Tag: Whisky

The Whisky X

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The Whisky X is a Whisky “experience” promoting “whisky, music, food and style”. It’s a traveling whiskey and concert event stopping in Chicago, Austin, Denver and Las Vegas.

On September 10th the tour stopped in Brooklyn. It was held at Industry City which is a huge arts and entertainment center near the waterfront in Sunset Park featuring “eats, drinks and play”.

There were 60+ whiskies and cocktails to sample at the outdoor courtyard and indoors with a good selection of American whiskies, Irish whiskies, Scotch whiskies and for some reason, a table of rum. If you were in the mood for haircut with your whisky, there were a couple of barbers on hand to give you one.

Unlike most of these events there was a live band performing later in the evening. That band that evening was “Guster” and while I didn’t stick around for the concert, they did have an impressive collection of musical instruments on stage.

Some whiskies (and an outlier rum) that I sampled:

Calumet: small batch blend, straight bourbon, 15yr bourbonHudson Whiskey NY: Do the rye thing, bright lights big bourbon
Blackened: Kentucky straight rye, whisky blendWoodinville: 100% Rye, straight bourbon
Roe & Co: Irish whiskeyThe Irishman: Single malt
Busker: Single grain Irish whiskeyTeeling: Single batch Irish whiskey
McConnel“s: Irish WhiskeyJim Beam: Kentucky straight bourbon
Basi Hayden’s: Kentucky straight bourbonKnob Creek: Kentucky straight bourbon
Whistle Pig: Piggy back 6yrClyde May’s: Straight rye, straight bourbon
Gosling’s: Old rum, papa sealLegent: Bourbon

Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Fest 2021

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On July 31st and August 1st, the 11th annual Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival was held in Brooklyn at the Expo Center, a venue space located at 72 Noble Street in Greenpoint.

It’s a year long traveling BBQ festival with tour dates in Virginia, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland and of course, Brooklyn, New York.

It’s a big party with pitmasters cooking up their specialties with an abundance of whiskey, beer, cider and a lot of hard seltzer which seems to be the new spirit trend in the country this year.

The even was held on Saturday afternoon and evening and on Sunday afternoon. I attended the Saturday afternoon session because the afternoon sessions are usually less crowded and more manageable than the evening sessions and at that time they haven’t run out of any particular spirit.

There was an outdoor seating area with vendors, games and a DJ that quickly filled up with people relaxing with their whisky and cigars.

I did attend a seminar for Garrison Brothers whiskey from Texas. At the event there was a nice selection of American whiskey and local beers and as I mentioned, a larger than usual selection of hard seltzer.

If one thing stood out for me at the event was that I was a little disappointed in the food served compare to the last time I went to this event in January of 2020. Maybe some of the pitmasters were still jittery about traveling

Some of the Whiskey I sampled:

George Dickel: 8yr sour mash, 12yr sour mash

Four Roses: Small Batch, Single Barrell

Virginia Distilling Co.: Single Malt Whisky

Balcone’s: Texas 100°, True Blue 100°, Lineage

Evan Williams: 1783

Markers Mark: Cask Strength, 46, 101 Limited Release

Basil Hayden’s: Straight Bourbon

Knob Creek: 15yr Bourbon, Kentucky Straight Rye

Excelsior: NY Straight Rye

Coppersea: NY Straight Rye Malt Whisky

Whiskey & Barrel Nite 2021

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The Covid restrictions in New York were finally lifted on June 16th which meant the return of in-person wine and spirit events.

The Whiskey & Barrel Nite tasting event was held on June 17th. It was a night to sample from a choice of dozens of worldwide whiskey though most were American Whiskey which included Rye, Bourbon and blended whiskey. The countries of Scotland, Ireland, France, Australia, Japan and India were represented as well and a handful of brandy, rum, gin and vodka were on hand for those who got tired of whiskey.

The event was held at the Metropolitan Pavilion, a well known event space located at 125 West 18th Street in Manhattan.

To keep people busy while they were sipping on spirits a live Jazz Band was in hand and a buffet to feed the hungry. There was also a separate “VIP Experience” room for VIP ticket holders that poured some extra special spirits.

It was a great night to finally experience a pre pandemic event and the event space was so large that the room never became overcrowded though I have to think that the organizers might have limited thicket sales to keep the crowd down or that many people were still skittish about attending a public event. Probably a little of both.

There was an excellent selection of spirits to try, I’m not a fan of Scotch so I didn’t sample very many of those but I am a fan of Rye so I did sample quite a few of those.

I was able to sample a couple of wheated Bourbon from the cult status Weller, their Full Proof and their Special Reserve which I thought was quite smooth.

Another interesting whisky was a trio of single farm origin Irish whisky from Waterford, Dunmore, Rathclogh and Organic Gaia. They all had uncharacteristic notes of the terroir of where they were produced.

There was a nice limited release Bourbon from Booker’s, some interesting Rye’s from Dad’s Hat, the nice Private Select from Maker’s Mark, and Whistle Pig’s 18 year which were just a few of the whiskey I sampled this evening.

NYC Autumn Whisky Fest 2019

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On November 16th I attended the New York Whisky Festival. This was one of the many spirit-centric festivals that are taking place around the New York area at this time of year.

The festival was held at The Tunnel at 269 11th Avenue on the West side of Manhattan. It’s a former indoor rail terminal that has been used as a nightclub, event venue and commercial space.

There are many such festivals held around this time of year and like most things some are better than others. Some of the festivals are geared toward the experienced drinker who are looking to experience some high end and esoteric spirits while other festivals are geared more to the novice drinkers that are looking for more of a party with some spirits thrown in. The latter tend to showcase 2nd tier or unknown labels for the spirits. This festival was more of the latter than the former. In my opinion, the most interesting whisky at the event were the single malt French whisky from Rozelieures, while solid stalwarts such as Taconic Distillery, Koval and Slaughter House were on hand to pour some quality spirits. I attended the afternoon session and the crowd on hand were enjoying themselves.

Some of what I sampled:

 

Rozelieures  Single Malt French Whiskey Springbrook Rye, Bourbon
Slaughter House, Straight Edge, Whipsaw Catoctin Creek Bourbon, Roundstone Rye
Glen Grant Single Malt Scotch 12yr, 15yr, 18yr Taconic Distillery Founders Rye, Cask Strength Rye, Barrel Strength Bourbon 
Koval  Oat, Millet, Bourbon, Single Barrel Duke Bourbon, Founders Reserve
Uncle Nearest 1856, 1884 Whisky Coppersea Rye, Straight Whisky
J. Riddle Peated Bourbon American Craft Distillers 1420 Bourbon
Town Branch Single Malt Whisky, Bourbon Black Button Distillery Bourbon
Catcher’s Rye Misunderstood Ginger Spiced Whisky