The road to a good whiskey

   I picked up some mini bottles of whiskey, 3 brands and 4 different flavors, at my local liquor store. The store has the cheapest and the largest selection, of vodka, rum, whiskey, wine and everything in between. Many of us call it the Disneyland of liquor store, it is just that much better compared to may in town. It's always clean and the people are always helpful and have good drinks to tell you about and mix up at home.

   I have the store down, whiskey section, tequila section (ta-kill-ya section), rums, and then many plain and flavored vodkas. I usually stick to looking at the whiskeys and beers, and rarely venture out of that isle to look at vodkas. The only reason I do is to look for friends or family, other alcohols don't suit my tastes.

   I have had tried a good handful of whiskey in my few short years of being able to purchase spirits. There have been a few hits and many, many misses. Let's just say alcohol is not cheap! So when I first started buying I got cheaper whiskeys, that gave me probably the worst hangovers I have ever had! Then there are those good ones that I have purchased more then once, or use more for just drinking. Baking with whiskey is just another great use for it!

 

   These are the different brands I have sitting on my shelf at home right now, well minus the mini's, those are long gone. As you can tell some are unopened, barely drank, or almost gone, just a slight indication of what I like and don't! I'm going to start with what I don't like. Get that bitter taste outta here.

   Black Velvet, Jack Daniels Tennessee honey, American Born, Jim Beam and Crown Royal are just a few on my list I will never buy again!  The American Born was one of my last purchases, the flavor is sweet tea. I was excited to try the new moonshine whiskey brand that just came available in my store, the guy even said how great it was as I checked out. I came home and mixed it with some lemonade, kind of like an adult Arnold Palmer. That was the worse Arnold Palmer I have ever had! I didn't get the sweet tea flavor at all! I shouldn't have to say much about Black Velvet, if that's what you drink, I beg you to go out and try something new! The others I just couldn't handle the after taste. The Jack Daniels tastes like when you have chewed on a toothpick for too long and have a lingering taste there of cheap wood. I haven't had Jack Daniels in a long time, and I couldn't remember why I didn't care for it, and once I drank that mini I knew. It gives me such a sour stomach! I don't know what it is about it but it makes my stomach turn and uneasy.

   I don't want a funky after taste and I don't want it to burn. Of course all whiskey burns but at different degrees, from just a warm feeling, to questioning if you now have third degree burns running down your throat.

  Most of my favorites just warm me up, make me shake my head and take another shot.

   My top favorites at the time are Yukon Jack and Ole Smoky. I first picked up Ole Smokey after seeing a commercial that played while I had the show "Moonshiners" on. I have tried a few flavor such as peach(pictured), pineapple, cherry that has maraschino cherries soaking it up and apple pie. Though Ole Smoky has many different flavors its hard to get my hands on them! I need to try the lemon drop, hunch punch, pina colada and get this they have pumpkin pie flavored! That must be a great fall flavor.

  Yukon Jack was a random buy and I am glad I picked it up! Jacapple smells just like apple skittles! And when you take a sip, or shot however you drink it, you taste apple right away with a warming burn down to your stomach. Long after you get it down you can taste the crisp apple linger on your tongue. I picked up a mini Wicked hot and when I opened it reminded me of those hot cinnamon balls I use to get when I would go out trick or treating, the ones I instantly threw away. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon flavored alcohol unless I mix it with a hard cider and get an apple pie flavored drink. This could be compared to the popular Fireball whiskey, but they have different tastes. Wicked Hot doesn't burn as bad as Fireball which burns like big red gum, Wicked just has a mild cinnamon burn.

   If you are looking for something more sweet or for a whiskey to bake with, look for Bird Dog. I have baked with the blackberry to add another level of flavor to some chocolate cookies, and I have a maple just waiting for me to crack open and create something delicious! I picked up a mini peach, peach is one of my favorite flavors. I open it up and instantly smelled peach rings! The sweet sugary smell you get when you open a package of peachy-ohs! Taking a drink it was very sweet and tasted just like a peach soaked in whiskey. Although overly sweet whiskey isn't something I would drink regularly, I would bake with any of these flavors knowing it will taste good and not stand out too much.

Although I have just tried a few of many brands and flavors, I am always on the hunt for new ones that stand out.

Be on the look out I have so much more to come.

MyWhiskeyDreams become Reality.