In With Bacchus

What I Learned At Revelry Buyers' Club (Spring 2025)

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Sun, 25 May 2025 15:49:00 +0000

Being disabled is, for the most part, a very boring existence. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. Between the infection I've had for the past four (five?) years, my spinal fusion, and the variety of other sundry disabilities I have, I don't have a lot of time to do what I want to do. I have a lot of time, sure, but not to do what I'd prefer to do. If I could, I'd be writing about booze. I can't do that because of the buffet of antibiotics I'm on to keep me stable until we can do the experimental treatment. The experimental treatment takes up time and energy between coordinating and executing. And just existing takes a lot of time and energy to keep myself upright and functioning. I spend a lot of time in doctor's offices, hospitals, infusion centers, and home. Hell, I've been in the hospital so much they had to put a port-a-cath under my skin just to have active intravenous access and THAT has to be taken care of, too. I've been keeping myself busy by popping out to Half Time when I go to my infectious disease doctor and buying N/A beers, which I've been sorta reviewing on Instagram. But other than that, due to the medicine, I'm on the no-drink bandwagon. And it -sucks-.

In my spare time, I've been...researching. New York, and by extension Massachusetts, instituted medical cannabis and then, EVENTUALLY, recreational cannabis and that's kinda been my focus for awhile. I use it to combat the massive list of side effects the medicine bestows upon me, from nausea and vomiting to jitters and general malaise. It helps quite a bit but I've been quiet about it. I did do the coverage of the CannaStock awhile back as a soft entry into things and I liked it...but didn't follow it up to any degree. Instead, I silently delved into it far from home by going to The Pass in Massachusetts. I've been consuming since about 2022 or 2023 and it's been my quiet little passion ever since. Until...

By some stroke of luck, of fate, of Godly generosity...I was able to attend the Revelry Buyers' Club in Hudson, NY last week and it lit a fire under me heretofore unknown in ferocity and fervor. It fired up the same insane passion that brews in me for booze. I went, not under my websites banner, but for Chronogram. Y'know, like a real writer. That gets paid. A professional. If you want to read the article, go here to view that. But I'm writing this because my excitement, my exuberance, my drive for the New York cannabis market has been kindled so fiercely, I couldn't just write 750 words and be done with it. No, no. I had to scream it from the rooftops. So that's what this is.

What I Learned AT Revelry Buyers' Club

1. I'm More Capable Than I Know

Truth be told, I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to go. The week prior I was supposed to go to a cannabis event in Coxsackie but my infection got worse, I spiked a fever, and I had to go in to the outpatient infusion lab for an emergency push of tobramycin. Normally, it's tobramycin as a stop-gap but sometimes it's ertapenem (or meropenem if I'm in the hospital). When I came out of the infusion lab, my eyes wouldn't even focus. That's how strong of a dose it takes just to keep me stable. I was pretty sure that I was going to have to bag it because of that and also another reason: I couldn't get press passes. Since I never write on here, I had nothing to show for bylines to get access and it was only by a happenstance miracle that I managed to pitch myself and get accepted by Chronogram. Big shout-out to my editor, Brian Mahoney, for being a champ and putting up with me. So not only did I not think I could physically do it ahead of time, but I wasn't even sure I could get press passes IN TIME. I cleared through the antibiotics less than a week before the event and it was only thanks to Zoe Wilder that I got into the event. On top of that, I wasn't sure I could DO the event itself because it was a LOT of standing around/walking around/talking. These days my anxiety, my depression, and my spine are not fantastic at handling these things. I get easily startled and am "down" frequently so it's kinda hard to be outgoing and friendly sometimes.

And yet I did it. And more. Every time I went to sit down to rest my back, I found that I didn't need to sit. I wasn't in pain, I was ALIVE. Like I hadn't been in ages. Energy and vigor flowed through me like a river. Sure, it was an adrenaline dump but it was like nothing I had felt in nearly a decade. It was glorious. In case you can't tell, I'm -still- riding the high. So yeah, not only did my body hold out but my mind did as well. And I had a fantastic time. Which was helped in part by the fact that...

2. The Cannabis Industry Is Really Nice

Every single person I talked to at this event was really nice. And not in a performative way. They genuinely were very nice people. Was it because they were high? Maybe, maybe. But I think it goes a bit deeper than that. I think it's because a lot of the people I talked to, from small growers to huge growers, manufacturers and ancillary service businesses...really liked the industry they were in. It helps to love what you do, trust me. And they were also willing to talk to me which is fantastic too. To preface this comment: this was a buyer's market. Active sales were happening in front of my eyes from dispensaries from all around New York. Press was NOT the focus here, getting numbers on pages and products into the wild was the key. But all of them (except for a few) found time to talk to me and listen to my little spiel and gave me great quotes. So many that I couldn't use all of them because I was super pressed for space. I won't step on Chronogram's toes and put them here but they were so very kind and accommodating and really made me feel welcome and embraced by the community. It was very wholesome.

3. The Cannabis Industry Is Very Generous

Now I don't want to toot my own horn but, like any trade show, there were samples. How else could prospective buyers know what they were buying? And this isn't my first rodeo; I've done IPCPR. So when I say they were generous...they were generous. They did NOT have to give me what they did but they did out of the kindness of their own heart (and also because I'm probably going to review them). More on that later but still. I won't be so uncouth as to post what I got but it was a stunning amount of stuff that they didn't have to give me because, again, I was NOT their primary target for this event. So, thank you to everyone who was gracious enough to even gift me a pre-roll or a gummy or two. It meant a lot and made me feel like I belonged there and was valued not just as a journalist but as a human, too. So, thank you.

4. The Event Was Stellar

To say that the event was "pretty good" would be a drastic disservice to the event. It was a fantastic trade show. Everything was laid out well, there was plenty of room to get around, there were places for people to consume away from others who didn't want to consume, there was free water (seriously, this is very important if you know trade shows), and overall the organization was on par with some of the biggest shows I've covered. My only, ONLY gripe was that the acoustics in the hall made it hard to talk with people but I think they knew that as they provided a separate meeting tent outside to talk with people. I was able to get my work done, don't get me wrong, but it was LOUD. But other than that, it was executed flawlessly. And that brings me to another point...

5. The Event Was A Beating Heart Of Who's Who In New York

This cannot be understated. If you were a brand that wanted to make waves in the industry, you were there. If you were a dispensary looking to find the latest and greatest of what New York had to offer...you were there. If you were press or a content creator...you were there. The even practically pulsed with the brilliance that only comes from when people in the know gather. I learned...so much. SO MUCH. And that's part of what thrilled me. Everyone who knew anything about cannabis in New York was there and was willing to talk with you. Anyone who was growing primo crops was there and was sharing it. If you were in the media or had anything to do with cannabis on social media, you were there and flaunting it. It very much was a hub of knowledge, of love, of passion (I swear I will stop abusing this word), and of talent that represented the height of New York's cannabis space. And it was cool to see that, honestly. I am very much a neophyte in the cannabis media so I basically shut up for the most part and let others do the talking so that I could learn. I'm glad I did because I learned quite a bit about upcoming legislature, changes to how the cannabis market will be grown and run, and information about the new CAURD licenses coming out. It helped that the OCM was there answering questions but that aside, the vendors themselves knew their shit.

So yeah, that's what I learned: a lot. From the minutiae of the cannabis industry to seeing Mike Tyson (yes, I saw Mike Tyson at a Stewart's while leaving the event) it was a fun-filled, information packed whirlwind of an event. Special shout-outs go to:

Emily Fabri and Stone Sweiss of PAX, for the cool swag and helping me troubleshoot my PAX 3.

Beck Rourke-Mooney of Supernaturals for the VERY sweet gift of a Lavender Rose preroll spliff which I am SO jazzed to try because I love lavender AND rose.

Miranda Sherman of Nanticoke for taking the time to talk to me even though she was swamped with buyers and a noisy train was going by at the same time.

Chris Regan of Alchemy Pure for giving me some fantastic quotes that really became the crux of my article and, again, for taking the time to speak with me while being mobbed by buyers.

The entire team at Torrwood Farms for giving me fantastic information, getting me curious about their farm, and giving me some insight into what happened in the early days (with a special shout-out to Amber Kerr for putting up with me). I should have spun the wheel, I regret that. I wanted to win the Torrwood Truffle but I didn't want to get a shirt that wouldn't fit me because it's embarrassing for a fat guy.

Zach Chiprut for giving me the walk-through of the Jetty/Wana/The Botanist brands and letting me smell their multitude of flowers.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering what this will mean for In With Bacchus. Worry not. I fully intend to keep In With Bacchus up and running and will begin tasting in earnest once I get clearance from my infectious disease doctor but that'll take time. Until then, may I present to you...

CannaBacchus

That's where all of my stuff will go dealing with the cannabis industry and reviews. I decided to keep them separated as this is more of a traditional intoxicant website and I didn't think it'd jive very well to mix the two of them together (I know it doesn't for me but that's a tale for another time). Until I get back on my feet, alcohol wise, I'll probably be running CannaBacchus a bit heavier and more frequent than this website (which is a very low bar, truth be told) so you can find me there for the time being. But once I get that clearance...MAN do I have some tasting to do. Can't wait.

-Bacchus

White Bear Meadery Sima

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 22:00:00 +0000

My quest to find non-alcoholic things these days is hitting a fever pitch. I want to try all the non-alcoholic things (except you kombucha). Literally all of them. But one thing I never thought I'd ever see was non-alcoholic mead. I mean, non-alcoholic mead is just honey water, right? At least that's what I thought until I stumbled across a post on Instagram about White Bear Meadery and their, surprise surprise, N/A mead called Sima. Based on a Finnish drink, this stuff is a spiced, citrused mead with NO ALCOHOL. I was sold theoretically but I had to be sold physically too, so I hurried on over to their website to try and get some cans. I put in an order for two cans, paid them, and waited for delivery. What I received was 26 cans (a 24 pack and my two cans). Whoops.

There was, naturally, an error in shipping and, after telling them that I'd pay for the excess that got mis-shipped to the wrong address, they told me just to keep them. It was around this time that I started noticing some...inconsistencies with the cans. Some were full to the point of bulging, some were underfilled. It wasn't until I was woken up by a loud pop at night that the trouble began. I went into the kitchen the next morning to see that a can of the Sima had failed at the top can seam line and...blown open. Guess they were overpressured for a reason. Now, I'm not saying this to slander White Bear Meadery. Not at all. It's just a precautionary tale, really. You see, here's what I figured. You have a sugar laden, unfermented mead being put into cans, potentially on the same line as normal mead. This means cross-contamination of yeast (from the fermented mead) into the non-fermented cans, causing them to, in essence, ferment in the can. Hence the loud pops and the cans opening at the seams; the overpressure of fermentation caused them to pop. Much like over-dosed bottles of beer, these things happen. I just found it interesting that it could still happen when the thing ISN'T EVEN FERMENTED.

But enough of the diatribe about neat science-y things. How exactly WAS the stuff? Well, let's take a look at a few photos first and then dive into the tasting notes.

Nose: nose is all sweetness and candy. Massive lashings of fresh honey and citrus with a clove undertone that belies some of what's to come. It's rich and heady with no hint of alcohol whatsoever to balance what could be a very sweet drink. Some vanilla comes through too, though I'm not sure what it's from.

Taste: A blast of honey, fresh and wild, coats the tongue. As this fades, the spice mix comes in, clove and ginger in turns. The carbonation is gentle and provides a good balance to the sweetness. For something that doesn't have the hallmarks of a classic mead to balance it out...the balance on this is quite nice. It's not too honey heavy, not too citrus focused, and not too browbeating with the herb mix.

Overall, a VERY refreshing quaff with no frills about it; it's not trying to be a mead you cellar as I don't think it'd be good cellared as the brightness of it will fade very quickly. Most times I find myself not reaching for my Glencairn to taste it as it's fine as it is (and loses nothing) from just drinking it straight from the can. You get the unctuous honey qualities that flit around with lemon and lime (peels and maybe juice) that bless it with citrus kick that then folds into a wonderfully Christmas-y bouquet of clove, maybe a little nutmeg, and some good ginger to boot. I doubted the semi-dry nomenclature at first but I'll be damned if it truly does drink semi-dry, at least for a mead. A fantastic drink...if you can deal with the problems I dealt with with aplomb and grace. These things are like hand grenades of deliciousness: always ready to pop at a moment's notice.

ADDENDUM: Naturally, the people at White Bear Meadery were not happy with my comments and I can see why. Allow me to explain and rewrite some of this.

When I do tasting notes, I write them into Blogger first, then write an ending that I intend to replace later. This time I didn't do it and I regret that. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, maybe I'm just more empathetic, I dunno. But I will amend this with this statement. This stuff is good, VERY good. I've talked with them about the problems and let them know months ago so this shouldn't be a problem again. I highly recommend you TRY their mead because if it's as good as the Sima is, then you're in for a treat. I didn't mean this post to be as slanderous as it came out to be and I apologize for my lack of editing and judgement. I really need to hire an editor but, for the time being, it's only me editing these things and when I get into the nitty gritty of things I'm passionate about, it can come off misconstrued. I will endeavor to be better. Seriously, go buy some Sima. It's a great mead despite what happened.

Needs and Wants

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Sat, 09 Sep 2023 22:02:00 +0000

In July of 1943, a man published a paper.

July 1943 saw the burgeoning action in both Italy and on the Soviet front. Operation Husky, the American invasion of Sicily, began on the 9th/10th of July with the airdrop of the American 505th Airborne Division and the British 1st Airborne Division's 1st Airlanding Brigade, as well as beach landings of the U.S. 1st and 3rd Infantry Divisions. The German offensive in the Battle of Kursk began on the 5th with nine infantry divisions and one of the 9th Army beginning their attack at 5:30am.

The man was ineligible for service. By the beginning salvos of the United States' involvement in World War II in 1941, he was already a 33 year old man and a father of two children. Unable to fight on the front lines, he spent the majority of the war doing what he had done for sixteen years: academic research. Born from a turbulent childhood of social ostracization (he was a Jewish boy in a non-Jewish neighborhood) as well as child abuse (verbal and physical abuse from both his mother and father), he sought to quantify and catalog the human psychology that he saw in his peers and parents. But instead of focusing on aspects that his predecessors had...he chose a different path. While Freud, and really al psychology up until that point, had focused on the "sick", the man decided that in order to fundamentally understand psychology, the study of success rather than failure was more pertinent. He began studying the major successes of the time: Albert Einstein, Ruth Benedict, and Max Wertheimer were the halcyon examples of his theory. His work birthed a new movement of psychology: humanistic psychology. And, in July of 1943, the man published a paper in the Psychological Review that became a cornerstone in modern psychology.

The man's name was Abraham Harold Maslow and the paper was titled "A Theory of Human Motivation".

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs was born.
_____________________________________________________________________

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is classically represented as a pyramid. Much like the food pyramid, the lower on the graphic the need, the more fundamental it is. But unlike the food pyramid, ingredients from each group can't be chosen to make a meal. Like a building, the foundation must be laid first before the attic can be built. So once you've had your fill of the bottom group, you can move up to the higher group. This was the crux of Maslow's theory: the needs at the lowest group were paramount above the higher groups and, if not met, would not allow psychological progression. But what ARE in these groups? Well...this graph should explain things:

Via Wikimedia

Let's go through them one by one, shall we? Delve a little deeper into these categories.

Physiological: Maslow, in his paper A Theory of Human Motivation, goes on to describe that "homeostasis" and "appetites" make up this level. His description of homeostasis, derived from a paper by Cannon(1) is a purely physical one; one of a regulated blood stream with appropriate water, salt, sugar, protein, fat, calcium, and oxygen content as well as constant acid/base and temperature levels. It accounts for conservation of mass, ingrained biological imperatives, and (above all) constant, unchanging values for the measurable quantities of the body and all its facets. The drive for these basic needs is incredibly strong and, thusly, is the bottom of the pyramid. Maslow goes on to say thus:

"If all the needs are unsatisfied, and the organism is then dominated by the physiological needs, all other needs may become simply non-existent or be pushed into the background. It is then fair to characterize the whole organism by saying simply that it is hungry, for consciousness is almost completely preempted by hunger."

The physiological needs are the most driving needs, the most critical to a human's survival. Maslow further says:

"Capacities that are not useful for this purpose lie dormant, or are pushed to the background. The urge to write poetry, the desire to acquire an automobile, the interest in American history, the desire for a new pair of shoes are, in the extreme case, forgotten or become of secondary importance. For the man who is extremely and dangerously hungry, no other interests exist but food. he dreams food, he remembers food, he thinks about food, he emotes only about food, he perceives only food and wants only food."

Furthermore, it also adjusts a human's outlook on life and the days to come as well:

"Another peculiar characteristic of the human organism when it is dominated by a certain need is that the whole philosophy of the future tends also to change. For our chronically and extremely hungry man, Utopia can be defined very simply as a place where there is plenty of food. He tends to think that, if only he is guaranteed food for the rest of his life, he will be perfectly happy and will never want anything else. Life itself tends to be defined in terms of eating. Anything else will be defined as unimportant. Freedom, love, community feeling, respect, philosophy, may all be waved aside as fripperies which are useless, since they fail to fill the stomach. Such a man may fairly be said to live by bread alone."

