I wanted to taste this a while ago but I’ve been rather sick for a bit. Now I can breathe and I wished to taste the Devil’s Juice.
Wow.
As @Fishbreath said, bang on hickory at the outset. Then burnt sugar, smoke and even tobacco to me.
The sucker is hot. There is alcohol in the nose.
It goes after the back of the throat. Well. Its young. Can’t blame it.
But then it smokes and gives up a bit of that smoke to the tongue.
For its age it’s really forgiving. I’d say the first sip is hot. The rest is it laying down some fine sweet and smoky notes. The finish is a fine Cuban cigar. With a touch of brandy.
YMMV
Edit: I need to taste it more. My palate may be fucked by the passing of the cold.
When you read about the Wild West, you tend to run into a lot of weird claims about whiskey. The stuff was potent, cheap, and highly adulterated, according to the claims. And, as often as not, these stories will insist on an especially strange ingredient: rattlesnake heads.
Mari Sandoz’s 1964 book “The Beaver Men,” as an example, gives a recipe for Upper Platte trade whiskey, which was the sort of stuff fur trappers and mountain men would purchase at a trading post. The recipe is as follows:
1 gal. alcohol
1 lb. plug or black twist tobacco
1 lb black sugar or molasses
1 handful red Spanish peppers
10 gal. river water (in flood)
2 rattlesnake heads per barrel
With the additional note that sometimes locals added wormwood or or even castoreum, which is a smelly substance produced, um, very near the anus of a beaver and used to mark territory.
I decided to create a version of this recipe, skipping the wormwood and castoreum but adding in a couple of flavors I had also heard associated with Wild West whiskey: leather and gunpowder.
When they handed over the gift, I figured it was a bottle of scotch. It just had that feel and heft. When fire started to open it and I saw the box emerge, I got really excited. I mean, I was a little confused at first. Why is that guy with a walking stick chasing that guy holding a gun on top of this box?
But then my brain caught up.
It’s been a long time since I had Johnnie Walker Black. It’s smokier than I remembered. And a little salty.
As I’ve explored Scotches, I’m at a place where my favorites are the Balvanies, and our local liquor store has started carrying them upon my request. I’ve never liked the smoky Scotches, knowing it’s an acquired tastes.
But someone who knows we like Scotch recently gifted us with some Johnny Walker Black. It did indeed have a smoky taste and I didn’t really enjoy the first glass, but I told myself I’ve got a full bottle, so I might as well see if I can learn to drink it without making a face.
What really surprised me is that after a couple of sittings with a glass or two per sitting, I’ve started to really like it. I realize it’s not a single malt, but it’s about $20 per bottle less expensive than my faves (the Balvanies) so it may earn a place on the shelf next to the single malts. Also makes me want to dip my toe back into the single malts with a BIT of smoky tastes. Suggestions?
I shelled out for a “treat bottle” of Nikka Coffey Grain a couple of weeks ago after sampling it at a local whisky festival. I vaguely remember enjoying it at the time, but since I got it home I have to admit to finding it a little anodyne for my tastes, somewhat like a pina colada in fact.
I’ll keep it on as a visitor dram, but for me it’s all peat all the time from here on out: the Port Askaig 100 Proof is my current preferred drop (a Coal Ila in disguise) with its floral nose giving little clue as to the burst of pure flavour coming after. It’s one of those scotches that gets you drunk from the feet up which makes it perfect for reading hour.
I opened up a bottle of Kavalan Classic I got from my cousin the last time she visited. Delicious. I then figured I would make an old fashioned with it. Even deliciouser!
Speaking of a great old fashioned, I had one late last week at a little hidden gem of a place in Tucson. He used a local bourbon and it was bacon infused. I don’t know if they did that local to the bar but I assume so. At any rate, everything they had there was along the lines of craft cocktail, so when I took a sip I was pleasantly surprised just how damned good it was.
I like a good old fashioned, but that one really shined. I couldn’t stop myself from two more before stumbling back to the hotel.
It really did. I don’t think I’ve had too many of them that strayed too far from the normal recipe. I’ve had many a bad old fashioned, but rarely one that messes with the recipe in a way that I thought made it even better.
Well, change the recipe of a drink enough and you haven’t altered that drink, you’ve created a new drink. Nothing wrong with that at all. Make a martini out of melon liqueur and grenadine with a skittle in it, it isn’t a martini anymore, no matter how hard you want it to be.
This is not to put down your Old Fashioned. It actually sounds wonderful. Just a thought.
To be clear, ‘you’ is not Skipper. Just a general ‘you.’
Amen to that! Going to finish that bottle of Kavalan Classic tonight.
I googled bacon whiskey, and while the process reads as pretty simple, I bet it’s a bit more complicated in practice, as I can’t think of anything grosser than a whiskey with an oily fatty film, even if bacon flavored.
That makes me thinks super small batch. Rough at all or smooth? One thing I (think) I get from blended bourbon is a bit more smooth and subtle. For better or worse.
Finally had my first pour of Elijah Craig 18yr. We’re in a hideously high-end district so it was $47. A buddy was trying to talk me into the 23yr at $77. I was already 3 drinks in so I figured it’d be a waste.
Very tasty. That’s what I always think with these high end bourbons. They’re fun to drink.
