After spending the past six months sighing about what a great time I had in New Orleans last summer, I was excited to see that the schedule was posted today for the next round of the greatest cocktail-related event of the year: Tales of the Cocktail 2007, at the Hotel Monteleone and various venues around the French Quarter, July 18-22. (For a recap of my experiences last year, check out my reports from day one, day two, day three and day four.)

Now in its fifth year, Tales is primed to be bigger than ever. Details will no doubt continue to trickle in over the next few months, but the overall schedule is pretty damn impressive. Among the events that are already getting me excited are:

• a history-laden cocktail session at the Napoleon House, led by David Wondrich
• a panel on the rise, fall, and rise again of rum, led by Wayne Curtis
• Thursday’s excellent cocktail hour and Spirited Dinners
• a panel on craft distilling, with Ryan Magarian, Jared Brown, Anistatia Miller and Lenell Smothers
• a session on aromatics, led by Audrey Saunders
• a panel on Prohibition and its aftermath, with Robert Hess, Dale DeGroff, Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh, John Hall and Chris MacMillian
• a vermouth discussion, with Ted Haigh and Martin Douderoff
• Tiki drinks from A to Zombie, with Jeff “Beachbum” Berry
• an encore presentation of Ted Breaux’ absinthe session, and another of Dale DeGroff’s epic tequila talk, both from last year
• a Saturday session on rye whiskey, which — DAMMIT! –unfortunately coincides with another panel discussion, mentioned below

Not content to let me simply hang out and mooch free food and drinks, organizers this year are putting me to work. Right now I’m slated to take part in one panel discussion, and moderate another; I may pop up somewhere else, as well, clearing tables and washing glasses, or prattling on about something or other.

The sessions are:

• a Thursday panel on Lost Ingredients: Obtaining (or making) rare ingredients for even rarer cocktails, moderated by the good Dr. Cocktail and including Joe Fee from Fee Brothers, Gwydion Stone from the Wormwood Society, Chuck Taggart from the Gumbo Pages, and your humble narrator. According to the overview, the panel explores how to “reproduce uncommon (and wonderful) cocktail flavoring ingredients with obscure vintage recipes and forge into the future with new and original recipes. The rarified components of the seminar include Falernum, Bitters, Pimento Dram, Creme de Violette, Forbidden Fruit, Pomegranate Grenadine, Absinthe and Swedish Punch.” Considering I’ve been hotly pursuing at least one item on the list, and have only recently satisfied my search for another, I hope to learn a lot while, hopefully, passing along something helpful as well.
• a Saturday panel on — wait for it — Cocktails and the Blogosphere (currently typo-ed on the Tales website as “Blogoshpere,” which seems kind of fitting as that’s the way I pronounce it after a few Manhattans). Yes, for all you folks out there following the RSS feeds of the growing number of booze blogs now populating the Internet, you can come to New Orleans in July and put faces with a few of the sites. Joining me on this grand endeavor will be my esteemed colleagues Chuck Taggart (there he is again!) from the Gumbo Pages; Darcy O’Neil from The Art of Drink; and Rick Stutz from Kaiser Penguin. What will we talk about? What will we do? Who knows! Anyway, we’ve got almost six months to work that out. As there are now many more cocktail bloggers on the Web than there are seats available at the table, I’d like to invite any and all of our booze-blogging brethren to come see us at this event, then do a massive rum-soaked posting afterwards that will have the larger cocktail-blog readership reaching for the Tylenol and tomato juice the next morning.

My photo and bio aren’t on the “Authors, Mixologists & VIPs” page yet — mainly because I haven’t sent them yet (maybe I should write that down somewhere…) — but if you look really close at the itsy-bitsy image next to the “Picture Gallery” link, you can see a shot of me at last year’s event, only slightly hungover and waiting for my breakfast. (Or, you can venture into the gallery and see a fetching shot of my left ear as it waits for a sample of absinthe).

I’m sure I’ll mention it again (and again, and again) in the months to come, but for any self-respecting cocktail geek — or even just any curious booze enthusiast — New Orleans is the place to be for this event. Food, cocktails, and lots of people in town for the very same thing — Tales of the Cocktail is an event that you should start planning for now.