The fervor and energy put into maintaining the physiological needs of a human are the strongest needs and also the most overruling. Even if one has maintained a status quo on a higher level of wants and needs, according to Maslow, emergencies and disasters that disrupt the physiological homeostasis will be rectified before everything else.

Safety: Safety, according to Maslow, is best observed by parlaying situations and occurrences as they apply to a child. He goes on to say:

"One reason for the clearer appearance of the threat or danger reaction in infants, is that they do not inhibit this reaction at all, whereas adults in our society have been taught to inhibit it at all costs. Thus even when adults do feel their safety to be threatened we may not be able to see this on the surface."

Safety is all about protection and avoidance of harm. Maslow speaks of many things, such as parental security, social security (but not on the level of belonging, just that society is stable and not in friction), and other things...including illness. He writes:

"In infants we can also see a much more direct reaction to bodily illnesses of various kinds. Sometimes these illnesses some to be immediately and per se threatening and seem to make the child feel unsafe. For instance, vomiting, colic or other sharp pains, seem to make the child look at the whole world in a different way. At such a moment of pain, it may be postulated that, for the child, the appearance of the whole world suddenly changes from sunniness to darkness, so to speak, and becomes a place in which anything at all might happen, in which previously stable things have suddenly become unstable."

He also talks at length about the concept of the unfamiliar and the strange being part of safety and it's avoidance:

"Confronting the average child with new, unfamiliar, strange, unmanageable stimuli or situations will to frequently elicit the danger or terror reaction, as for example, getting lost or even being separated from parents for a short time, being confronted with new faces, new situations or new tasks, the sight of strange, unfamiliar or uncomfortable objects, illness, or death."

Safety is the second most important section on the pyramid and humans will go to great lengths to avoid, rectify, or escape to safe and stable situations.

Love/Belonging: Love is the topic that Maslow spends the least time on but it reflects mainly back on not just sexual desire but also acceptance and tolerance of a group, whether it be family sized (and thus a parental/relationship setting) but also social belonging as well (fitting in to social groups).

Esteem: Maslow's interpretation of esteem is two-fold, covering two facets of a human's need for recognition and appropriate reactions to said esteem:

"All people in our society...have a need or desire for a stable, firmly based...high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect, or self-esteem and for the esteem of others. By firmly based self-esteem, we mean that which is soundly based upon real capacity, achievement, and respect from others. These needs may be classified into two subsidiary sets. These are, first, the desire for strength for achivement, for adequacy, for confidence in the face of the world, and for indepenence and freedom. Secondly, we have what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige...recognition, attention, importance, or appreciation."

Basically, we want people to like us and for us to like ourselves. A deadly simple section but one that is fundamental to our continued survival psychologically.

Self-actualization: Self-actuation is the highest and, thus, least critical need of the human. Maslow has this to say about it:

"This term, first coined by Kurt Goldstein, is being used in this paper in a much more specific and limited fashion. It refers to the desire for self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency for him to become actualized in what he is potentially."

The best way to describe this is to fully embrace, and be allowed to embrace, what one thinks is one's "calling" in life:

"The specific form that these needs will take will of course vary greatly from person to person. In one individual it may take the form of the desire to be an ideal mother, in another it may be expressed athletically, and in still another it may be expressed in painting pictures or in inventions. It is not necessarily a creative urge although in people who have any capacities it will take this form."

Thus, self-actualization is becoming the "you" you want to become.

Why Did I Say All Of This

To put this in perspective, I started writing this post in 2018. It's taken me almost five YEARS to write this post. Why? Because it's painful but it's something that I have to do. The past decade has seen me sliding down Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs like I'm on a goddamn toboggan. When I first started this website, I was much younger, full of promise, and not as medically compromised as I am now. These days? Boy I am rough. I'm hovering at, on the best of days, at the safety level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. And that's on a GOOD day. As Bernie Mac once said "I ain't good no more. I used to be good...but I ain't no more." Granted he was talking about something different entirely (you can watch the Kings of Comedy tour to find out more) but what he said still resonates. I'm not the young man I once was. To start off...

I can't drink.

I've been sober for nearly...a decade now? I have sips every few once and awhile and I can do sip and spit but my days of hard drinking are over. Why? Well, part of it is that my body just can't tolerate alcohol like it used to and the other, more important part, is that I'm on trans-dermal fentanyl for pain now. That's how bad life has slid. So I can't drink these days so what am I to do? This was a website specifically dedicated to the hedonistic, bon-vivant pleasures of drinking and I can barely sip and spit without having to chug water and lie down for a few hours because it's interacting with the cornucopia of drugs I'm on that are keeping me alive. I'm fortunate in that I can still smoke cigars (although that may have to stop too if the surgery I'm having in less than a week has anything to say about that) and I can still do other bar related stuff but the no-drinking has taken a toll on me mentally because I've dedicated so much of my life to pursuing it. So what is a man to do with a website dedicated to drinking when he himself can't drink?

Pivot.

That's all I can do, really. I need something to write about because, frankly, it's been a nightmare for me NOT writing on the website. Another reason the website has gone silent is because I've been applying for disability and the disability hearing board did not take kindly to me writing, citing that it meant that I was medically well enough to hold a job like a writing job in 2023 is steady enough and well paying enough to live off of which was a laugh unto itself. So I've had to remain silent, despite desperately wanting to write, so it's given me time to think of ways to branch off of the topic nearest and dearest to my own heart while still giving me something to write about that won't kill me. Now that I've received disability and they won't be penalizing me for writing, I've got some ideas I've bandied about over the past decade to incorporate into the blog:

Bar Snacks - I've always been fascinated with tinned meat and fish of all sorts, and MREs. The MREs don't really fit but I'm willing to bend the rules a little because, well, it's my website and I do this to have fun. I'd basically be reviewing bar snacks of all kinds like blind robins (if I can still get them), canned/smoked fish and shellfish, canned meats, and other kinds of food items that would come on a pegboard or tucked in a jar on the bar back of even the dive-iest of bars. I haven't fully worked the kinks out on it yet but I do have a vast selection of canned fish I've been collecting to review so I might just start with that and see where things go.

Cigars/Pipes - You know I've always been a cigar and ppipe fan but lately I haven't been smoking too much because being alone with my thoughts is never a good idea when you have as much to worry about as I do. I spend every second of time worrying and if I don't drown it out with music, movies, video games, etc., it consumes me. So intentionally stepping away from those distractions to smoke and be in the still and quiet of my mind has not proven to be a wise idea. Recent testing HAS indicated that I may be able to smoke some short cigars and get some reviews in that way and perhaps a small-ish pipe can be purchased (like my old Grabow Lark) to facilitate pipe tobacco reviews. I dunno, it's something I'll workshop. That said, I'm very much out of the cigar/pipe tobacco game so I'd have to reintegrate myself into that again somehow (probably by annoying the hell out of Charlie Minato over at Halfwheel).

Tea/Coffee - In my departure, I've purchased (at a rock bottom price, mind you) a Nespresso machine so I've been into that because, well, when haven't I been into things that give you energy. I've been having fun with it but I've really only used the Nespresso branded pods for coffee. I know a lot of roasters actually offer Original Line capsules of their coffee (which I have) so maybe I'll get into coffee some. I'm still into tea but barely drink it even though I'm supposed to submit reviews for a program I'm in. Part of me missing having the space to do gong fu sessions so I guess that means I haven't been drinking as much tea as usual. I'll probably get back into it once I do some restructuring of my office which means rearranging my room to finally have my hot water kettle in here along with my Nespresso. I think that'll help.

N/A Beer/Spirits - Luckily, I've kinda fallen into this one, if you've seen my Instagram at all (which is where I'm the most active these days). The N/A scene has veritably exploded and for that I have great joy and pride for the brewers that do offer N/A offerings. I will be doing formal reviews of them, I just need to figure out the structure and glassware situation of that. I may end up relegating that solely to Instagram as it gives my Instagram something special but knowing me I'll end up wanting to get too verbose and end up writing full posts. My only problem, really, is my camera situation. My T3i Rebel is actually WORSE than my phone camera, I think, so I'll either need to upgrade my equipment at some point or just use my phone to take the vast majority of my photography which, frankly, feels kinda cheap but oh well. At least I'll be writing, right?

Actual Booze - Sip and spit only, and that's only when I'm having good days. I'd love to do it more but my body and meds just won't cooperate so it'll be hit and miss. I'm going to be trying something out with a friend on Twitch that may yield something but all I can say is that actual spirit tastings will be few and far between. Also, I need to buy a spittoon. Gross.

Marijuana - I don't quite know how I feel about this yet. Stay tuned. I'm working through my feelings on this one.

So that's where things lie as of now. I've recently received my last disability payment so I should be covered to run the website, comfortably (not on a razor thin margin) now so that's good. What I'm able to write, if I'm able to write, all depends on where I am on that Hierarchy of Needs. Some days are low, some days are high. Some weeks are low, some weeks are high. All I can say is that I'll write when I can write and try to provide you with the best content I can. I can't promise you it'll be like the good ol' days but, then again, it never can be, can it? The "good ol' days" will always be our memories tinted by rose-colored nostalgia and all we can hope to achieve is to have "good new days" in the future. Which I'd very much like to do...

...this Hierarchy be damned.

- Bacchus

Bibliography

Maslow, A.W. A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review, vol. (50) (July 1943), pp 370 -

396. As printed by Martino Publishing, Mansfield, CT, 2013.

1. Cannon, W. B. Wisdom of the body. New York: Norton, 1932.

Cannastock (Spring, 2023)

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Mon, 22 May 2023 21:27:00 +0000

Hi, yes, hello. I'm sure you're wondering a few things. Maybe along the lines of like:

Where did you go?
Where have you been?
Are you alright?
Are you Cotton Eye Joe?

All of these are pretty fair questions (except the Cotton-Eye Joe one, that one's pretty out of left field but I'll let it slide). Trust me, I'll fill you in on what's been going on in an upcoming post. It's a doozy, so I figured I'd do something light ahead of time. Y'know, cut my teeth again on writing on this website, show you how things are changing/shift, etc. etc. I'm sure that this is also coming out of left field, me covering a cannabis event but, truth be told, my journalistic curiosity never stops and this is just one of the many things I've been tentatively feeling out to see if it's a good way to go for me. I'm not all-in on the whole cannabis thing, I'm just canna-curious, I guess is the best way to put it. Doing some marijuana mulling. I know that when I mentioned how...out of place this event coverage would be to one of my friends, they kinda laughed and said a few things. They said that nothing, and they repeat nothing, can stop my curiosity once it's piqued (true) and also that I could write this like a war correspondent. I know that sounds weird but it makes sense; I'm not in the trenches smoking marijuana all day, I'm just reporting on those that do, the culture behind it, and the burgeoning market that is New York's legal marijuana market. And, hey, you know me. If it's a legal intoxicant...I'm curious about it. So, with all of that nitty gritty out of the way, let me lay out how I arrived at this situation.
I first heard about CannaStock on social media and I read up on it the best I could to see just what exactly it was about. It seemed to be like it was a show on the cusp of greatness. From what I could gather, it was a show where things were finally legal-legal in NY, and dispensaries were opening up. Growers were resplendent with product with nowhere for it to go (due to significant and protracted litigation by some dumb guy in Michigan). And it seemed like an event that was opening up for the first time (even though it had taken place before) with legal, easily accessible marijuana in mind. So, being the curious cat that I am, I decided to email them to see if I could get press tickets. Shout-out to Assa the marketing director for blessing me with two tickets. Yes, I said two tickets. Yes, I went with my mom. Listen, things have changed a lot and I don't wanna hear it, okay? Besides, it meant a lot to her and I kinda did it for Mother's Day so, y'know, two birds, one stone. Now, I wasn't allowed to bring a camera in and, frankly, even if I was I wouldn't want to take photos of people in this environment. I treated this like a kind of "secret's safe with me" kind of event. I didn't interview anyone high, I didn't take photos or recordings of anyone or anything, and I didn't get any booth photos. Part of this was by design of the event (they didn't want it) and part of it was my journalistic integrity (people deserve to have their shit be kept under wraps unless they don't want it). Now, let's dive in to what I saw, what piqued my interest, and what...didn't. Here we go.

Growers

There were a LOT of growers at the event. Like...a lot. Which was weird because a lot of them were there but couldn't do anything with their product. A lot of displays of lower, cartridges, edibles, etc...but no sales due to legal limitations, which was sad. Some growers were skirting around the laws with legal loopholes (which I am all for because technically correct is the best kind of correct) so that was interesting to see. An example was that some vendors, like Flower Kingdom, would sell at hat for $50 and it came with free marijuana. I, personally, didn't partake of said sales (I'm just dippin' in toes here) but there were a lot of people that were taking full advantage of it. There were a lot of growers, as said, but I think these were my two favorites:

Harney Brothers Cannabis: Do you know the sound I made when I heard about this. I made a sound of excitement that I'm pretty sure only dogs could hear. I've been a LONG, LONG time fan of Harney. Hell, one of the first real pieces of journalism I did was the Harney and Sons Factory Tour back in January of 2010. This business was done by Mike and Paul (I've worked with Mike in the past, as well) and, so far, has products in at least a few dispensaries in NY. I am exceedingly proud of them for diversifying to the extent that they have and I really hope this venture does well for them. If I decide to get into marijuana, this might be something I'll have to try and tour (or at least smoke).

A Walk In The Pines: I was super impressed by these guys. They didn't have a whole lot of strains in stock but what they did have seemed like quality (I guess, I dunno, I'm very new to this). I talked with Mike Dulen, CEO for a bit and he was quite the affable chap to talk with. They're based in the Finger Lakes (which I am a fan of) and seemed like, while small and maybe just burgeoning, they could be up for great things. I'll be keeping an eye on them.

High Falls Canna: These guys were going absolutely bonkers and for good reason: they were giving away free stuff. And you know what stuff they were giving away. If you followed them on Instagram, you got a free something smoke-able from them of some type, judging by how many people were walking away with tubes of stuff. I signed up for their Instagram but opted not to get a free...I dunno, preroll maybe? I was trying to stay on the periphery and not actively get involved with all that jazz tobacco. I had a business to run and a media job to do so I was on my best behavior. Still though, nice folks and props to them for giving away that much marijuana.

Shops

There we a lot of shops at the show, mostly focused on a lot of the minute details of growing, or straight up dispensaries themselves. I think the most two prominent dispensaries were both Etain and Curaleaf. Etain is a fully women owned dispensary not that far from me that's been doing gangbusters since it opened in 2015 with a lot of financial backing from a variety of groups (investment or not I'm not sure). They're pretty big and pretty widely spread across the state. It was nice to see them there, offering some serious deals for medical marijuana customers and also helping people link up with doctors that could help them start their journey to getting a medical marijuana card. I really liked that, even if the card isn't for me, and I think it was a good service done for the community. Curaleaf was there in full force, whether you liked that or not (there is some pushback for large marijuana "conglomerates" in the medical/recreational space) so whether you like them or are against them, they're here to stay. As someone that was looking into getting a medical marijuana card for a long time but decided against it, it's been interesting to see the burgeoning of the breadth of products available to medical marijuana patients. For a long time, you got tinctures and maybe vapes and that was it, you just had to deal with it. But now, it's really expanded into flower, edibles, tinctures, vapes, concentrates, what-have-you. The passing of recreational has been good for the medical marijuana field as well, which has been heartwarming to see. A rising tide rises all ships, so to speak, and it's made a large difference in things for a lot of people. Yay, compassion!

Vendors

As with any large gathering of those of the weed inclined, there's gonna be vendors. There were quite a few vendors there, ranging from glass and stickers, to law offices specializing in conforming to state law and other sticky (heh, marijuana pun) legal situations that could arise to places that specialized in seeds and plants, and even places that help you market your marijuana (or any marijuana adjacent) brand. There was a gamut of stuff for pretty much everyone there, regardless of what you needed, including me, the guy that's barely ever smoked weed in his life. My stellar find of the day was Hudson Valley Exotics, a store located near me that deals HEAVILY in...wait for it...

...exotic soda.

Yeah, I know, I know. Leave it to the beverage guy to find the one booth in a marijuana centered event with the rare soda. IT'S A PROBLEM, OKAY. But seriously, the guys (Alex et. al.) were really cool and were doing some GANGBUSTERS sales while I was there. If you didn't see it, I managed to pick up a bottle of Blueberry Cola and went absolutely ham on it on Instagram. Here, I'll link it here:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bacchus (@inwithbacchus)

Anyway, the dudes were really nice and, like me, couldn't drink anymore but still wanted to savor some good tasting stuff so they decided to open this business. It's located in a nearby mall (the Poughkeepsie Galleria) and I think we've got some plans in the works for doing some collaborative efforts over on Instagram. So, yes, I did manage to find a beverage booth at a marijuana festival. And I'm DAMN PROUD, OKAY.

