Thoughts on Wood

Here's a general article about the Blue Grass Cooperage, the barrel-making company that produces all the barrels for Jack Daniels and other Brown-Forman brands.

Each week, 191 production workers make 10,000 to 11,000 barrels, each holding 53 gallons - amounting to anywhere from 240 to 280 bottles of whiskey. Huge columns of oak strips are stacked in pallets outside the plant. Inside, chugging machinery noisily shapes the wood.

Some 90 percent of barrels are filled with Jack Daniel's, reflecting the brand's robust market share. Case sales of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey rose 6.6 percent last year to 8.9 million cases, and the brand is sold in 135 countries. The rest of the barrels will hold Brown-Forman's Old Forester and Woodford Reserve bourbons. Case sales for Woodford Reserve, the company's premium, small-batch bourbon, reached 100,000 last year, up 23 percent over 2005.

Dang! That's a lot of barrels. But as we all know, there is much barrel recycling in the world before they become planters and ashtrays outside of old-timey theme restaurants.

One thing I learned when I visited the Canadian Mist distillery earlier this year is that a company like B-F that owns its own cooperage and a lot of brands can save a lot of money. Canadian whisky is aged at least partially in used barrels that previously held Jack Daniels. (It's also flavored with various other spirits from their other brands.) I'll bet their tequila and rum brands use these same barrels too, saving money on that part of the process.

I think wood aging is the most fascinating part of the booze-making for me (though I'm also very interested in distillery waste products for some reason). I hope one of these days to scam a press trip to visit the cooperage- for me that would the equivalent of a kid getting to ride a firetruck.

I'd also like to research one of those long, writerly articles where I track a barrel throughout its creation and life and use and travels oversea and to its final resting place as a trash can outside of Stucky's. It would be all, "It was another damp August morning in the wettest summer anyone around these parts could remember when Bob Jenkins shook the water off the windbreaker his father gave him 30 years ago and fired up the barrel-smoker in Shed B."

After winning the Pulitzer, I'd get started on my great book about fuselage recycling.

Malted Millionaires

Forbes.com has a new one of their slideshows up: The World's Most Expensive Whiskies. Their slideshows are always the world's most expensive somethings: penthouses, cars, hotel rooms, etc. But you can't drink any of those.

Non-Threatening Chatter

Are you a gay or just want to surf the internet like one? Then you should really join my groups on the website GLEE.com. It's a social networking site that's an acronym for Gays, Lesbians, and Everyone Else. I'm working with them to bring more people to the site and am in charge of the Cocktail Chatter and Wine, Beer, and Sake groups. So go sign up and say howdy (it's free, of course) and then not only will I look better to the boss-man, I won't be having conversations with myself on the bulletin boards anymore. I hate to be (typing about) drinking alone.

Whiskey is Out

In the June issue of Out Magazine (I don't know why it hits newsstands 3 weeks early) I have a story on whiskey. It's sort of about how to use whiskey in drinks, pairing it with food, and tasting notes on wood-finished whiskies. Those include the Glenmorangie Burgundy, Bushmill's Single Malt 16 year, Compass Box Oak Cross, Balvenie Doublewood, and Macallan Fine Oak 17. (Note: all yummy.) It also has the recipe for Nihon's Apple Mack. Pick it up!

WTV

Formerly subscription-based Singlemalt.tv is now free. Watch and learn about scotch. The shows seem pretty high-quality and informative, so I'll be checking them out too. According to The Scotch Blog they're going to roll out the station on mobile devices, which is a new business model that several online booze tv shows are going with.

Whisky and Branch

I had heard that some bars were importing spring water from distilleries near where their bourbon was made to serve true bourbon and branch drinks. That would be a lot harder if you're trying to get your ice cubes for scotch flown in from Scotland. But wait! Now there is bottled Speyside Glenlivet water available in bubbly or non that you can freeze at home.

I kind of doubt it's available in the US, but then again, you don't really want to take it that far anyway.

