the importer/distributor of Coquerel Calvados for some sponsored content I was writing about the brand’s 24 year old single cask expression. I’m more familiar with apple brandy from the Northeast U.S. than its fancy sibling from Normandy, so it was a productive session for both learning and tasting. Calvados has regulations similar to cognac regarding how and where it’s produced — its own Appellation d’Origine Controllée was first passed in 1942, and it became known among Americans shortly thereafter when GI’s returning from the D-Day battle and its aftermath in Normandy brought bottles home. The expression I tasted is a relative rarity among apple brandies, both for its 24-year age and the fact that it’s from a single (new French oak) cask, as most calvados is blended from dozens of barrels. It’s also insanely good, with a dark, slightly smoky intensity that’s quite unlike the younger American apple brandies with which I’m familiar. All that time in wood concentrates the flavors, but miraculously, it’s not overly tannic. Definitely a subject for further research.

Another subject I could research all day long is rum from the Foursquare Distillery in Barbados, owned and operated by rum visionary Richard Seale. Seale was an instrumental part of the industry’s shift towards all-natural, additive-free, tropically aged rums, and for that we should lift a glass and bow towards Barbados on a daily basis. I checked out two of their most recent “Exceptional Cask” limited releases. Shibboleth (they have some pretty funky names for their rums) is, at 16 years old, the longest tropically-aged rum Foursquare has ever put out. The more prosaically named 2009 is aged a cool dozen years. Both are ex-bourbon barrel aged — Shibboleth clocks in at 57% ABV, while 2009 is 60%. I went back and forth on which one I dug more. Shibboleth was oaky and powerful for sure, but also quite fruity, while 2009 had more winter spices like nutmeg and clove. I’m working on an article where I could only write about one, and I finally chose the ’09, just because I enjoyed it ever-so-slightly more, though my opinion will likely change until I’ve run out of both of them.