Create New Wish ListShots in the Dark: Binny’s Spirits Experts Get a Taste of Humble Pie
I’m the lucky one here. All I have to do is round up the spirits, funnel them into generic bottles, photograph the bottles, head down to the South Loop Binny’s, get Brett Pontoni and Pat Brophy to focus long enough to taste these four spirits. I’ll need to take careful notes, then edit the whole thing down to a compelling narrative that stays true to the conversation.
But they have to get through a blind tasting. I do not envy them.
Sample A
Pat runs through all four first. He talks as he tastes. “Not much on the nose. Spirited. A little thin up front but it finishes long. Sweet and peppery. You brought me bourbon, and I’m struggling to figure out which. Could be Blanton’s. It’s too sweet though. Not enough vanilla or dry enough to be Elijah Craig. Young and spirity on the nose, which leads me to believe that it could have been aged in smaller barrels and could be from a micro distillery. Something like a Hudson. This is wild.”
I ask him for a thumbs up or thumbs down. He takes his time, sums up his descriptors.
“Corn puddin’ nose, balanced by some brown sugar and maple. Medium body, nice finish, long. Thumbs up, whatever this is.”
Brett’s next, and Pat sits in while he tastes. He sniffs all four samples, guessing this sample as bourbon or Canadian. He works his way back around.
“Fairly lean. Decent enough I suppose. Tastes young. Not much finish. Not real developed, not a ton of wood on it. That could also be a sign of a Canadian that had too much G.N.S. and crap added to it.”
“G.N.S.?” I ask.
“Grain Neutral Spirits,” Brett explains. “With Canadian whiskey, a lot of the final blend can be G.N.S.”
I try not to raise my eyebrows or offer any clues. Next time I’ll do this double blind. They’re offering all the descriptors I would for this whiskey. I’m fighting the urge not to tell them to listen to themselves and what they’re describing.
Beer retailers around Chicago received a notice last Friday from The Boston Beer company outlining price increases on their products to take effect in February of 2012. To justify these increases, they cite a 68% rise in the cost of barley.