WOW Report

This year's Whiskies of the World didn't seem as big or as good as last year's, with a smaller space and smaller selection (despite advertisements to the opposite), but I had fun anyway. I actually liked the set-up of one giant square ballroom with nothing much in the middle of the room, so you'd have to crowd in to get your samples of whisky, then you could step back into the middle of the room to enjoy it and talk with other people. (At most events it's either a long, snaking path of booths or else the middle of the room is cluttered with tables and chairs.) The minus of the set-up was that it was a pain to get to the whisky, so you could duck in and get one dram, but it was really hard to work your way through the selection of a distiller systematically.

Thus I ended up having a lot less whisky than I'm used to at these events. There's no shame in that- I've sampled most everything in the room before and was only looking for the unique or new bottlings. I had the Balvenie 15-year single barrel, but they were out of the 21-year before I made it to their table. Damnit! I love me some Balvenie.

My fun was hanging out with Marcia from Tablehopper (who is all about the bourbon), fellow booze writer Jordan Mackay, and bartenders Jimmy P., Jonny from Absinthe, Mr. Mojito David Nepove, Julio from Tommy's, Dominic of Bourbon & Branch and now Cantina, Duggan of Cantina, Erik from Slanted Door, and probably a few others that I forget.

It will be interesting to see how this year's first Malt Advocate Whiskyfest in San Francisco stacks up to this event. Though I could easily attend several of these events each year, I'm not sure San Francisco is big enough for the both of them.

Whisky Survivor

Another write-up by me in today's SF Chronicle:

7 whiskey survival tips

At the Whiskies of the World Expo tomorrow you can sample around 250 whiskies over 4 1/2 hours, which makes 56 drams per hour. This should leave plenty of time in between to:

1. Drink water.

2. Ask at the Compass Box table if they think their fancy wood barrels makes them better than you.

3. Try to get a plate of food from the buffet to a table without spilling.

4. Buy a kilt for your dog (yes, there is really a booth for that).

5. Show the Scottish fiddler troupe the techniques you picked up watching "Riverdance."

6. Go binge shopping at the K&L booth and have it shipped to you later, at which point you may recall how much you actually spent.

7. Keep asking, "Does this whiskey go better with Coke or Pepsi?"

For tickets, go to www.celticmalts.com or call (888) 748-2400.

Whiskies of Wonder

*update* I spoke with the event coordinator and she says that you can call the info line (888-748-2400) to try to get tickets at the last minute and that she'll have some available in SF. However, they'll be cash-only and jacked up in price. There are still a handful of tickets available over the phone currently.
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I'll be attending Whiskies of the World, the giant whisky tasting and education event on April 14th in San Francisco from 5:30 - 10PM at the Palace Hotel. Tickets are $115, but the question is, can you get them?

On the Whiskies of the World website they say that there will be no tickets available at the event, but listening to the WhiskyCast podcast I heard the event organizer say that she was trying to have some available in San Francisco until the event starts (but not at the door). I've got an email in to the event organizer, and I'll let you know what I hear back. But since it's about a week from now and most people will have to get them in the mail, you had better order now if you're going.

So by the way, is anyone else going?

Oh P.S. If you haven't seen him before Woodiot Savant (I just made that up) John Glaser of Compass Box Whiskies will be speaking at Whiskies of the World, but you can also catch him (for free) at Elixir on April 12th. I don't know if he's speaking there or just hanging out (and pulling the raffle ticket for the free tix to Whiskies of the World), but this is a chance to see him. He's kind of a cult hero in the whisky world- as Steve Jobs is to the music industry, Glaser is to the whisky industry, rocking the establishment and making shiny new high-quality things.

Friday morning fun

I had to wake up early today and taste a bunch of wood-finished whisky for a story. But now I have to switch gears and turn in a flavored vodka recipe before I write my rum story due later today. Feel bad for me!

Irish Whiskey Fun Fact

There are only three distilleries in Ireland, producing all the different brands of Irish whiskey made. The Scotch Blog explains that many of the brands have business relationships with other brands, so it's really one big mushy family over there.

That's the (Irish) spirit!

In today's Chronicle I list some bars with good Irish whiskey selections:

Green parties

Ireland is the birthplace of more beverages than Guinness. Whiskey was likely invented there, and they still make it a little bit differently than the Scots. Most brands triple-distill the spirit and almost none use peated malt, so the end products are often smoother and less smoky than the average scotch. Though there are only a handful of Irish whiskeys on the market, the following bars have good-size selections from which to start your investigation into the Emerald Isle firewater.