Also, I did manage to run into Tuxedo Rolling Papers. They were a Czech company who was, naturally, giving out/selling rolling papers and wraps of all kinds. I was fairly intrigued by them because, honestly, not a whole lot of well known papers are made in the Czech Republic (and who can resist a paper made in the birthplace of pils beer, my favorite) so it was interesting to see them and what their product was about. Most papers are made in either Spain or France (or China) so it was cool to see an "alternative" paper from a rarer country. They ALSO managed to capture a video of an elusive Bacchus leaving the booth. I regret leaving the booth so soon because I didn't get the papers I wanted (they gave me king size slims instead of 1 1/4s that I like for my cigarettes) but if you want a video of yours truly lookin' like a real thicc snack in suspenders and golf pants, here you go:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsWhM9KL8bw/

Yes, I know the chub and tuck is a far more flattering look for us juicy boys but I refuse to do it, dammit. I REFUSE!

In Closing

Overall, I had a lot of fun at the event. If you're into the cannabis space, it really had quite a bit for just about anybody out there, even me. I consider myself cannabis-naive to the umpteeth degree so this was a whole lot of culture shock for me but I still had a grand old time. Sure, I didn't imbibe and instead watched the chaos unfold while drinking water and fanning myself next to one of the air conditioning vents for awhile but it was fun. These old bones could only hang out for about 3 hours (press was allowed in with VIP members at 12, with general admission entering at 1pm) so I was there from 12 - 3 pm. Let me tell you, it felt like I was in there a half hour. It really was a great time and I didn't get to see a third of the booths OR the food trucks outside (I MISSED YOU,EMPANADA MAMA). The retail price to get in for general admission was about $35 and the VIP (with goodie bag) was about $70 which I think were fair prices. You really got a lot of bang for your buck at the event and a good time to be had by all. There was some confusion at the very beginning as to how to enter the damn building but I was able to get in moderately quickly and get to a-reviewin'. It seems like it's a festival (festival I guess is the best way of putting it because it's not a trade show) that's starting to stretch it's legs and fully grow into the legalization of marijuana in NY but is having some growing pains. There wasn't a clear delineation between VIP getting in and Press getting in, things inside got very hectic at about 3pm when it became close to standing room only, and it was a labyrinthine effort to get out at the end because things weren't clearly marked. Those were the real downsides. But the upsides truly outweighed them. It was fun, it was funky, and everyone was there to have a good time. A far cry from the booze events I've been to which have often ended up with people throwing up in the bushes outside the venue after three hours on the sauce. Can't say I miss that aspect. Would I go again? Absolutely I'd go again and I'd recommend that, if you have the druthers and the cash, that you go too. I believe they do them every six months (spring and fall) so if you're ever in the Poughkeepsie area, I'd highly recommend attending if you can. It's fun, there's no boot and rally like booze events, and everyone is very, very chill. Dunno why everyone is so very chill but it's nice! Haha, I'm just kidding, I know exactly why, I'm not that much of an idiot. Usually. Okay, most days.

Bail Bond

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 23:00:00 +0000

Holy Grail GIF from Holy GIFs

It'd be pretty easy to assume that I am though. I don't Tweet much anymore. I haven't posted on here in a hot minute. But, despite life's best efforts, I'm still here. I flit and float around through the industry like the Ghost of Distilling Past. I inquire here and there. I email this and that. I am quietly recuperating, rebuilding, and reaffirming my life in the wings of the regal stage that is the alcohol industry. But, like a sleeping bear, it is wise to not poke me. And poke me someone has. Bear in mind (heh, pun), I have no-ill will for my fellow chroniclers of the Carousing Cup. I love them all and, frankly, they're all far smarter and far more educated than I. But I know what I think and what I believe in. And for this transgression, I will not stand.

Sku, of Sku's Recent Eats, shuttered his website on May 15th, 2017. I was sad to see him go as I truly enjoyed his work and admired his dedication to sifting through the absolutely chaotic morass that is the TTB filings. He managed to pry out a lot of interesting and, most of all, shocking labels for products coming down the pipeline. He still does it on his Twitter account, I believe. But little did I know did that whiskey weasel start writing for a major online (and physical) wine and spirits vendor, K&L Wines. And this little blasphemer, this unholy utterer of unfathomable unpleasantries...has recently posted on the K&L Spirits Journal a post so abhorrent to me that it shakes me to the core.

The heresy can be found here, though I am loathe to give exposure to a document that so clearly goes against the goodwill of the gods above us. But...I will admit...it brings up an interesting point. The Bottled-In-Bond Act of 1897 was necessary for a time when you could huck just about anything into a bottle and call it whiskey. As long as it got you inebriated (I'd say drunk but that'd be glossing over the Jamaican Ginger / Jake "patent medicine"), most people didn't care...until they got sick. It's all fun and drinks until you get organophosphate poisoning and can't walk or your thyroid stops working due to iodine poisoning. So the Bottled-in-Bond Act made sense at the time to preserve the safety of the American population when they tipped back a shot or two. But now that we have the FDA and the TTB...Bottled In Bond doesn't make much sense to carry on.

Sku does make some good points on the antiquated requirements of Bottled-in-Bond. In case you didn't know, the legal definition of a bottled-in-bond whiskey is (taken from the TTB whisky webinar):

Composed only of the same class and type of spirits
Produced in the same distilling season by the same distiller at the same distillery
Must be stored in oak containers in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least 4 years
Unaltered from the original condition or character as required under 27 CFR 5.42(b)(3)(iv)
Reduced in proof only by the addition of water to not less than 100 proof
Label must identify the distillery DSP number where distilled and if different must state where bottled
Must be bottled at 100 proof

It's true that all distilleries have to be bonded now so that's an antiquated portion. The "same class/type of spirit" is well regulated these days as well. And the proof, these days, seems relatively arbitrary (at least from my research). But the rest of it...the rest of it is still pretty useful. Let's break it down.

"Produced in the same distilling season by the same distiller at the same distillery"

This one is pretty important and ties in with the 4 year requirement as well. In distilling, especially small distillers, you have a decent stock of whiskey in different states of readiness. Sometimes this varies because of the barrels its stored in (a 5 gallon will have more "whiskey" flavor than a 52 gallon at 6 months), heat and humidity fluctuations, warehousing style, and barrel rotation. Every bottle you pick up at a store that doesn't specifically state "single barrel" on it is a blend of whiskies that fit the overarching flavor profile of that specific brand of whiskey. Bar. None. The age statement on a bottle is the YOUNGEST whiskey in it so your 12 year old may have 21 year old whiskey in it that helps round out the flavor. But with the industry trend of removing the age statement from bottlings...then there is no stopgap ensuring what you're getting is an aged product. It might be a 52 gallon barrel that's sat for two years with a dozen or so 5, 10, or 15 gallon barrels added in that have been in the warehouse for only six months. So you'd be buying a whiskey that, were it labeled with an age statement, would be something like "Bacchus' Reserve 6 month". But since age statements on bottles are disappearing faster than bottles of Pappy at a chef's conference, you'd never know that. By having this specification, it means that the whiskey in your bottle came from the same year, from the same TIME of year, from the same distillery. It's not a blend of whiskies with varying ages. What you see is what you get.

"Must be stored in oak containers in a federally bonded warehouse under U.S. government supervision for at least 4 years"First off, 4 years is fine for bourbon. I know that people always want older whiskies but 4 years is a serviceable bourbon. And the fact that you KNOW that its 4 years old is great. What it ALSO forces is "oak containers". This means barrels. Unless they've finally come out with the Whiskey Crate in which case barrel rolling competitions in Kentucky are gonna be...real interesting now. What this DOESN'T mean is: stainless steel tanks with oak chips, stainless steel tanks with oak spirals, stainless steel tanks with oak honeycombs, stainless steel tanks with staves in them, any other weird, new-fangled aging processes that don't involve barrels. So that means that every bottle of BIB is aged for four years at a distillery in a barrel. And...frankly...with the demand for whiskey still kinda soaring...that might come at a premium soon.

"Unaltered from the original condition of character as required under 27 CFR 5.42(b)(3)(iv)"
"27 CFR 5.42(b)(3)(iv): Unaltered from their original condition or character by the addition or subtraction of any substance other than by filtration, chill proofing, or other physical treatments (which do not involve the addition of any substance which will remain incorporated in the finished product or result in a change in class or type)"
This one is an interesting one because of how it could be argued. Let's say that a craft distillery puts out a bottled-in-bond bourbon. It's aged for four years in an oak barrel with new make from the same distillery, season, and year. At the very end, they start ultrasounding the barrel. Or they use any of the other patent medicines for making your whiskey taste old. That, in theory...could be altering it from the original condition of character by adding substances which remain incorporated in the finished product. Some of the processes out there (as I've discussed before) could potentially chemically alter the whiskey in a way that isn't seen in traditionally aging practices and, thus, add something above and beyond standard characteristics. I don't think anyone's fought it yet (mainly because I haven't seen a craft distillery put out a BIB offering) but the fact remains that it COULD be fought. So who knows?

"Label must identify the distillery DSP number where distilled and if different must state where bottled"

Ahhhhh, this one is my favorite. With a massive trend towards outsourcing distillation to someone else, this is a breath of fresh air. Don't get me wrong here, I don't mind it. Well, I don't mind it as long as I'm told. I can taste an MGP aged product from a mile away these days but 9 out of 10 bottles have some long-winded story about how their grandpappy discovered this recipe after finding a magical bushel of corn and wheat that had fermented in the jungles of Peru and he brought the recipe back to turn into white lightning that he bootlegged through all of Alaska. I know it's bullshit. Most whiskey nerds know it's bullshit. But for people that are just getting into whiskey...who knows what they know? Do they know that they're paying ludicrous prices for whiskey made at a huge distillery in Illinois? Do they know that grandpappy never found a recipe because "grandpappy" was actually a meeting in a meeting room at an industrial distillery where they picked one of the four stock recipes and maybe changed it up a little? I don't know. But it's not fair to the consumer to hide behind a facade of nostalgia, Americana, and lies. I'd prefer to see distiller DSPs on bottles rather than back-country wisdom and the verbal equivalent to the smell of hot rod fumes
As you may have been able to guess from my barely coherent litany, I'm all for keeping Bottled In Bond. Sure, I don't want to part with my Old Grand Dad or my J.W. Dant or any of the other table bourbons that have been mentioned. But it's also something that I think craft distilleries should take heed of and add to their roster. The craft distilling industry, even though it has been going strong for so long and has a lot of damn good stuff coming out of it, is still very much where whiskey was in the late 19th century. A lot of the whiskey is young, is tampered with, is of unknown providence. For every good, solid distiller out there making quality product there's a hundred hucksters trying to sell America a liquid fairy tale. There's no mandatory aging period for any whiskey that isn't straight or bottled-in-bond. There isn't any laws demanding that the source of whiskey be revealed to the consumers. There's nothing on the books preventing people from snake oil aging spirits and selling them as vintage bourbon. None of the marketing lynch-pins like "small batch" or "reserve" have any legal definitions or demands on the spirit in the bottle. But a craft distillery that puts out a bottled-in-bond product...that's a way to earn trust. It's a way to say to the consumer that this bottle isn't bullshit; what you see is what you get and you can read it right on the back without any flowery prose to spit-shine it. It's a way to protect the consumer, just like the Bottled-In-Bond Act was from the get-go. Only this time, instead of tobacco juice, or iodine, prune juice or "extracts", it's misinformation and obfuscation it will shield us from.

And I'd like that shield.

The Loss of Advocacy

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 20:47:00 +0000

"Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing."- Herodotus, The Histories

There are moments of helplessness in my life that I have become accustomed to; fleeting but poignant instances where I can only watch as the storm before me finally makes landfall. It is my personal bugbear the past few years. I don't say this as a preface solely to garner pity in order to balance out the fact that I never write on this damnable website. I say it because, for once...for one beautiful, blissful second, there is something I can do, no matter the personal cost.

I have been smoking cigars since 2005 and reading about them for as long. Back when I started, the vast array of information pertaining to cigars was not housed neatly on servers. It was not accessible with a quick click. You got your information from magazines and the hushed whispers of store owners who knew more than you did. There weren't many magazines, either. There was Tobacconist magazine, which you could only find at a few cigar stores...and there was Cigar Aficionado.

At the time, Cigar Aficionado was...pretty good, although that may be the rose-tinted glasses. It had full page articles on cigar regions or manufacturers, discussion of trends, and the eponymous ratings everyone was so delighted to slap on any promotional literature they put out. But, as the years passed, it started to slip. The golf section went from a small page in the back to a feature. The ads for watches costing a years worth of my tuition became larger and more frequent. But most telling of all...was the cover. Older copies of Cigar Aficionado prominently displayed it's logo in large font proclaiming, to those that picked up the tome: "This is about cigars and you'll be damned if you think otherwise." But gradually...the word "Cigar" got smaller. And smaller. And the word "Aficionado" got bigger. And bigger. This is what Cigar Aficionado looked like in 1996.

This is what it looked like in 2006:

And this is what it looks like now.

By 2026, I fully expect it to look something like this:

You can even see, based on the stories featured on the cover, the dramatic shift of Cigar Aficionado's focus from the cigars themselves to the "lifestyle" that comes with it. In 1996, the big focus was famous people who smoked cigars, reviews of maduro cigars, and the latest Cuban crop. In 2016, the biggest stories are golf, Vegas vacations, and an interview with an actor.

It broke my heart to watch Cigar Aficionado change and by 2012, I just stopped buying it. It had no information in it that I didn't already know by the time it came to print and I had to stop playing golf back in 2004 when I had my spine fused from T2 to L1. I was fresh out of college, having worked only six months, and was getting ready to have my 29th surgery so the $20,000 Rolex watches they were trying to peddle were a pipe dream of the highest order. And by that time, other magazines had come out. Cigar Press was around, even if it meant I had to drive to Albany to get it. European Cigar Cult Journal was beginning to be stocked by the local Barnes and Noble. And Cigar Snob was beginning to hit it's stride in terms of writing. I was never crazy about having models plastered all over it but it was better than ads for Mercedes-Benz. So I dropped it and never looked back.

Well...I did. Sort of.

In 2010, M. Shanken Communications purchased Malt Advocate, a magazine devoted to whiskey and whisky and however you want to spell it. It was a fantastic magazine, helmed by John Hansell with Lew Bryson, who ended up becoming a good friend, doing some serious editing and journalism work. It was a smart magazine in every sense of the word. The articles delved into the technical aspects of distilling that whiskey nerds like myself enjoyed while also not overloading the reader. The reviews were some damn crisp copy, even if I never could agree with any of the tasters. And the ads...were about whiskey, just whiskey, and they were tasteful and muted. It was a daisy of a magazine and I loved it immensely. So watching Shanken purchase it had me quaking in my boots. M. Shanken Communications helmed Wine Spectator and...

Cigar Aficionado

At first, things were okay. They changed the name from Malt Advocate to Whisky Advocate which I actually agreed with. They didn't touch beer so "Malt Advocate" was kind of a misnomer. And the writing was still snappy and fresh. But by about 2012...the ads began. It was slow at first, almost imperceptible. The ad-space began to get larger but I didn't mind, as long as the writing was there. Then, the ads changed. The first cigar ads began and my stomach clenched. But it was just one ad, it will be fine! Then more came.

More and more ads came that weren't focused on whiskey. It was all cigars at first which I could tolerate because at least it was in my wheelhouse. But the quality of the articles began to landslide. Solid articles of technical interest fell by the wayside, replaced by fluffier pieces about travel and hotels. It was related to whiskey, sure, but it wasn't ABOUT whiskey.

And then Lew left.

I feel like there is no shortage of coincidence that his name rhymed with "glue" because it seemed like he was the only one keeping it together. After his departure, the floodgates opened. The last issue I flipped through, the Winter 2016 Ireland issue, had a two page spread about golf in Ireland. The thing I had loved was gone and my money with it. I didn't renew my subscription.

Yesterday on Facebook, John Hansell stated he was stepping down, after 25 years, as the Publisher and Editor of Whisky Advocate effective at the end of April. I knew this writing was on the wall but it hurt to see it. But what hurt even more was the release from M. Shanken Communications, entitled "Exciting Changes Are Afoot for Whisky Advocate." Not only did it state that M. Shanken will be taking over as editor for Whisky Advocate but also (in regards to avenues of growth):

"As everyone knows, M. Shanken is fortunate to have two of the world’s leading luxury lifestyle magazines, Wine Spectator and Cigar Aficionado. We understand luxury consumers in these segments. Our vision is to build a third franchise with our deep understanding of spirits and lifestyles. We’ll develop Whisky Advocate as a lifestyle magazine rooted around spirits in general and whisky in particular. That will mean more fine-tuning of the editorial content. We’ve recently added to our stable of gifted writers, aiming at a wider consumer audience." - Marvin Shanken, 2017

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in The Great Gatsby "the loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly". I can agree with that sentiment. Over the past three years, I have stared into the yawning abyss of impossible choices and floundering moments as the full brunt of life's fury has crashed upon the rocks of my soul. In every instance, the choices I've had to make and the things I've had to deal with were inevitable and unavoidable. I could just nod my head in dumb acquiescence and hope that it wouldn't tear me apart. But none of it has torn me apart quite like this, despite the fact that I CAN do something. To see a thing you love die is painful. But to think it would be a magazine is boggling compared to what I've been having to deal with.

