Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Drinks Tasting Report: Lots of Whiskey and Learning at Holland House With The Skillery
Posted by Chris Chamberlain on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 7:49 AM
One of the Skillery's first events was a historical tasting of American whiskey Holland House Bar & Refuge in East Nashville. The class was taught by Jeremiah Blake, Holland House's bar manager and a self-professed bourbon nerd. In conjunction with Will Motley of Woodland Wine Merchant, the class of about 40 eager students tasted through eight prototypical American ryes, whiskeys and bourbons while being regaled with anecdotes of Blake's personal discoveries of the wonderful world of whiskey.
Sampling everything from Pennsylvania's Rittenhouse Rye 100 to Tennessee's own Prichard's Whiskey, Blake described how immigrants discovered that it was more cost-effective to distill their grain rather than try to store or transport it in dry form. Thanks be to heaven for that epiphany! Much of the class focused on the famous distillers of Kentucky and how their family trees forked to create some of the best bourbons still available today.
We learned the proper way to sniff and taste whiskey (hint: get your nose into the bottom of the glass to smell the esters that float below the harsh alcohol aromas) and also bits of trivia such as why their is no bourbon manufactured in Bourbon County. Apparently, Bourbon County used to stretch all the way into Virginia in the early history of the region.
Highlights of the offerings included Weller 107, a wheated whiskey, and Basil Hayden's spicy brown liquor, which emphasizes the essence of rye instead of barley to perk up the corn mash.
As the evening went along and the crowd grew more, shall we say, festive it seemed as if the alcohol content of the whiskeys increased until we topped out with a snort of Booker's 128-proof rocket fuel. While I know it's always better not to anesthetize your tongue at the beginning of a flight of spirits, that Booker's was a real "snap your head back" whiskey.
Fortunately, Jeremiah kept the crowd alert and entertained with his stories, and Matt and Will were for the most part conservative with their pours. In the end, we all left out into the good night a little bit smarter and warmed for the holidays.
If you're interested in attending or even teaching a class with The Skillery, sign up for their mailing list at their website or follow their Facebook page. Blake promises that there will be at least one more class of Whiskey 102 where he'll share some of the good dirt on the modern day heroes of the distilling business. Sign me up!
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