Harvest Spirits Revisited - Sunday, July 25th

There is nothing like experiencing a true "welcome sight". For some it is that first glimpse of family or a loved one after an extended time away from them. From others, it's that particular gleam that haunts the eyes upon seeing something that you've always wanted end up in your hands. For others, the birth of a child and watching them grow up all around you. Maybe it's getting home after a long vacation; the promise of snuggling in to a cozy cup of tea and a book. These, for many, are the definition of welcome sights.

They are, however, typically not mine.

Nothing gets me more giddy than this sight:

The art and craft of distillation gets me more riled up than a fox in a chicken coop. Many can attest to the nigh supernatural euphoria that overtakes me upon venturing into either a distillery or place of veritable and distinct distillate wonders. Thus, entering into the world of Harvest Spirits in Valatie, NY is a transcendental, soul changing place for me. Everything in it just makes me feel at home. The fact that it's housed in an old cold-house for apples. The warm wood used everywhere in a variety of ages. The gleaming copper and glistening glass of her pot and rectifying stills. The smooth, cool-white look of the food-grade plastic fermentation tanks. The nooks and crannies filled with bric-a-brack, Mason jars, and fermentation carboys; all a testament to the art of distilling. This, is a welcome sight.

As you may have guessed, a great deal of time Saturday was spent to revisiting Harvest Spirits. As I noted in my Indy Spirits Expo post, Harvest Spirits (spearheaded by Collin McConville) was pouring their wares. I'd been in contact with Collin about some of their forthcoming grappa and when I ran into him there, he...enlightened me on a few other experimental projects they had going. Remember how I said, and I quote, "a special applejack that I will greedily chug like a pig". This was a subtle dig at what they had in store. First, let me show you something.

Above is a picture of their on-site rack-house. When I first went they had, maybe, 8-10 unadorned barrels. Now look at it. They had to be stacked at least 15 feet high and there were more on trellises to the left. They also took the liberty of fancying up the barrel heads. Let me illustrate:

Its funny because he's in stripes and there's a hole in the floor. Also because I'd do the same.

I would like to do "dueling shots" with whatever is in this barrel.

Rip Van Hammered. Or a really drunk garden gnome.

Wait. Monkies? I don'...OH. Barrel of monkies. I gotcha.

But lo, there is one last barrel that I have to show you. Let me emphasize the PIG part of my quote above. Why? Because....

Barreled brilliance.

Yes. Yes it is. That is bacon applejack. No fooling. That barrel head is not a lie. Collin told me at the Indy Spirits Expo about it and I've been frothing at the bit to try it since then. Created by half-loading their pot still with cider and then dumping in raw bacon (using cooked bacon was attempted but according to Collin it "tasted like rotted meat") and then ran the run. He pulled a barrel sample for us (my photographer from the Indy Spirits Expo came along, even though he just mooched and didn't take one damn photo) and we sampled. Here's the sample:

Now, in order to fully do this justice, I have to describe how hot it was out. The outside temperature had to be bordering 95 with 100% humidity. The barn it was in, thanks to the lack of large windows, was cooler but still about 89-90. It was hot. I was hot. Everyone was hot and the huge industrial fan just blew the soggy, swamp-like air around without doing anything. But, even though it was stupid hot out...it made the beverage better. Because of the fact it was barrel proof and the fact that both I and the ambient temperature were so hot...upon drinking the alcohol evaporated almost instantly. Thus, you took a sip of this potent mixture and it instantly turned into an smoky, slightly meaty apple vapor. The nose on it was strong apple and oak from the barrel aging but it hid this deep, murky smoked meat flavor deep within its confines. Upon inhaling this witch's brew, you got straight pork and apples into the lungs and all over the tongue.

It was godlike. That's really all I can say about it. No other words do it justice. If you inhale 55% apple/pork vapor, you'd understand. It's like smelling God's breath.

Unfortunately, there's only one barrel. According to Collin, Project Wilbur (which, despite what they call it on the bottle, I am crossing out with Sharpie and rewriting that on it) isn't suffering too badly from the angel's share but rather heavily from the devil's share: they keep pulling off "test samples" to "reevaluate the project's viability". Which means the bastards are drinking it all before I can get a damn bottle. Hopefully they'll bottle it at cask strength because I think adding water to it will mute the delicate smoke/meat flavors to it. But we'll see.

