Bulleit Rye

I was expecting a different bottle but I have to admit, it was pretty cool to get a sample bottle like this (and I’m sure to reuse it later). The Bulleit rye is 45% ABV, so 90 proof, with a 95% rye mash bill.

I’m not the best taster in the world. I tried it first straight then with a bit of water.

I found it rather spicy, with a hint of floral and sweetness to it. It had a lot of rye flavor to it which is one of the things I liked about the Bulleit bourbon. Adding water to it I thought it tasted sweeter.

Since I’ve got a few different ryes, I decided to try it against some other ones. I have a bottle of Redemption rye, at nearly the same proof (92 proof for it) and the same mash bill in terms of rye content (95%). The Bulleit I found was more aggressive and spicy than the Redemption, which I found rather sweet.

I also compared it to Templeton rye, a bottle of which I have from 2008 and runs 80 proof. According to what I’ve read online here, the Templeton goes about 90% rye in the mash bill. It’s similarly spicy, though I preferred the Bulleit overall.

I’d like to do more tests to compare them, but I made a small miscalculation. I sort of drank all the Bulleit rye so far.

Oops!

So I’ll have to wait until I can buy a bottle of it and compare it in some cocktails!

My normal whiskey sour is something like this:

2oz Bourbon (or Rye)
1oz fresh lemon juice
.75oz simple syrup

-Shaken, double strained and served up. If I give it a taste and the particular lemon I used is intensely sour, I’ll pour the drink over fresh ice in a rocks glass.

Ahhh . . . that hit the spot. But I couldn’t leave well enough alone. I am a big fan of Averna. If you attended the 2009 Repeal Day Ball, you probably already knew that. That’s all I’ll say because I have a constitutional right not to incriminate myself.

Moving on . . . I decided to play around with the basic whiskey sour and see if I could come up with something tasty using Averna. There were several attempts that just didn’t work – too sour, too sweet, strange finish, etc. etc. I soldiered on and after the kitchen drain was drunk from my toss-aways, I hit upon a formula that hit the spot. So I give you,

Whiskaverna Sour
1.25oz 100 proof Rye
.75oz Averna
.50oz fresh lemon juice
.50oz simple syrup
2 dashes orange bitters

-Shake, double strain, serve up with a lemon twist.

And I have the share my latest toy. While visiting my mother over the holidays, we went to several antique stores. Always on the look out for cocktail gear, I found some interesting items. There were some glasses, but compared to what I can get at Good Will, they were over-priced. There were a plethora of shakers. Most novelty shakers from the 80′s but a few from the 60′s and 70′s. Eh. They just didn’t catch my attention enough to buy any. But then! While walking through one store, I found IT!

Les Voûtes
1.5oz Rye
.50oz Sweet Vermouth
.50oz Yellow Chartreuse
1 barspoon of kirschwasser
2 dashes orange bitters

-Stir with cracked ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Thus it is...uh...late.

It’s BUH-now, not buh-NULL.  Just so you know.

When I heard the theme I had a great idea, because, well, everyone knows Bonal and rye go together so well, but man – stirred?  Feh.

My first attempt was a Negroni variant.  Equal parts rye instead of gin, Bonal instead of sweet vermouth, Gran Classico instead of Campari.  Didn’t work.

I blame Lindsey.

So here we are, and what am I drinking now?

Well, I gave up on the Bonal.  There’s a good chance mine is too old.

So I call this the Lindsey Special, because it’s nice and bitter, and she’s always so cheerful:

The Lindsey Special
2.5 ounces rye
.5 ounce simple syrup
.5 ounce Gran Classico
2 dashes rhubarb bitters
Stir over ice, serve in a rocks glass

Much like the drinks Lindsey seems to like, it’s simple yet delicious.

What…you wanted more?

Hey man – we ain’t got time for that.  There’s a doin’s a transpirin’!

This is actually Paul

You might not believe me, for good reason, but I have it on good word (mine, which I made up) that the original version of Paul’s website featured “The Cocktail Chronicles” with a huge BLINK tag (which I’m not even sure is supported these days) and multiple dancing baby GIFs, all of which modeled after him.

For example, look to the left.

Nowadays, of course, he shows a much more subtle and classy side, and we all thank him for it, because if you don’t like that, you always have me and Blair.

But what to make him?

When I asked one “prominent” blogger (prominent means you don’t update often) he suggested rye and absinthe.  Well, Paul is mad at me about setting absinthe on fire and using Mata Hari (though you’d think he’d like the fact that I set Mata Hari on fire) so I stuck with the fresh bottle of Rittenhouse 100 I picked up at Ace the other day.  From there, I debated, consulted with someone who actually gets paid to do this for a living (the lovely and talented Ms. Sergi), and we experimented a bit.

I did think about setting some Rittenhouse on fire but I was fairly certain if I did Paul would set ME on fire at Tales.

So then I ended up the Cocktail Chronic(-les).  And before you ask, yes, I’ve had the “Chronic(-les) of Narnia” stuck in my head for the past bit.

Not pictured: bitters

The Cocktail Chronic-(les)
2 ounces rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1/2 ounce dry vermouth (Dolin dry)
1/2 ounce Lillet Blanc
1 dash Fee’s orange bitters
Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a sarcastic comment and insightful commentary.

This makes for a pretty nice, surprisingly light cocktail.

If you try it and enjoy it, as usual, let me know.  Yes, this one is a bit late tonight but it’s the 21st one!  That means I’ve posted one drink every night – some of them more half-assed than the others (cough cough) but wow, it’s getting harder and harder to think up new ideas.  Lest I become Mike Rowe and start begging for new ideas for Dirty Jobs this site, please, if you have any for people not done yet (I’m looking at you Craig!) let me know!

As always – enjoy.

[Twenty-first in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales. The first post in the series is here.]

Oklahoma.  What do you think of when you hear that word, assuming you’re not Rick and thinking of the musical?  I think of dusty plains, tumbleweeds, and ¹possums.

Needless to say, I was quite taken aback ² when a friend told me that it’s as much raccoons and armadillos!  And he’s from there HE MUST KNOW.

Clearly, if I’m talking about Tales of the Cocktail, cocktails in general, and Oklahoma, I must be talking about your friend ³ and mine ⁴ cocktailnerd aka Gabe. ⁵

I really wanted to make a drink with poser fluid ⁶ for him but alas, it was a combination of laziness and ⁷ respect that stopped me.  But the idea of making an Oklahoma Squirrel ⁸ rang with me, only getting slightly dented when I realized Gary Regan ⁹ already had one with rye and called it something like “Maryland”.¹⁰

Talking to an old friend of mine ¹¹ broke me through to the other side and ta-da, here’s the drink. ¹²

It's pink, an added bonus!

The Oklahoma Squirrel ¹³
1 1/2 ounce rye (Rittenhouse 100)
1 ounce Zirbenz stone pine liqueur
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 dash Peychaud’s
Shake over ice, strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a whiskey soaked cherry.

And there we go! ¹⁴  Enjoy, and if you try it, let me know what you think. ¹⁵

[Twelth in a series of drinks named after bloggers, mixologists, and random others who'll hopefully be at Tales.  The first post in the series is here.]