Beckett's Irish Pub & Restaurant. This playwright-named Berkeley fave features 12 Irish whiskies (including classy Midleton at $20 a shot) along with food from the Emerald Isle. 2271 Shattuck Ave. (between Bancroft and Kittridge), Berkeley, (510) 647-1790 or www.beckettsirishpub.com.

The Gold Dust Lounge. For a non-Irish bar, the historic Gold Dust Lounge sure has a good selection (10-plus) of Irish whiskies. Also, a lot of really good scotch. 247 Powell St. (between O'Farrell and Geary), San Francisco; (415) 397-1695.

O'Neill's Irish Pub. The ballpark-adjacent bar opens at 6 a.m. on Friday, allowing you ample time to sample the 12 Irish whiskies offered. (You may want to start with one of the three Irish coffee drinks.) 747 Third St., (near King), San Francisco; (415) 777-1177 or tisoneills.com.

O'Reilly's. These bar/restaurants serve up 21 Irish whiskies at the Polk Street location and just a few less over in North Beach (including bartender-recommended Knappogue Castle), plus hearty food to help you sober up between samples. 622 Green St. (at Columbus), San Francisco; (415) 989-6222 or oreillysirish.com. Also at 1233 Polk St. (near Bush), San Francisco; (415) 928-1233 or oreillysholygrail.com.

-- Camper English

Rye, Oh Rye

Gary Regan steals all the good topics on the good booze to write about in the San Francisco Chronicle. First he did a big cover story on gin, and today he takes on rye. Not fair! But I suppose since he's an "expert" who "knows a hell of a lot more than I do" and "doesn't live in San Francisco" I can't go beat him up. Also, he's crazy. Read this:

Among whiskeys, Canadian whisky is generally sweet and somewhat generic. It almost always slides down the throat singing some ballad by Robert Goulet, another easily palatable Canadian. Bourbon also has harmonious sweetness from corn, but with a bit of an attitude. You might hear the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, for instance. Or Robert Johnson could make an appearance on a 78-rpm gramophone record, complete with earthy scratches. He's likely singing "Love in Vain."

Straight rye whiskey is more elegant, with subtle spice notes and a flavor that's smooth but not sweet. It leans a little toward opera. Think Enrico Caruso.

Okay, Regan, you win again. Oh wait, no you don't- I've actually met Robert Goulet. Ha!

Listing the wood on whisky menus

This is probably only interesting to drunk nerds like me. In a press release for the StripSteak restaurant at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, they tout their scotch selection, which at 120 single-malts is pretty good. But I was interested in the statement about the menu:

The comprehensive program features a focused list of more than 120 single malt selections spanning the fertile production regions of Scotland. Broken down first by region, then by producer, age and finishing wood, the list is among the largest in the United States.

Scotch producers are using all sorts of finishing casks these days, now including lots of different types of wine. This is the first menu on which I've seen the finishing wood listed prominently. I asked to see a copy of the menu, which is 51 pages long. Each distillery is described, then the whiskies are listed like this:

Glenmorangie, 12 Year Old, Burgundy Wood Finish 15

Silky, soft, tangy, cinnamon, spicy, sweet fruit and oak notes, nice length with more fruit on the finish

Glenmorangie, 12 Year Old, Madeira Wood Finish 15

Soft and dry, spicy, baked cake, buttery, toffee flavors, clove, nutty, sweet, medium finish

And like I said, you probably have to be a whisky nerd to find that cool.

Irish Bars in San Francisco

I was doing some research on Irish bars in San Francisco for a short bit in the SF Chronicle, and contacted Steve Gardner from the Irish band Culann's Hounds. They're playing at several venues this St. Patrick's Day. Though I was focusing my piece on where to sample Irish whiskey, Steve gave me a rundown on his view of the Irish bar scene in the city.

Ive been a musician playing Irish music in SF for 7 years. Here is my breakdown of the Irish Pub Scene.