Another I got to try was their grappa. In Italy, some grappas are made by giving the pomace a boost with sugar water. The Harvest Spirits grappa is washed with apple cider, which gives a delicious duo of faint apple and grape flavors to the final distillate. They want to call it Grapple but due to copyright laws, they can't. I suggest Grapeple. Close enough to get the idea across without them getting sued.

I also got to try Collin's brainchild; a spiced apple port. He pulled some of their fermented cider off of the tanks, added spices, and then halted the fermentation with apple brandy (unaged applejack). The result is, what caused Collin to burst out in a wry smile, pure Christmas. It tastes exactly like a spiced cider but with a significantly higher proof (think 15-20%). It was delicious. I could see it being drank chilled or on the rocks, or as a killer liqueur in drinks. Apparently he's petitioning to see it reach production so if you're thrilled by this idea, I suggest contacting them at info@harvestspirits.com.

Finally, on the even more exciting, wallet-destroying, alcoholic-fire-stoking front, they're thinking about selling growlers, yes GROWLERS of their cider. Collin was gracious enough to pull some of the cider out of the tanks for us to try and it was quite delicious. We tasted it at about 2-3 days of fermentation so it was still very sweet with a growing carbonation (and an ABV of 2~ish) but it had significant promise. They said that if they were going to sell it they'd sell it as an English scrumpy, which means they'd let the fermentation go as long as possible so they'd end up with a dry, higher ABV cider. A quoted price for a half-gallon growler was $7. I wept fat, beading tears of joy.

So that was our day. After our sojourn to Harvest Spirits, my photographer and I decided to stop and browse at Habana Premium Cigar Shop on Central Ave. Here are pics of their ginormous humidor:

I ended up picking up some pretty interesting stuff including this beauty, the La Aurora 107 Robusto:

 While I won't put a review up of it (I spent its entire lifetime playing chess in which I put up a valiant effort but ultimately lost), I can say it was deliciously spicy and toasty. Kind of like jalapeno pepper jam on buttered toast. Yum.

Illusione 68 (Bombone) - Wednesday, July 21st

By some miracle of the gods above (I'm looking at you, Bacchus) the heat and humidity decided to ebb yesterday. Someone up there wanted me to smoke something good. And I definitely did.

I've been chatting/sharing music with Dion Giolito on Twitter (he's Vudu9) for awhile now. It was, however, slightly embarassing that I'd talked with him for so long but never had his cigars. For the longest time, it was pretty hard to find his cigars in the Rhinebeck or Rochester area (with the closest store I was sure of being Albany for both places). I finally made a sojourn to Habana Premium in Albany and picked up a handful of Illusiones to try. I smoked a few at a Herf in Rochester but I didn't take notes. I smoked another at the Uptown Cigar's Cigar-B-Q but I wasn't paying attention. I was busy chatting with Marvin. So yesterday I put in my dues and sat down with an Illusione 68 and the latest copy of Whisky Magazine, my preferred way to review cigars. I do this because, if I just sit there with the cigar, I tend to puff constantly and that makes the cigar burn hot and taste like crap. The magazine actually slows me down and I never really have a problem keeping track of the flavors. So it's a win win. Here's a picture of it:

I decided just to launch into this bad boy so I cut it with the Xikar and lit it up straight off. Here be some notes:

First quarter: Woody, earthy, nutty, and a slightly cayenne-like undertone. Definitely strong on oak with touches of cedar every once and awhile. For a short cigar, it smoked cool and fragrant. A nice beginning.

Half-way: The spice picked up at this point. Not an undertone anymore, it really balanced with the oak. It was almost like a good spicy rye whiskey. A slight touch of new leather came into the fold as well. Definitely a medium-full cigar at this point. 