Tickets will be available in March, and special room packages at the Monteleone make the event surprisingly affordable. So mark your calendars and start looking at airfares — I hope to meet as many of you as I can in New Orleans this July.

Tags: Events by Paul
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(part of a series of posts on a recent panel tasting of 18 American rye whiskies that starts here. For more information on rye whiskey and additional tasting notes, pick up the January/February 2007 issue of Imbibe magazine.)

Unlike many of the other ryes in this tasting — which came accompanied by some press materials from the distillery or a short phone conversation with a distiller — the sample of Hirsch Selection 21-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey came unencumbered by any information beyond a general reputation for excellence. (It also came unencumbered by a whole bottle; hence, there’s no photo to accompany this whiskey, unless you want a shot of the dinky little sampler bottle that had a sticker pasted on the outside).

Clocking in at 93 proof, the Hirsch rye was the second 21-year-old in the tasting (the other was the Rittenhouse), and for the most part it wore its age well. The nose wasn’t too promising, with a touch of acetone followed by a hot, spicy note. On the palate, the whiskey became more agreeable, with bright, peppery notes coming on strong up front, followed by a sourdough-like tanginess that lingered a good long while. The whiskey’s age was evident in its robust mouthfeel and long, lasting smoothness. One panelist found the Hirsch particularly noteworthy, saying “it’s smooth; I’m not that fond of the nose but it has a medium finish. It’s a good sipping rye,” a sentiment agreed to by two other panelists; the four panelist wasn’t so impressed, finding the finish too short and sour.

Verdict: At prices starting at $125, you’d expect this whiskey to be excllent, and all but one panelist found this to be the case.

One panelist chose the Hirsch as among his top three choices, and while that was the best showing for this whiskey, all but one panelist found it really remarkable (if overshadowed by a few of the other excellent whiskies in the tasting). With its longer aging and serious price, this is a whiskey best enjoyed neat — but if you come across it, you’re almost certain to enjoy it.

Next: The Sazerac family of ryes

Tags: Rye, Spirits by Paul
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Thanks to the great response to my request for hosts, we now have the next four Mixology Mondays on track.

• Jimmy Patrick takes the reins again for MxMo XII, which takes place Monday, February 12 at Jimmy’s Cocktail Lounge. For this round, Jimmy has chosen the topic Whisk(e)y — note the optional ‘e’. Got a great cocktail made with rye or Irish whiskey? Like a particular bourbon or single malt all on its lonesome? Can’t stand the stuff thanks to an unfortunate episode during college that included a mechanical bull and way, way too many Jack & Cokes? Let’s hear about it — head over to Jimmy’s for more details on posting.

• Following Jimmy, another return host makes MxMo short, sharp & to the point on Monday, March 12. Rick Dobbs over at Martini Lounge (aka Saving the World, One Drink at a Time) gets down to business with Shots as the theme for MxMo XIII. From pousse cafes to Knuckle Blasters (okay, I just made that one up, but I’m sure someone’s done it at some point) to short, balanced tipples meant to sooth you through the final days of winter, this round of MxMo invites experimentation. Rick will post further details as the date draws near.

• MxMoXIV shifts gears on April 16 when Champagne Cocktails is the theme over at Married…With Dinner. As Anita — who’s hosting along with her husband, Cameron — writes, “There’s a certain irony in drinking bubbly on tax day.” Ironic, indeed…

• And, in May, MxMo XV moves over to My Bar, Your Bar. Our good host, Matt, is still working on a date and theme, but by getting in the mix early, he has plenty of time to think about it.

Wondering how the whole Mixology Monday thing works? Looking for links to past events? Find it all right here.

UPDATE 1/23: Martini Lounge URL fixed. Sorry, Rick.

Tags: Mixology Monday by Paul
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In addition to mixing drinks, and drinking drinks, and writing about drinks, I also like to explore the ways drinks have affected our culture, and the ways they’re portrayed in art, literature and film from generations past. I wanted to pause a moment from the ongoing rye festivities to plug a new blog that’s the newest on my feed subscription list and my blogroll, and one that’s long overdue–

Booze Movies: The 100 Proof Film Guide takes on the topic of drinking, celluloid-style. As the subhead puts it: “Alcohol–the fabric of film history is soggy with the stuff. Still, film historians have rarely given booze its due. This site is dedicated to setting the record straight.”