I wish them luck in their endeavors, truly. The writers at Whisky Advocate are some of the best voices in the industry and I am sincerely glad that they are getting a wider audience who will listen to them extol the virtues of whiskey.

But I will not be one of them.

Cornell and Diehl Small Batch: The Beast - Friday, April 29th

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 20:07:00 +0000

I'm fairly sure there are eldritch gods at work. If this post makes it out, please send help in the form of sage, salt, and maybe a barrel of rum.

In my first review of the Cornell and Diehl Small Batch line, I talked about how I used a pipe to meditate. I thought it was all in good fun and not something that anyone would actually take seriously.

I was wrong.

I am not sure what cruel and dark machinations are going on at Cornell and Diehl but what I DO know is that they have a preternaturally acute knowledge of my life. How else could you explain their recent blend, The Beast? It arrived on my doorstep with no warning, no notice. Seeing that it was from Cornell and Diehl / Laudisi Enterprises, I opened it like the fool I am. What horrors were nestled in-between the paper cushioning that cradled the demonic tin? What did I release from Pandora's Box?

I tried, to no avail, to contact them at Smoking Pipes. They said that they were very busy with the Chicagoland Pipe Show but I know lies when I hear them. They had gotten their evil tendrils into my sanctum sanctorum; answering my questions, calming my fervor, and heeding my pleas didn't matter anymore. Their work done, they retreated to silence. They will watch and wait as I damn myself through my own hubris.

MY HUBRIS. Oh how my vanity bested me. To be chosen to review such a coveted blend should have struck me odd but no, I deemed myself worthy to smoke it. Nay, not just deemed, but exclaimed. I should have known by the writing on the tin. Scrawled on the back in neat font, the tin reads:

"Legend has it that Aleister Crowley, famed adept of the Order of the Golden Dawn and founder of the Ordo Templi Orientis, is purported to have made a habit of smoking rum-soaked perique as a meditative aid."

In my hubris, I failed to read between the lines. How would they have known that I required a meditative aid? These blends were months in the making, were they not? How could they have foreseen what prose would fall from my digital quill? How could they cater to my whim in advance? But pride blinds quicker than then brain can register. I assumed that it was happenstance, a mere coincidence. Now I know that they have signed deals with ancient gods to ensure my fate. Here is the date of "manufacture" of the blend:

4/11/16. The evil was sealed in steel days before it arrived on my doorstep. What a fool, am I.

My last mistake was opening the can. I fear to take a picture of it lest it's evil be transmittable but whatever iota of malice that is transferred to you can only pale in comparison to the guilt I would feel should you accidentally buy a tin due to ignorance. Here, gaze quickly and remember all you can.

Should you ever cross this can, call a priest. Call several priests. This is the blend itself. Once again, look quickly. Note it's darkness, as if it is sucking in all light and warmth.

Do you have it in your mind now? Good. Now you shall be safe from rogue bundles and bags of this tobacco intent on corrupting you and your kin. Be wary in the coming days. It will be out there. It will have no label, no markings. An innocent bag of fragrant tobacco, drawing you in to sacrifice your soul.

Oh, but the fragrance. The tin is a heady smell truly befitting an occultist's smoke. It is of rich rum and smoke, like the belly of an ancient ship. Mingling between it is a peppery spice and subtle berries. It creeps into your nose and roosts, constantly fraying at your consciousness until you give in. You will yearn for it as you have yearned for nothing else in your life. It will break you to it's whim. You will pull some out and let it dry as the Nelson's blood used in its sacrifice leaves it damp but pungent. As it dries, the aroma will continue to haunt you until your willpower breaks in twain. You load a pipe-full and seek a secluded spot to rest your abnormally weary bones. And as the flame caresses it, you are lost.

The taste is like falling down a mine-shaft of hedonism. At first, the flavor of aged rum, cinnamon, and berries comforts and consoles you, telling you that all will be okay. But as you are swaddled in it's warm and blissful embrace, the ground comes up fast underneath you. By about midway through the bowl, the rum and berry flavor becomes less prominent...and The Beast comes out. It is not a mindless, ravenous demon, no. It uses it's silver tongue and guile to charm you. The Virginia cavendish and Perique base comes alive; oak and peppercorn dance between fleeting glimpses at the rum that has left you cold and alone. The dark fired burley gives a brimstone-esque flavor of nuttiness tempered with the fires of Hell. The black cavendish finishes with a slight sweetness, leaving you desperate for another puff. And you will. Oh, gods help you, you will.

It is too late. I can feel the corruption spreading. They released The Beast today and, if luck would have it, all of the tins are gone. Do not seek out this tobacco for it will destroy you mind, body, and soul. It's succulent flavor and alluring odor are but a guise. Do not seek out the tin. Do not unleash The Beast. For the tin is a pale horse looking for a rider...and hell comes with it.

I...I need to calm my nerves. Soothe my aching soul. On͜e m̢o͜re͏ p͜i҉p҉e̢ f̷ull͢ shóu͠ld do i͢t. Yes, just one more. Gi̷v̶e͏ ͞mè t̨ime to̴ ̧re̶st̀ a͏nd ͏t͟h͝i͟nk. The tin is still full, I am not lost yet. I ̕͢á͘m ͏s̵ơ̴ ̸̨w̷̧e̡a̸̧͡ŗy.́ ̡̕Me̶ḑ͢͢i̕͡tàti̴͟o̶̷̢n̷̢͝ ̷w̵͠ou̕l̵͝d͏́ b̡e ̶̕g͟òơ͜d̸͝͠.̸̛

J̃̊ͤ͒ͭͩ̊̆͒͗̌҉̨̜̗̝̬͕̩̞̜̖̯̺̤̝ų̴̵̬̫͈̹ͨͮ̒̉̑̏ͫ͊̓ͤ͊̃ͧ͂ͩͫs̷̛̼͍̮̤͙ͫ̊̈̆̀͜ͅt̸̷̡̘̼͕̭̥̖͙͍̳ͭ̎ͪ́̉̊ͣͥ̐ͤ̀͢ ̨̙͎̲̝̰͍͔͕͓̙̯̥̖͚̗̂͋̓͗͘͡o̴̥̫̲͔͕̟̥̗͙̙̘̞̲͔͇̪̱͐̑́͋͒̓ͭ͂̔ͥ͂͡͡n͂ͬ̉̋̆ͧ̂̆̽̇ͦͤ̚҉͓̤̤͕͉̩͕̭̜͚̖̥̳̰̝͈͚̫͍ȩ̻͔͓̭̣̻̳͒̓͋̏̂ͥ͋͆̑͂ͦ̌́͜ͅ ̡̢̰͎͎͍̮̞̹͖̬̲̗ͫ̅̉́̒̎ͥ̅͒̆ͩ̅̆ͨ̇ͭ͒̚͞mͨͦ̿ͥ̑̏̐͌ͮ̈ͤ̈̉͏̺̮͙̫̪̠̹̣͔ȍ̸̡̨̮̰̳͉͕̩̣̪̘͔ͨ̍̀ͯ̉͐ͅͅŗ̢̨͕͉̣̦̣̥̰̩ͫ̑̈̎͒ͧ̎ͯ͋̄̒e̵̳͕̼̹̒̎ͫ̋̿͊́ͭ͋̀͆͜͜͟ ̷̝̻̫͉̫͓̝̀̂̔̌͗́b̛̛͖̤͈̬͊̏ͩͤͦ͜ͅoͤ̾̃ͫͫ̈́͊ͮ̓͗ͣ̎ͨ͛̈͛̃̓͜҉̷̰̦̞̟̫̖̖̻͙̝̠̟̮̜͈͕̫͔͟w̖̞̺̱̫̻͔̼̯̗͈̣̦̌͂ͭ̇͌̀ͪͤͣ̔̉ͤ̈̔̊͝l̫̝̩̥͚̝̟͚̟͉̼͕̬̮̖͙̱̬̿̑ͥ́͂ͫ͟͢͜.̡̒ͨ̇̿͋ͧ̉ͬͣͤͫ͑ͦ̓̚͏͇͚̦̟͕̺͓̩̦͖̲̣͢͡͝

White 2 Tea Unboxing

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 18:00:00 +0000

I never liked the phrase "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Of all the things you could do with lemons, that's what you choose? Lemons are so much more utilitarian than that. How about "When life gives you lemons, make limoncello. Also maybe some whiskey sours. And some lemon marmalade." Much like life, don't limit yourself to just one option.

However, when life gives you a White 2 Tea Odds and Ends Weekend sale, the ONLY option you have is "order lots of tea." I'd never actually ordered from White 2 Tea before because a) I'm poor and b) shipping is astronomical. But after yelling at Paul on Twitter for awhile (several months, really), he relented and sweetened the pot for me. He told me to "go for broke" and he'd take care of the shipping because he's a fantastic person. Or he's just tired of me haranguing him on Twitter so maybe jamming some puer in my mouth will stop me from pounding away at my keyboard like a gorilla with rabies. Either way, it worked and I decided to throw enough cheddar at him to keep him in grilled cheese sandwiches for a few weeks. And since unboxing posts are all the rage right now (I actually think I missed the popularity mark by about 3 years), I decided I'd document peeling away the swaddling from my tea baby.

I put in the order on February 29th (lucky) and it arrived March 16th. I expected this, honestly. I think Paul had to back-pack to the shipping office near his tea cave in China so I figured it'd take a bit to get here. Also, ordering a plant product packed into brick form from China means a healthy perusal by U.S. Customs. But after patiently waiting (something I am not particularly good at), my cardboard crucible of joy arrived.

Kinda beaten up:

To be fair, it's actually not bad considering it traveled 11,722 km / 7283.7131 miles (as the crow flies) to land at my doorstep. I was worried that the cakes might have been cracked so I hurried to pop it open. Luckily, my fears were unfounded because it was packed VERY well:

Look at it. It's not the Ark of the Covenant so your face is safe. Cracking open the box released a smell that I have trouble describing. It was, in part, the funk of pu er. But it was also something else. It was the smell of...well...China. A smell that lingers faintly in the background at the Asian grocery store I go to. The smell of a different world, one that I can't place. Earthy, slightly spicy, a bit pungent. So, naturally, I huffed the box for awhile because I am deranged.

After a few good snorts, I pulled out payload:

Next came the scissors and began to disassemble the pile.

I ordered two cakes and four samples. Since I ordered over $50 worth of stuff, I qualified for a free piece of tea-ware. Paul also threw in a few bits and bobs as well, which were much appreciated. We'll start with the samples. Each were 25g and individually sealed.

This is probably my favorite one and I haven't even tried it yet. 2015 Milk, Cream, And Alcohol (Raw). Milk And Alcohol is TECHNICALLY a song by Dr. Feelgood. This is true. However, "milk, cream, and alcohol" is actually a reference to the lyrics of John Lee Hooker's "Serves Me Right To Suffer". And I love John Lee Hooker. A lot.

2015 Little Walk (Raw). This will be the only time I actually go for a walk.

2015 Pretty Girls (Ripe). Every time I see this one all I can do is hum Pretty Women from Sweeney Todd.

2015 Brown Sugar (Ripe). "So smooth you'll say 'Shit, Damn, Motherfucker.' " Now, on to the cakes!

2006 Old Bear Fangcha (Raw). Recommended to me by a few people (one of which I have a feeling it's named after). A supposed smoky bruiser of a tea that will hold up to tobacco pairings and cocktail usage. Probably should have bought another.

2015 Old Reliable (Ripe). Pu er is expensive. Really expensive if you decide to delve into buying whole cakes or even, heaven forbid, full tongs. So finding a cheap, quality cake is like nuclear fusion: possible in theory but borderline non-existent in practice. So I went for a cake of the Old Reliable because it was cheap and I wanted a full cake. We'll see how it drinks and, after that, if I can resist buying a tong.

Now, the miscellany!

2015 Smooch (Raw). An adorable little "travel size" cake that Paul threw in for me. I love smooches. Also, I love Hugs. Those white chocolate Hershey Kisses? I love those things. Sorry, I had white chocolate while writing this and I'm still thinking about it.

A White2Tea branded pu er cake pick. Perfect for prying apart cakes, chipping ice, and murdering Morrie in a Cadillac Eldorado.

An absolutely delightful teacup. Which makes me think he's psychic because I have a gaiwan and a pitcher but no teacup to drink from. So this was pretty handy.

All in all, pretty good haul. I'd like to thank Paul at White2Tea for putting up with me for this long and for (potentially) putting up with me even further. I encourage you to order from him because he's cool. I don't know how his tea is but if it's anything like him, it's gonna be good.

-Bacchus

Cornell and Diehl Small Batch: Straight Up English - March 17th, 2016

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 21:00:00 +0000

Life, lately, has been quiet. Contemplative, even. One would think that accompanying a time of reflection and solitude, a pipe would be clenched between teeth, slowly wisping smoke upwards as a smudge-bundle for the brain.

Truth is, I haven't smoked a pipe in years.

It's not that I haven't wanted to. I have. I spend INORDINATE amounts of time researching pipe tobacco blends, following new releases, building wish-lists. But...I haven't. I've been smoking cigarettes like a fool. A life of hasty kips out the door for a gasper before retreating to the warmth. It is a habit of a frantic mind, a mind frazzled by stress and excessive bodily wear-and-tear. Enjoying a pipe requires time and, frankly, a relatively serene mind. Many people say that the time they spend smoking a pipe is akin to meditation. I find my zen in video games and Youtube clips of people eating MREs. So pipes...pipes have fallen by the wayside.

However...the call of research and development has brought me back to the briar. A few weeks ago, Adam at Smoking Pipes sent me a message on Twitter. Not unheard of; we chat all the time. But in this message he had a favor to ask: try out a new pipe tobacco soon to be released. This piqued my interest. What was being released? I hadn't heard of anything from Laudisi Enterprises. So I inquired. He told me that Cornell and Diehl was coming out with a new line of limited-run tobaccos called Small Batch. He told me that the first release was to be an English blend, titled simply "Straight Up English."

I LOVE English blends.

I accepted (hence me writing this). He even sweetened the deal with a few other samples that I'll get to in a bit. But more important than the samples was this burgeoning feeling that it was time to pick up the pipe once more. Once again take up the art of fumigation meditation. A week later, a package arrived with the samples.

So...what IS Straight Up English? Well, this is the infographic that Adam sent over.

It gives a rough idea of what's going on in the tin. I asked for further clarification and he linked me to this quote on Pipes Magazine Forum.

"To tell true, the Virginia's interplay with the Latakia is the focus, but the White burley offered texture and underlying strength. The blend's single largest component is actually Bright Virginia from our supply of really special Canadian crop from 2013. The color, aroma and uniquely zesty sweetness of this stuff is just lovely to work with. But what this Bright has going for it in terms of character and sweetness, it lacks in the Nicotine department. And in my opinion, a lot of English or Balkan or Latakia blends tend to leave me wanting more strength. Thus, the small addition of White Burley helped to soften the Brights, and up the "Umph" a bit, though without focusing in any overt way, on the flavor of the Burley. Think adding flour to gravy vs. baking bread."

I have to admit, I've never finished smoking an English blend and then said to myself "I wish that had more nicotine" but that's just me. If I want nicotine I'll go for rope or just have a cigarette. But rounding the Virginia with Burley seems interesting. Personally, I like the contrast of the citrus from the Virginia and the clout of Latakia (like a hot-smoked lemon) but I'll give it a go.

The latakia makes it levitate.

Sample arrived as above and caused my desk to smell like a fall burn-barrel at a citrus orchard. Opening it up and pouring a bit out to inspect it revealed:

I'd pin it as a "rough and ready" ribbon cut. It's almost like a combo of ribbon and ready rubbed but that might just be me being out of the whole pipe tobacco game for so long. Loading it into my Missouri Meerschaum Country Gentleman presents no problems. It's a bit chunky but it's easy enough to pack and the perfect humidity.

In terms of flavor, well, the latakia is the first thing that hits the palate. It gives color and personality to the blend with its smokey flavor that fades to an almost black pepper spice. The core of the blend is the Virginias. Less of the citrus flavor I associate with Bright Virginia but more of an almost woody, cedary flavor. And at the very end is the Burley, giving a subtle nuttiness and almost creaminess.

This blend is a simple but well-crafted oak table. The latakia is the stain of the wood, providing the pop and color to the wood underneath. The Virginias are the solid oak planks, providing richness and backbone. And the Burley is there to sand the table smooth and reveal the grain. It's not fancy, far from it. It focuses more on complementing the Virginias than the marriage between the Latakia and Virginias that other blends do. It's not an after-dinner English, it's very much an all-day English. It can be smoked from your first cup of tea in the morning to the post-dinner brandy at night. That being said, I found it to be a bit light for my tastes. I like an English with a bit more clout. It has enough to it to make it an all-day smoker but not enough to make you pay attention. Even though I'm making it out like that's a bad thing, it's not. It's a solid smoke. Perfect for lighting and then staring off into the distance.

Perfect for thinking.

