Whiskey Anyone?

I'm a chick and I like whiskey. There, I said it. I love bourbon and rye, Irish and scotch, so last night was a treat for me at a bourbon tasting event hosted by Beer Bros Gastropub. The evening featured the "Whisky Chef" AKA Matt Jones who is a Whisk(e)y ambassador representing Beam Suntory - you know, the guys that make the good stuff - Knob creek and Courvoisier to name but two. Matt also enlisted a local guy; Ryan to do the pours and keep us all sipping throughout the evening.

Matt Jones, weaving tales

Matt started out the ev(e)ning with a story about whisk(e)y while we sipped a cocktail of Jim Beam's Devil's Cut mixed with some ginger beer, muddled orange and bitters. Seems that Whiskey is spelled both with and without the (e) based on the type and style but the rule of thumb seemed be to if your country's name has an (e) then there are plenty to go around for the term. Hence, I will be using "whiskey" since we "mericans" have lots of (e)s to spare. Y'all Canadian's are (e) challenged however.  I tell you this simply to demonstrate the tenor of the evening, it was all done with humor, and tales of yore (some believable and some less so) to bring quite detailed technical info about spirits to a thirsty audience.

But y'all know me, and it's also all about the food. When we got the first course, it was a pear and crispy prosciutto salad in a white balsamic vinaigrette.  The salad was perfectly dressed (y'all know that's a pet peeve of mine) and the pears were, well, really, really crunchy but personally, I liked that they were less sweet and added a crunch, since the bourbon paired with it, registered fairly sweet on my palate. But what do I know, I'm an Atlanta chick, not a Kentucky girl.

This dish was served with a Basil Hayden Bourbon -  According to the info presented, Basil was a cocky upstart from Maryland who went to kentucky and started messing with the recipes by throwing in some other grains for flavor. Quite surprisingly he survived (if y'all have ever been to Kentucky you know what I mean) and it was fortunate for us. The Basil Hayden was a smooth elegant sip of bourbon - I think this was the one referred to as a "starter whiskey". I won't go out of my way to find this one but it was good, though not full enough for me.

Next up We had a Diefenbaker trout marinated with maple bourbon & miso alongside a cucumber puree, roasted fennel and watermelon radish. I have to say that the watermelon radish was done very well as was the cucumber puree - they called it a broth but trust me, it was a puree and quite good. It offset the sweetness of the maple bourbon marinade quite nicely, which on its own was a little on the sweet side for me.

This dish was paired with the Jim Beam Black. The Jim Beam black wasn't my favorite, while it's full bodied, it tends to have some pretty heavy caramel notes. Though in fairness, I think this is the one that I took the suggested advice and added a little water. I liked it less with the water, since it opened it up and made it taste much more honeyed to me - which I think was the point! I wouldn't say no to someone pouring me a finger of this one though!

By the third course, we'd been listening for close to two hours and were getting a whole lotta info. Too much for me to digest with alcohol and half a meal - so this is about when it started getting real! Next up is a dish any Kentucky bourbon fan would love; we had a salt crusted pork belly with a Maker's Mark infused corn salsa.

They paired this with Maker's Mark (oh yeah, not gonna lie, I like this stuff - so you touch it with water and you may lose a finger) The sweetness of the corn, the richness of the pork and the salty crust all went very well together and all tasted like more. Lots more. We learned a lot about the grains, the sour mash and the barrels in the production of these bourbons and even heard a funny story from an attendee about losing their sunglasses in a vat of sour mash - that's how comfortable the evening became - because whiskey, food and good people. We also heard a story from Matt about the distinctive wax coating on the top but I'm still not sure whether it's lore or fact!

They followed the fatty pork and sweet Maker's Mark with a palate cleanser - which did the job but was far too crunchy for my taste! A sorbet would have done better but the watermelon and lime certainly cleansed.

Nearing the end, now we had lamb rack with orzo and tomato - and a dill sauce for the lamb. This was paired with.....wait for it.... Knob Creek - yup. I had been waiting for this one!

Of all the courses, this and the pork belly were my favorites, both in terms of pairings and overall taste and execution.  I love Knob Creek, it's a great sipping bourbon, full bodied with everything you think a whiskey (or a bourbon version) should be. According to Matt, it has a lot to do with the Kentucky water that makes the Blue Grass famous - but of course, ever being the story teller, we got some yarns about Abe Lincoln along with a couple of Kentucky jokes that would have gotten him run out of the south on a rail. (yeah, we still do that) Of course it was all in fun since most of us had a warm happy belly by now!

They served a dessert of sticky toffee pudding, which I declined since that stuff is far to sweet for me and we were treated to three more whiskeys including Baker's  which is nice and smooth; Booker's which is the only uncut and unfiltered small batch bourbon (oh and daaayum, it's good!) and finally to the Knob Creek Smoked Maple (the only one I didn't finish) which is less a bourbon and more a sweet dessert drink. While the smoke is pronounced it is overwhelmed by a sweet maple taste.

All in all, I had a wonderful evening full of tons of information and lots of great tastes. Chef Fabian did a great job with a small team - I have to say that I think this is some of the best food I've ever had at Beer Bros. Matt Jones is a marketer's dream because he knows his material and appreciates and believes in his products. The trademark whiskers and fantastical way of weaving a yarn make you feel like you're on a kentucky porch, sipping some whiskey and looking over your rolling hills of blue grass.

Y'all come back now, hear?