Third quarter: Oak and spice tempered by a nutty sweetness. Hadn't changed much from the half-way point but the balance evened out somewhat. Not too spicy/woody, not too sweet/nutty. This is a cigar that Goldilocks would appreciate. Scratch that; SHOULD appreciate. Screw porridge. Raid Papa Bear's humidor, woman!

All in all, a very nicely balanced cigar with a great burn and some delicious flavors. As far as price point, I think it's a touch expensive in NY but anywhere else it would be a great deal. I blame NY for that. I think I paid about $7 or $8 for it but you can get it for about $5 everywhere else.

Note: Yeah, I know the last two photos aren't stellar. Blame my Kodak Easyshare.  For normal pictures it's ok, but for macro it's so terribly fickle it's embarrassing. I want to upgrade to a Canon or a Nikon so I can take better pictures but that's going to have to wait until the future. So bear with.

Tabacos Baez Serie SF - Monday, July 19th

Last night, for the first time in almost three weeks, it wasn't UNBEARABLY hot. It was still hot (about 85) but the humidity dropped to about 20% and 85 degrees F is a lot better than the mid to low 90s it's been. It was time to have a cigar. As I pawed through the humidor(s), I came across a Tabacos Baez I bought awhile back from Isy at Uptown Cigar.

I feel as if I don't properly respect the Don Pepin Garcia stuff. Everything I've had of his has been, to me, nothing too special. I did like the Blue Label lancero but of the other cigars of his I've had, only the Vegas Cubanas have really struck a chord with me at all. They may just not be my thing but with so many people really loving them...maybe I was just missing something. So this Tabacos Baez sat in the humidor for awhile. I felt it was time to give it some fiery lovin, so to the porch I went.

Pre-light draw was a nice tobacco flavor. Startling not complex but, let's be honest, this cigar has a price tag of $5. See?

That's in New York money. Thanks to our taxes, that's about $.37 everywhere else. I'm not expecting a Dirty Rat for $5.

First quarter: Starts off with a touch of chipotle-like flavor. Definitely spicy, definitely smokey. Little bit of chocolate too. Kinda tastes like that Aztec hot chocolate you can buy but not as strong as that. Woody too, but not overbearingly so. At this point I'd put it at a medium-full~ish.

Half-way. Chocolate and spice bailed. It's really...oaky. Almost like smoking a bourbon but not sweet. Starting to get kinda creamy (both in flavor and smoke viscosity). It's pretty good. Definitely settled back down into a medium smoke.

Third quarter: Pretty consistent with the half-way mark. Still slightly creamy, woody/oaky. Touch of spice comes back. Apparently it left it's wallet. I put it down after this because it started getting bitter. Oh, and it was almost dark out and I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

This finally made me realize why people love Pepin. Aside from the fact that he looks like he'd be the greatest grandpa ever, he makes a damn good cigar. I guess I had to go cheap to figure this out. But I'm Scottish, so I was headed there anyway. I mean, us Scots did invent copper wire. Two of us were fighting over a penny.

Woodchuck Oak Aged and Spring Ciders - Thursday, July 15th

*Insert me going on, at length, whether you want me to or not, about my love of cider here*

I'm a fan of Woodchuck ciders. They're widely available and, for the most part, quite drinkable. While some of them I'm not too keen on (I'm looking at you, Pear) the Dark and Dry/Amber are classic cider stand-bys when I want cider and I go to the store. The coolest thing is they put out seasonal offerings which tend to tickle my palate. This is a comparison between the Winter and the Spring offerings. Here we go!

Woodchuck Oak Aged (Woodchuck Winter) - Nose is just plain apples. I think there's a predominance of Granny Smith or such because it has that tart, crisp apple smell to it. No oak smell to it at all, which saddens me. I want it to be an oaky bastard. Taste is quite nice though. Woodchuck is a rather sweet cider in its own right (I typically go for the Dark and Dry and even that's a touch sweet for a cider). The oak on this is definitely prominent in the taste and it provides balance to the sweetness. Mmm, this is a nice cider. Pleasantly sweet with a medium bodied oak profile on the finish. The color on it is gorgeous too. It's like an amber ale.

This would be a perfect cider to try out something I've always wanted to try...

The Stonewall Jackson.

