My Handcrafted Opinions on Whiskies, Distilleries and Other Related Stuff
The name of this 40% expression comes from heavily charred oak barrels used in the process. The nose is fruity and sweet, with toasted pineapple and vanilla. The mouth feel is very smooth and sweet with notes of butterscotch, floral honey, vanilla custard and toasted nut notes. The finish has some chilli peppers and bitter lemon peel and dries out. With some water it thins out and mouthfeel gets a little less creamy. Lots of classic bourbon and oak notes which is what they were going for.
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Location: Del Frisco's Grille, The Woodlands, Texas
Date: November 2020
Price: $15.00
Recipe: Bulleit Bourbon, Luxardo Cherry Sangue Morlacco, Maple Syrup, Spiced Cherry Bitters
Garnish: Peel and cherry
Served: Up
Comments: Soem unique ingredients and overall pretty good, enjoyed the sweetness
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Islamorada, Florida, USA
Date: November 2020
Price: $6.00
Recipe: Rye Whiskey, Sherry, Bitters
Garnish: None
Served: Rocks
Comments: Manhattan in a can.... made with Sherry? Seemed to work however and a good price.
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Katz's, Houston, Texas
Date: September 2020
Price: $12.00
Recipe: Rye Whiskey, Sweet Vermouth and Angostura Bitters
Garnish: Luxardo maraschino cherry
Served: Up
Comments: On the larger side which as it was served "up" in a tumbler warmed a little too quickly
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Ristorante del Lago, The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
Date: July 2020
Price: $14.00
Recipe: Padua Manhattan which according to menu is ... Michters Rye, Green Chartreuse, Aperol, Orange Bitters
Garnish: Lemon Peel
Served: Up
Comments: Good cocktail, but not a Manhattan
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Fogo de Chao, Denver, CO
Date: July 2020
Price: $13.50
Recipe: Buffalo Trace, Carpano Antica, Blood Orange, Angusturo Bitters
Garnish: Orange peel
Served: Rocks
Comments: A little Orange peel or Triple sec or Orange bitters is good, but this was overpowered by Orange juice. It was fine, but not a Manhattan.
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: The Tavern, The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs
Date: July 2020
Price: $14.00
Recipe: Spencer's Manhattan which according to menu is ... Rye Whiskey, Drambuie, Bitters
Garnish: 3 cherries
Served: Up
Comments: Drambuie in a Manhattan? No Vermouth? That was a first. The color strongly suggests that vermouth was in the recipe.
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Total Wine and More, Houston, TX
Date: June 2020
Price: $24.99
Recipe: According to packet... whiskey, vermouth, caramel color
Garnish: I added 2 Luxardo Maraschino cherries
Served: Rocks
Comments:Way over priced even for 100 ml.... but it was much better than I expected for a recipe that included "caramel color"
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Home, Houston, TX
Date: April 2020
Price: Free
Recipe: 50 ml Tullamore DEW, 15 ml Dolin Sweet Vermouth, 5ml Luxardo, dash Orange Bitters
Garnish: Burnt orange peel (website said cherry but I didn't have one)
Served: Rocks
Comments: Very good, first Irish Manhattan, recipe from Tullamore DEW website. Orange bitters and Orange peel maybe too much Orange.
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
Location: Home, Houston, TX
Date: April 2020
Price: Free
Recipe: Wild Turkey Forgiven, Dolin Sweet Vermouth, Luxardo, Orange Bitters
Garnish: Burnt lemon peel
Served: Rocks
Comments: Really good, very happy with my progress at the halfway point...
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
My original idea for this blog project was to try 101 Manhattans (any similarity to 101 Whiskies To Try Before You Die is purely coincidental) from the various hotels, bars and restaurants around the world that my work took me too. The basic idea was that #101 would be the Manhattan finest I could make after all that research. Confined to home in April 2020 I thought I would make Experiment #50 my “best so far” and I have to say it was very good. The recipe I used was as follows:
As I can’t seem to decide if I prefer Rye or Bourbon I went with Wild Turley Forgiven (which is a Bourbon / Rye blend), 1.5 oz and has enough alcohol at 45% ABV to push through the sweetness. Next were a couple of classic of ingredients, 1 oz Dolin Sweet Vermouth and a good dash of Angostura bitters. The now not-so-secret ingredient, courtesy of Mike Raymond at Reserve 101, is Luxardo Cherry liqueur (1 oz) which adds the classic cherry note and that lets me experiment with the garnish. I went with bitter note from a strip of lemon peel (that I scorched with cigar lighter to release the oils – a trick I saw at the Oak Room in Buenos Aires) to bring balance to the sweet liqueur. Shaken together and served on the rocks it was pretty good even if I say so myself.
Manhattan 101 is going to be even better…
What is this about? Check out http://www.somanywhiskies.com/item/749-the-manhattan-project-ii
It has been a while since I visited a distillery. In fact the last blog entry on a distillery visit was back in 2017 when I visited the site of the not yet open Dartmoor Distillery. The last time I was actually in one, excluding The London Distillery, was the Anchorage Distillery in February 2017. So I thought I would take advantage of the COVID quarantine to conduct some virtual distillery tours after I saw an article online about virtual tours in Imbibe (link below). As I have been to three of them before (Four Roses, Buffalo Trace and Glenturret) I will start with the ones I have not yet visited physically which include a Tequila Distillery, a Japanese distillery and three in the UK; Sipsmith, Laphroaig and Talisker.
I am sure some of you will point out that as I didn’t actually visit the site I can’t count these visits in my official list. To those people I say, in the words of The Pub Landlord … My Blog, My Rules.
So yes, they count.
https://imbibe.com/news/8-virtual-distillery-tours-to-entertain-you-during-coronavirus-lockdown/