1. The Plough and Stars - the best venue for Irish music on the west coast.
Totally authentic. The best Guinness I can think of. Rock solid.

2. O'Neills - Get used to the name, you'll be seeing it all over SF soon, and there is a reason. Great food, great drinks, great management, and live music.

3. The Dogs Bollix - Gaelic speaking football fans having a pint o' the brown before the game starts on the tele. No plastic Paddys here. Great music.

4. O'Reilly's - a legendary North Beach drinking hall. Some music, good food, real Irishmen, excellent decor.

4. Irelands 32 - as old school an SF Irish bar as you can ask for. Decent music. Excellent place.

5. The Blackthorn Tavern - like an old pair of slippers. This place just feels good. And there is awesome public transportation in case you drink too much. (you will)

6. The Irish Bank - no music to speak of, but what an awesome space, and you can get drunk in a confessional. Pure drop.

Johnny Foley's Irish House, The Chieftain, the Goal Post, The Four Deuces, The Dubliner all get honorable mention.

The Mists of Canada

Last week I went on a trip to visit the Canadian Mist distillery in Collingwood, Ontario.

The first day we sampled cocktails made with the product. As Canadian Whisky generally doesn't have a walloping strong flavor profile and it's sold at a "popular price point" (read: it's cheap), it's good mixing whisky for cocktails.

The focus of their cocktail recipe program is on simple drinks with a small number of ingredients. This makes sense from a marketing standpoint, as Canadian Mist is a product most often purchased at stores to take home, rather than being served in bars. People don't make extravagant cocktails at home all that often, so why populate the website with recipes nobody is going to make. (I hate it when products' websites list 200 drinks and you can never find the basic one you want.)

I was surprised to find that the whisky sour (a.k.a. the "misty sour") to be my favorite of all drinks we sampled. Here's a tip we learned- to get a sour drink really foamy, shake it extra hard in the shaker and the thick foam should stick to the glass and remain there the whole time. And of course, make your own sour mix if you don't want it to taste like powder and corn syrup.

The next day we headed to the distillery in Collingwood, about an hour and a half drive from Toronto. The distillery is not open to the public, resembling more a shoe factory than an old-timey barn.
They produce 2 million cases of the stuff each year, with only 35 people working at the mostly-automated distillery. Unlike the small-batch bourbon and scotch companies who tout how hand-crafty and slow their products are, here it is all about efficiency. The control room computers show the entire distillation process on computer monitors, and you can see exactly how much grain or liquid is in every tank. The distillation process in good detail is here.


After the resultant whisky is poured into casks, it's aged on a rotating system so that they go through more temperature cycles than they would just sitting in one place waiting for the seasons to naturally heat and cool the barrels. More cycles is supposed to impart more flavor into the whisky. (The marketing line is "it's not about age, it's about cycles.")


But to me, the most interesting part of the process is how it's flavored. I was under the impression that all whisky sits in barrels as finished product, ages the legally required amount of time, then is blended together for consistency. Not so here. What they do is create a simple, mostly corn "base whisky" in large quantities then flavor it with both other whiskies produced in-house that are heavier on rye or wheat, and also other flavor components from other types of booze up to the legal limit of 10% of the total volume.

As a demo, we did a little experiment where we were given bottles of base whisky, wheat whisky, rye whiskey, port, sherry, and brandy, and our goal was to try to blend something that tastes like good whisky. Mine came out not good, but less than disgusting, so I felt pretty proud.

See my full photoset on Flickr here.

Canadian whisky fun facts

The legal name for Canadian Whisky in Canada is also Canadian Rye Whisky or Rye Whisky, even though most Canadian whiskies have very little rye and rye flavor in them.

Because of this, Canadians often refer to Canadian whisky as simply "rye," which leads to an unhappy drinking experience when they try to order a rye in the United States.

Vanity Spirits update

This is getting a little out of control. Though celebrities have been buying up vineyards for years (I call them vainyards), more of them are getting into the spirits industry. One of the first was Sammy Hagar with Cabo Wabo tequila. Now we have Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River bourbon, Trump Vodka, Jay-Z and Damon Dash's Armadale vodka, and I just read that Vince Neil bought a tequila Tres Rios.