What I’m Drinking – March 13, 2017
A quick look at some of the drinks I’ve been enjoying recently.
Thanks to the generosity of a friend who works at a local liquor store, I recently was able to cross off an item from my bucket list—drink a whisky that’s older than I am. Specifically I was able to sample some 43 year old single grain Scotch whisky distilled at Invergordon in 1972 and bottled by the Creative Whisky Company. It was an enjoyable experience. Something of a cross between bourbon and Scotch, it had plenty of caramel, vanilla, and oak, along with some prominent tobacco notes on the backend. It was good, although I’m not so sure it is worth the price tag (it sells for $245).
I recently posted a review of Laphroaig Quarter Cask here on the Mule, but it’s another Islay whisky that I’ve really been enjoying over the last week at home—Ardbeg Uigeadail. Oogie, as many of its fans like to call it, is a wonderful balance of peat and sweet. It will be the subject of my next review, so stay tuned.
On the beer front, I’ve had some terrific stuff lately. The best beer I’ve had since my last What I’m Drinking article was easily the latest batch of Free Will Blood and Guts, an aged sour beer brewed with spent cherries. I’ve long been a fan of Blood and Guts, but this 2016 batch was by far my favorite. If you’re a fan of sour beer and live in Eastern PA or anywhere else Free Will is sold, I strongly encourage you to pick up a bottle or two.
Another great beer I’ve been drinking lately is Terrapin Mosaic Red Rye IPA. A seasonal release from the Athens, GA brewery, Mosiac is on my short list for the title of best IPA in the world. It’s great stuff, and I look forward to its release every year. I only wish they’d make it available year round.
A couple of other terrific limited release beers I had recently were Prairie Artisan Ales’ Prairie Noir (one of the better barrel-aged imperial stouts I’ve had) and Black Abbey’s Corsair Rye Barrel Aged Sour Gruit (the best gruit I’ve ever had, and one of the best Black Abbey beers I’ve had).
In the “lesson learned” department—if you regularly buy “crowlers” of beer (a growler sized can of beer filled to order), you may know that most beer sellers will tell you to consume the beer within three months of the crowler being filled (some will tell you one month). On Saturday night, as I watched the Season 5 premiere of Samurai Jack, I opened up a crowler of Yazoo’s Ramblings of a Madman, which had been filled back in November, about four months ago. It’s a beer that I like quite a bit and had been saving for a special occasion. Unfortunately I saved it a little too long—it had gone bad and was not pleasant. So yeah, take it from me—consume your crowlers within three months if you want to actually enjoy your beer.