-Bacchus

Blue Collar Reviews Series

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 19:03:00 +0000

I'm broke.

There are many definitions of broke. Some people have their version of broke, some have others. For some, being broke means they can't afford something new and shiny; a big ticket purchase like a car or house. For others, it's that they don't have any expendable income. For the unfortunate few, it's a case of barely making ends meet.

These are not my definitions of broke.

I'm not broke. I'm not even broke.

I am BROKE.

This is how many dollars I have to my name:

That's not a lot of dollars. I mean, it is in comparison to what some people make daily around the world. But considering I owe, monthly, in excess of $900...that's not many dollars. I try not to let it get to me. I don't buy much anymore. I save and scrimp at all costs. I wait and hope that disability comes through which should cover my loan payments and supplemental insurance to complement Medicare. I eat enough cheap tuna that I probably have severe mercury poisoning. Luckily, my parents are helping through this tough time. I love my parents.

Okay, shit, this is a super depressing start. Lemme see if I can save this.

"If people buy bad stuff in the supermarket, I tell 'em. I saw one guy buying cheap toilet paper and I said: 'What are you doing? That's four rolls for $.89. That can't be good. Don't you like yourself?'

I understand the need to find a bargain but toilet paper...you buy good toilet paper. I've been really broke. I always got good toilet paper. It's a line you don't cross. It tells you everything will be alright. The bills may be late...but I got good toilet paper!" - John Pinette

The late John Pinette taught me, in the funniest way possible, the need for the little things. Anyone can tell you how important morale is. For years, people have been buying little things for themselves, when they could, to show that everything will be alright. For some, it's toilet paper. For others (like me), it's alcohol and tobacco. And the greatest representation of that is the blue collar delicacies that dot the coolers and behind-the-counter shelves of every convenience and liquor store out there. For many people, it's cheap swill and enthusiastically proclaimed "dog rockets". But for some, with limited means, it's a symbol that things will get better. The bills may be late...the rent may be due...but I got this and I'm gonna enjoy it. And a lot of the things that have been passed up as inferior quality tell a fantastic story. Many of these brands, before they were shotgunned in a darkened frat basement or ripped open and filled with...other smokeable fillers...had a rich history. It's important to study history, else we are doomed to repeat it. Or something like that, I dunno.

"So what," you must be saying. "What does your sob story have to do with the website? And why haven't you reviewed anything? Why are you so lazy?"

Okay, despite me blatantly projecting, here's what it means. I am going to start a review series focused on these low cost treasures. The rules are as follows:

Nothing is off the table in terms of reviewing. Beer, wine, cigars, pipe tobacco. It'd be nice if they told a story or had a bit of history behind them (either the brand itself or the style).
It has to be cheap. For beer: less than a dollar a can/bottle. I'll exclude malt liquor from that because I'm too lazy to figure out what price per ounce I should limit it to. For cigars: less than $2 a cigar, give or take. There are some brands out there that will be a bit more than that because they're harder to find and I'm willing to go that distance for a story. Wine and liquor: less than $12.
I think the only real rule is it has to be cheap.

Below is a list of beers that I will be working to get my hands on. I can get some of them near me but they are the furthest from fresh so I'll look for fresher varieties.

As for anything else, I'm open to suggestions. I have a few cigars around that I will be reviewing when it stops raining (props to Famous Smoke for collaborating with me on this). I will put together a list of cigars and spirits to try/find when I can. If you want me to investigate anything, feel free to drop me a line with any information you can and I'll send out emails.

So, join me in exploring all the world has to offer in terms of affordable, knock-around consumables of the bluest of collars. They may not be fancy, or pretty, or Michelin-star tasty...

...but they're something small to remind us all that it will be okay.

Barritt's Ginger Beer (US Version) - Thursday, April 23rd

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 16:15:00 +0000

I hate ginger ale. There, I said it.

Okay, let me elaborate a bit. I have a love/hate relationship with ginger ale, heavily leaning towards the "hate" camp. It's a fine soda, I suppose, except I have bad memories of it. It's always been a health tonic for me. It was drunk flat and warm while sitting on a Thomas the Tank Engine blanket while home sick from school with a stomach bug.When I had my spinal surgery, it was LITERALLY one of the only things I could consume for about six days. I still keep it on hand, occasionally, for when my medicine makes me nauseous but it's really a "Break In Case of Imminent Biscuit-Spiffing" kind of soda. And the brands out there do it absolutely no justice at all. I'm sure a properly brewed ginger ale could be good! But when you crack open a warm can of Seagram's, Canada Dry, or Schweppes, you're met with an overly fizzy, tooth-rotting sweet, and barely ginger flavored simulacrum of a beverage.

So I generally stick with ginger beer. It has that fiery ginger to salsa on my tongue and soothe a wonky tummy. It's a great mixer for bourbon, vodka, rum, or whatever else you feel like putting in there. But all ginger beers are not created equal. My stand-by (and the one I can get easily) is Reed's Extra and it is a zesty balm for my soul. But that's not to say I don't like branching out. Recently, while perusing Christmas Tree Shops (don't ask), I came across a four pack of Barritt's Ginger Beer. Here's a bottle of it:

I've heard of Barritt's Ginger Beer before and it's a not-very-common sight around here, even though US version is made one state over in NJ. After chilling a bottle and trying it when I wasn't feeling fantastic, I decided to do it justice and chill another one for review. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

I enjoy the labeling on it. It's not "hip", it's not flashy. It's gorram soda and it's been around longer than you have and you will like it. Taking a peek at what's inside yield's this:

A slightly cloudy maelstrom of ginger-based light diffusion. Which is odd, actually, because this stuff is manufactured, not brewed, so they must add some ginger squeezin's in there. Here are the notes:

Nose: I feel like an idiot describing the nose of a soda. This is what my life has come to, I guess. It's surprisingly light. Ginger is apparent but not much else. Doesn't have that sickeningly sweet aroma you get with HFCS. That one that permeates your nostrils and coats it like Augustus Gloop in the choco-tube. Slight herbal note in there which I'm guessing is from the Quillaia bark.

Taste: Clean. Sweetness first; the real sugar sweetness. It doesn't linger, it doesn't give that gross HFCS film on the tongue. The ginger comes and gives it oomph but it's not a hot ginger flavor. There's a bit of heat as you drink the entire thing but it's not the mouth-crumpling punch that Reed's doles out. It doesn't overpower the sugar but rather compliments it, if that makes sense. Bit of creaminess in there as well. Slightly lemony too. Carbonation is subtle with fine bubbles.

Short form: it's good. It's not in line with your traditional ginger beer but the subtlety of it is refreshing and let's whatever you want to put in it shine through. I have one extra bottle left that I will save for a medical emergency (such as when my rum needs a prescription). If you've done the math correctly, you may note that I drank one bottle before, drank one for this review, and have one left over. What happened to that missing bottle? Magic, friend. I tucked it into a snow-bank in February and it got cold enough to partially freeze. Semi-liquid and semi-frozen, I drank it and it was like manna from heaven. So if you want to try something delicious, maybe make it into a granita. Okay, scratch that "maybe" part. Definitely try it. I think that's where my last bottle is headed.

Give It A Light TAP NY 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 19:18:00 +0000

First beer of the day: Captain Lawrence Captains Reserve DIPA. I a not a smart man. #beer

A photo posted by Scott Spolverino (@inwithbacchus) on Apr 27, 2014 at 9:24am PDT

Any day that you get to begin the day with a Double IPA from Captain Lawrence brewing is a good...good day. And, luck have it, I get to repeat this day again!

A few weeks ago an email crossed my inbox that made me all giddy inside. TAP NY, and it's Marketing and Communications Manager, Kaitlin O'Connor (Katie), was enticing me with media passes to this year's TAP NY. This means two things to me:

I get to go to TAP NY.
Last year I did not make an utter fool of myself and get myself barred from one of the finest beer festivals NY has to offer. Either that or I did but they are willing to give me a second chance to redeem myself / blow it and drink barrel aged stout all day and mumble incoherently about the lack of cask milds in the US like I'm Ding.

Both of these are pretty meaningful to me. In REALITY (self-deprecating humor aside), it means that someone liked what I wrote. Which feels good, y'know? In a world where a lot of things are going wrong, something that I DID went right. I guess. I'm not gonna look into it too deeply ere I find something contrary to that notion. But, as I am in a world where a lot of things are going wrong, TAP NY presents a bit of a quandary for me. I really can't drink heavily / all day anymore. I thought about this for awhile: would it be ethical for me to accept press passes when I can no longer swig export strength stout anymore?

After mulling it over for awhile, I realized (much like previous) that there were two things. One is the fact that, across the nation, craft brewing is slowly inching towards accepting low ABV beers With the success of Notch, and what seems like an absolute flood of funky-yet-low-ABV beers that are becoming popular (looking at you gose and Berliner-weisse), I'd be able to find plenty to drink. The other thing I realized is that...it doesn't matter how much I'm able to drink. If I have one beer in hand all day, I'm okay with that. I can still tell a story. And, as I hope you've realized by now, I sure do like telling stories.

So I will be at TAP NY on April 28th, with my photographer, snapping photos and drinking water/Peeksill Simple Sour. If you want to buy tickets, you can still buy them here for both the Saturday and Sunday sessions. DD tickets are available as well so be responsible and buy one for a friend who wants to watch your drunken antics. So if you've got the ability, money, and wherewithal to come, let me know and we can hang out. You can be woven into the narrative tapestry for the after-action report I write up on Monday.

I might even tell you a story.

Of Replicants and Reactions

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 19:19:00 +0000

These days, it is hard to invoke a response from me. Couple the myriad of medications I'm on with my constant fatigue and general laissez-faire attitude about things and getting me to react in an emotional way is pretty difficult. I wouldn't say I'm robotic in nature but things are definitely taken with a grain of salt. Well...salt substitute. High salt doesn't work with some of my medication. I suppose, in some aspects, that I am a simulacrum of a distiller. I act like a distiller, think like a distiller, live and breathe distilling...but I don't distill. If you're familiar with Blade Runner, I guess I could be considered a distiller replicant. Only, in my world, there is significantly less 80's style film noir and far more video games and coffee.

But...

Recently, a paper came across my desk. A white paper by Lost Spirits Distillery. A white paper that has proved to be my Voight-Kampff Test. In case you've never seen Blade Runner (shame on you), the Voight-Kampff Test is an analysis machine used to evoke an emotional response in its test subject to determine whether or not the subject is a replicant or not. Here is an example from the movie of a Voight-Kampff test:

A replicant, in case you still haven't seen it by the time you've watched that video and realized how awesome of a movie it is and how your life isn't complete without watching it, is a synthetically made android designed in every way, shape, and form to mimic a human...except for their emotional response. Why? Because how do you instill love, hate, passion, perseverance, and understanding into something when it is so varied and poorly understood in the human instilling it? But...I digress.

The Lost Spirits Distillery white paper (available here for full reading) is the latest in "scientific" papers put out by those seeking to tame the savage and patient beast that is barrel aging. I have been watching Lost Spirits for a long time now, carefully examining the papers they put out, and, truth be told, enjoying the work they've been doing. It's not all-encompassing but it's an interesting peek under the hood of one car. However, their latest paper makes some bold claims that, frankly, I see fault in. Not that I necessarily DISAGREE, per se. It is more of a situation in which far more research is needed and, once again, fails to encompass the entirety of the situation. If you'll permit me (and I hope you will considering you're reading this), I'd like to critique it. So let's jump in, eh?

The Model 1, as they call it, is their newest introduction into the world of accelerated barrel aging. A skid mounted chemical reactor to be charged with new-make spirit and oak chips, turned on, and the magic worked. It focuses, almost exclusively, on the esterification process (which I've mentioned here) for fermentation-based acids and decomposition and esterification of wood / phenolic aldehydes. This takes place in a three-stage process catalyzed by "energy in various forms". Phase 1 esterifies fermentation-based acids into short chain esters. Phase 2 is a catalyzed breakdown of lignin/cellulose into constituent phenolic aldehyde precursors. Phase 3 replicates the maturation process by catalyzing reactions of phenolic aldehydes / oak-based aldehydes into medium and long chain esters.

So far, the science is correct...if seemingly implausible. It seems very much like most of the other products out there. If I had to guess what forms of energy its using, I'd guess ultrasonic, heat, and maybe some sort of electricity-based redox (reduction/oxidation) setup in the line of a plating system...although that last one I'm not sure of because A) there's no highly conducive feedstock and B) RUNNING A REDOX REACTION IN BARREL STRENGTH SPIRITS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA. I'll get back to you on that last one. However, the actual hard data is where they lose me completely. While I won't steal their work and post their data here, I urge you to boot up their paper (once again, found here) and follow along as I get to do what I've always done: break out my big red pen and play TA.

Figure 1:

First off, my problem here is they are using three spirits. Two control (the new make and 33 year old control) and the variable "aged" sample. First off, you can't even calculate a standard deviation. Or a confidence interval. Or error bars. This is bad. If you wish to present a white paper to draw in potential investors/clients, you might want to expand further than one sample. The more samples you present, the more it seems like you've tested it. Also, the less it seems like you cherry-picked data.

Also, it states that the acetyl peak is 60% of the 33 year old sample and, thus, is 15-20 years old. Where did this number come from? There is no source for the "chemical marker concentration" analysis. I mean, 60% of 33 is 19.8 so is that what was went with? There's no context to that statement.

Figure 2:

To start, the graph has no units and that bothers me. Are they picograms? Micrograms? Kilograms? What are the units of measurement here? Once again, two samples are used. Once again, two samples are not enough. But I think the BIGGEST problem I have here is the data itself and what it's telling me. In most cases, save ethyl octanoate and (maybe) isovaleraldehyde, Mark 1 is producing more esters in six days than in a barrel for 33 years. Isn't that a tad...excessive?

You have to understand here, esterification is not completely a two way street. The balance between aldehydes and acids is constantly in flux because of the instability of the additional oxygen molecule to the structure. The polarity of that oxygen destabilizes the whole molecule and makes it prone to, well, breaking the bond. But once you esterify something...it takes a lot of work to go back especially in the instance of barrel maturation. There are two reasons for this. Reason one is that the barrel reactions could potentially undergo Fischer esterification. Fischer esterification is an acid catalyzed esterification of carboxylic acid and alcohol. The acids made during both the aldehyde/acid equilbrium, as well as the acids left over from fermentation, could catalyze the reaction. The equilibrium constant of a Fischer esterification favors the products side (usually Keq > 1) but the reaction will not go to completion. The only way to break that equilibrium would be to invoke Le Chatelier's principle. Le Chatelier's principle, while pretty serious sounding, basically states that you can interrupt equilibrium by concentration, temperature, or pressure and the system will change its equilibrium. In simpler terms, imagine that you have a tug of war team that is stuck in a stalemate. No one is able to pull the other across the line so, in order to win, one side calls in a friend to help out. The tug of war stalemate is equilibrium, the extra friend is the Le Chatelier's principle modifier of "concentration". One side of the rope has more people on it so the balance tips in their favor. How is this done for Fischer esters? Well...since one of the products of esterification is water, lowering the concentration of water will do. Say...by evaporation. See where I'm going with this?

That being said, all of this is conjecture and there are a lot of "ifs" in there. There is also the fact that all three of the Le Chatelier's principle variables are changing within a barrel. Temperature, pressure, AND concentration are in constant flux. The Mark 1 does not suffer from evaporative losses so a changing water concentration IS out but if it is a sealed container, temperature and pressure are definitely changing.

Figure 3

Two samples. No units. Unsubstantiated age claim. I won't harp on that. What interests me is the level of sinapaldehyde. Sinapaldehyde should be reacting into sinapic acid / ethyl sinapate but I've seen no mention of it in the paper. Odd.

OKAY.

By now I'm sure you're saying to yourself "But Bacchus, we've let you ramble for twenty minutes and you haven't gotten to the point!" And you'd be right.

The Mark 1 is promising. This paper raises more questions than it does to answer them. Despite its flaws, it intrigues me. But from what I can see is that the spirit the Mark 1 will produce isn't a traditional spirit. It is...a replicant. Exact in all the ways that we know...but yet somehow different. It shares a lot of the markers common in aged spirits but it neglects a lot of the other underlying chemistry that we don't understand. What of the evaporative need for sulfur-based compounds? What of the ethanol-water clustering? What of the concentrations of base aldehydes and acids that ALSO contribute to the spirit? The focus on heavily reacted esters is...admirable...but, like a replicant, it is trying to fabricate one aspect of spirit maturation when there are so many facets that we don't understand and cannot replicate. It may look the same. It may constitute chemical similarity. But on the inside, I don't think it will BE the same. There are so many microcosms of reactions and interactions that I don't think can be replicated by the Mark 1. It sacrifices much for the headlong goal of long-chain esters that may be critical to the flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel. But much like Deckard, I will watch. I will wait. I will see what it can do. It's the most promising foray into maturation science I've seen in awhile and the fact that someone is using GC-MS to quantify spirits makes me happy. This paper has been my Voight-Kampff test. But whether I reacted appropriately remains to be seen. I hope I did.

Otherwise I would not be a very well manufactured replicant.