The site’s host, Garv, is currently posting on the great souse of cinema, W.C. Fields, but in the short time his blog has been up he’s also covered booze-related films and scenes including The Thin Man, Withnail & I, and the pink elephants scene from Dumbo.

Be sure to check out the site here.

Tags: General by Paul
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(part of a series of posts on a recent panel tasting of 18 American rye whiskies that starts here. For more information on rye whiskey and additional tasting notes, pick up the January/February 2007 issue of Imbibe magazine.)

I didn’t want to get too complicated while talking about rye — after all, it’s a strange enough creature to most people, and I didn’t want to muddy the waters any. But with Pikesville Supreme, something needs to be cleared up regarding rye whiskey’s heritage in the United States.

Traditionally, there were two types of rye that existed until fairly recently: the spicier, tangier Pennsylvania rye, also known as Monongahela rye; and the softer-tasting, brighter Maryland rye. During rye’s heyday, there were numerous brands of each variety, many hailing from the whiskey’s namesake states, but as with other products such as vermouth, the name ultimately had less to do with geography than with style.

As the rye world crumbled beginning with Prohibition, fewer distilleries produced rye (or much of anything, for that matter), and the liquor industry became dominated by fewer, larger players. Today, to the best of my knowledge, there’s not a drop of rye whiskey commercially distilled in either Pennsylvania or Maryland (if I’m wrong, please, somebody tell me — I’d love to know), and almost all rye whiskey is now made in Kentucky. As these Kentucky distillers bought up old brands of rye from defunct operations, the Pennsylvania style of rye prevailed. Despite occasional rumors and discussions about which camp Jim Beam Rye falls into, I believe that Pikesville Supreme is the last remaining brand of Maryland-style rye.

Manufactured by Heaven Hill — makers of the mighty Rittenhouse ryes, among others — Pikesville Supreme was originally named for Pikesville, Maryland, where Pikesville whiskey was distilled by L. Winand & Bro., beginning in the 1890s. Prohibition killed the company, but after repeal, the brand name (and, reportedly, the recipe) was purchased by Andrew Merle. For the next several decades, Pikesville Maryland Rye continued to be made in Maryland, at the Monumental Distillery (later the Majestic Distillery) in Lansdowne. Majestic ceased distilling in 1972, but for the next decade, it continued to bottle and sell Pikesville rye (it’s likely some of this whiskey was purchased in barrel lots from other distillers). In 1982 the brand was sold to Heaven Hill, which has produced and bottled it ever since.

Pikesville Supreme Straight Rye Whiskey

Pikesville Supreme is bottled at 80 proof, and aged three years. The simply designed label proclaims it’s “The Aristocrat of Straight Whiskies,” but its price in the $12 range suggests this aristocrat may be a bit down-at-heel. Commonly found in the mid-Atlantic states (and, apparently, the U.K.), Pikesville Supreme is pretty scarce everywhere else.

In a blind tasting, mixed among the other ryes, Pikesville Supreme was something of a surprise. The nose was very crisp and fruity, with notes of raspberry and pear. On the palate, the whiskey came across as quite sweet, with a big round flavor marked with vanilla and fresh-mown hay. Several panelists remarked on its nice balance and long finish.

As opposed to most of the other ryes tasted, the Pikesville had a lighter, grassier flavor, more smooth and sweet than spicy and sour, and without the moody oakiness of the longer-aged whiskies. While the whiskey was a shift of gears from spicier ryes such as the Rittenhouse and the Wild Turkey, panelists found it quite pleasant, if without ambition. One panelist summed it up perfectly: “It’s sweet, but well-balanced. If this costs $60 a bottle, I’d say it’s overpriced; if it costs $12 a bottle, I’d say it’s great.”

Verdict: At around $12 a bottle, the Pikesville Supreme is a real catch. I think we all expected to be disappointed by this whiskey, but it outpaced similar-range ryes such as Old Overholt and Jim Beam. One panelist even placed this whiskey in his top tier (near the bottom end of the top tier, I should note), and while the Pikesville is easily outgunned by the super-premium upstarts in the rye market, when taken for what it is — a good, cheap mixing whiskey — Pikesville Supreme is a pleasant surprise.

Next: Hirsch

Tags: Rye, Spirits by Paul
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