Speaking of Bourbon

Mark of New Jersey

Mark is a Founding Editor of The League of Ordinary Gentlemen, the predecessor of Ordinary Times.

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14 Responses

  1. Patrick Cahalan says:

    Goddamn it, now I need a Marschino cherry.Report

  2. Kazzy says:

    One thing I love about these posts is that I not only grow my booze collection, but also all the other stuff. I bought bitters to make the Doc’s Manhattan (but forgot the vermouth) and now I have those for whatever else it might be useful for. A few more posts like this and I’ll be fully stocked. Now, off to get all the non-bourbony ingredients for this one!Report

    • Mark Thompson in reply to Kazzy says:

      Nice! Make sure to get the vermouth first, though – there is IMHO no drink more essential to be able to make at the drop of a hat than a Manhattan. However, come winter, you’ll be happy to have the butterscotch schnapps to throw in your coffee or hot chocolate.Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Mark Thompson says:

        Any tips on vermouth buying?Report

        • BlaiseP in reply to Kazzy says:

          Go down to a good bar, give your bartender a good tip and interview a few vermouths in very small doses on their own in snifters. They’re not the same. My palate’s not good enough to do this with a mixed drink but anyone’s nose should be able to distinguish them.Report

      • Brandon Berg in reply to Mark Thompson says:

        On the topic of fortified wines, I gather that Sherry has a reputation as an old ladies’ drink. Does this apply to very dry Sherries, or only to Cream Sherry and other sweet varieties? Can a man order Fino at a bar without being looked at askance?Report

        • BlaiseP in reply to Brandon Berg says:

          The old trouts who drink ports and sherries know a good thing when they’ve tasted it. Both are traditionally dessert-ish drinks and apertifs but when the urge for a smooth, sweet drink comes over me, nothing but a good port or sherry will do in that moment. To avoid any foppish stigma, drink Spanish vintages.Report

          • James Hanley in reply to BlaiseP says:

            Ditto Blaise’s comment. I love a glass of port in the evening (you should also try white port some time), and foppish stigmas or not, I won’t hesitate to order a Harvey’s Bristol Cream after dinner at a nice restaurant. I can’t vouch for what the waiters/waitresses say in the back room, but they’ve never looked askance at me.Report

            • BlaiseP in reply to James Hanley says:

              “Ah,” they say “that Hanley fellow, now there’s a man of class and distinction.” Come Christmastime, sherry comes into its own. As a celebratory drink, it has no equal.

              Though fruitcake has become the butt of many jokes, I make a delicious fruitcake featuring Pedro Ximénez sherry, though I’ve used Harvey’s Bristol Cream in its absence. I use lots of dried fruits and nuts in my fruitcake, but only orange zest and not much of that. Many people use brandy for their fruitcake but something about the figgy, nut-like flavour of PX (which all cream sherries contain to some extent) imbues a fruitcake with something special.Report

  3. Mike Dwyer says:

    Mark – I was on Bardstown Road this afternoon.Report

  4. BlaiseP says:

    The Bardstown Road is a magical place. As it continues onto Baxter, it only gets better. I acquired a crush on the old Twig and Leaf restaurant for people watching and anytime breakfast. Carmichael’s Bookstore and the Great Escape music store got a lot of my money in those days.

    Happy memories of spending New Year’s 2000 at Stevie Ray’s in Louisville. If memory serves, that’s on Main Street, which isn’t Bardstown Road, but that where I experienced the Millenium Moment. Louisville never gets the credit it deserves, which must suit the locals just fine: they’re already besieged by Touristic Types every Derby Week. If the joys of Louisville were properly understood by all and sundry, it would spoil the effect.Report