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.

The Preakness

Sometimes it startles me how lost I was in drinking before I found the Manhattan. It is such a quintessential part of drinking in the United States.  I know that I'd heard about it many times - maybe it's my contrarian nature, maybe it's the fact that when you're in college, anything more complicated than a screwdriver or a whiskey sour (using sour mix) is out of the question. 

Anyway, as I've delved into Manhattans, I've found a few fantastic variations along the way.  Tonight's cocktail is one of the many drinks in the fashion of the old standby.

The Preakness (Or The Bull Manhattan)

A couple ounces Bourbon
Around an ounce of Sweet Vermouth
A pour or two of Benedictine (or B&B if it's what you have)
A dash of bitters

Stir and serve in a manly-ass glass.

This will not overwhelm you with fine taste, surprise you with unexpected depth, or disappoint you by skipping the alcoholic punch.  It's a straightforward bourbon drink, and it will taste similar to a Manhattan.  Personally, I prefer it without the bitters, and with a heavy helping of B&B, but if you put too much in, you run the risk of creating a new bourbon-brandy cocktail, and not really following the flavor of the Manhattan. 

Repeal Day

Image Source

While I'm sure it would bring you joy to hear I didn't post anything on repeal day because I was too drunk, sadly I cannot make that claim.  It was down in my calendar to celebrate - and celebrate it I did in the most appropriate fashion.  However, I did forget to finish my post and get it published at 21:00 hours.  Sorry about that.

Some of the best mixologists in the world attended the DC Craft Bartenders Guild Ball on December 4th to celebrate the 21st amendment.  Drinks were poured, good times were had, and all of it auspiciously legal.

A site respectfully about repeal day:  http://www.repealday.org/

A drunken dousing of history about the President who helped get the 18th repealed: FDR: Portrait of a Drinking President


A Dewars ad in repeal form: