Tales

I will repeat the line that is being posted on hundreds of blogs and facespace status bars this week: It's time for Tales again. I have a few Tales widows ask me to look ofter their leved ones while in New Orleans. I just want to let them and everyone know that makes absolutely no sense. I don't remember Saturday from last year...we are talking like 20 hours...gone. Pics like the one above prove I was there, but that is about as far as it goes.

Buckle up NOLA, the drinks dorks are coming home.

Aged Chartreuse.

The previous post on my old bottle of Yellow Chartreuse attracted some questions about the spirit aging in the bottle. I personally have not had the chance to sample anything vintage, but some good friends of mine have. The pics above are courtesy of David Nepove, who is basically the face of the San Francisco bar community. While I think these shots are from a trip he took awhile ago, he just went to the Chartreuse distillery in Grenoble a few months ago (that's where one of my elixir bottles came from.)

Anyway, on the question of bottling aging and vintages. There is a fairly significant amount of organic matter suspended in the spirit as evidenced by the color. Despite the high alcohol levels, this is going to undergo changes over time. Also, while it does not necessarily support the issue of aging, vintages are import to Chartreuse as the distillery has moved a few times over it's 400 year history due to things like avalanches, revolutions and world wars.

I remember talking with one of the owners of Chartreuse Diffusion, the company that exports the spirit, about vintage bottles and their attributes. I have an email into him for more info.

For now I will let Mr. Nepoves pics of the Chartreuse Cellar he was invited to drink in under a Michelin Stared restaurant in France.

Favorite Bottles: Vintage Yellow Chartreuse

Tim Stookey is a good man. Aside from incredible sense of style (the man lives the 40's, I mean LIVES them!) and his excellent taste in beverages, he is generous.

This vintage bottle of Yellow Chartreuse was a housewarming gift at our holiday party this past winter. It has a New York Tax Stamp but no date of any kind. However, being a 500ml bottle I can deduce that it was packaged between 1980 (when the US moved to the metric system) and 1989 (when 500 ml bottles were unallowed.) Since Chartreuse is one of the few spirits that do age in the bottle, I am quite curious to see what is happening in there, but I will wait for a deserving event to crack it.

Container Box Bar

They did it.

Favorite Bottles: Ardbeg Supernova, Advance Committee Release

Sometimes it pays to sign up for those news letters we get offered all the time. I joined the Ardbeg Committee a few years ago and have been quite entertained by the emailings that have followed. I was pretty disappointed 2 years ago when a special release was offered to European Committe Members and I, along with others, expressed our pain and were consoled with the bottle above. The Supernova is an over-peated version of Ardbeg that was laid down around the same time as Bruichladdich's Octomore. Happily they were both released around the same time as well, so no one is grumbling about who was first or anything like that.

My impression is that the Supernova is a little older as I pick up more more barrel than in the 5 year old Octomore, but there is no age statement so..who knows. Chances are that Supernova will become a regular bottling in the future, but these bottles (one to save, one for drinking) are definitely special and look awfully cool in my cabinet.

Favorite Bottles: Chief Wahoo Electric Tonic

In raised letters, the sides of the bottle read; Chief Wahoo Electric Tonic, Celebrated Remedy, Cathedral Brand, Walbridge Co., Dunsmr Cal..

So, while I know this is not really an antique (it was made in the 70's as sort of a gimmicky thing for gift shops) and that it is not even a replication of of an antique (Cathedral bottles were actual for pickles,) I still really like this Chief Wahoo Electric Tonic mini. I think just because it was the first old bitters bottle I found with the contents intact.

The tonic itself is not very bitter and pretty much just tastes of anise without much depth. I cannot find any relation to the controversial Chief Wahoo of Cleveland baseball but suspect their must have been a tie-in there somewhere.

Favorite Bottles: Rare Orange Bitters

I have seem to started a little collection of rare orange bitters and they all look pretty cool next to each other in the cabinet.

First up is Gordon's Orange Bitters. The label has no date, but the cap reads 'Made in Scotland' (the label reads Tanqueray, Gordon & Co. LTD. The Distillery, London, E.C.I. England.) I found this bottle in a gypsy market in Budapest so there really is no knowing how old it is. It is unopened and I have not gotten into it as it looks like it might no be resealable.

Second is Du Bouchett Orange Bitters made by Many, Blanc & Co. in Chicago Ill. I got this guy about half full so I wasn't afraid to open it for a taste...it's horrible. Again, no date of any sort, but it does have a Wisconsin Tax Stamp.

The little red guy is a Wheaton Horse Shoe mini called pure orange. Ingredients are listed as alcohol, water and oil of orange. I still tastes like orange oil too, but is pretty much gone at this point.

Finally, the blue dropper with the hand-written label is Jeff Morgenthaler's Madeira Cask-Aged Orange Bitters. I slipped this one into my pocket last year at Tales it makes for a great Manhattan.