The Stonewall Jackson is elegant in its simplicity. It's just cider and bourbon. Reputed to be what the old hard-nosed old bastard of T.J. Stonewall (Thomas Johnathan) used to drink in excess. If it's good enough for a Southern boy then well, shit, I want to try it. Add a touch of Elmer T. Lee here...

Oh...oh gods. Oh man. Oh man...It tastes like victory. Victory, success, and admiration. This must be what they serve to people upon entering Heaven. There's no huge gates up there. It's just St. Peter behind a bar called "The Pearly Gates". When you come in, he checks your mortal tab. If it's not too high, you just start drinking and this is always on special. I...I just want to fill a bathtub with it and wallow in it like a drunken pig. I may wean my future children on this stuff. It's terrific. I have not lauded something this hard ever on this blog. You know it's gotta be good. This Oak Aged NEEDS to be a regular release. It's too good not to be.

Woodchuck Spring Cider: Alright, I don't know what they did to it...but it smells like flowers. I can't remember exactly what flower smells like what but I think it smells like lilly. It's scaring me. It smells like my mom's flower garden. No sign of apples in there, just fresh flowers. Taste is...odd. Flowery and sweet, it kinda tastes like a flower-fordward wildflower honey. It has a buttery component to it and...weirdly enough, kinda tastes like crushed Sweet-Tarts. Jeez, it tastes like flowers too. I dunno about this one.  It doesn't taste like cider but rather chewing on flowers drenched in honey after a spring rain.

If that's your bag, go for it but...damn....I don't think I like it. This gets shelved with the Woodchuck Pear for me. I'm not gonna add bourbon to it because in order to make a Stonewall Jackson, you have to start first with cider, not fresh pressed daffodils.

Still <3 you though, Woodchuck.

Dice In The Mirror

If you will suffer me for a second, I would like to take a page out of Will Smith's book. It won't take long and it won't be too painful. If you're not a fan of Fresh Prince, just bear with because it's some pretty sweet news in the end. So, uh, ok:

"This is a story all about how my life got flipped, turned upside down.
  And I'd like to take a minute, just stay where you are.
  I'll tell you how I GET TO GO TO IPCPR."

So, in case you decided to skip that slightly parodic jaunt into 90s sitcom theme songs (probably for the sake of your mental stability), here's the crux of my little ditty (which was not about Jack and Diane):

I'm going to the IPCPR 2010 show. And I will be covering it on my blog.

Currently, I'm debating whether or not I want to cover it live and do reports at the end of the day, every day. This would involve bringing my laptop along which is only "laptop" in the sense that it, in theory, could be placed and operated in a lap without technically killing the user. It's a 17" Dell Inspiron that was built as a desktop replacement so it's rather heavy and awkward to bring places. Much like myself. It weighs about 10 lbs and it's rather ungainly so getting it to New Orleans in one piece without killing several people with it or having to buy it an extra seat on the plane will be a challenge. But, if I do decide to do it, you will be rewarded with sweet, sweet live coverage (as best I can, damn it, I'm footin' the bill here) every night that I'm there.

Also, I will (hopefully) bringing my photographer, which is good. One of the things that I love doing is checking out the photos of the IPCPR. Since I couldn't go, I would leisurely browse the photo banks and dreaming. However, it is damn hard to find IPCPR pictures, so I will make sure as shit to get a lot of them and post them in an easy to find Photobucket album.

As for how this fortuitous chance happened, I simply bow my head gracefully in Marvin Samel's direction and pray that, in exchange, he doesn't have me do his taxes or something. So yes, technically, I will be there under the Drew Estate docket. But fear not! I shall remain as impartial as possible. Even though the Ligas are so damn good. So damn good! Not fair at all.

Yup. I'm IPCPR bound. If you have any suggestions of what to check out, who to talk to, what to see in New Orleans (never been to the Big Easy even though I'm Big and like to take it Easy), or anything else, just drop me a line on my email (check the Contact tab) or post it in the comments below. And maybe I'll see you there. Just look for the short fat kid with the shellshocked look on his face. If I start giggling like an idiot, either smack me or get me a rag soaked in bourbon. Your choice.