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey - March 17th, 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 19:15:00 +0000

When I was young, one of my favorite drinks was Hi-C's Ecto Cooler. Do you remember Ecto Cooler? A neon green citrus ambrosia tucked into Slimer bedecked cardboard boxes and in the grubby hands of kids everywhere?

It was awesome.

The premise, I suppose, was a tie-in with the Ghostbusters movie/tv show. I guess you were drinking Slimer's ecto-slime that he blasted all over Peter Venkman / Bill Murray in one of my favorite scenes in Ghostbusters (the Stay-Puft Marshmallow man scene, while it scared the hell out of me and made me want s'mores, is a close second).

I'm sure, at this point, you're wondering what this has to do with Teeling Whiskey. Bear with me here.

Today, as I'm sure you all know, is St. Patrick's Day, or St. Paddy's Day. All around the world, people are downing Solo cups of spirulina-like quaffs of green beer and, more likely than not, recreating the above scene. Only at 2:30 am in a bar bathroom. Or, even worse, in a hotel hallway. While I have a fierce love of green beverages (except you, Midori)...green beer is not one of them. No combination of food dye and cheap suds is enough of a motivator to get me to revel in the "luck o the Irish", as it were. If I'm celebrating St. Paddy's Day, it's with a dark pint of Murphy's or...maybe...a drop of Irish whiskey.

See what I did there? BROUGHT IT HOME.

Teeling Whiskey Co. has intrigued me for awhile anyway. It's rotund yet elegant bottle. The fact that it's heralding the first distillery in Dublin in 125 years. The fact that, from what I've heard, it has a high malt profile in its standard Small Batch expression. The fact that, for all intents and purposes, it is a successful and well-liked Irish whiskey that is a positive sign of small Irish whiskey growth. Whatever it is, it's been on my radar for awhile. And when I was approached by a PR company with a bottle and a "St. Patrick's Day Cocktail" premise, well, I jumped on it. So they sent over a full bottle (I forwent a $25 Whole Foods gift card for ingredients because I didn't need 'em) for me to investigate and review. I can't find much information on their Small Batch in terms of distillation and maturation specifics but it is bottled at 46%, non-chill filtered, and finished in rum barrels for six months after primary maturation. Before I jump into the notes, here's a few pictures to whet your whistle:

Nice lookin, huh? Alright, here's the notes:

Nose: Definitely ex-bourbon primary maturation. Sweet vanilla cream and biscuits, buttered toast. Brown sugar. Touch of fresh milled grain. Fruit as well; pineapple, apples. Slightly grassy. Touches of rose and honey as it opens up.

Taste: Vanilla custard and barley sugar. Thinner mouthfeel than I expected for a non chill filtered. Heather honey and...orange. There's some herbal component in it that I'm having trouble placing. Almost like an unsweetened allspice dram? Not sure. Finish has those rum touches of burnt sugar and citrusy cream. Drying too.

A gratuitous liquid photo:

It's definitely an ex-bourbon baby to begin with. It's got those hearty oak lactones and barrel backbone. I don't think they're ALL first fill, maybe second fill grain with some fresh malt. The cereal components really are nice. They're subtle but bring a nice "oomph" to it. It's a solid whiskey. Not incredibly complex, mind you, but very, very solid. Has enough complexity that a neat glass of it would be welcome but I think it'd do well in cocktails with a citrus focus. Or maybe even a Teeling Milk Punch. You're looking at about $35 for a 750ml bottle which I think is a BIT high but understandable, especially at 46%. If I could get it for $30 and change that'd be ideal. It's hard to find around me but if Jameson is <$24 for a 750ml, I'd be more likely to upgrade to this for that extra tenner.

(Sample bottle sent by Baddish Group.)

Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial - Thursday, Jan. 22nd

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 22:04:00 +0000

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. Changing an aspect of your life shouldn't be something that's thought up while lying in bed on the 1st, hungover and coated in the remnants of appetizers and spilled drinks. It is something that requires thought and dedication which, frankly, I always find lacking when I can still taste whiskey on my breath. The only thing I'm motivated to do is brush my teeth and drink coconut water. I suppose that New Year's resolutions, even if people make them and forget about them a few weeks later, are at least a stepping stone towards the thought process of changing what you don't like in your life. I guess that's a pretty decent start.

For me, it means doing reviews again. Things lately have been...hectic. I've been diagnosed with an incurable illness and am on enough medication that I require one of those old man medicine strips to keep track of things. I haven't been drinking much lately and that's really including tea and coffee. I just drink water. Mainly because I have to keep very hydrated and also because the side effects of the medicine mean that water is really all I'm capable of drinking. It sucks, yes. But I'm still here and in far better spirits than I was.

Spirits. Get it? Because alcohol? C'mon, you missed me.

I'm sure you're saying to yourself at this point: "But Bacchus! You said you don't drink much any more and this is a review of champagne!" You'd be correct. A bottle of Moet & Chandon Nectar Imperial was purchased to ring in the new year and I was finally able to pop it and enjoy it recently. And I figure, what a better way to present to you, dear readers, my New Year's resolution than with a bottle of damn fine champagne? So, here it goes. My New Year's resolution is to get back to posting on In With Bacchus. I know I've said it in the past and then disappeared...and I'm sorry for that. I am working on applying myself to this, and my gaming, website as often as I can. Things aren't easy for me but I don't think they're easy for anyone. But enough about me. Let's talk about this champagne, shall we?

According to the Moet & Chandon website, the grape statistics for this are:

40% - 50% Pinot Noir

30% - 40% Pinot Meunier

10% - 20% Chardonnay

Dosing (secondary fermentation sugar) at 45 g/L

This is the bottle.

It's very classy looking. Classy enough that I did not feel worthy to hold it. I mean, it's champagne. A $56 bottle of champagne which, to me, is a lot. I'm on more of a methode champenoise budget. A bath-tub methode champenoise budget. From your crazy grandpa. Here are the notes:

Nose: Marzipan and honey. Green apple peels. Pineapple; juice but not fresh squeezed. A bit of yeast/bread but not baked bread, more like raw dough before you punch it down. Heather, maybe? There's a...piquante-ness to it I can't place. Not tannin but something cuts through it. Like a woody tang; maple syrup? Nope, it's vanilla extract.

Taste: Bit of heat at the forefront is chased away by baked green apples coated in honey. Very sweet. Candied grapefruit peel. A bit pedantic but..white grape-y. That primary "white grape" flavor hasn't been fermented out. Heat stays but carries with it a cracker taste that fades into a nice finish. If that sweetness had maintained through it would be cloying. The Chard comes through on the end, man. Very buttery and pear-y. Straight up pear tart.

Overall, this is a very good champagne. I am more of a brut fan myself so the sweetness of it almost took me by surprise. The recommendations for food are all very rich, very fatty foods which I can't agree with because I feel it lacks the acidity to balance with them. So I'd solidly categorize this as a dessert champagne. It'd be best with bright, citrus-y foods like a sorbet/sherbet or some sort of citrus tart. I feel like it'd do well with maybe some not-too-sharp-but-rather-nutty cheese as well. Or, y'know, just in a glass at the end of a meal. Like this:

So cheers, all. And here's to a new beginning. Again.

Templeton, The TTB, and You

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:02:00 +0000

There has been a whole lot of hullabaloo these days about label fidelity in the craft distilling industry. The main sights have been set on Templeton Rye whiskey, which has been dodging its label providence for some time and has finally been caught, but others have been called into question as well. The uproar in the whiskey geek community is one that I share, wholeheartedly. Distillers, both large and small MUST be held accountable for what they're putting in the bottle. I've been following it, and silently agreeing with it...but I've refrained from speaking out. Why bother adding another voice to the din of chatter parroting the same sentiment I have?

Recently, on Reddit, a discussion stemming from Chuck's work stemmed about the providence of Barterhouse bourbon. Finally, I caved. It's time I said something. But it's not what you think it's going to be. No long diatribes and half-cocked rants about the industry this time. It's time for me to help out. To put my resources to good. So here we go. I'm going to show you how to become more comfortable in your whiskey purchases, thanks to the good old internet. So, let's do this, shall we?

First, you're going to want to go here...and bookmark it. It's the big mamma-jamma, the book that all distillers eventually bow to. It's the Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits and if you make a spirit and want to sell it, it's going to be classified into one of these categories by the TTB. Here's a brief glance:

It's long. It's wordy. It can be confusing. But, as a consumer, it's DAMN helpful. It will tell you what each category means, legally, and (more importantly) what it DOESN'T. The big debate on Reddit was the definition of straight and, in this case, Barterhouse Bourbon from the Orphan Barrel series. Now here's where I dig into my bag of tricks. The secret of all secrets. Are you ready?

Step 1: Go to the TTB website!

See that link in the red rectangle? Click it. It will bring you to this page.

Certificates of Label Approval (COLAs) will give you a lot of information about your whiskey. See that link there? Click on it. But you're not a distiller! You're not applying for a COLA! Don't worry, I got you on this.

Okay, you're here but you're worried about the login. Don't. See that little link up there? That SUPER IMPORTANT LINK FOR CONSUMERS? Click it and get ready for a wealth of information.

There it is. The consumer's best friend. Since I want to look for Barterhouse Bourbon, I typed it in and gave my best guess at the date range for the label approval. Click on the blue button...but pay attention to that red button. It's VERY important. It should bring you to a listing like this:

Time to go through the records! Two of them are for fortified wine and one is for Barterhouse but it's expired. However, the last one...

Is this. The technical aspects of the distilled spirit. You can't lie to the government. Well...you CAN but it's pretty hard. A good chunk of things are here. Ripe for the lookin'. You'll note that the listing type (in red) is BOURBON WHISKEY. Funnily enough, on their website, they call it a "Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey". So it's straight, right? Well...it meets the technical classifications. It's a bourbon. It's 2+ years. However...remember that little red box I said you should pay attention to? Click on it. It should bring you to this.

Hit the box in red. Now, check out the Type Code on the Barterhouse record listing picture. It's 141. However...the Type listing number for "straight bourbon whiskey" is...

...

101.

Why isn't it listed as a straight bourbon whiskey? I don't know. But don't believe any of the hoopla that they put on websites or send out in press releases. So far, no one's been enforcing it. Now, I trust the government these days about as far as I can throw it...and there's a lot of people in it (and I have a bad back). However...I do trust their ability to bureaucratically keep records. So all the information I need is right here. And, now, all the information you need is as well.

-Bacchus

What I Learned At TAP NY 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 20:05:00 +0000

Note: I received free press passes for this. Just wanted to disclose that.

Sorry for the delay in this. Shortly after TAP NY I had a bit of a medical emergency (okay, several) and the medication I'm on for it has been knocking me for a loop. A huge, dizzy, shaky loop.

That being said, even with my fuzzy mind, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed TAP NY. It was my first time being there and, overall, I enjoyed the hell out of that festival. It was also my first beer festival so it proverbially unleashed the beer dragon that I will forever chase. But what did I learn from TAP NY? What did I discover? Well, if you'll permit me (once again) to wax poetic about the things I love, I'll tell you. So buckle up, pop a beer, and get ready for...

What Bacchus Learned At TAP NY 2014

1.) I REALLY Love Beer. And I Forgot That.

I have burnt out on spirits a bit, I admit. I have put my nose to the grindstone for too long and spent far too much time wetting the hone with liquor. My brain may be sharp...but it's waterlogged with spirits. Metaphorically. Most of my time spent on the internet, in magazines, in books, and on the phone is liquor, liquor, liquor. When I originally got to the show, I honestly found myself slightly anxious. Will there be something there as complex as the spirits I've been tasting? I mean, it's just hops, malt, and water, right? How many beers will it take for me to get bored? Would I be spending most of my time eating and waxing hipster about spirits?

And then I had my first pour.

I had focused on spirits for so long, admiring the profound complexity of it...that I became almost snobbish. Puritanical in my alcohol approach. But I forgot what the best part of beer is: it can be beautifully simple. So what if it's hops, malt, and water? Sometimes that's all you need. And even then, there were some beers that I had at TAP NY that blew my mind in ways that spirits couldn't. Mouthfeel, body, tartness. And hops. I missed hops! The floral aromas and citrus bite. It reinvigorated my palate. After the show, I promptly went out and bought beer. A lot of beer. Because that craving for simple pleasures couldn't be quenched. And it still hasn't. I genuinely forgot how much I loved beer, how bolstering and refreshing a proper pint can be. So thank you TAP NY for helping Stella get her groove back. Or, in this case, Bacchus get his Stella back. I guess.

2.) Where Did All These Breweries Come From?

TAP NY is a beer festival that exclusively has NY located breweries. When I arrived, I checked the layout sheet and almost passed out. Every nook and cranny of the resort was crammed full of beer vendors. Vendors I had heard of and had tried, vendors I had heard of and hadn't tried, vendors I'd never heard of, and even vendors I thought quite possibly were a test that when you went up and asked for a beer it was a sign you were too drunk and were kicked out. Where did all these breweries come from? Where did all of these BEERS come from? NY, broadcast your beer bounty broadly. Not enough is being said and the whispers on the wind are not reaching the right ears. Or I could just be crazy and beer-deaf. This is a possibility.

3.) Beer Nerds Are Awesome

With many alcohol centric festivals, there a distinctly divided crowd and you can tell who belongs to what of the three categories as the festival wears on. The first category is the connoisseur; the person there to sip and sample to broaden their palate. Then there's the Jolly Roger; the person(s) there to be outdoors, drink some beer, and have fun with friends. Then...there's the Bluto; the person that paid $60 and is damn well sure they're getting their money's worth. The first, by hour two, is stone cold sober and actively perusing the pour lists. The second, by hour two, is slightly tipsy and laughing congenially with friends over a pretzel or sandwich on a bench. The third, by hour two, is just walking up to every stand, demanding a pour (not specifying) and then pounding it and moving onto the next. The third is like a Henry Ford-esque assembler of inebriation. And the last one...well...it chaps my ass a bit. I understand the mentality. I really do. But if you get a pour and you lose half of the beer to the ground before you make it ten paces from the table...you should probably drink some water and have a sandwich. If you're standing there, smoking a nub of a cigar, all while your eyes are slitted and blinking independent of each other...maybe take a seat for a bit. You paid $60 but you didn't pay $60 for BEER. It went to other things. To the food that you should be eating. To listening to the band that's playing. To talking to vendors about...I dunno...what they're brewing next.

But at TAP NY...that pretty much wasn't the case. Sure, the two examples I used above I DID see there but for the most part it was mostly Connoisseurs and Jolly Rogers. And the Connoisseurs...man, it was refreshing. They weren't snobbish or elitist. They'd take their pours, congregate around a table, and chat about the beer in front of them. They'd uproariously laugh at beer jokes. They'd agree that a beer wasn't for them but instead of deriding the beer...they simply moved on. It was...nice to see such civil discourse going on. It brought a tear to my eyes to hear scraps of conversations about carbonation levels, alpha acid levels, and even "did you try that sour beer over there?" Which, actually, brings me to my next point.

4.) No Sour Grapes. Just Sour Grains.

I was surprised by the inclusion of several sour beers dotted among the tables. The East Coast, in my opinion, lags behind on the West Coast beer trends. We're slowly getting over the West Coast hop bombs and are JUST moving on to brewing sours. And frankly, this is fantastic. I love sour beers but they're hard to come by. You can either try to have a friend send a carrier pigeon with Russian River stuff to a boat waiting by a river which will carry it to a Pony Express station that hops a train (heh, hops) to Philly where it is then smuggled by wagon...or you shell out $20 for a bottle of Cantillion that you're not sure you're going to like. It's hard to find affordable beer that you can use to cut your teeth on the sour sector. But, thankfully, East Coast / NY is picking up the pace. A few places had sours that I really enjoyed. Tart, effervescent, almost kombucha-like (except kombucha is the spawn of the devil and should be cast into the sea), I really got to sample a lot of sour and fuel my craving for more. Now they just need to bottle said sours so I can cellar them to see how that goes. That and gueuze is expensive.

5). Passion Isn't Just A Fruit

I talked to a lot of brewers at TAP NY. The interface time available was really, really nice. And, combined with the sheer beer geekery, it lent to some awesome conversations. It's awesome to see the passion behind a lot of these breweries. The brewers, the sales people, the marketing staff. I think the best example of this was hanging out with Galaxy Brewing out of Binghamton. They contacted me pre-fest and asked if I wanted to stop by and chat. Naturally, I took them up on the idea. As the head brewer, Seth, and I got talking, it was awesome to see the passion come out. The thing that struck me the most was the inspiration behind their name. With a name like Galaxy, I figured he had a passion for stargazing (which I freely admit I do) or astronomy or something...but it was far simpler than that. He had sat, staring at a beer, and watched the foam on top lazily spin. It ended up spinning into a shape that he thought looked like a galaxy. And that's how the name came about. A name born from a passion for beer that went far beyond just foam spinning in a glass. And that's cool.

The best way I can sum up TAP NY is: yes. I will be back, as scheduling allows, and I will report on it every damn time. Not only was the beer refreshing, but the company, atmosphere, and conversation as well. My only stickler of a problem was getting food during the event as any food item worth nomming was quickly mobbed by people as the server left the food station. But that's nitpicky at best. I'll be there and I'll be happy to hoist a pint with anyone that recognizes me or wants to meet up. And you should be there too. Because it's fun.

