Bobby Burns

Over the last month and a half or so, I must apologize for my lack of posts - its been a busy few months, and I have been reduced mostly to swilling liquor neat or quaffing Stellas.  I know, life is hard, right?  Today, however, I'd like to pull out an old classic I've had a few times before, and in the last few days have made a bunch of times:  The Bobby Burns.

I can't find a recipe online that is quite what I've been using from Dale Degroff's paragon of drinking insight, The Essential Cocktail.  I won't reprint his here, but I will say, he favors more Scotch than vermouth or benedictine - most recipes online seem to favor either splitting it three ways, or keeping the scotch and sweet vermouth even.

Bobby Burns
Scotch
Sweet Vermouth
Benedictine

Add to shaker, stir, pour, and sit back and enjoy.

This one is obviously a close cousin to the Manhattan, so if you enjoy a silky, cool Manhattan at the end of the day, try out a Bobby Burns.  With the woody/oakiness of the scotch, and the tangy finish of the Benedictine, this drink differs from the Manhattan in its finish.  Usually on my first sip, it has a taste nearly indistinguishable from a Manhattan. It is often not until the second or third taste that I can pull out that it's scotch, and has the telltale bitter finish of benedictine. 

Since I recently ran out of Benedictine, I've been making the last few with B&B, which mellows the flavor a little.  I like it better without the brandy, but it's pretty good either way.

Scotch and Shackleton's Stash to be Studied

Aged Scotch dating to the 1907 Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica, led by Ernest Shackleton was flown by private jet to a lab in Scotland for testing and tasting. 

http://www.coolantarctica.com/images/shackleton.jpg

Researchers could hear the Scotch sloshing around despite the -22ºF.

I like my whisky almost any way, from rocket fuel to smooth and smoky, but I can't imagine how rich this stuff must taste.  My only problem is, I am the chagrined owner of a case of 'aging' dandelion wine.  Now this dandelion wine is home-brew as most of you know. My concern with this Nimrod Whisky is that no matter how excited you are about a bottle that's been hidden away, that doesn't mean it's any good.  Well, that's what I'm telling myself anyway, since the scotch being tested and tasted for six weeks before going back into cold storage.

World's Oldest Winemaking

History has always pointed to how venerable alcohol is, but new evidence published by the Journal of Archaeological Science suggests that wine may be even older than we thought.

In a cave in Armenia, "A shallow, thick-rimmed, 3-by-3 1/2-foot clay basin appears to be a wine press where people stomped grapes with their feet." NYT Article.  How cool is that?  over 7,000 years ago, people already knew the effects of cultivating the sweet nectar of grapes - and even built a specialized facility for making it.

Download the journal entry for all the science behind how they know it was cultivated wine - some interesting data about syringic acid contents then and now as well as plenty of other archaeological practices.