Bourbon whiskey royalty graced Manchester at an intimate tasting session hosted in the Northern Quarter last week.
The Liquorists invited 70-year-old master distiller Tom Bulleit – great-great-grandson of Augustus Bulleit, the man who introduced the world to Bulleit Bourbon – to lead a tasting at Reserve bar on King Street.
More than 150 years later and Tom fulfilled a lifelong dream of reviving his family’s ancestral distilling enterprise using the original 1830s’ recipe.
Although the old timers in denim dungarees may no longer be making hooch in the back of their barns, behind the slick advertising campaigns and all-American distribution power, most of the big bourbon brands can still trace their roots back to recipes from the 18th and 19th century, passed down from generation to generation.
This was a tasting in two parts, first up was the family Bourbon; a rich amber liquid that tastes of vanilla, burnt toffee and russet apples.
Aged in white oak barrels, the rigours of hot, humid summers and cold, dry winters in Kentucky mean that the drink gains character more quickly than the equivalent barrels in the uniformly-dreadful weather of the Highlands.
If you are used to Scotch whisky, you might find Bulleit’s bourbon on the sweet side, although it is definitely on the dryer end of a spectrum that includes the likes of Maker’s Mark or Jack Daniels, and makes surprisingly-easy drinking for a 45% ABV spirit.
Packaged in the same clear glass medicine-style bottle as the bourbon, the second drink of the night was a rye whiskey – a style not often seen in the UK.
With less of the buttery warmth of the bourbon, the rye packed more of a punch with a smack of tobacco and spice.
Anyone looking for a nod of respect from Manchester’s cooler bartenders over the Christmas period would do well to ask for an Old Fashioned cocktail made from rye whiskey.
Both are drinks to be proud of, and a welcome addition to the well-curated stock of drinks for sale at Reserve, not that you would be able to pry any boasting from the gentlemanly Tom himself.
He said: “Well the main thing to remember is that the bourbon tastes like bourbon, and the rye tastes like rye.”
Picture courtesy of Urban Mixer via Flickr, with thanks
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