-Bacchus

ADDENDUM: What I drank!

Captain Lawrence Seeking Alpha - A sweet yet bitter syrup of a beer. Clocked in at some outrageous ABV so it's a one and done beer. Not that I could drink more than one anyway. A good nightcap beer.

Peekskill Brewery Vaporizor - A stout stout. It poured like liquid velvet and had the exact same mouthfeel. A bit better than average in terms of flavor but the mouthfeel was like a liquid velvet Elvis painting which pushed it over the edge from fine to great.

Peekskill Brewery Share The Sunshine - Delightfully tart and almost savory. It would do well with a pickle juice back. Lemon zest, malt, and some brett funk going on. Nom.

Galaxy Brewing Company St. Stusan - Cloves, white pepper, banana, heavy wheaty goodness. Not outlandish, nor sub-par. A good and solid drinker.

Finback Starchild - Delightfully puckery and thirst-slaking. Definitely a sour beer. Minimal malt, all sour, with a nice grapefruit highlight throughout that rallies on the finish. Like I said...NY's cranking out sours.

Bar Bacchus Brewery Orchard Sour - The best beer I had all day. The layers of sour fermentation on this one were kind of crazy. It had that sour that tingles the tip of your tongue the one that makes the back of your throat hum. They put some sort of syrup in it (raspberry, I think) which provided some sweetness to balance but, syrups be damned, it didn't need it.

SECOND ADDENDUM: Photos!

Give It A Light TAP NY

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:53:00 +0000

Do you love beer? Do you love sweet, sweet regional food? Do you live in or around NY?

Do you know of TAP NY?

I have known of TAP NY for the longest time, from when I was but a whelp. My neighbor was/is heavily involved with TAP NY as a judge for a long time. He would serenade my father over beers (and myself over a soda) on his porch about the latest happenings of the yearly TAP NY. It first started when I didn't like beer. When my first taste of beer was a smuggled sip of Labatt Blue leftover on the tops of the cans that I was in charge of washing. As I grew, the stories of TAP NY continued and I became more interested as my involvement with the fermentation and distillation arts grew. I wondered to myself many questions during that time.

'There's festivals of beer?'
'You can be a judge at a festival of beer?'
'How do I become a judge at a festival of beer?'

Alas, the fates always conspired against me. From when I turned 21, I was either away at school or undergoing surgery when TAP NY took place. I've heard so much about TAP NY...but I've never been. 12 years of indoctrination into the holy hopfest that is TAP NY and I've never been in my life. But, come this Sunday, that's about to change. I will be dining on Cornell Chicken. I will be feasting on (hopefully) Utica Chicken Riggies. And I will be quaffing beer like my neighbor had foretold. It will be glorious.

And, if you are so inclined as to desire to meet up with me, you too can attend this Valhalla on earth. I urge you to join me in this most dwarven of past-times and drink and eat with me on Sunday or (if you don't like me that much) on Saturday. But how do you pass the Pearly Gates of Porter and Pork? Click the picture below and get'cher tickets! Get 'em and stuff your face like me. It'll be fun. How can it not?

"Soon Master Elf, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the dwarves. Roaring fires, malt beer, ripe meat off the bone." - Gimli, son of Gloin, to Legolas

So Science, Much Funding

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 22:55:00 +0000

Okay, I'll admit it. I browse Reddit. Well maybe BROWSE is a weak term for my interaction with Reddit. Let's just leave it at the fact that I have a vested interested in Reddit and I make sure to keep my investments to the site current and frequently substantiated.

FINE, I'M ON THERE A LOT.

But I'm not on there just whiling away the hours looking at cat pictures. I can assure you of this. I spent a lot of time on /r/scotch, /r/pipetobaccco, /r/cigars, /r/cocktails, /r/cigarettes (shush, that's another topic for later), and a bevy of other subreddits that cater to my whims. If you look hard enough (okay, not really hard), you can find me. I enjoy being on there and meeting people from all across the world that share my common interests.

As part and parcel of being on Reddit, I have run into Ben Eisenkop. He is a man larger than life, a demi-god of crows and eagles and pineapples and Minecraft. He is the man behind Unidan. Unidan is a behemoth of all things science and awkwardly funny. He actively engages Reddit, providing scientific explanations of biological and ornithological quandaries. And he does it with aplomb and good-natured cheer. Recently, I learned that Ben is actually a PhD student at my father's alma mater, Binghamton University. Even MORE recently, he did a TEDx talk at Binghamton University on a subject near and dear to my heart. Here it is, in full.

Yeah, it's pretty nerdy. Yes, it contains doge. And cryptocurrency. But it is about a problem that I have long tried to think through and surmount. Funding for research.

As you can guess (hopefully) by now, I am a man with a scientific mind. I enjoy the pursuit of knowledge and will generally stop at very few things in my course to solve mysteries. One of the things that stops me is money. Research costs money; from lab usage and testing to equipment to consultants. It's not free. And, as Ben talks about, it is difficult for scientists with narrow or limited scope topics to get funding for research. And let's be honest, if Ben can't get funding on any government or "official" level for something that could very well impact the way biology is thought about in some small manner...what chance does a man looking to research the effects wood has on an active poison have?

There are many topics that rattle around in my head that I'd love to research but would cost a fortune to do. Well, not a fortune, but a significant chunk of money (which, at the moment, is greater than $1000 to me). There are things that I'd love to run through GC-MS, to agar plate and grow, to consult with others about that would potentially affect the beverage industry. But is there funding for it? None that I can find. Perhaps there are avenues that I haven't considered or grants that I've never heard of but in my research I haven't really found anyone that would be willing to pay for the stuff I'd like to do.

So maybe, just maybe, if I can get my stuff together...I'll turn to the crowd. Because maybe if it's a question I've thought about, someone else has thought about it too.

And maybe they've got money.

The Way I Tennes-See It

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 08:04:00 +0000

Okay, okay. I'm sure you all think I'm late to the game. Yes, I know of the Tennessee whiskey debate. To be truthful, I've been reticent to write about it. Let's be honest...if you're a whiskey nerd, or a whiskey connoisseur, or...well, hell...even know about whiskey, you've probably heard a lot about it by now. Last Friday, Brown-Forman fired a warning shot in the form of a press release loftily entitled "Jack Daniel Distillery: Tennessee Whiskey “Under Attack” in General Assembly". Frankly, I kinda considered this a bit of media grandstanding to begin with, mainly because of what they reference as far as bills. According to the Tennessee government HB2330 and SB2441 go exactly as follows:

AN ACT
to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 57, relative to alcoholic beverages.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 57-1-201(b)(1)(A), is amended by
adding the following language at the end of the first sentence of the subdivision:
However, the commission shall not impose a fine on a license or permit holder
for the same type of violation more than three (3) times in a two-year period. The
commission shall be required to suspend or revoke the license or permit instead of imposing a fine after the third violation within the two-year period.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with this. This is a good law. This is a MUCH stronger incentive to keep shady people from doing shady things to liquids people put in their bodies. I'm happy with that. But when the Diageo statements started flying...I got curious. An executive vice president saying, and I quote, "We support efforts to protect the best interest of all large and small Tennessee whiskey distillers."

Sorry, but something strikes me wrong here.

And then, much to the chagrin of every whisk(e)y nerd's Facebook timelines, the ideas and theories went a-flailin'. Prichards in Tennessee seems pretty happy with Diageo's supposed decision to fight the good fight, saying "If I wanted my whiskey to taste like Jack Daniels, I'd make Jack Daniels." Fair point. And to be honest, I can kind of see where he's coming from. If you come from a state that is known for proudly proclaiming that it is a state-made product on the label, I'd want to do it too. Enforcing a costly and, in my opinion, inane process on small manufacturers (Lincoln County Process) just to label it AS a Tennessee whiskey? That's not exactly fair. But Diageo is ALREADY doing it with their George Dickel whiskey...so why would they care? According to Fred Minnick's digging, it's a two-pronged attack. According to interviews he conducted with Brown-Forman, it seems they think that they are undermining Jack Daniels, as well as the law, in order to change the wording of the law from "aged in NEW charred oak barrels in Tennessee" to just "aged in charred oak barrels". Why? Because the barrel crop (well...the oak crop) this year suffered from heavy rains and terrible logging conditions. Also, they could use their rickhouses at the Stitzel-Weller distillery in Kentucky.

And this got me thinking.

Diageo is smart. If they can streamline, they will streamline. They did it with scotch. When demand for their single malts started to overcome what their individual distilleries could do...they built another one. A giant one. That can produce ALL the spirit types it needs. They opened Roseisle Distillery in 2010 and, in theory, they should have started using spirit from it in their blends two years ago. And then there's the matter, as of late, of the Bulleit bourbon and rye providence. As of late, Diageo have been VERY tight-lipped about where Bulleit has been made. Chuck Cowdery's two investigations yielded that it used to be Four Roses. Or maybe MGP. And now they're not talking at all. In fact, there's a "Bulleit Distilling Company" now, which is a PO Box address and a hotline to a Bulleit Customer Care Line. And have you noticed how much money they're dumping into Stitzel-Weller? $2 million alone on a Stiztel-Weller Visitor's Center ? Why, it's almost like they're going to move in...

What if...and I am postulating grandly here...what if they are? What if Diageo is positioning to reclassify the "Tennessee Whiskey" law into a "Tennessee-style Whiskey" law? What if Stitzel-Weller is to become Diageo's American whiskey Roseisle? By slowly creeping back on revealing who makes Bulleit, they could outsource the manufacture of it to a spirit plant and age it at Stitzel-Weller, all the while preparing Stitzel-Weller to fire up again. By reclassifying Tennessee Whiskey to a Tennesee-style Whiskey, they could shutter George Dickel and just make it at Stitzel-Weller. That's all of their American whiskies bundled up in one neat little distillery.

THAT is what I think the big picture is. Diageo wants one distillery that it can depend on for everything it needs in terms of American whiskey. A standard and reliable place for Bulleit whiskey. A place to manufacture and age a Tennessee style whiskey. The ability to sell off a distillery. Personally, I think that's what they're doing right now. Call it a hunch but this gumshoe's got a gut feeling. And, hopefully, I'll be wrong. Dickel will continue to stay open either under Diageo or other stewardship, Tennessee whiskey law won't be tampered with, and everyone can walk away happy.

I hope.

Tuthilltown Spirits "Making The Cut"

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 18:15:00 +0000

I got an email about this contest last week, asking whether or not I could run a piece on it. I was debating what to do. On one hand...it kinda hurt. I used to work at Tuthilltown and I poured my heart and soul into that job. Seeing this opportunity come about, via email, from a PR company that never even realized I worked there....well...it stung. But then I realized that it's Tuthilltown and I still love them and have mostly fond memories of working there (the not-so-fond memories were the many times I'd pinch fingers moving barrels). So I'll run it, in it's entirety, even if this is something I usually refrain from doing. Here it is.

NEW YORK, MARCH 3RD, 2014 - Whiskey distillation is a science of circles. Circular barrels. Circular bottles. Circular stills. The circle of Gable Erenzo, co-master distiller and soon-to-be-former brand ambassador of Hudson Whiskey, is almost complete, as he will once again focus his efforts back at the distillery full-time. But as is the nature of circles, with the end of Gable’s journey begins a new one. Enter “Making the Cut”: the search to replace the irreplaceable Gable with a new face for the Hudson Whiskey brand, and one qualified individual’s shot at a full-time job as Hudson Whiskey’s brand ambassador.“Making the Cut” is not a hunt for the world’s greatest mixologist, or the foremost scientific mind in distillation. It is to find the human embodiment of Hudson Whiskey’s ideals and identity. Ten years ago, the Hudson folks set out to open a climber's ranch, but the neighbors balked. They had to either go home or try something new: whiskey. As New York’s first whiskey distillery since Prohibition grew, Gable rose to Everest-level heights as the brand’s global ambassador. However, he has now decided to forego his time on the road and return to his precious distillery, nurturing and improving upon our country’s craftiest of craft whiskies.
With “Making the Cut”, the Hudson Whiskey team, brand founders Ralph Erenzo and Gable Erenzo, and the highly decorated distiller William Grant & Sons, which acquired the brand in 2010, is looking for someone who gets that make-it-happen, can-do spirit, and who gets the importance of shaking hands, meeting face-to-face and telling great stories. They want someone who understands how experiences circle back into the product, and how the product is comprised not just of distilled grain and rich barrel-aged flavor, but engrained with the personalities of each and every member of the distillery staff (there are only a handful!). Ralph and Gable chose whiskey over defeat, and they want someone who will make that same choice. The newest member of the Hudson Whiskey family will circle the country, speaking with bartenders, restaurant owners, whiskey enthusiasts and press, hosting tastings, connecting with fans via social media and representing our brand in the national press.
Think you’re the one for the job? Ralph and Gable think so too. But they need proof, so send them a short video or a collection of photos, proving your readiness to begin your own circle of whiskey. Make a cocktail. Get crafty with some bottles. Recite your declaration of whiskey dependence. Then log on to HudsonWhiskey.com/MakingTheCut to submit your application. The chosen contenders will join us at the distillery to drink some good whiskey, meet some friendly people, and engage in a month-long course in craft distillation by Ralph, Gable and the rest of the distillery team. All will learn the wonders of craft whiskey from the leaders of craft distilling, but only one will make the cut to become the new Hudson Whiskey Ambassador.

Will I be entering? I dunno. I didn't see anything in the rules AGAINST me applying but I'm sure there's many more bartenders/distillers/cooler people out there that would do significantly better. That and I'm pretty sure, since it's judged by my old bosses, it might be unfair. Either way, if you're interested, link (again) is HERE. Good luck to those who enter. And if you do end up being one of the final 3, let me know. I don't live far. We can have a tipple or two.

EDIT: edited to make the damn video fit.

Copyrightin'...So Don't Copy Me

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 20:15:00 +0000

Things at Bacchus HQ over the past few months have been, to say the utmost least, dour. Life has been a progressive march downhill for awhile now. My health has been steady, and okay, but tumultuous in terms of the future and what my surgeon wishes to see accomplished and how to accomplish it. I have been out of work for coming up on two years now, thanks to these medical problems, and every application, lead, and job I've applied for has either dead-ended or lead nowhere. On top of that, I am now picking up my insurance payments on COBRA, which are $525 a month. And I can't switch to ACA plans because the hospital I use doesn't accept them (which I found out yesterday). Also, thanks to Congressional inaction, the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program has lapsed and I no longer receive funds and have not since December 29th. Well, technically since October. Misinformation and lack of awareness meant that my unemployment claim lapsed in September and, upon resubmitting a claim, I am now under investigation by a NYS adjudicator because I filed for a D.B.A. And said adjudicator that hasn't done anything. And I can't get through to them because apparently NYS has never heard of "hold".

It just hangs up. What IS that?

Suffice to say...it's been pretty grim. I've been severely depressed. But lo, what strikes upon the midnight's shroud? A shining star, a bright beacon in a realm of shades. My copyright claim! As you can see below, this nifty little certificate came in the mail a few days ago. And with it, a warm fuzzy feeling.

In September, I decided it was time to file for a copyright claim on my thesis so that I can start sharing it with people. It is a source of some pride for me (although, after going over it for the application process I realize that it's not as good as I remember). My thesis for my MSc was entitled "Oak Alternative Wood Maturation with Basis In Historical Precedence". It was a literature analysis and chemical analysis of four historically pertinent (to the UK) woods that were widely used, imported, and bandied about through the beverage industry for the containment of various alcoholic fluids. There had been people interested in reading it and, honestly, I didn't feel totally comfortable sending them a document that only I and two people in the UK had seen and that only one institution had a copy of. So I decided the best course of action was to get that sucker copyrighted. And that's exactly what I did.

So, I guess this post serves as kind of an update as to where I am as well as what I've been doing. I'll be taking the necessary digital precautions to secure my work and sending it off to those interested in reading it. This also means you guys, as well. If it's something you seem interested in and are willing to slog through about 40 pages of literature review and textbook grade chemical analysis of wood maturation and aldehyde reactions in exotic wood, then by all means feel free to email me. I won't be handing it out to just EVERYONE so plead your case well. I might try to shop it around and see if anybody wants to pick it up for a journal or magazine.

Also, a very important note. While deciding on what to title this post, I had to listen to Missy Elliot's "Get Ur Freak On" which, while a fantastic song, is grammatically incorrect. It's "copyrighted", Missy, not "copywritten". Shame on you.

Also, "Gossip Folks" is better, lyrically. But that beat is sick, I'll give you that.

