Community Updates

The wheels are turning on my first barrel pick of the new and improved Patreon! I can’t wait to get back to picking some high quality barrels, and it is looking like we will get our first pick from one of the distilleries in my own back yard of Ohio!

For the best updates on the barrel picks, make sure to join the patreon (even as a free member), and to make sure you are FIRST in line to buy a bottle, consider joining one of the paid tiers!

Know the Terms - Sour Mash

This is a new section I’ve decided to add, where I break down some of the common whiskey terms every month! This month, we are tackling “sour mash”.

You have probably seen whiskeys on the shelf being advertised as “sour mash”, and maybe you thought that that meant the whiskey was sour - that is actually not the case! Ironically, sour mash is very common in the whiskey industry, with the majority of Kentucky bourbon producers using a sour mash process. So in a way, putting “sour mash” on a label is kind of like saying “we do the standard thing”, and it would make MORE sense for distillers who use a sweet mashing process (opposite of sour mash) to advertise “sweet mash”.

Okay, so that is how the terms are used in industry, but what do they mean? “Sour Mash” refers to when you take a little bit of the mash (mixture of grains) from your last batch of whiskey and you use it to kick off your next batch of whiskey. Then you use some of that next batch to kick off the one after that, and so on! This is often used to add some consistency to the process, ensuring the same compounds that were in the last batch make it into the next.

Sweet mashing is the opposite - you start from scratch every batch! Some claim that this can help bring in new flavors that you don’t get as much of from sour mashing, but in my experience, it is only a small roll in the overall flavor of a whiskey.

Cigar Review: Brickhouse Bricktoberfest

If you haven’t heard of Bricktoberfest, then you (like me) are missing out on this limited edition cigar! I had no idea that it was relatively rare and sought after until my partner in the Perfect Pairing Club, Adam, told me. All of that is fine and dandy, but is it worth it?

Profile: This year’s release was very medium bodied, with pretty standard notes of tobacco, a little chocolate, and a light cinnamon, leather, and pepper to spice it up a bit.

Construction: Nothing to be too mad about here, although I would have liked to see the ash hold on a bit longer

The verdict: This was a good cigar for the MSRP of 12 bucks, and a great cigar at the Perfect Pairing Club price of $8.07, but as far as the “rare” factor goes, I wouldn’t lose any sleep. A tasty smoke, but nothing to get FOMO about!