Hestia Tobacco Craft Cigars

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Wed, 04 Dec 2013 20:04:00 +0000

I'm not entirely sure how I found Hestia Tobacco. Reflecting on it, I think it was fortuitous happenstance. I might have seen their iconic logo bopping around on Instagram or maybe I saw someone mention it on Twitter. But no matter what way I found it, I was enthused and intrigued. For the longest time, I had been wanting a bespoke cigarette blend and, since they stopped doing that in the 50's and 60s, this was my best bet. My secret smoke. Naturally, I contacted the owner, David Sley, asking him more about his craft cigars. He quite generously answered my questions and sent me a pack out to review. The box came and it looked a bit like this:

Needless to say, I was impressed. Taking the pack of cigars out of the box, I couldn't help but admire how damn slick it looked. His artwork/logo was just downright striking and it's what drew me to the smokes to begin with. How can you argue with this?

(You also may note how SO MUCH BETTER that photo looks. That's because it was taken with my new Canon T3i. The first photo on it.)

But fancy packaging can only get you in the door. Can it hold the door open and try to sell me a vacuum? Well...

Yeah, it can.

Let me preface this in saying that this is in NO way, shape, or form a replacement for cigarettes. I tried, I really did. But I hit quite a few problems with that. First off, it's packed to the brim with tobacco to the point that the draw is tight. Not "fresh Frostee through a straw" tight but enough to be a bit of a bother. I tried dry-boxing it a bit but it didn't help much. Another point is the blend itself. It utilizes a fair amount of Virginia (David told me it was bright Virginia with burley but wouldn't tell me ratios). This means that towards the end of the cigar, you get a bit of tongue bite if you're puffing away on it like it's a cigarette. Also, nicotine level didn't provide the buzz of a cigarette, even though it's a 100mm cigar.

THAT BEING SAID...it's still a very high quality product that I enjoyed and would recommend. The flavor of the smoke is heavy on cedar with bright lemon notes coming through with chocolate, nutty undertones from the burley. It is fragrant...and smooth, if you do choose to inhale. And honestly, I can't fault them for the draw; it's because of tobacco classification, really. Small cigars have to weight a certain amount per 1,000 in order to qualify for the lower tobacco tax (HA) so they gotta cram it in there. So you can blame the law for the draw. So if you treat them like cigars, you will have an enjoyable, tasty treat to savor. What would I like to see them do? Offer it in a roll-your-own pouch or box. The taxes on shag cut are astronomical these days so I would understand if they went with the finest pipe cut they could and I'd probably be pretty happy. Hell, I'd throw it in a pipe too. It's a solid, if a bit Virginia heavy, Va/Bur. It would cut down on the cost of manufacturing and allow people to customize their smokes as they see fit. But Hestia is a new company and they're barely making enough to keep up demand as is.

I urge you to give them a try. While I need the sweet, subtle embrace of Dame Nicotine as much as the next man, I'll probably be slipping these into my rotation when I can find the money and time to wait for it to ship to my house. A Hestia, a coffee, and the warm sun is a pretty sweet mid-morning break from whatever shenanigans I'm up to. Much like my preferred consumption, take it slow and steady and Hestia will treat you right. Get 'em here.

Was Older Whisk(e)y Better?

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 21:01:00 +0000

Alright, buckle up because this is basically a battle of whisk(e)y nerds. And I say that lovingly, because I am one. Wholeheartedly. It would take a whisk(e)y nerd to even approach this topic, really.

Lately the topic of old whisk(e)y has been bandied about the blogging / freelance sphere and it's caused quite a stir. I first saw it in Joshua Feldman/Coopered Tot's review of 1960-70s Johnnie Walker Red Label. I found it to be not only a solid review (he does those, unlike my lazy arse) but an interesting peek into what was. Today, Billy Abbott of Billy's Booze Blog (more famously known for his dastardly delicious designations of whiskey on The Whisky Exchange) wrote about the topic of declining whiskey quality. It was bandied about in discussions on the topic when Oliver Klimek's response to the topic (from three years ago) showed up as well. It was quite the rabbit-hole to travel down and it had some interesting tidbits of opinion and such; so much to the point that it motivated me to unsheathe the ascerbic, self-defacing fingers from their cozy naps and put them to keyboard.

That means that I wanted to weigh in too.

The opinion camps are as such: Billy (I will now refer to him henceforth as cowfish) believes in consumer fault, Josh believes in producer fault, and Oliver...well..he just thinks everything's changed, I think. What do I think? Well...

I think whisk(e)y has changed. In some aspects, for the worse. Mainly blends but, thanks to people like Compass Box, we're working on that. In other aspects, for the better. It breaks down into three categories of change: economic, social, and manufacture. While all intertwined, I'll try to separate them out. Forgive me if I get the timeline wrong, it's rough in my mind so feel free to correct me. Let's jump in.

Social:

This part starts off with a historical conundrum that I'd have to phone in a few favors to get an answer to. Maybe someone can fill me in, I dunno. All I DO know is that roughly during the mid 1950s until the late 80s...everybody wanted lighter spirits. Across the board. It started with lighter whisk(e)y, not just scotch. Sure, as Josh points out, there were ads for lighter blends to appease a growing palate, like this one:

(Shamelessly stolen from Josh's Pinterest, forgive me. Check it out, its thirst-inspiring)

But there was a major trend toward other spirits as well, especially in the 60s. Vodka, popularized by Moscow Mules, Kangaroos, and Pink Squirrels, blanco tequila in Margaritas, gin in Martinis, Collins, etc. Irish whiskey took a step away from its higher content of pure pot still in favor of more aged grain whiskey from the Coffey still.We were on a crash course of light flavors. I don't know why. I'm GUESSING it has something to do with their mix-ability in the new wave of cocktails crashing into the states but that's just a shot in the dark. This fairly well continued into the 70s when there was the whisky glut and distilleries started tanking left and right, companies consolidated (both corporate structure as well as stock). The 80s were fairly quiet. And then the 90s came...and people started buying single malts. And whisk(e)y of all kinds (blends included) started taking off again. Which leads us into...

Economics

The most fiscally beneficial word to every distiller is the word "light". It's very easy to take away flavor in a finished product and it often results in MORE finished product to sell at the same price. It's awesome. If you want a lighter tequila...you make it a "mixto" tequila, which means 51% 100% Blue Weber Agave spirit and the rest whatever neutral grain spirit (hereto referred to as NGS) you can get cheaply. Bam. A barrel of costly tequila becomes two barrels of tequila. Woohoo for everybody. This, in the scotch world, means leaning heavily on grain whisky. Grain whisky, on its own, is actually a delicious product. I'm sure in the early days, when light scotch was required, they were using respectably aged grain whiskey. By law, it only has to be 3 years but I'm sure that's not the age they were using. And when the whisky glut happened, they had loads of it and they can't really sell it. Sure, they could trade it for other blending stock but why not hold on to it? But the problem isn't when there's a glut, it's when there's a dearth.

Single malt scotch demand after weathering a glut is the best problem you can have. You have a massive amount of blending stock to make a minimal aged spirit and a ready market. If you've got old stuff, make it 8-10 year. Or 12 year. You have WAREHOUSES full of the stuff that no one wanted for 10 years that had been slumbering away and now people are willing to pay double the amount of money for a bottle of single malt as a bottle of blended. Go for it. The capital can be used to lay down more. They want OLDER expressions? Awesome, we got them too. What do they want next, older stuff?

Wait...they want blended again? Lots of blended?

This is the "oh shit moment" for a company, a "shit bricks" moment for warehouse managers, and an "I hate everything ever" moment for the master blender. You've been dumping stock you didn't think you needed into, say a minimum of 10 year old, single malt whisky which you were more than happy to do because it meant they could fire the stills up again. But when they want single malt and sales of blended are starting to increase dramatically again and they're clambering not for the light scotch of yesteryear but for something with a little more oomph...well...stocks of the good stuff will deplete quickly. They probably had enough stock lying around to fill the immediate need until a new crop of whisky was suitable for blending again...but the new stuff won't be as old. They might have been blending 10, 12, 15 year scotch into blends to begin with when sales were low but when the next batch is ready in the warehouse...it's maybe going to be 9, 10, 11 years. And the next batch might be 8, 9, 10 years. And so on and so forth until they can catch up for the demand for BOTH single malt AND blended. And the grain whisky will suffer the same fate as well only they'll probably cutting the time down on that even further . The legal requirement is 2 years. If they just need blending filler...why go much further? And this flurried pace leads to...

Mechanical

This is part and parcel money saving as much as it is efficiency. When you need to pump out lots of whisk(e)y to meet demand and it has the benefit of saving you money in the long run, awesome. Floor maltings were never really efficient so Saladin boxes were used. It cost a lot of money, was slower, and required more manhours to produce the same batch. And even then, the malted barley produced wasn't as consistent. The barley itself was swapped out from Golden Promise to Optic because you didn't have to send away as many trucks full of barley at the intake testing lab because they had mold or pests or disease. Steam jacketed/bath stills were not only safer (not as much workers comp!) but were more efficient in Btu output. Stainless steel washbacks didn't need as much maintenance and upkeep as pine so let's ditch them too. And we can probably reuse that cask one more time for the grain whisky.

But that all lead to changes and that's just a small sample. Floor malted barley has different stresses than Saladin box barley, causing different chemical/biological reactions within the germinating barley that can result in different flavors. Often times (as is the case with Optic) flavor is sacrificed for plant survivability during genetic tinkering (I'm also looking at you, tomatoes). Direct fire would cause hot spots on the still, effectively caramelizing the wash and inciting Maillard reactions of the sugars that would cause different flavors in the still. Hell, in a direct fire still it could have had hot-spots hot enough to catalyze reactions of long-chain fatty acids into esters that wouldn't happen when the whole still is just at boiling point. And reusing barrels that are on their third go-around...well...don't get me started on that.

Basically, what I'm trying to say here is that there were several facets that resulted in changes in the whisk(e)y industry (I'm sure by this point you're well aware I'm focusing on scotch but it does hold true in some respects for American whiskey). I think that these changes are a chain reaction of social and economical reasons that I can't fault anyone for. I can't honestly say its the consumer, even today, because they've never had the old whisky that Josh had. The new, higher grain, younger single malt blends are what they were introduced to, THAT'S what they know scotch is. Some blends fared worse than others during the glut and they've been holding on by continuing to adjust their grain to malt ratios to keep competitive. I DO think that if the consumer base, on a whole, knew what blended USED to taste like, they'd begin demanding it. And I think that time is coming. With the boom of premium and ultra-premium spirits, consumers that have even a cursory knowledge of whisky, if introduced to quality blended whiskies (I'm looking at you, Compass Box) will begin asking for it. And we just might be in a position to offer it.

All that being said, I think today's Johnnie Walker Black is delicious.

The Purloined Pappy

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Spolverino) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 17:57:00 +0000

Dear distilling industry,

Congratulations, we've done it. Through tireless hours of effort, propaganda, and branding, we have achieved something only the greatest of mankind can accomplish.

We have created a MONSTER.

I'm not talking about a blasphemous beverage of mind-boggling flavor profile (although Malibu Red is very close). Rather, I am talking about a waltzing juggernaut of soul-sucking depravity that can turn the best of humans into the worst. I'm talking about Pappy Van Winkle.

In case you didn't know...

Some of the most sought-after Kentucky bourbon in the nation is now the subject of a whodunnit.

Roughly 65 cases of 20-year-old Pappy Van Winkle bourbon were stolen in what looks to be an inside job from a secure area at Buffalo Trace Distillery’s Frankfort facility, according to Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton.

Melton said the theft was reported Tuesday and appears to have occurred over the past couple months. Detectives are investigating but have no suspects.

The thief or thieves made off with about $26,000 of the limited stock, which Melton said consists of about $25,350 in 3-bottle cases of 20-year-old Pappy and about $675 in nine cases of 13-year-old Van Winkle Family Reserve rye. (courtesy of The Courier-Journal)

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this situation, really. I can't tell what the worst facet is. To start, there's the fact that $26,000 in whiskey was stolen. That's sad. There's also the fact that the estimated price works out to roughly $151 a bottle. That's heart-breaking. Or maybe the fact that it's clearly an inside job and that someone took the time to plan and orchestrate an inside robbery...for bourbon. That's a TRAVESTY.

To be fair, I can see their standpoint for stealing all that Pappy. While the article generously gives an estimated price per Pappy 20 year old as "$130 a bottle", it's more along the lines of the $200+ range. Because you can't get it. People sell empty bottles on Ebay for almost $100 just so you can either pass off cheaper bourbon as Pappy or...nefariously become an independent bottler. And the people that drink it...well...they're admirable people. The chef market has been hitting it hard. Anthony Bourdain constantly plies Eric Ripert with bottles of it on his various shows. I'm fairly sure Alton Brown's bowtie is just a Pappy flask. So you can see why it's celebrated. People with pretty good taste are willing to buy it.

But is this a good thing? Well, for the Van Winkle family...I guess it is. People want their stuff, even though they're getting mighty close to swapping out the Stitzel-Weller produced bourbon for Buffalo Trace bourbon at this point. Buffalo Trace is probably pretty happy as well (grand theft alcohol aside). But is it good for the industry?

Honestly, at this point I had to stop writing this and really think about it. It took me a few days of mulling it over to decide where I stand on it and here it is: it's bad...for the consumer. To have a product so in demand that no matter how many barrels are allocated it WILL sell out at a hefty premium (no wholesale discounts here) is a good thing for Buffalo Trace/Van Winkle family. It's cold hard cash. I doubt that even when the full switch to Buffalo Trace made/aged juice comes that people will stop buying it. It is more than a bourbon now. It is an industry myth. But for the consumer, this is a big step in a terrible direction. First off, be prepared to see bootlegs. If you can sell a 20 or a 23 year old bourbon for $600 a bottle, people WILL bootleg it. They will buy old Pappy bottles, fill them with whatever, and reseal it. Can't do much about that aside from flag the bottles on Ebay but even then there's a "legit" use of personal deception (i.e. people who care more about the status than the contents). And this brings about another point that is a sore contention with me. It's gonna start being...collected.

I hate collecting whisk(e)y. It's prevalent in the scotch industry but not so much in the bourbon industry...but this is the first step in that direction. I'm of the opinion that it was made to be consumed. I UNDERSTAND how it is a viable investment, I do. I just don't agree with it. It's like buying cigars as an investment or fancy cars as an investment. It's a luxury product, get some luxury from it. That and the fact that each bottle represents a small slice of history, of what was going on 15, 20, 23 years ago. When I did my stint at the bottling room in Tuthilltown this feeling continued to pervade my thoughts. As I labeled, signed, and numbered each bottle I realized that each of those wee little bottles was the culmination of not just time and effort...but atmosphere. Some of those bottles were bathed in the dulcet tones of Ozzy Osbourne. They suffered through iteration after iteration of "The Regular Show" quotes. They represented a snapshot of a day, that brief glimpse of the mundane that is taken for granted. Don't lose that. That's terrible. Storing away those little moments to never be shared, to never see the light of day again...I find it reprehensible. In the best of allegory sense (if you've read Harry Potter), every bottle is a tiny little Pensieve that can be revisited and savored. Or forgotten on a shelf like a share of stock.

Another thing that bothers me is that there is an increasing divide between accessibility of whiskey to the consumer. Bourbon, in its truest roots, is moonshine refined. The south was predominantly filled with Scotch and Irish settlers after the Whiskey Rebellion in 1791. In order to not pay taxes...they just left the colonies and headed into the wilds. Over time, the spirit grew to become the corn based beauty we know today. It is humble in its origins and its manufacture is even more humble. It is a combination of multiple grains, most of which are government subsidized. So, at it's crux, it should be affordable. But this increasing separation of "ulta-premium" is worrying. The most affordable ultra premium for your standard consumer is the Buffalo Trace Antique collection and even that's $80 a pop (but so worth it). It also worries me about what they'll be TRYING to push the ultra-premium category. My guess is extended aging and that is not something I'm comfortable with. Buffalo Trace does a fine job because their dedication to barrel monitoring is astoundingly rigorous (even if their application of scientific theory leaves me wanting). But what of everyone else? Will people be soon paying for nigh-undrinkable barrel squeezings at $200 a bottle just to let it sit on a shelf?

Finally, there's this:

"It's the pinnacle of bourbon," gushed Fischer. "If you're around a bottle, it's a special occasion." Melton said officials are in the early stages of the investigation, and will be on the lookout for any bottles popping up on the black market.

But the thief might not be in any rush, Fischer said.

"If you keep bourbon in the right conditions, it will be good forever."

"You have to wonder what's going to happen to the 195 stolen bottles," said Kit Codik, CEO of the all-things cocktail website Liquor.com. "It's like when a van Gogh goes missing: Where does that rare piece of art end up? I have no idea." (courtesy of CNN)

I will give it that it could be construed as a piece of art, yes. I find that distilling is about 25% art, 75% science. But is this the top of the top? Is this where we stop? Is this REALLY the pinnacle of what bourbon can do? I don't think so. I hope not. As someone who is thoroughly enthralled in R&D, I PRAY it isn't. We have so far to go. Bourbon is a fledgeling spirit in terms of the world and we're just starting to stretch our legs. I dunno WHERE we're going to go with it (more on this later, trust me)...but we have room to grow. A lot of room. So I disagree that it's the "pinnacle" of bourbon. To call Pappy the pinnacle of bourbon means we're only on the decline. Don't cap us so soon. We can, and will, keep pushing limits and boundaries to make better, tastier product.

All this being said...I still want a bottle.